“I strongly recommend that we all stay put and wait for the convoy to pass,” Caspian whispered. “Some, if not all of you, might get killed if you try anything against these beasts.”

“Some of you? Not including yourself in that statement?” I raised an eyebrow.

He gave me an acid smirk.

I could smack him. I could totally smack him.

“I’m not suicidal. I’m only trying to help,” he replied. “You can’t get yourselves tangled in another fight now, even if you do have a dragon. You need to get to Fiona and get the hell out of these gorges before you all end up as pit wolf chow.”

“I hate to say this, I really do,” Hansa sighed, her brow furrowed, “but Lord Kifo has a point.”

No, don’t say that. He’ll give me a smug smile, and… There it is.

Caspian loved being right, apparently.

“There are plenty of them, and those giant fiends are something else entirely,” Hansa continued. “We have to get to Fiona before it’s too late, and we can then gather more forces from Calliope and tear these gorges down altogether, and—”

A bone-chilling growl, like chunks of glass being scraped against a pavement, came from above. We all froze, then glanced up and noticed the elephant-sized pit wolf baring its enormous white fangs at us. Its red eyes glistened with hunger; thick threads of drool hung from its lower jaw.

“Crap,” I heard Jax say.

We jumped back, drawing our swords. My heart nudged into my throat, and my blades were soon up and ready. It was too late to debate this further. We hadn’t even seen or heard the beast move.

Our only choice was to fight.

“Stand back,” Blaze said as the pit wolf growled and wiggled its hindquarters, ready to pounce on us.

We scattered to both sides as Blaze erupted into full dragon form. He knocked over a couple of redwoods. I dodged one of the massive trees, which landed heavily to my right.

The daemons went on high alert, raising their swords and spears. Half of them charged us, while one of the fiends left behind set the other pit wolves loose. The rest guarded the cages, which came to a screeching halt. The Imen inside gathered in the middle, crying and trying their best to cover each other from whatever came next.

We spread out and darted toward the first wave of daemons coming. Caia ignited her lighters and fashioned two impressively thick fire whips, which she used to lash at one of the pit wolves, while Patrik muttered a spell under his breath and summoned a spray of intense blue fire from his hands, aiming it at the armored daemons.

Their protective gear made it more difficult for us to kill them but not impossible, as evidenced by Hansa’s broadsword chopping a couple of heads down like she was an expert lumberjack. In the absence of mind-bending as a useful weapon against the daemons, Heron and Jax made full use of their blades, flashing from one daemon to another. Their blows were swift and heavy, drawing spurts of crimson blood as they tackled multiple opponents at once, dodging hits and veering left and right between them.

Blaze tackled another pit wolf, snapping his fangs at it between brief sessions of clawing and spiking daemons. His tail was most effective in this part of the gorge, flailing and lashing around with deadly precision. Soon enough, bodies started to drop, most of them mangled and torn into pieces.

Avril was handling her fair share of daemons, while Scarlett used her stunning speed to confuse a second pit wolf, slashing its limbs whenever she managed to get close. Caspian was right—these oversized dogs were faster than the average Mara or vampire. Luckily for us, so was Scarlett.

Speaking of the jade-eyed devil, Caspian stayed close to my side as we fought incoming daemons. I was extremely energized, with an extra kick in my step I instantly attributed to Caspian—I could feel his power burning through me, rivers of bright green fire igniting my reflexes as I swerved to the left and ran my sword through the narrow space between two metal plates mounted on a daemon’s torso. I drew blood. The fiend hissed from the pain but didn’t get his chance to strike back. I turned and stabbed him in the neck, both blades protruding beneath his chin.

“Harper, watch out!” I heard Caspian say.

I heard shuffling behind me and jolted out of the way, just as a spear missed my hip by an inch. I charged the daemon, bringing both swords down in a flurry of repetitive hits. My foot went out to the side, kicking his left knee hard enough to make him falter in his defense. It was all I needed to bring one sword across and cut his shield arm off in one move. I swiftly followed it with a 360-degree twist, both blades extended to separate his head from his neck. Blood sprayed out. I caught a glimpse of Caspian fighting two daemons at once.

Blaze growled as he continued to plow through the first wave of daemons, until two pit wolves tried to sink their teeth into his muscular thighs. He managed to catch one in his jaws, crunching and chewing. The beast squealed and eventually stopped moving. The other yelped and scampered to the side, looking for another attack angle, while Blaze spit his partner out and proceeded to launch his calculated attacks against other daemons.

Two more were coming at me, but I didn’t get a chance to fight them. A sharp pain pierced through my stomach, and I stilled, unable to breathe. I saw Caspian freeze, his mask torn off and horror imprinted on his face. I glanced down and gasped at the sight of a blade poking from my abdomen, of blood flowing out of me and pooling at my feet.

My knees grew weak as I realized we had more company. Invisible hunters had joined the fight, and one of them had just stabbed me with a long knife. The pain spread out through my torso, and I felt warm blood rising in my throat. This wasn’t going to kill me, but whatever came next most definitely could.

I tried to move, but all I managed to do was cough up some blood before the daemon kicked me in the back. He didn’t stand a chance, though, as Caspian slashed his opponents down in a fit of rage and lunged at the invisible fiend behind me. The daemon kicked me again, trying to set his arm free. I fell flat on my face, my entire body shuddering and breaking into a cold sweat, the pain too strong to let me stand up or even push myself off the ground.

Caspian’s roar made my muscles tighten. He rammed his sword through the invisible daemon’s eyes. He then scooped me up in his arms and carried me away from the hot zone, hiding us behind a redwood. He put me down, my back leaning against a stone. I struggled to keep a steady breath, the pain searing through my torso.

“You’ll be okay,” he breathed, then bit into his wrist and pushed it against my lips. “Drink!”

I nodded and let his blood fill my mouth. I suckled at his wrist with greed, feeling my insides burn as they healed surprisingly fast. His jade eyes were clouded. He chewed on his lower lip, occasionally glancing down at my wound.

The pain subsided as I drank more of Caspian’s blood, and I nearly choked when I started seeing ribbons of color flowing out of him. I could feel my gaping wound close, the muscles and tendons repairing themselves. The battle raged on behind us.

I could feel him. I could feel his emotions tickling my senses, a mixture of pitch-black anger and bright blue hope, thoroughly intertwined with something warm and gold, a feeling I wasn’t sure how to label. His gaze softened as he withdrew his wrist and wiped the blood from my lips with his thumb.

It turned out I finally had an open channel to Caspian’s emotions. And his blood had facilitated that.

Hah… Gotcha now…

My spine tingled as he leaned closer, his nose brushing gently against mine and his expression soft. His breath warmed my lips.

“Don’t scare me like that again, Miss Hellswan,” he whispered, the green pools in his eyes darkening. “I didn’t come all the way here to watch you die.”

He slipped his arms around my torso and helped me up. I leaned into him, comfortable against his firm chest, and looked up.

“Thank you,” I sighed, once again revitalized and eager to get back into the action behind me.

He was the first Mara I could read, and I tried very hard to stifle my satisfaction, feeling it spread all over my face with a wide grin. He frowned.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing.” I cleared my throat and pushed myself away, pleased to be able to stand on my own again. “Just… Thank you…”

Caspian nodded, then quickly scanned the battlefield.

“Your swords are back there,” he noted, then put his hands on my shoulders. “Ready to go back in?”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Patrik drawing water from the nearby stream to reveal the dozens of invisible daemons that had invaded this part of the gorge. There were fewer than twenty armored daemons left, but at least five dozen hunters as backup and three remaining pit wolves.

The rest of my team was holding its own while the Druid tried to reveal as many invisible daemons as possible. Judging by the way the air rippled across the battlefield, they were strategically scattered, as if they’d already figured out Patrik’s range.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I said.

I darted out and went straight for my knives. Two daemons obstructed my path. I drew my long knives out as I slid down onto my back and slipped between one daemon’s legs, slashing the insides of his thighs before I reached for my swords.

I sheathed the knives and grabbed my twin blades, then jumped to my feet.

Caspian threw me a casual wink and a smile as he engaged another daemon. My heart fluttered in my chest, and I rode that feeling into another fight.

Three daemons snarled as they charged me from three different angles.

“Three’s a party!” I grinned, and let loose.

Whatever flowed through Caspian’s veins passed as blood but was loaded with delicious energy. I’d had my fill earlier, replenishing my sentry strength, but I was even more buzzed after drinking his blood. My muscles tingled as I gripped the handles on my swords and switched to an attack stance.

This was going to be good.

These bastards won’t stand a chance.