Warrick ducked and rolled, coming up in front of the Dark. He punched the Dark with two swift jabs before he grabbed him by the neck and lifted him.
The Dark tried to gather more magic, but Warrick moved too quickly. Warrick knelt on one knee and slammed the Dark onto the ground, splitting his head open on impact.
Darcy covered her mouth with her hand and stepped back. She knew Warrick was strong, but she hadn’t realized just how much until then. After holding her so gently, those same hands could end a life in the blink of an eye.
Warrick stood, his look daring the Dark to attack. For one heartbeat, two, nothing happened. Then, with a shout from a Dark, the battle began in earnest.
Darcy tried to keep an eye on Warrick, but she lost him in the crowd. She grasped the window, rising up on her tiptoes to get a glimpse of him. But there were too many Dark.
She screamed and fell back when a Dark Fae suddenly appeared before the window. He reached for the handle of the door, then bellowed and fell back holding his hand. He ran off, two others taking his place.
Darcy forgot about Warrick as the Dark began to hurl magic at the spells she, Warrick, and Thorn had put into place. She knew the minute her spells cracked under the onslaught. She felt the tremor shake through the entire building.
All that separated her now from the Dark was dragon magic.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO
The rain began to fall harder, thicker. The dark gray clouds obscured the sun, making the morning appear as if it was dusk. Darcy was grateful for the weather. Otherwise, there was no doubt mortals would see Warrick fighting the Dark.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to figure a way out. The fact there wasn’t one only ramped up her fear.
Darcy ducked behind the table. It wouldn’t save her, but she wanted to stay out of sight of the Dark. The problem with that was that she could no longer see Warrick. And that wasn’t going to work.
She peered over the top of the table and around the crystal ball to find Dark Fae still stood at her front door blasting the shop with magic. Warrick couldn’t be seen through the throng of Dark, but movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention.
Darcy looked to the left and spied something on the roof across the street. It was Thorn. He looked over the side to the ground where a few Dark lingered.
Then Thorn jumped off the four-story building to land behind the Dark. In less than a heartbeat, he killed two. A moment later, three more were dead.
Darcy wanted to cheer when Thorn ducked into an alley right before a Dark turned and saw him. She sent up a prayer of thanks. Not just for her, but for Warrick as well.
He had told her Dragon Kings could only be killed by another King, but he never said anything about being injured by the Dark. She had the distinct feeling that the Dark could do some damage to him.
If only she could help.
Darcy dropped her head back and inwardly kicked herself. “Of course I can help. I’m a Druid. From Skye. What the hell is wrong with me?”
She knew the answer—the Dark. They scared her as nothing else could, and she hated them for that. She loathed them for making her forget she was a Druid. She detested them for feeding off humans. She reviled them for how they’d forced their seduction on her the other night.
With her eyes closed, Darcy called to her magic. She heard the drums and chanting of the ancestors as she felt her magic build higher and higher.
As her magic grew, her inner strength did as well. She stood and opened her eyes to the Dark at the front door. Then she walked around the table, her hands clenched into fists.
The two Dark Fae smiled when they saw her. They thought she was coming to them. Fools.
Before Darcy could release her magic, the door flew open, ripping it from one of its hinges. She twisted away, her arm raised to shield her head.
The sound of rain hitting the concrete filled the area. She lowered her arm and looked back to the front to see the door bent inward and off to the side.
“Are you ready for us?” one of the Dark asked, his red eyes looking her up and down.
Darcy lifted her lip in revulsion. “You’ll never get your hands on me.”
“We’ll see.”
She saw more dead Dark littering the ground thanks to Thorn. The fact the Dark couldn’t find out who was doing it made her smile. But that quickly died when she tried to look for Warrick again.
“The Dragon King won’t be able to save you,” said the second Dark, his Irish accent so thick she almost couldn’t understand him.
Darcy rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever shut up?”
He sneered and hurled magic at her. She jerked, expecting it to hit her, but it slammed into dragon magic at the door and splintered.
Would hers be stopped as well? Only one way to find out. Darcy spread her fingers and threw her arms out in front of her, releasing her magic as she did.
It sailed through the doorway and slammed into the two Dark, knocking them on their asses.