my shoulder and chest, spreading like fire. Blood sprayed out from my torso.
Glancing to the side, I spotted Ginger grinning, her hand red.
Trev was knocked down, seconds away from getting his head ripped off. One Darkling had pinned him to the floor, while another was about to swoop down and finish the job.
I ducked when Ginger tried to hit me again. My leg shot out, and I swept her off her feet. A second later, I was on top of her, my claws piercing through her stomach, widening the wound I’d inflicted less than a minute earlier. She screamed in agony, and one of the other Darklings yanked me back and tossed me over the table.
Sliding along its length, I came a little too close to Zoltan, who took a couple of steps back, as if he feared me. I fed on that sensation, finding enough strength to bounce back up and go straight for his throat.
“You killed Nethissis, didn’t you?” I hissed as I lunged at him.
He whispered something and disappeared, reappearing several feet to my left, something metallic glistening in his hand. “She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’d thought you’d have learned a lesson from that with regards to snooping around the palace. Clearly, said lesson fell on deaf ears.”
“You son of a—” Trev snarled and managed to kick one of the Darklings off him, narrowly escaping a most gruesome death.
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” I said, panting and glowering at Zoltan. Whatever magic he was using, I couldn’t do much against it. Not when he could vanish like… Oh, you have got to be kidding me!
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I considered it madness. There was only one way to find out. Ginger was still on the floor, bleeding a puddle, but the other two Darklings I’d dealt with were already darting toward me. I had seconds left.
I bolted toward Zoltan before he could whisper himself away again and slapped the leather hood to the side, revealing the scythe in his hand.
“What the—” My thought remained incomplete, as I was tackled again and pushed against the wall with enough strength to shatter my right arm. I grunted from the searing pain, but I struggled, kicking and trying to use my left hand to set myself free. My eyes briefly caught sight of the scythe as Zoltan drove it through my thigh, and I screamed.
The Reaper weapon hurt more than anything the Darklings could’ve used against me. My flesh felt like it was melting off my bones. My skin rippled and burned around the wound he’d just inflicted, and I could no longer fight the others piling up against me.
A roar traveled through the room, followed by rapid footsteps and a brisk yelp of pain. Moments later, my opponents were gone, blood spurting all over from dismembered body parts, as they were scattered across the floor.
The shadow moved quickly, tearing into the remaining Darklings that had gone after Trev. Zoltan was petrified, for he recognized the newcomer once he stopped hacking and slashing. Kalon, his eyes dark, with tiny black veins spidering around his eyelids. His fangs long and red, blood dripping from the sharp tips. His hands glazed in blood.
For a moment, I remembered Valaine back in the square. This was eerily similar, and I wasn’t sure whether I should be relieved or petrified. Kalon had said that this full-on state of theirs was animalistic and difficult to control.
Zoltan raised his scythe and chanted a spell—a death spell, I realized, now making the connection to the familiar words and runes. But Kalon sneered and basically flashed across the room. Zoltan vanished, and Kalon crashed into the wall. Parts of it crumbled, rubble falling onto the floor.
Trev got up, injured but still able to stand, holding his shoulder.
I slid down the wall, my knees giving out. I couldn’t even feel my leg anymore. Whatever that scythe had done, it was serious. “Telluris…” My tongue got tangled, and I could no longer speak. Fear crippled me, heat seeping through my muscles and expanding into my throat. I looked up at Kalon.
He breathed heavily, his chest rising with every intake of air, as he looked down at me. Trev leaned against the stone table, blood dripping from his shoulder wound and down his arm. “Kalon… Come back to us… Come on!” he encouraged him. “Control yourself. Deep breaths. You taught me that. Deep breaths… Esme needs you.”
My gaze was