Storm Born Page 0,130

her."

The guards stayed fixed, staring uneasily between the yeshin and me. Then, one stepped forward, sword raised. He let out a battle cry and charged forward to the yeshin nearest him. A moment later, the others followed suit.

"Stay back from this, your majesty," I heard Shaya say. "You're too weak now."

She was right. Dorian was pale beneath his burns, barely able to keep himself upright. Giving me a brief glance first, Shaya closed her eyes in concentration. Seconds later, two saguaros ripped themselves from the earth and lumbered toward a yeshin. Their weight and grappling helped immobilize it. I took aim and fired until the yeshin moved no more. Straightening back up, the saguaros plodded on to their next victim. I followed them, ready to repeat the process.

Nearby, Kiyo looked to be on his third yeshin. I watched as he pinned it down, his sharp teeth tearing into its skin. Liquid leaked out, not blood but water. Still, it made a valiant effort to fight him, one clawed paw snaking out and gouging his side. Blood appeared on him, but it didn't seem to faze him. He kept moving, tearing into the beast until it died. Then, without hesitation, he moved on to the next one.

The guards - my guards? - fought yeshin in small groups while Volusian aided with his magic. Shaya had created another set of moving saguaros but looked tired. She had her sword drawn and hovered near Dorian, watchful and protective through her fatigue.

The saguaros had another yeshin pinned. I fired and heard only a click. I'd run out of bullets. This was my second silver clip; I'd brought no more. Swearing, I stuffed the gun away and pulled out my wand. Fixing on the yeshin the saguaros held, I sent the creature out of this world. It took more energy than firing a gun. Working my earlier magic had apparently tired me out. No wonder Dorian and Shaya were weakening.

Three yeshin were left. Kiyo was moving onto one of them; I swore he'd taken down half the group himself. Blood covered him, but he bared his teeth and lunged at his next foe. One of the saguaros went down to a yeshin's attack, but the cactus' partner distracted the cat enough for a banishing. The guards had encircled the third and were having a rough time of it. One of them was thrown from the fray, landing roughly and painfully. Another fell in the way of the yeshin's claws and screamed.

I still didn't entirely get why they fought for me, but I moved to help them, trying to get a good fix. Suddenly, as I approached, I heard a horrible, strangled cry from where Kiyo fought. I knew it wasn't the yeshin, but I couldn't turn around. I had the guards' yeshin in sight already and had started the words. Forcing myself to stay on task, I drove it from this world. The guards turned to me in surprise.

"Thank you, your majesty," one said gratefully. I didn't dwell on the fact that he wasn't thanking Dorian.

The last yeshin was stalking away from an inert form - a fox-shaped form. My guards were on the cat in a flash, and it succumbed almost immediately. It had already been severely weakened.

Jasmine, I barely noted, was nowhere in sight.

Without giving her another thought, I fell to Kiyo's side. He wasn't moving. I rolled him over to his back, trying to feel a pulse or breath. Nothing. I screamed his name, wondering what to do. Could you perform CPR on a fox? Desperate and hysterical, I shook him, saying his name over and over. A hand reached out and took my arm, moving it away.

"He's gone, Eugenie," Dorian said quietly. Shaya knelt beside him, face sober.

"No," I whispered. "No."

"Can't you feel it? His spirit left this body. It travels to the next world."

I blinked, suddenly back in control. Traveling. Maybe not there yet. A banishing sent the spirit on instantly. Real death had a slight delay; that was how people had near-death experiences.

"But not quite there," I said, relaxing my body and clearing my mind. The butterfly burned as I reached out to Persephone. I was already in the Otherworld, one step closer than usual to the world beyond it.

Dorian shot me a look of alarm, recognizing what I was doing. He reached for me. "Damn it, don't - "

He stopped abruptly, realizing I was already gone. Disturbing me in that state would be deadly. I vaguely saw his