glowing red with hunger.
Seren flung herself into a lightning-fast series of strikes and parries as the demonic horde swarmed her. Wystan reared, also forced back. His shield flared, protecting Darcy and the others.
No, please, no. In desperation, Fenrir rounded on the darkness in his mind. Spare them, I beg you. I will do anything you want, anything. Take me instead!
Uncegila breathed through his lungs, surged through his body with every beat of his heart. With her will animating his body, he could sense something of her vast, alien thoughts. He had an impression of huge, burning eyes turning to look down at him. His offer had caught her attention.
“An interesting bargain,” she mused, speaking through his own throat. She extended one of his hands, turning it over as though admiring the craftsmanship of some ornate mechanism. “This is a fine, strong body. And you are much easier to control than your willful sister. You would relinquish yourself to me totally, in return for the pathetic lives of these mortals? Grant me the strength of your whole soul, rather than just this paltry half?”
His unconscious animal lay limp at the bottom of his soul, unresponsive and unaware. But he knew that it too would do anything to save their pack. To save their mate.
Yes. He mentally sank to his knees, lifting his chin to show his throat in total submission. I will be yours; totally, willingly, in body and soul. All that I am, I will give to you, to do with what you will. Just leave them alone!
Coils curled around him, blocking out all sight, all sound, all awareness of the outside world. He forced himself to stay still, although every instinct screamed to fight that tight, crushing grip.
Very tempting. A forked tongue flickered against his cheek, soft as a mother’s kiss, cold as death. I would accept if I could. But it is too late for bargains. It is too late for you all. Look.
Sensation came flooding back as Uncegila loosened her grip, allowing him to see and hear again. She tilted his head up, directing his gaze at the sky.
At vast wings, dark as storm clouds, lit by seething flashes of electric light. Dark talons, spreading wide. Blank, pitiless eyes.
You should have come to me sooner, Uncegila whispered in his ear, as lightning boiled along the Thunderbird’s wings. Goodbye, my poor lost son.
Chapter 36
“Wystan!” Darcy screamed, as the Thunderbird’s wings flared with electricity.
The world went white.
For a moment, she was convinced that they’d all died. The immense, cracking boom seemed to knock her out of her body. Her mind simply shut down, unable to comprehend the apocalyptic power of the lightning strike.
Her ears rang, painfully, as though a giant had just slammed her head between cymbals. She blinked, starbursts of white flashing across her field of vision. She felt like a computer slowly rebooting after a power cut.
But she wasn’t dead.
They stood in a perfect circle of snow. Beyond was nothing but blasted dirt and mud, thrown outward in all directions as though a bomb had gone off. Wisps of steam and smoke drifted up from the scorched ground.
Wystan’s shield had protected them all from the Thunderbird’s lightning, but it had come at a cost. He lay flat on his face, unconscious, knocked back into human form by the force of the energy he’d deflected.
Fenrir! Darcy thought, her heart seizing in horror—but he was still there, shaking his head groggily. Wystan had thrown his shield wide enough to protect him, too.
“Oh no you don’t.” Buck kicked a sluggish horned serpent away from Wystan as it woozily attempted to take a bite out of the unconscious paramedic. “Seren! No time to nap, we’ve still got company!”
In order to cover Fenrir, Wystan had had no choice but to include the demons within his shield as well. Like everyone else, they’d been half-stunned by the lightning strike, but they were recovering fast. Seren managed to cut two in half before they could react, but then they were on her again.
“We’ve got a bigger problem, guys!” Darcy stabbed a finger upward, where the Thunderbird’s wings were starting to pulse and glow once more. “It’s charging up again!”
Buck started to raise his gun. Before he could take aim at the Thunderbird, Blaise slapped his arm back down again.
“It doesn’t mean to hurt us,” she said. “It just hates demons.”
“The feeling is mutual!” Buck snapped, booting another horned serpent that had managed to get past Seren’s guard. On his other side, Edith revved her