Her heart rate increased, and her lungs panted out. She half turned and kicked out, nailing the animal in the snout. It went down, and Cee Cee turned to run again. Blood poured from her torn artery, but she didn’t have the time or resources to heal herself right now.
She reached the snowmobile, leaped onto the seat, her hand already twisting the handlebar. The machine lurched forward, and she jerked to the right, swinging the back skis around. No way was she leaving Daire to the animals. The machine wobbled, and she tightened her hold, opening the throttle wide. Ducking her head, she drove over the ice, straight at the melee.
Blood already flowed across the white tundra. Daire stood in the middle of the four remaining predators, kicking and striking, forming fire balls and throwing. The beasts used sharp claws and deadly teeth, alternating between striking and avoiding the burning plasma.
Cee Cee ran right into the biggest animal, hitting it in the back and sending it flying toward the sea. She whipped the vehicle around and reached out a hand for Daire. Blood covered him forehead to ankles, and most of his clothing was shredded. “Get on,” she yelled.
He shook blood from his eyes and threw a succession of deep green fireballs at the bears, swinging his arm and creating a graceful arc of flame. With his free hand, he grabbed hers and jumped behind her, still forming and throwing deadly fire through the swirling storm. The horrifying smells of burned fur and blood swirled with the barrage of snow. “Go,” he bellowed.
She leaned down and opened the throttle again, kicking out with one leg to nail a bear in the neck. It fell back, teeth mashing together.
Daire wrapped his body over her, his thighs outside her hips, bracketing her. With an unholy howl, the lead bear came at them from the left, while another male came from the right. “Strike to the right,” Daire ordered.
Her lungs compressed. She held on to the handlebars and cocked her leg to kick. Daire threw fire from both hands, nailing each bear before turning to deal with the lead Alpha bear.
The other male yelped as fire impacted his chest but didn’t halt his trajectory. He hit the front side of the snowmobile, thick paw sweeping out. His claws raked into her forehead and ripped down, opening up the side of her face to the bone. Raw agony set her on fire. She screamed and jerked her head away, trying to protect her eye.
The lead bear roared in fury and pain, but she didn’t turn to see. Daire leaned over her, a ball of fire in his palm, and smashed the flames into the other male bear’s face. It shrieked and fell back.
Daire grabbed her hands over the bars and pushed farther, driving fast into the storm and dodging around the orange building. Dizziness rippled through her, and she tried to focus, but too much pain pierced her nerves. The freezing cold clashed against the raw bones in her face, and nausea lurched across her stomach.
He steered the vehicle through a deserted town dotted with abandoned buildings, including a schoolhouse and small store. Daire continued on, fighting the storm, and finally reached a crumbling brick building with a haphazardly hanging sign that read: ISLAND SKOLE. Island School. He drove around back and cut the engine, grabbing her up in one smooth motion and running through a partially open back door.
The smell of must and snow filled her nose. He moved gracefully, but every slight jostle sent excruciating pain through her head. Her arm had gone numb, which was not a good sign.
He carried her through the small building containing overturned desks and tables into what appeared to have been a kitchen, where he gently sent her down on an red metal table. Old pots littered the ice-covered floor, while a wide frozen oven took up one whole wall opposite a crumbling brick fireplace. “How bad?” he asked, walking around and stopping short upon seeing her face. “Holy fucking shit.”
She wobbled, her vision graying.
With a gentleness surprising in such a large man, he unzipped the coat and removed it. Even so, when he reached her injured arm, she bit back a scream.