Nat’s blade cut into the middle of his target, but another beast pierced his shoulder with its claws and tossed him at the twisted trunk of an Angel Oak.
Fury burned through me.
“You’ll not hurt my friends!” I bellowed and fought toward Nat and Yelena.
A beast grew into a giant in an instant, his yellow eyes glowing eerily. This bunch was full of fucking mutants, more beasts than men, unlike regular shifters.
The giant carelessly slashed his long, sharp claws down toward my scalp.
“Fred, I need the girl alive,” the mage shouted in a human tongue in irritation.
The giant turned the direction of his claws toward my shoulders as the mage tossed spells toward the back of my skull.
I dodged, and the corners of my eyes caught a flurry of movement.
Two teams of Dominion soldiers sprang toward us from the opposite directions; one team was led by Cameron and Marie, and the other belonged to Héctor’s house.
None of them would reach the giant and me in time.
But I wasn’t some paper flower. I’d earned a reputation for a reason.
I dropped on my knees, skidding forward like a flash. When I came out from between the giant’s huge legs, I’d sliced him up from his crotch with my flaming dagger.
It wasn’t a pretty sight, but then I never pretended to be nice.
I threw my dagger, still dripping the giant’s green blood, at a mutant who thrust his claws toward Yelena’s chest. My dagger embedded into his throat.
The Dominions broke through the field and fired arrows at the mutants around me. Cameron tossed his lightning bolts at the mage, but the enemy’s shield held. Marie was fond of modern weapons, so she kept firing her gun at the beasts from a safe distance.
A flash of light and shadows burst around me, then a pair of massive, obsidian wings formed a shield around my body.
Héctor grabbed the mage by the throat with his gloved hand and lifted him into the air.
“You dare to harm my lamb?” he roared in rage, death light glinting in his eyes.
“Watch out, Héctor, he’s got nasty spells!” I warned.
But the spells the mage tossed at the Demigod of Death bounced off his armor.
“Very cool,” I cheered.
I needed to learn a thing or two from my Héctor on defense. Zak had said that Héctor was the best among them at shielding.
Within a minute, all the mutants were down as the other demigods arrived at the scene. Zak formed a second shield around me, and Axel stalked toward the portal to investigate it, his teeth bared, his spear raised.
The demigods were more than outraged that the mage and his monsters had dared to try to take me in broad daylight.
My gaze searched for my friends, and relief washed over me as I found they were all right, standing with a couple of Dominion soldiers. Héctor’s team gathered around the dead mutants and collected evidence while Cameron’s team spread out to seek more threats.
I nodded at Yelena and Nat, mouthing at them that we’d catch up later. When I turned back to check the portal again, it had shut down.
“Who sent you?” Héctor demanded, his gloved fingers loosening a little to let the mage talk, but the mage closed his eyes and refused to utter a word.
“I asked him the same question,” I said behind Héctor. “This one isn’t a talker.”
“Oh, he’ll talk,” Héctor said, and his menacing tone made me shiver.
An ice spear formed in the mist and shot toward the mage, but Zak acted equally fast and struck down the spear with his lightning.