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I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you know by now that bullets and bats don’t do anything to people like me.”
“No, you’re right,” another said. “Which is why we came prepared.” He flared the power I felt, and it pressed against me like a giant hand. So, they didn’t only have magic, they also knew enough about using it to threaten me.
“Well, we’ll just have to get this shit out of the way, then,” I said and stepped down from the porch. “I’m getting sick and tired of you pieces of shit snooping around my territory.”
The men glanced at each other and laughed.
“Look at him, a drus who thinks he has any kind of leverage beyond caring for the trees.”
I bristled. They knew what I was and what I did. Who was feeding them this information? They were human—humans didn’t know anything about any of this. They’d somehow managed to not only get into my realm, but to find magic, and knowledge, that could cause some serious shit.
Lorraine appeared on the porch behind me. The men all looked at her, and their faces turned from snarls to looks of hunger. They wanted her for themselves.
“Get back inside,” I barked without looking at her. I wanted to keep my eyes on them. I couldn’t fight these guys and look after her at the same time.
“I can help,” Lorraine said.
“Dammit, Lorraine, get back in there!” I shouted, looking over my shoulder at her.
The moment I did, the men stormed toward me as one. A gun fired, the bullet burning as it burrowed into my skin. Lorraine screamed.
I gritted my teeth and fought against the burn. A bullet wouldn’t kill me—I was immortal—but it still hurt like a bitch.
I hit the guy with the gun with the back of my hand, and he flew across the grass, landing with a thud and a crack. The other three were on me, hitting me with their bats and chains and spiked balls. It hurt like hell, but I fought back. I knocked one guy out, and he collapsed to the grass. I nearly tripped over him when I attacked the second one, the spiked ball raining down on me.
Magic pressed in on us. The men were using the magic in the air to attack me, along with their physical onslaught. It was just me against the rest of them. I wouldn’t lose—eventually, I would kill them and it would be over—but the guy with the gun I’d hit got up. Instead of attacking me again, he turned to the cabin. To Lorraine.
Shit.
I should have kept him close so I could keep an eye on him. I should have been more careful instead of using brute force.
He lifted the gun. What was he aiming at? I tried to spin around, to see if Lorraine had gone back inside, but the attacks rained down on me. I realized what was going on. The magic, the weapons, none of it could kill me, but they didn’t want me dead. All they wanted was to keep me distracted until they could get to her.
They wanted to take her away again.
“She’ll die if you take her away!” I shouted.
“What’s it to you if she does?” one of them asked and hit me again.
“What’s it to you if she does?” I countered, parrying a blow from a bat that shot a sharp pain into my shoulder. I winced, then kicked the asshole with the spiked ball in the gut. He doubled over and struggled to breathe for a beat.
“He wants her dead, so we’re doing what he wants,” another said.
“Who?” I asked.
Someone wanted Lorraine dead. Someone had given these guys magic so they could outnumber and outweigh me with their magic, and it was all for the sake of killing Lorraine. It didn’t make any sense.
I heard another scream, and more shots fired. My body ran cold. Glass shattered, and I heard a grunt.
Lorraine appeared from the side of the cabin. She ran, her tunic trailing behind her like a veil as she ran toward the orchard. My body flooded with relief. She’d gotten away so far, but out in the open, she wasn’t safe. And then to my horror, I saw the guy with the gun tear after her.
“Artemis!” I shouted. Dammit, the goddess was a pain in my ass, but I needed her. Where the hell was she when I needed her? She was always in my way, but now she was nowhere to be found.
Philotes appeared a moment later. “Where is she?” Philotes asked.
“The orchard,” I bit out. The magic threatened to press me into the ground.
“I’m on it,” Philotes said, and she ran after Lorraine.
