Page 15 of Of Flame and Fury
Well, so do I.
I aim and fire at blank space and a sense of wrong more than anything corporeal, my frustration and fear taking form in blue and white fire and vengeance. I strike my target. There’s screaming, smoke, confusion, and the pungent smell of dark magic.
As the smoke clears, the spell holding me crumbles. Tye breaks free, the blood from his injuries splattering the walls as he runs. I manage to scramble to my feet and clutch his mane as he leaps over the rail. He twists his body, cushioning me as we land in the foyer beside Celia.
Aric stands holding an oddly muscular arm encased in gray fur, its claws mere centimeters from Celia’s protruding belly. Gemini holds another similar arm covered with patches of spindly black hair that intermix with gray fur.
The fabric cocooning Celia’s baby is torn, exposing her skin. Small drops of blood bead along the length of the scratch. The creature just barely grazed her. That doesn’t mean Celia doesn’t feel the effects.
Celia is breathing hard. She covers her mouth with one hand and clutches her stomach with the other. Misha clasps her shoulders, pressing her back against his chest as he guards her.
That thing, whatever it was, came close togutting Celia. Fury ties a noose around me, threatening to choke me. I turn, wanting to find the creature, my need to kill it corrupting my senses.
Koda and Gemini’s twin wolf each have one of the creature’s legs. The face of Celia’s attacker is distorted but still recognizable as the waiter with the dreadlocks. Angler fish fangs poke through a disproportionately large maw, and squirming snakes replace his long hair.
The serpents along his head hiss, striking at Shayna and trying to sink their fangs into her flesh. She easily leaps out of the way, landing in a crouch, and then thrusts her weight forward to stab the creature in the heart.
The snakes and their owner spit at Shayna. She frowns, avoiding their venom, and stabs again, twirling her sword and cutting a spiral where the heart should beat.
“Dude,” she calls to Aric. “This thing’s not dying.”
Aric’s features darken from where he stands with Celia tucked against him. I didn’t notice him gather Celia away from Misha. I almost didn’t even see him toss the arm until it tried to crawl away. The claws scratch against the tile, leaving marks and chipping the tile. Gemini stomps on the hand with his foot, breaking the bones so it can’t move.
“What the fuck is that?” Aric growls. His attention, like everywere, vamp, and witch who forms a blockade around us, takes in the pummeling me and Tye endured. Everyone knows we’re in danger, but like us, they can’t pinpoint the cause.
There’s no sense of neophytes, those witches close to becoming shifters who, although strong and deadly, remain human. Nor does the feel ofwereor vampire match anything this thing might be.
The attention I initially begged for is finally on me, yet now that I have it, I can’t think where to begin. “Something has come for Celia,” I say. I point to the creature. “It won’t end with him. We have to get Celia out of here.”
“No,” Tye insists. He swipes at the blood oozing from hand. “Destiny made it clear we can’t leave the house.”
“I know what she said,” I say, practically growling myself. “But you saw for yourself that the house isn’t safe.” I step toward Celia, thinking twice when Aric’s livid presence warns me to keep away. “Look, at the very least, we need to get Celia someplace where we can better guard her.”
Aric’s guttural tone is barely recognizable. “We can’t guard Celia effectively if we don’t know what we’re facing,” he replies. His gaze falls to her belly, to that spot that marks how close he came to losing her and their child.
The scrape is nothing compared to the wounds Celia has suffered in the past, but it speaks to the horror that almost transpired. Using care, Aric trails his hand down Celia’s stomach, wiping the blood from her skin.
The rage within Aric builds in frightening waves that ripple across the foyer. He releases Celia, slowly, shaking as if afraid to let go.
“Aric,” she says.
She doesn’t beg him to stay with her or plead with him to hold her. But the words are there, reflecting along her beautiful face as Aric sets her in my arms.
God, she’s so scared. I hold her close, quivering from what almost happened and what already has.
Gemini is beyond furious at the sight of me. He won’t like what I tell him I lived through, but this isn’t about me.
The tension congealing the air escalates as Aric approaches the squirming creature. Shayna flicks her sword with expert flair, beheading the snakes before slamming the tip into the creature’s eyes.
“Give him to me,” Aric tells her.
The request doesn’t suggest that she do so in one piece. Shayna swings her sword like a pendulum. The head rolls clean off the shoulders and toward her feet. With a twist of her wrist, she impales the head and scoops it up, offering it to Aric.
Aric grasps the head and slides it from the end of Shayna’s sword. “Who sent you?” he thunders.
The creature hisses and snaps his fangs at Aric. “Something stronger than you, wolf,” it says, struggling to speak.
Aric presses his hands together, caving the skull inward. “I asked, who sent you,” he repeats.