“I’ll see you at the manhole,” Warrick said.
As he began to turn around, Darcy grabbed his arm to stop him. Then she rose up and placed her lips on his. Warrick forgot about Ulrik as he wrapped his arms around Darcy and held her tight as he savaged her mouth in a rough, desire-driven kiss.
When he was able to pull back, her lips were swollen and a small smile was visible.
Warrick tugged on a curl that brushed her cheek. “Be safe.”
“You too,” she whispered.
It was harder than Warrick expected walking away from her. Thorn knew to keep an eye on them. Warrick didn’t trust Ulrik to do as he promised, and Thorn would be there to stop him from whatever Ulrik tried.
Thorn wasn’t exactly happy with his request, but Warrick didn’t care about being left behind. He cared about Darcy and getting her to safety.
Once Darcy was at Dreagan, Warrick was going to find out why Rhi was helping Ulrik, and why she didn’t protect the shop as she did Darcy’s flat. There was too much not adding up properly for Warrick. Someone wasn’t who they said they were, and someone was playing both sides.
Warrick paused at the front door and used his power to put a bubble of protection around Darcy. Then he walked out of the shop. He waited for a taxi to drive past before he walked across the street to the two Dark Fae who had been eyeing him all day.
He slammed a fist into the one on the left as the other Dark pummeled him with short bursts of magic that stung viciously. Soon Warrick was being hit from behind with both fists and magic. Warrick let them think they got the better of him and stumbled into an alley.
The Dark were shouting, their eyes going bright red as the craze of battle filled them. Warrick avoided as much of the magic as he could while still getting in enough hits to kill a few Dark.
Several times he had to pull his punches to ensure their attention remained on him. Warrick ducked when he saw a hefty bubble of magic come at him. He glanced behind him to see it barrel into two Dark, knocking them flat so that neither moved again.
Warrick straightened and glanced at the building to see Ulrik scaling the stone with Darcy hanging from his back.
Warrick only got that glance as he was struck again and again by Dark magic. It didn’t just burn, it drained him. Warrick stopped pulling his punches and landed whatever he could, whenever he could.
A growl rumbled through his chest when his hand closed around a throat of a Dark Fae. He squeezed and felt the bone snap.
There was a ruckus behind him. Warrick elbowed a Dark Fae in the face, snapping his head as he turned around and saw Thorn standing there with a smile upon his face as he looked at all the Dark.
Warrick spotted the two Dark Thorn was standing on and knew he must have landed on them as he jumped from the roof.
“I couldna let you have all the fun,” Thorn said as he faced the Dark.
Warrick renewed his fighting. If Thorn was there, that meant Darcy was beneath the city. Yet the amount of Dark dead at their feet kept piling up, but the number they were fighting kept growing just as fast.
He tripped on a body and fell backward, rolling so that he popped up on his feet. Warrick felt his legs begin to go numb. It wouldn’t be much longer before he could no longer stand.
Suddenly a Dark grabbed him. There were so many hands holding him he couldn’t dodge any of the magic coming at him. He saw Thorn and a Dark circling each other. Thorn parted his lips and let out a hiss just before the flash of a dagger appeared and was buried in the Dark’s throat.
Warrick heard Thorn shout his name. Warrick lifted his head and was able to raise his hand as Thorn’s dagger sailed through the air. Warrick snatched it and began to slash at the Dark trying to cart him off.
As they released him, Warrick twisted in midair and landed on one knee. One arm was completely numb. His fingers gripping the dagger were shaking as he tried to hold on.
There wasn’t time to heal from the Darks’ magic. He had to get to Darcy. Warrick used the side of the building to get to his feet as the Dark ran away.
A moment later the Dark began shouting again. Warrick lifted his head and saw the Druids. They stood like a wall, blocking the Dark, their magic pulsing.
“I’ll be damned,” Thorn said as he killed another Dark.
Warrick looked over his shoulder to see the Warriors from MacLeod Castle at the opposite end of the alley. They used their powers to combat the Dark until, one by one the Dark teleported away.
Phelan was the first to walk to Warrick. “Darcy is at Dreagan. Fallon teleported her there.”
Warrick leaned back against the brick and sighed. “And Ulrik?”
“Walked away.”
Warrick knew that wasn’t going to be the last they saw of the King of Silvers.
“Let’s get back to Dreagan,” Thorn said.