I roil as I sail through the air.
And then I land on the roof of the car.
I don’t waste one second of my element of surprise.
I jut out two deadly legs through both windows, grab hold of the first thing I feel, and yank them out, throwing us to the ground.
My bike loses balance, crashing as it flips side over side.
The car rockets forward, staying centered for just a few seconds before it veers off the road.
A roar unlike anything this verse has ever heard before rips from my maw as I strike and billow my shadows out.
They’re both dressed in all white, head to toe. So there isn’t an ounce of doubt that they are the ones I’m after.
I roll with the momentum we have as they both cry out. Instantly, the air is filled with brilliant white light. But I don’t slow. I’ve gotten used to the burn of an ultralight. It will take a lot more than a single touch to take me out now.
I grab the woman by the front of her shirt, roll, and launch her as hard and far as I can manage.
I don’t have time to see where she lands. I round, my eyes fixing on the man as he scrambles to his feet.
As he gathers his light, I pounce forward.
Every one of my claws faces his direction, poised and deadly.
We collide, and with satisfaction, I feel three points of contact as they sink into his flesh.
“Darkling whore,” he grinds out, our faces just an inch from each other.
The light gathers and his flames glow brighter. And he pulses, the burn searing through me as I am thrown back, rolling across the sandstone.
“Serena!”
Jaxon’s yell billows out, loud and sharp and clear.
I look over for just a moment to see him cut across the median and shift as his bike goes down to the ground.
No, no, no!
I need him to stay away. I need him safe. I need distance between him and the Kindred.
He collides with the Kindred man, flinging his arms wide as he leaps and then gripping him in a vice bear hug. They both go down to the ground in a bone crunching, smashing roll.
I climb to my feet, but before I move an inch, a white-hot fire smashes into me from behind. Fingers dig into what is generally my throat, and the flames surge so hot I feel as if I’m melting, and I’m mostly made of smoke right now.
I roar with everything in me and throw myself backward onto my back. She screams out as my entire weight crushes her to the desert ground, and I get a second to twist out of her grip. My pincers whip out, gripping her around the ankle, and I drag her to me.
My maw opens wide, exposing all of my fangs.
And I bite down. Just as her arm lunges forward, her palm sonic white, blazing with fire.
I bite down on her arm, all the way up to her elbow.
And she pulses with flames.
“Serena!” Jaxon bellows somewhere behind me.
I let out an unearthly shriek as pain flashes through me from the inside out. I let her go, stumbling back five steps.
The ultralight woman doesn’t relent one second. She stalks forward, her hands held at her sides, her fingers splayed wide, fire dancing on them. Her eyes glow savagely white.
“He doesn’t belong to you,” she hisses in that terrifying crystalline voice. “He has been prisoner to the darklings long enough.”
“I was never her prisoner,” Jaxon bellows. “Get the hell out of Las Vegas and leave my wife alone.”
The word spikes love and adrenaline and fear in my blood all at once.
Wife.
No, we are not legally married.
But it doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t make a difference.
Because I will die here, right now, to protect him.
With a savage roar, I take advantage of the woman’s stunned silence, and grow my form, doubling in size. I’m a demon of endless claws and limbs and howling rage.
I throw myself at her, crushing her to the ground.
I spare just a moment’s glance at Jaxon as me and the ultralight woman fight ferociously.
He’s beautiful. Jaxon’s fighting ability has always been beautiful to me.
He’s savage. As he throws his clenched fist, I don’t know how anyone could survive it. As he sinks his hands into the man’s chest, literally gripping him by the skin there, I’m sure he will rip the Kindred man in half.
“Serena, get out of here!” Jaxon bellows as I get tossed to the ground, rolling end over end.
“Not without you!” I scream, my voice utterly terrifying. “Not until they’re dead!”
I throw myself at the woman, and she falls back, her head smacking the ground with what should be a crushing force.
But guardians do not feel pain or injury the same when we are in this form. When we shift back, it’s going to be another story. It will all hit then.
But for now, we’re all running off pure adrenaline.
Just a few more minutes. Surely, all the other darklings will be here in just a few more minutes. And then this will be over quickly.
The Kindred will be dead. And we can breathe easy again. For a while.
The woman grips into my back, her touch searing me. I throw myself back, landing on top of her as she lets out an oof sound, followed by a curse.
Something grows hot beneath me. I feel the burn growing with every millisecond. So hot I feel as if I’ve been doused in ice water. So hot, a feral scream rips from my mouth.
I bound off of the woman.
I can’t breathe. My lungs. Do I even have lungs as a darkling? If I do, I can’t inflate them.
I stumble back a step as the woman gets to her feet once more. Her jaw is set hard, her eyes fixed on me with killer intent.
I try to suck in a breath. My vision is swimming.
What did she do? Surely she must have sunk her flaming hands all the way to my core.
I stumble back another step.
Everything looks dark. I thrive in the dark. But this is something different.
“Serena!” I hear Jaxon scream. I hear a fiery fist hitting a fiery face.
I stumble back another step.
Everything hurts. It shouldn’t hurt this much.
I look down and see a hole in my chest. I focus on rearranging my form. On closing it.
But I can’t.
“Serena!” Jaxon screams.
I look over.
I see the man he’s been fighting off break away from Jaxon. He barrels toward me, closing the ten yards of distance.
The woman stalks forward as well.
I feel my knees weaken. I feel my grip on my guardian form slip.
And suddenly, my entire body flashes with crippling pain.
I drop to the ground, completely human.
The look on the ultralights faces is evil. They’re filled with so much glee. I’m vulnerable like this. They can kill me now. It won’t even be hard.
My vision flickers.
“Jaxon,” I breathe out, reaching an arm out toward him.
I can’t pass out. I can’t pass out. I have to save him. I have to get him away from them.
“Serena!” Jaxon calls out again, and his voice ricochets around in my brain.
He grows brighter. Brighter. It’s as if I watch it in slow motion. He steps forward. He brings his hands up, his palms facing the man and the woman. Brighter. Brighter. He’s so brilliant, I should squint my eyes closed.
But I can’t stop watching him. I can’t take my eyes off him.
The entire world bursts into light and fire.
The man and the woman are flung forward, and land just five feet away from me.