The horned brute lumbered forwards, his black wings twitching as he narrowed crimson eyes on Keras.
Grinned to flash long white daggers.
Pandemonium broke out, lightning arcing from the sky as spears of baked earth shot up from the ground. The trio of daemons dodged every white-purple bolt, leaped backwards to avoid Marek’s attack too.
Giving his brother what he wanted.
A thick wall formed before them.
An axe shattered it, sending shards of clay flying everywhere. They rained down on the barrier, bouncing off it. Followed by the daemon. He struck it so hard that the air trembled. Cass grunted.
Daimon cursed. “Do something about them.”
Keras gathered his shadows and launched them at the males, growling when they proved again that they were faster than their size made them appear. They lifted off as one, rising into the air, and nimbly strafing to one side as his shadows snapped and lashed at them.
More daemons poured into the grounds, surrounding the barrier, clawing and punching it.
Behind him, Cass muttered something in Russian.
“You’re doing great, baby,” Daimon murmured softly.
She snapped at him. “Just do something about them!”
Ice shot up on the other side of the barrier, impaling several of the daemons. But where one fell, two more climbed over the body to continue the assault on the barrier.
There were too many.
Marek and Caterina fought as one, working with Calistos to defend the north side of the garden. Valen and Ares moved to his right, to defend the south.
Keras stood his ground in the middle, facing the gatehouse, conducting his shadows, pleasure building inside him as they ripped through the weaker daemons in their pursuit of the larger males.
He grinned as he managed to snag the ankle of one of the demonic brutes, yanked him out of the air and slammed him into the barrier. Bright blue glyphs shimmered across his skin, and light chased over the dome.
“Not helping,” Cass gritted. “I do not think it will hold much long—west. They’re behind us!”
Keras snarled and stepped there, and growled again as Enyo joined him. “I told you to look after my brother and the others.”
His mood only darkened when he caught sight of Marinda hurrying from the house, rushing to join Calistos.
“I am protecting them. You cannot do this alone. There are too many of them.” She drew her blade from the air and lowered it in front of her, rolled her shoulders and narrowed her eyes on the swarm of daemons pouring over the high wall.
She was right, there were too many of them.
It didn’t stop him from fighting.
His shadows shot up from the bushes and paths of the garden and twined around as many of them as he could manage. They screamed as his shadows tightened their hold, squeezing the life from them, turning their skin a sickly shade of grey as they devoured them.
Fed on them.
Made him stronger.
He lashed out again, only this time he didn’t need to summon his shadows on the other side of the barrier.
Because it went down.
In a bright flicker of blue light, it was gone.
Enyo roared a battle cry as she launched into the fray, not missing a beat, her sword swift justice to anyone who tried to cross the line where the barrier had curved around the garden. He focused on the others, tearing through any she left alive and injuring others, weakening them for her to finish off.
Maybe they did stand a chance.
That feeling died as two portals appeared and four huge males stepped out of them, their heavy boots hitting the ground with a thud that he felt as he stared at them. They rolled their necks and shook their heads, and wings grew from their backs as their eyes blazed crimson and horns curled from their foreheads.
“There are more of them?” Enyo flicked him a worried glance.
“Apparently so.” Keras re-evaluated his tactics, launched all his shadows at these newcomers.
Growled when he met with the same result as he had with the others. The moment his shadows struck them, glyphs shimmered over their skin.
Three powerful daemons of this breed and with this protection spell inscribed on them had been troublesome enough.
Seven was a problem.
The sixteen in total he could now sense on the battlefield had him switching tactics again.
Because even he could see when the odds were against him.
Against them.
Esher was still unconscious. Vulnerable. Aiko and Eva were in danger, even with Valen and Ares having fallen back to protect them. He thanked the gods Ares had taken Megan to the Underworld.
He pressed his hand to Enyo’s stomach and forced her back with him, keeping his gaze and his senses fixed on the four daemons advancing on them through the garden, trampling everything in their path.
Anger burned up his blood, born not only of the violation of his territory by these wretches, but from what he needed to do.
He crossed the vermillion bridge and glanced off to his left, past the wing of the house and beyond the zen garden to Marek and Caterina where they fought a group of daemons, battling to reach the smaller building where they had stored the bodies of the wraith and the other furie.
Bodies he had used as bait and now regretted it.
“Stop,” he shouted to Marek.
Marek tossed a female daemon aside and turned to look at him.
Satisfied that his brother and Caterina weren’t in the firing line, Keras launched his shadows at the building, gathering more along the way, pushing himself to the limit and pouring his strength into them and the attack.
The swirling mass of shadows struck the building.
Obliterated it.
When they parted, falling away as quickly as they had engulfed it, all that was left was rubble and scattered pieces of everything it had contained.
A high keening shriek slashed through the cool night air.
Keras’s strength bled from him as Meadow screamed again, her rage a palpable thing as pieces of the building fluttered down from the sky. Enyo caught him, supporting his weight with an arm around his waist and keeping him on his feet.
He looked at the battle and knew what he needed to do.
They couldn’t fight here.
As much as he wanted to end the furie, taking advantage of the pain she was experiencing and using the weakness her rage caused against her, as much as he hated the thought of her side winning any battle, this one was a loss for his side.
He turned towards his brothers where they all continued to fight, struggling to protect their home.
Their loved ones.
“Evacuate. Now!” he bellowed.
Everyone looked at him.
Daimon grabbed Cass, who lunged for a transformed Mister Milos, managing to get a hand on the winged lion a heartbeat before his brother whisked her away.
“Go.” Keras looked at Ares.
Ares nodded and ran for Aiko, bundled her up in his arm and raced for Esher’s room.
Valen and Eva were hot on his heels.
Marek disappeared with Caterina.
“Mari! We have to go!” Cal called and Keras looked for her.
His gaze swept back to the zen garden.
Marinda clashed hard with her furie half-sister, her eyes bright violet, her golden hair falling loose from the braid that arched over the top of her head as she grappled with Meadow. Meadow hissed in her face and smashed a fist into her jaw, sent Marinda staggering backwards.
Cal hit Meadow with a blast of wind that caught her off guard and sent her flying into the wall near the remains of the building where they had stored the bodies.