Master of the Night (21 page)

But she didn't dare. Morgana had warned her she had to wait until Geirolf launched his own spell, or the effect would be blunted and he would survive.

“Just a little longer,”
Reece said in her mind, his mental voice warm and soothing.
“Hold on, baby.”

Somehow she managed to keep the pain off her face as the demon stepped to the head of the altar and smirked down at them. “And you thought you could beat me,” he said with a nasty smirk. “All that effort, and you still ended up just where I intended. Helpless, naked, and shortly, dead.”

“Fuck you!” Erin gritted, fighting the urge to smash the death spell right into that ugly face, too soon or not.

Reece, playing his part to the hilt, writhed in his magical bonds and cursed viciously.

The demon's's laughter reverberated between the temple's black stone walls. “Poor Erin! So much for your revenge.” He tilted his horned head. “I wonder if your death will taste as delicious as sweet David's.” Licking his black lips, he smiled. “Let's find out.”

Geirolf lifted the knives in either hand, threw back his head, and began the chant, the words rolling in incomprehensible alien syllables. The magic began to dance over Erin's skin in tiny hot pricks, like the legs of burning spiders.

“Wait,”
Reece breathed in her mind.

Inside her, Morgana's death spell boiled hotter, reacting to the demon's ritual. She clamped down on it fiercely. The moment had to be just right.

“
Waaaiit
,” Reece said.

The pressure built behind her eyes, throbbed in her skull. The magic of Geirolf's spell pricked harder, red-hot needles digging into her flesh.

“Auo rithc t'ch iaw g'evc ouir,” the demon chanted, and the needles became gouging dagger points. The vampires moaned with excitement, sensing her pain.

“Almost,”
her lover said.

“K'ari auo t'ch cari tova.” Geirolf's voice was growing louder, his eyes bright with anticipation for the deaths he would cause.

A stillness slid over her, a deadly, waiting silence. The pain drained away. She saw David's eyes staring up at hers as he forced his service weapon beneath his chin.

“Ruret ai b'nar!” Geirolf roared, his massive shoulders flexing as he started to plunge both knives downward.

“Now!”

Erin sent the power blasting upward, snapping the bonds Morgana had created and driving the spell right toward the demon's crimson eyes. She felt the energy wave bite into his death spell and twist it back on its owner. Geirolf cried out, black lips peeling away from his teeth as he realized what was happening. He threw his will against hers, trying to wrest the spell away from her. She felt the death force writhing, trying to break free. She knew it would kill her if it did, taking Llyr, Grace, and even Reece with her.

Gathering everything she had, Erin rammed the spell home into the demon's skull. She felt his scream of agony in her soul.

He plunged his knives toward their hearts in one last attempt at the sacrifice that could save him. Erin had an instant to realize she was about to die….

Reece's hands flashed upward, catching Geirolf's wrists and stopping the blades an inch above their chests. He jack-knifed, smashing both bare feet through the demon's skull. As the alien fell, Reece somersaulted onto the floor, jerking the knives from Geirolf's lifeless hands. He landed in a combat crouch, a blade in either hand and a snarl on his face.

“No!” Parker roared. “Master!”

“Erin!” Reece shouted as the vampires surged toward the altar with a mass howl. Sweating, she flipped around on the altar and sent the last of her power toward the cathedral walls, blowing apart the wards that would have kept out the Magekind.

There was a thunderous double boom as the doors rammed open before the wave of Magi, Majae, and Sidhe that boiled through with howling battle cries. Geirolf's vampires wheeled and ran to meet them.

But the acolytes nearest the altar kept coming, maddened by Geirolf's death. “Kill the bitch!” roared the one in the lead, leaping on the stage and swinging his sword straight for Reece's head.

Reece ducked, stepped inside the vampire's guard, and drove the narrow blade of the knife through his opponent's faceplate with one hand. With the other he grabbed the dying vampire's great sword and spun away, planting himself in front of Erin as she lay dazed on the altar. His naked body gleamed with sweat and blood as he parried a savage blow to his head.

“I don't suppose”—he drove the left-hand dagger he still held between his attacker's ribs—“you could get me some armor?”

Erin focused on him and tried to work the spell. But despite the boom of magical explosions around her, she couldn't see any of the familiar glitter of Mageverse energy. She swore and strained, but Reece remained stubbornly naked.
“Jesus, Reece, it's gone!”

“All right, don't worry about it.”
A swing of his sword sent somebody's head flying.
“Get up. We've got to get you out of here.”

Erin rolled off the altar, but her legs would no longer hold her weight. She fell to one knee and crouched there, panting as she tried to gather her strength.
Well,
she thought grimly
, at least losing my powers didn't kill me this time. Yet, anyway.
Glancing up, she saw Janieda zip by overhead, freed of her cage.

Scanning the cathedral, Erin saw a thousand battles raging as Geirolf's vampires battled Majae, Magi, and Sidhe. “How the hell are we going to get out of here?” she shouted at Reece. “The entire cast of
Lord of the Rings
is between us and the door!”

“You're not, you little bitch. You're going to die.”

Erin looked around wildly to see Parker rise from Geirolf's body. She hadn't even seen him approach it.

The demon's corpse shimmered and disappeared into a glittering mist that poured into Parker's body. He seemed to grow as she stared at him in disbelief, his armor going black and massive, his eyes burning red in his white face. Even as magic-blind as she was, she could see the power boiling off him. “What'd you do, you cannibal—eat your master?”

He bared his fangs. “And you're next.” He started for Reece, who was fending off the clumsy attacks of three sword-welding acolytes. “After I gut your boyfriend.”

He drew back his sword, aiming right for her lover's broad back.

Erin realized Reece wouldn't be able to break free of his opponents in time to parry. “Reece!” she screamed.

Glowing armor shimmered into being around him the instant before the sword struck. The blade glanced off the gleaming metal with the ring of steel.

Parker cursed as Reece spun free of his opponents and lunged for him.

Startled, Erin looked around to see Janieda standing in front of the altar in full plate armor, a glowing sword held in a two-handed grip. She must have created Reece's armor. “Oh, God, Janieda! Thank you!”

“You carry the scent of Llyr's magic!” Janieda shouted over her shoulder as Reece's erstwhile vampire opponents charged her. “What did you do?”

“Morgana linked us in a spell.”

The Sidhe swore and blocked a stroke at her head. “Then why are you on the ground, you fool? If you die, so does my Liege! Get up! I'll transport us out of here!” A spark began to glow in the air as she started to open a gate.

“No, you won't,” Parker snarled, throwing them a furious look as he and Reece surged against one another like bulls. The spark winked out.

Janieda cursed and braced herself to defend Erin as the three vampires closed on them.

Breathing hard, Reece circled with Parker. Between the hell-spell that had made him a vampire and the life force he'd absorbed from his dying master, the bastard had turned into Superman. It was all Reece could do to block the rain of savage sword strokes the turncoat rained on him.

From the corner of his eye, Reece saw the Majae and Magi engaging Geirolf's vampire forces with ferocious swordwork and explosions of magic. Arthur battled in the middle of the pack, swinging Excalibur with single-minded savagery as he fought to get closer to the altar.

Unfortunately, their own magical armor helped protect the enemy from the full brunt of the Magekind attacks. Reece had hoped they'd break and run after Geirolf's death, but all they seemed to care about was getting the Majae down and feeding on them.

And then there was Erin.

He could feel her, weakened from the power blast that had killed Geirolf. Janieda was defending her, but how long could one little Sidhe hold off three vampires?

He had to take Parker down.

Gritting his teeth, Reece drove at his enemy with hacking right-handed sword attacks while sending his dagger flicking in search of an opening.

But what Parker didn't parry, his armor deflected. And his return attacks rattled Reece's teeth.

“After I hack off your head,” Parker shouted over the screams of the dying, “I'm going to fuck your little girlfriend to death before I rip out her throat!”

“You're not going to do anything except die!” Reece dropped his sword to parry a wild blow toward his thighs.

But the enemy's sword wasn't there.
It's a feint!

Too late. Something bit into his shoulder. Steel gave way, and a blade struck flesh.

Reece looked down to see Parker's sword in his shoulder. Instinctively he spun free, biting back his cry of pain.

Parker grinned at him and charged.

 

Janieda deflected a
sword blow aimed for her ribs, fear and frustration a sick knot in her stomach. Behind her, the Human had made it to her feet, but she was so weak and drained, it was all she could do to back away.

I won't lose,
the Sidhe chanted to herself.
If I lose, he dies. I won't lose. I won't. Lose.

She deflected a double attack with one sweep of her sword and kicked one of her opponents back with a snarl. She was about to drive her blade into the other when a savage blow snaked from nowhere, hitting so hard it tore the helm from her head. She thrust out blindly with all her strength and felt her sword sink home, driving through the enchanted steel of a chestplate. A death scream rang in her ears.

Something jarred her side. Janieda parried another sword-stroke, but a sensation of spreading cold and weight made her look down.

A blade was buried to the hilt in her side.

Janieda blinked down at it stupidly.
How did that get there?

A blur, a howl, and she hit the ground on her back. A helmeted head loomed over hers. Instinctively she swung a fist, but the vampire didn't even seem to notice as he slapped up his visor and dived for her unprotected neck. She screamed.

The last thing she heard before fangs sank in her neck was Erin's furious shout. “Get the fuck away from me, you bloodsucking leech!”

I've lost,
Janieda thought in dazed despair, catching her breath in a hiss of pain as she bucked in the vampire's vise-tight grip.
I've lost, and Llyr's going to die with the Human.

 

Erin dragged herself
backward as the third vampire stalked her. Smirking, he pulled off his helmet and threw it aside, baring yellowed fangs. His bloodshot eyes scanned her naked body, lingering on her breasts before fastening on her pulse. He pulled off his gauntlets and flexed his hands.

Panting, she backed away, knowing there was no way she could fight the son of a bitch off.

“Erin!”
Reece's mental voice rang in her mind.
“I can lend you enough strength to fight him.”

She jolted in terror, knowing that if he diverted anything at all to her, Parker would rip out his throat. And he was in pain. Had he been hit?
“No! Dammit, you need it to kill Parker!”

“Erin!”
A third voice rang in her mind.

Janieda.

Automatically Erin glanced toward the little Sidhe and stared in horror. Janieda writhed in the grip of the second vampire, who had her down and was feeding on her.
“Open to me,”
the dying Sidhe demanded.
“Let me save my Liege!”

Beyond her, Reece was hacking savagely at Parker, ignoring his own wound as he tried to take him down before the vampire got his hands on Erin. Erin opened her mouth to tell the fairy yes.

Before the word was out, her vampire stalker struck.

It was like being hit by a train as three hundred pounds of armored monster hit her, smashing her to her back on the ground.

Superhuman fingers closed around her bare breast in an agonizing grip. The vampire loomed over her, jerking her head back with the other hand. Rolling her eyes, Erin managed to meet Janieda's gaze and drop the last of her mental shields. A link snapped into place between them.

“Save my king!”
Janieda demanded, and poured her fading life force through it.

Erin convulsed as the power surged through her, hot and strengthening, jolting her own magical abilities back to life. Her vampire captor tightened his grip, trying to hold on to her as she convulsed.

Her gaze met his. She saw his eyes widen as he realized she was no longer helpless.

With a snarl, she shot a wave of energy directly into his eyes, searing him to ash. His empty armor rolled away as she surged to her feet, her own armor shimmering into being around her, a sword in her hands.

As she looked around at Reece, she saw him lift his great sword in both hands to hack down on Parker. Blood snaked from his armored shoulder.

The turncoat lifted his weapon for another parry.

With a thought Erin transformed Reece's sword into a massive battle-ax. The blade chopped right through Parker's lighter sword and buried itself into his chest, smashing the traitor to the floor.