Not kidding. Slammed himself bodily into a wall, and the crunch of breaking bone hearkened back to Mad-Dragon’s hallway snack.
Okay, that turned my stomach a little and had my pussy clenching.
Seriously, don’t look at me like that. I said I was complicated.
“Like that, did you?” Fin asked, his lips against my ear. A delicious shiver worked its way down my spine. The guy looked like an angel and smelled like one. We might be surrounded by blood and gore, but pressed up to him, all I could scent was this deep, masculine flavor and something that reminded me of fresh brewed coffee. The perfect scent to start the day.
Fuck, I hadn’t had coffee in weeks.
My hunger redoubled, and I nuzzled at his throat.
“Oh, so tempting, Beautiful,” Fin chided with the faintest of groans. “But a little busy at the moment. Just hold that thought.”
A familiar growl echoed behind me. “Don’t you dare.”
“Temper, temper. I told you she liked me best.”
A dull roar echoed through the great stone chamber we were in. And really, it was huge. The ceiling stretched up at least three or four stories. Mad-Dragon could really stretch out in here.
“Trolls,” Fin said abruptly, and Maddox swore. “A lot of trolls.”
“What is it with you and trolls?”
“My sparkling personality?” Fin quipped. A giggle escaped, he was so blasé about it. Not all doom, gloom, and scowls like Maddox. Though to be perfectly fair, Maddox was hot.
Fin adjusted his stance, and I started to wiggle to have him put me down, but he gave my hip a squeeze.
“Stay put, Beautiful. We’re going to get an opening any minute, and you’re safer right where you are.”
A pull, dark, luscious, and full of familiar lust tugged at me, and I snapped my head to the side.
Dorran.
The shadows around him thickened, and despite the herd of trolls storming toward us, it was Dorran who held all my focus. Hunger cramped my side, and I strained to pull away from Fin. The languidness weighing down my limbs evaporated. As much as the warden irked me, he could slake my thirst and quench my hunger.
“Fuck,” Fin snapped. “Maddox get over here.”
A growl reverberated as Maddox stepped into my line of sight, blocking Dorran. No, this wasn’t right. I needed him. I didn’t know this insane pair, and as charming as they might be—better the devil I knew.
The air around us darkened, even as Fin’s grip on me turned to stone. He had my arms locked down, and the grip around my legs didn’t let me do more than wiggle my feet. Not even the sweet attraction of his scent could dissuade me. A clash of bodies exploded in front of us as Maddox let loose with another roar.
Even though the twisting was in vain, I glared at Fin. Unfortunately, he ignored me in favor of narrowing his eyes at the troll looming over us. Maddox had vanished into the darkness, though the sounds of his battle roars and the collision of fleshy impacts added to the cacophony of battle. The troll bellowed with all of his stinky might, and the distraction loosened Fin’s grip on me just enough to slip free.
He swore and then barely got his hands up in time to block the troll’s huge and heavy fist. To my surprise, though really why anything surprised me at this point I couldn’t say, Fin not only caught the monstrous arm that was easily thicker than his whole body, but he stopped it. Then struck with his own fist, sending the troll sliding backward.
Okay.
That was hot.
Astral-Boy had skills.
Fiona…
The whisper of Dorran’s voice curved around me, and Fin’s lovely face vanished as the shadows closed around me. Edging right up against pain and frustration, I turned into the darkness. It had never held any fear for me. My fingers had just brushed the warden’s, when the darkness recoiled and a hard body slammed into me.
Bright light pierced the shadows, and my eyes watered at the burn. I hit the hard stone floor as the shadows whipped backwards, the tangle of them leaving me, and suddenly, all the throb of my shoulder head butted against the hunger pangs wrenching my sides, and I fucking hurt.
Seriously fucking hurt.
Legs obscured my view, and I canted my head back to find a Viking like figure standing over me. With hands that looked like they’d been dipped in blood and an expression so full of vicious wrath, he was a nightmare incarnate. Still, the warden retreated, even as tendrils of his darkness lashed out and slapped against the light, only to sizzle, pop, and burn.
I couldn’t look away. It was kind of like staring into the sun during an eclipse. I was probably frying my retinas, but what was one more agony atop all the rest? A troll shrieked at the newcomer, and Viking-guy literally tore the guy in half and then ripped off one of his arms to beat another one.
“Well, better late than never,” Fin said cheerfully as he hooked his hands under my armpits and dragged me upward. With my back against his chest, he bound me with his arms around me, even as…
“That’s Rogue.” The two disparate pieces of information snapped together like a puzzle slotting into place.
“Yup,” Fin said, then nipped my ear. “We’ll discuss you being shadow-addicted later, it’s time to go.”
The sting of his teeth scraping my earlobe sent an answering wave to all my other hurts. Somewhere along the way, I’d torn up my palms. There were gouges in my side that oozed blood, and I was pretty sure I’d bitten the inside of my lip. The blood welling up just added to my starvation.
Maddox emerged from the dust clouds and darkness, coated in gray ash with blood running in rivulets through it. Filthy, but alive.
It was a good look. Somewhere, he’d lost his shirt, but his pants held up despite being utterly shredded from one thigh down.
This was a man who could easily walk around in a loincloth and totally get away with it. To be honest, he should absolutely be encouraged.
Then the noise just kind of faded. Maddox stared at me, chest heaving and eyes furious. What the fuck did he have to be so pissed about? I wasn’t the one who started all of this. If anything, I’d gotten dragged up those stairs.
Oh. Rescue effort.
Right.
I shook my head a little to try and clear more of the fog. Why it was so hard to focus all of a sudden, I didn’t know. To be honest, it was like being drunk and fighting a hangover in the same breath, without any of the fun stuff—you know, like alcohol.
Our latest arrival spun, and if he wasn’t a gruesome sight, I didn’t know what was. The light around him had at least dimmed to not eye-popping bright anymore. But what held my attention now wasn’t the gore on him or the light he’d extinguished, but the ferocity in those too blue eyes. They pinned me in place like an insect on a pegboard.
“He’s been feeding on her,” he said in a voice so rusty with disuse, it came out even deeper than Maddox’s. “She won’t leave willingly.”
“We noticed,” Fin stated almost idly. “Why do you think we’ve been trying to hang onto her?”
“Give her to me,” Rogue ordered, but rather than release me, Fin actually backed up a step dragging me with him.
“Fight over her later,” Maddox ordered. “We need to go now. The path is clear, but he’ll bring back reinforcements.”
“Let him,” Rogue said with so much arrogance, I believed he would relish the opportunity. “Killing him would be one way to free her.”