Beside me, David sent out a series of fatal psionic blasts. He bared his teeth in a feral smile when his aim rang true and one of the creatures fell mere feet in front of us, shifting into his human shape as death took him.
Hearing a roar of hatred and, if I wasn’t mistaken, grief, I looked up to see another dragon doing an actual nose-dive as it headed right for David.
“David, above you!” I warned.
His head snapped back, but the creature didn’t get any closer as Harvey swept out his arm and telekinetically sent it careening hard into a tree. The impact snapped the thick tree, which almost crushed me and Paige as it collapsed with a thud.
Harvey winced. “My bad.”
Growling, the dragon quickly righted itself. But instead of taking to the air, it stumbled and shifted to his human form. Eyes flaming with hatred, he lunged for David. But I’d already leaped toward the shifter. Intercepting the move, I jammed my elbow into his throat and thrust a psychic hand into his mind.
And there it was. A blood-bond.
I pulled it hard, almost sending him to his knees with a cry of utter agony. But it didn’t break; probably because it was different from vampiric bonds—perhaps a link that had formed as a result of a blood oath. I settled for tugging on it as I went at him with a series of dirty moves that should be illegal even in the world of vampires.
Weak though he was, he held his own—even got a few real good shots in, causing my lip to split and nearly cracking one of my ribs. Gritting my teeth against the pain that pulsed through my abdomen, I whipped out my leg, kicking his knee hard enough to knock his balance and make him fall to his knees. Then I was on him, hands gripping his head while my psychic hand stretched his bond. In a move that was one of Ava’s favourites, I snapped his neck.
I might have perversely smiled in victory if a stream of fire hadn’t blown in my direction. I jumped back, watching as it scorched the ground mere feet away from me. Although I’d evaded the fire, the boiling heat still caught my skin. Blisters formed on my face as it burned and prickled.
“Shit, Imani, come here.” Paige gently placed her hand over my seared flesh. As she took away my wound, it looked as though something was rippling under her skin, moving from the hand on my face all the way up to her elbow. The process didn’t weaken her because injuries were weapons for her to use.
Touching my healed cheek, I said, “I really wish I had your gift.” Or maybe a water-based gift since, at this point, fire was spreading like…well, wildfire. The rain coming from the spooky dark cloud hovering above helped, but it wasn’t enough. I sure hoped Keeley’s storm picked up fast.
As the fight went on, more and more dragons fell—many of whom had been heading right for Sam. Not only were dragon shifters seriously strong in their human form, injured or not, but they would fight to the bitter end. It would have been admirable if they weren’t trying to kill us.
The more mercenaries that died, the more the remaining ones tried to escape by charging at Sam’s shield or trying to damage it with fire. Of course, the intelligent creatures swiftly realised that the only way to fight the shield was to kill Sam.
That was when they came at her even harder than before. But Sam and Jared had known that would happen. And since coming at Sam meant facing our squads, the creatures were basically just flying to their deaths.
When one came much too close, I sent a telepathic warning to Jared. He lifted his hand, and currents of electricity streamed from his fingers and crashed into the creature’s skull. The shifter was dead and back in his human form before he even hit the ground.
“Can I just say thank God for Keeley!” shouted Paige, but I barely heard her over the hissing of fire, the snarls of a jaguar, the screams of pain, the pounding of heavy rain on the ground, and the cries of fury that rang throughout the air.
Keeley’s rain was coming harder and faster, incredibly managing to calm the flames. Wiping rain out of my eyes, I cast a quick look over my shoulder, wanting to get a brief glimpse of Butch. His hand was gripping Sam’s upper arm, supporting her weight. It seemed that keeping the massive shield intact was taking its toll on her.
Ava’s infuriated cry made me whip around. A dragon had snatched her from the ground, its claws digging into her shoulders. “Salem!” I shouted, but his psychic energy was already rippling in the air toward the dragon; it hit the creature right in the skull—like that, it was dead and shifting mid-air. Which was great and all, but it meant that Ava was falling too.