But Laird pressed a hand into his chest. "Take your time about that. You probably have a concussion, and you are definitely going to have a headache. I managed to get the little one off you, but the blonde came after me for it." Then Laird tipped his head back, making it clear they weren't alone.
"Did we get 'em?" Thane asked.
"No," Laird said. "I think most of your team is dead. At least half of the other. They're still checking bodies to see who's actually dead and who just got knocked out."
"Yeah," Thane grumbled, and this time he managed to actually sit up.
His head immediately began pounding. The side of his face hurt. Shit, everything hurt. He couldn't count the number of times he'd hit the ground, and Mei had slammed into him more than once. That little she-devil was meaner than he would've expected, but she hadn't killed him.
For just a moment, he sat there with his head in his hands, waiting for the pounding to recede to something a little more tolerable. If he tried to stand up now, he had a feeling the blood wouldn't move with him, and he'd pass right the fuck out with everyone around watching. Then again, that might prove the point, but he didn't feel quite that strong yet.
"Any idea who survived?" he asked his brother.
"Me," Laird said. "She just drained me." He tugged at his shirt, the sound of cloth making Thane peek around his hands to see a bite on his brother's shoulder. "When I was too weak to stand, she punched me in the head."
"Temple," Thane corrected. "Takes less pressure there to knock you out cold. She knows what she's doing, so she would've hit your temple."
"All I knew was pain, then nothing," Laird said. "I did notice that she knew my name."
"It may have come up," Thane admitted. "I was a little distracted at the time."
"Yeah," Laird breathed. "Pretty sure that's the only reason I'm alive. So, the good news is that she didn't kill all of us. A few are seriously injured and may never recover. Some will be out for weeks or months. The Cardinal called in a clean-up crew, and this entire area is in an awareness bubble right now."
"I need to help them," Thane realized. "I need to find out how much of my team is left."
"Brice and Dale," Laird told him. "Lucas is alive, but only barely. They've already taken him to the hospital. Yes, a real hospital. He needs a transfusion, because he lost a lot of blood. His arm is broken, his leg, and someone said he had a skull fracture."
"Dahlia," Thane realized, remembering the pipe she'd used.
"The other one tore through men like she was a beast," Laird went on. "Dahlia planted herself in the middle of those mounds of dirt and made us all come right at her. We couldn't use Words without hitting our own, and she used that to do as much damage as possible."
"Think the Bishop's going to ask why I'm alive?"
Laird shook his head. "No. I made it clear that the little one was killing you when I used a Word I've only been allowed to train with. It drains them, Thane. That's why she drained me. To refill what I took."
"And they were both filled up when we hit," Thane added. "They were fucking ready for us, and if you hadn't used that Word, they would've cleared this branch of the fucking Church."
"And the whole time, the Bishop and Cardinal were waiting back by the trucks," Laird whispered. "Pretty sure they won't make that mistake again."
"Yeah," Thane grumbled as he rolled to his knees and then clambered to his feet. "I'm kinda hoping we don't see those women again. Shit. That's at least fifteen hunters lost."
"And three priests this time," Laird added, moving to hook Thane's arm around his neck. "Walk slowly. I'm not convinced you won't fall over otherwise."
"The back of my head hurts," Thane said, reaching up to rub at it.
Sure enough, there was a knot there. A big one. The strangest thing was that he knew Mei had taken it easy on him until the end, and all because he'd made a mistake. Or, more accurately, he hadn't wanted to stake her. He'd punched her instead of killing her, and she'd noticed. Even in her demonic form, she'd been completely coherent and aware - which brought up a bunch of new questions he wanted to ask those women.
But he'd never see them again. If they knew what was best, they'd get the fuck out of town, even if they had to walk. Just thinking about that sucked, though. Once they were gone, he'd never see either one again, and Dahlia would forget about him in a matter of weeks. He hated it, but it was what was best for both of them.
With Laird's help, Thane made it around the corpses of his former team. Thane saw a few faces he recognized. He saw more that were so battered that he couldn't identify who they used to be. He also didn't want to look too close. The one thing he couldn't miss was the man standing at the back in long red robes, looking like something straight out of the Vatican.
"Cardinal," Thane greeted the priest.
The Bishop stepped forward. "You seem to be a very lucky man when it comes to this demon, Thane."
"Don't really feel like it right now, Bishop," he replied. "I was sure I was a goner, but I almost had her."
"Then what happened?" the Cardinal wanted to know.