She knew Cain's voice anywhere. For a moment Damali hesitated. But as soon as she did, she saw four large white patches of fabric rise to the churning surface of the ocean. Jasmine was on the deck with Bobby while Mike and Berkfield covered them. The young Guardians' hands were united, a blue current rushing out toward the seaborne fabric. As soon as their energy touched the water, four large opalescent red dragons with black skeletal lines leapt off the sheets and took flight, headed toward the beach.
"Those are ours!" Jose shouted from the roof. "My drawing with Jasmine's!"
The living-blood dragons added to the aerial assault of the ravens, capturing hybrids by the midsections using severe fanged jaws, shak�ing them like outraged dogs before flinging them into the water for the sharks. But Cain kept coming, the smaller red dragons no match for the thing he rode.
Too close to Damali to fire a mortar round or RPG at it, Dan and Mike hollered in unison, "Fall back, D! Fall back!"
"No!" Damali shouted when Cain smiled and leveled his blade at her, his dragon snorting and breathing fire. She began running and could feel the heat chasing her down the sand like a laser as she zig�zagged away from the flames that scorched and melted sand behind her. The instant the dragon drew a breath she pivoted, turned, and rammed her Isis into the sand to get off a two-handed shot with her Glock nine, blinding it.
The massive beast reared, swinging its huge head back and forth in agony and scorching some of Cain's ground forces as well as those that had reached the beach from the sea. Cain roared in fury and tightened his grip on the reins to steady the flailing creature, but pulled up too hard and caused the dragon to lose its balance to go down hard on one side.
His wing trapped by the struggling dragon, Damali quickly ad�vanced on Cain. But he was on one side of the beast, she was on the other, and a dangerous, razor-sharp, muscled tail, panicked flame bursts, and huge dragon claws made it impossible to scale the thing to get to Cain. However, she could cripple him.
A cut from an Isis blade left a permanent, nonregenerative wound in a demon, living or dead, and she seized upon the opportunity to deliver one the moment Cain's tail lashed under the dragon's to help right the fallen beast. Nearly blind with fury, she yanked the Isis from the sand as she rushed forward, dodging claws and flames and swung.
The chime of the Isis rang out, hybrids in midair attacks and those left on the beach slowed to a halt as their leader yelled out in pain.
"I bet you won't violate me with your tail again, demon!" she shouted to Cain, ill-advisedly moving forward to render a death blow to his dragon by plunging her sword up to the hilt into its heart. Fury had her in a stranglehold. There was no fear, just lizard-brain blind rage. "And when I get this thing up off of you, and cut off your dick," she yelled, so angry that Cain's image literally blurred, "that appendage is going straight up your ass!"
The roar that Cain released knocked her back ten yards, and to her frank awe, he sliced off his own wing and shoved the dragon off him. Okay, now it was time to run.
Mike and Dan's shells cut a path between her and Cain in speeding woofs that exploded behind her as she zipped past the house down the beach, Cain hot on her trail. The arcing black blast that Cain rocked the house with knocked her sniper team off the roof and sent deck-rail-wood shrapnel flying. Mike and Berkfield hit the charred deck flooring and covered their heads. Jasmine and Bobby dove over the rails to the sand below it. Windows blew out, forcing those inside the house covering her with gunfire to duck down and flatten themselves to the floor. Hubert and his team were suddenly forced into hand-to-hand combat with the few remaining demons on the beach as Damali breathlessly made it to the rocks with her Isis in her grip.
She immediately turned on Cain and sent a hot Isis blast into the center of his chest. "You'll never take me alive, motherfucker!"
Sprawled out and only temporarily dazed, Cain's gaze narrowed on her as she jumped down, prepared to confront him in mortal combat.
He tried to summon his black blade to him, but it was in shards, his wing dismembered, and his tail a bloody stump.
"Fall back!" he shouted, and within seconds was gone.
The beach went still. The rains receded, leaving only a smoky battle trail in the sky. The full moon overhead shone brightly.
Damali glanced around and then ran toward the villa to check for casualties. The truth stole her breath: this was just one quick cam�paign, a battle. Not the war by a long shot.
"I'm not liking this at all," Carlos said to Shabazz and Rider, standing outside Yonnie's lair. "It's full dark, I can sense two vampires inside, Yonnie and Tara's signature, but I've got a blackout to the villa and it's like we're in a dark-shielded zone."
"In and out," Rider said, urging Carlos to open Yonnie's lair. "Do it the old-fashioned way, man. For Christ's sake, just holler."
Carlos nodded and complied, yelling his friend's name at the top of his lungs. "Yonnie! It's family-open up!"
The lair door eerily creaked open. The full moon over Nevada peeked into pure blackness. Carlos's eyes instantly adjusted to the darkness and he lit the wall torches with a silver glance. As soon as the others could see, Rider and Shabazz flanked him.
Yonnie looked up from the bed and hissed at the sight of Rider. But it was obvious that something had gone terribly wrong as Yonnie crouched over Tara's lifeless, na**d body. He sought Carlos's gaze, squinting and disoriented, his fangs lowered between a mating bite and battle length. All Carlos could do was stare at Yonnie for a moment. Yonnie's bare chest heaved as though he was unable to take in enough air, and his black silk, drawstring pajama bottoms hung loosely on his h*ps as though he'd quickly materialized them on with great effort.
"You all right, man?" Carlos asked, advancing slowly.
Rider pushed around Carlos, but Carlos caught Rider by the arm before he could get close enough to have his heart ripped out.
"I don't know what happened," Yonnie said in an agonized voice, growling low in his throat as he stared at Rider, and then brought his gaze back to Carlos's. "She's flatlining, even though I fed her."
"Oh, shit, man! What did you do?"
"I don't know what happened, man!" Yonnie yelled. "Heal her! I can't, and I don't know why!"
Carlos stood with the stunned Guardians near the lair entrance and watched in horror as Tara's eyelids fluttered. She weakly reached to�ward Rider without lifting her arm, and then murmured his name on a final breath as her hand relaxed against the bed. Carlos jumped back, causing Rider and Shabazz to instinctively do the same. Rendered speechless as Tara's spirit sat up from her body in a white haze and glanced around in terror, Carlos scavenged his mind for what to tell Rider. They had gotten there too late. Carlos reinforced his grip on Rider's arm and blinked twice as he saw a fast-moving white orb stop in front of her, pulse, become Lopez, and take her hand.
"She's not supposed to have a spirit in a vampire body," Carlos whispered in awe. He watched helplessly as Lopez's spirit calmed Tara's distressed soul and began leading her away. He looked at Yon�nie, and then at Rider and swallowed hard. "It's too late."