Page 124 of Anywhere

A guard started ringing a bell and yelling something.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Nothin’ good,” Rhys answered, his eyes fixed on the guards running from all over the property.

The front property entrance erupted in noise, followed by an explosion. We fell a step back, then ducked as little chunks of debris landed where we stood like dangerous rain.

The cloaking spell that Rhys wore at all times disappeared, showing off the real weapons. They were the same ones strapped to his body, but for some reason, it sunk in just how dangerous he was.

Rhys whipped out the sharp sword at his hip and set his feet into a fighting stance as he stepped in front of me. He would die for me. I knew it, but like the weapons on his body, it only just registered what that meant. It was one thing to say I’d die for you. It was another to put yourself in the line of danger.

Rhys looked over his shoulder at me, and the look on his face pulled me out of the fog my brain had been stuck in.

“Dere be intruders. Take dis. I’ma gonna use me axe,” he said and pulled the double-sided axe from the straps on his back.

I looked to the other arena and saw four guards surrounding Belle and Elewyen, ready to fight and protect them.

“Oh, fuck,” I said, wrapping my hand around the hilt of the sword as a horde of people stormed the training area. They were dressed in tight outfits similar to those who had attacked us at the pub. This bunch only wore black, and under their hoods, they wore bright white masks. Blood flew in all directions as the enemy collided with the guards. A group broke away from fighting the guards to run in our direction, and my hand tightened on the thin metal vines that encircled the sword’s handle.

Adrenaline made my heart hammer in my chest while fear froze my legs. My muscles twitched as they sped across the grass and closed in on our location. Rhys was right. They were after us. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. They were after him.

Rhys roared as he ran at the group, not waiting for them to surround us. The sound sent a chill down my spine. It was the battle cry of a warrior. It was a cry of death, and it called to my soul. With one swing of his axe, the blade gutted three of the attackers. Each of them crumpled to the ground, holding the grotesque wounds, but it would do them no good. Their internal organs spilled out onto the grass, along with their blood.

Rhys spun, his kilt and heavy cloak flaring as the massive weapon he wielded cut through two more before they could get out of the way. As the great axe rose into the air, the unique Celtic engravings on the blade glinted in the dull light a breath before it decapitated its next victim.

Warm blood splattered my face, and I looked down to see the hot, wet streaks on my clothes. I wasn’t scared, but I couldn’t stop the adrenaline from racing and causing tremors that made my hands shake. The noise made my pulse pound harder with each passing second. I sucked in a deep breath, and my body trembled as the magic my bloodline was known for stirred within me.

It was death. It was calling to me like the sound of sweet song on the wind.

Spinning the blade in my hand, I blocked one of the guys trying to sneak around the others. He held two long knives that could’ve passed for short swords and was fast—much faster than I was used to dealing with—and I suddenly understood what Rhys had been talking about. While he moved like he was part of the breeze, I felt like a snail, my movements heavy and slow. My already sore arms screamed as I fought off the intruder, and unlike with the wooden swords, this battle was for keeps.

The metal clanged and echoed against the huge stone walls of the castle, beneath the darkening sky. It wasn’t until I let my body go and began fighting with instinct that I was able to push the guy back on his heels. I stupidly thought that things were going better until two more of the strange invaders joined, and I knew I was outmatched.

I stared at the three masked faces. The only thing visible was their eyes, and they were filled with rage and hate.

One suddenly jerked before falling forward. Dead. I blinked in confusion for a moment as I stared at the arrow sticking out of the side of his head. A flash of tan and red hair told me that Elewyen had broken away from her guards or they were dead, but she had just joined the fight.

Another arrow flew through the air as I blocked a deadly blow, and another of the intruders fell to their knees, an arrow protruding from his chest. His hands went to the wooden shaft like he intended to pull it out, but a moment later, he collapsed, his eyes no longer seeing.

I was panting hard, and yet more and more people dressed in black poured onto the property. Our guards were tiring and being beaten back from the sheer volume of invaders. I could feel Rhys’s fatigue in my chest. Could feel his movements slowing. I reached for my power, which was begging to be set free, no longer caring if it summoned all of the next fucking Faction or every hunter in the entire world. It rippled under my skin, ready.

I watched in horror as Rhys almost took a blade across the face, the poisonous tip of the sword almost delivering his demise, and a roar that sounded more animal than man ripped from my mouth as rage and fear fuelled me.

No one was going to hurt what was mine.

I dropped the sword, and the man I was fighting looked down, then back up at me. He stepped in my direction, thinking that I was giving up. His step faltered when I snarled at him. My eyes glowed so brightly that the light reflected off the shiny white mask he wore. My body vibrated as my power reached out along the ground like a bloodhound hunting for its prey. It was no harder than taking a breath to absorb the souls of those who fell into my system. The dead and their blood seeping into the dirt added to my power and filled every part of me with a desire for more.

The man raised his twin swords to strike, and I held out my hand in his direction, freezing him in place. He dropped his swords and gripped at his throat as I squeezed my hand closed. With a quick twist of my fist, his neck snapped with a distinct sound. He collapsed at my feet. His soul hovered over the hard dirt, confusion still on his face.

You’re dead. I thought a wicked curl lifting my lip. That’s what happened, and now you will end up in the purgatory of nothingness.

That was what happened when you used the souls of others to fuel your power. It was why it was normally banned unless it was extenuating circumstances. But to me, this was an extenuating circumstance. No one was fucking with my triad and those I loved.

I could taste the souls around me like dark brandy on my tongue, and I eagerly swallowed the flavour down. Letting out a shuddering breath, I called the newest soul to me, and it joined the torrent of others already coursing under my skin.

A wild fury filled me as Rhys leapt out of the way of a sword that would’ve ended his life. Elewyen jumped on the man’s back and drove a knife through his throat before Rhys took his head. The two stood shoulder-to-shoulder and faced the next wave.

A growl rippled from my throat as I stared at the coming threat. I was through with this game. I protected what was mine.