Chapter Twenty
Vanek
His eyes instantly pierced the darkness, seeing the Outsider looming over his mate.
“GET OVER HERE!” he roared, calling upon his fire and flinging it at the creature.
A flexible tendril of flame wrapped around the beast. Vanek pivoted and yanked on the fire-whip. The creature flew through the air toward him. He let it go, dismissing the whip as soon as the Outsider was airborne.
Instead of waiting for it to come to him, he ducked aside and rushed forward to Harlow’s side.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he panted, the effort of the fire-whip leaving him a little lightheaded. “But you didn’t answer your phone.”
“That’s because I’m mad at you!” she snapped, focusing on his voice immediately. “You left me. Abandoned me! I told you not to do that, and then you went and did it, and—”
The words died as he covered her mouth with his, kissing her for as long as he dared. Vanek’s ears were focused elsewhere, listening as the Outsider extracted itself from the crumpled wall of the warehouse where it had impacted.
“I’m sorry about that. I was going to tell you the truth last night, but this thing ambushed me on the way there.”
“Yeah. What the hell is that thing?” she asked, suddenly remembering the creature. “And what the hell did you do to it? Do you shoot fire? Like that spider guy?”
He smiled. “Not quite like that. I told you, Harlow, I’m a dragon.”
“Right.”
“I was in a hospital bed all night and today recovering. Otherwise I would have been here at your side and kicked this thing’s ass already.”
Behind him the Outsider shuffled forward and Vanek rose to meet it, turning his back on Harlow, aiming to keep himself between it and her no matter what.
“Well, can you kick its ass now?”
“Yes,” he said, a quiet fury building in his voice. “This time I’m not going to get sucker-punched. This time I’m going to be ready for it. And this time it’s going to wish it had never messed with Vanek the Crimson.”
He strode forward, sword forming in his right hand, whip in his left. The fire flickered and cast its light across the warehouse, providing more than enough light to see by. Above him the warehouse lights had gone dark again. The Outsider must have done something to them, he figured.
“You shall not pass!” he challenged, slamming the sword into the ground and drawing a line. Sparks flew and the concrete melted away under the intense heat of his red-orange blade. In its wake a black gouge remained, nearly six feet long. Vanek stepped up to it and readied himself.
He wanted to change into a dragon, but the energy just wasn’t there. His earlier ordeal with the Outsider had left him weakened, and only the fact that Harlow was in immediate danger was keeping him on his feet. The effort was taxing him heavily, and his face was strained with exertion. Sweat beaded on his forehead and started to drip as he waited.
Across from him the Outsider regarded him cautiously. Vanek wasn’t sure how he knew, since it had no face or features that he could see, but yet somehow he knew it was evaluating him, cautious to act. After all, it had hurt him badly the day before, and yet here he was seemingly ready to throw down and do battle with it.
At last it determined that it must be little more than a façade, a show of nonexistent strength, and it came forward.
Vanek prepared himself to protect his mate, sacrificing his life if it meant she could escape to safety. But first, he would need to fully occupy the monster’s attention.
A black arm flicked at him with blinding speed and he barely got his sword up in time, dismissing the whip and using two hands to counter the Outsider’s immense strength. It still hammered him down to one knee, but his arms never gave. With a roar he pushed back, rising to his feet and lashing out with a booted foot, hitting it square in what would be the sternum on a human.
The black armor cracked under the mighty blow and it flew backward ten feet, landing on the ground. A casual sweep at the floor lifted it to its feet however, and on it came. The two clashed over and over, each time Vanek finding a way through, keeping it from crossing the line.
He wasn’t winning though, and each time it became a little harder for him to stop the creature. It was toying with him, and he knew it, but there was little else he could do. Until Harlow regained her wits, he had to stop it. No matter the cost.
Going on the counterattack he drove the Outsider back, summoning up his energy reserves and pouring them into the blows. Five steps. Ten. Fifteen.
And then abruptly, just like that, it planted its rear foot and stopped his next blow cold, the impact making his forearms tingle.
Uh-oh.