Anya Bast - Witch Fury

They were somewhere near the Conservatory. In the foyer, the Atrika and the Duskoff were still in battle with the Coven witches. The blue ball was still shooting off sparks of power-stealing magick. Even this far into the building Theo had to dodge them from time to time.

His primary concern was making sure Stefan didn’t live through the day.

“Too bad you sent away your pet demon, isn’t it, Stefan?” Theo growled. “Looks like you need someone to protect you from me.” Two huge hands landed on his shoulders and pulled him backward. Theo landed on his side, hard, while Stefan coughed and choked. Looking up, Theo had a half a second to see an Atrika standing over him before he had to roll to the side to avoid a blast of demon magick.

Guess he’d spoken too soon.

“Kill. . him,” Stefan gasped, holding his throat and staring at Theo with razor-slit eyes.

Theo bolted, grabbing his sword from the floor and whirling to face his demonic adversary, a hulking blond Atrika who looked like he enjoyed bone crunching as one of his hobbies.

The Atrika rushed him, gathering power, and Theo moved to the right, dodging a blast and cutting upward with his blade. He hit his objective, the demon’s thigh. The wound popped and snapped. Acidic blood dripped while the creature roared in pain. Apparently, this one hadn’t taken the caplium that would partially protect him from copper. That was cocky of the daaeman and very good news for Theo.

The daaeman recovered fast, though, and lunged at him, catching Theo around the waist with a roar and whirling him around to crash into the wall. A hard wave of pain slammed through Theo’s body. The demon’s acidic blood dripped onto Theo’s thigh and made him bellow. Burning agony sank deep into his skin.

Gripping the sword’s handle tightly, he brought it up and slammed it into the side of the demon’s head. The Atrika released him and turned away, staggering. Theo slumped to the floor for a moment, then forced himself back up to fight again.

Magick rose fast and hard and Theo moved to the side, avoiding the bolt that followed. It burned a hole in the wall right where he’d been standing a moment before.

Theo turned and slashed with his blade, only narrowly missing the head of the daaeman . Before Theo could even take another breath, the daaeman hefted him up with two hands and held him over his head like he weighed nothing.

Stefan sprawled on the steps with a grin on his face as the Atrika tried to snap Theo in two like a dry branch. Theo’s spine cracked and he bellowed from the sharp wave of pain.

Gods, Sarafina. He should have told her how he felt about her when he had the chance.

Then the thought was gone, replaced by a red haze of pain as the Atrika broke him in half.

* * *

BAI CAUGHT HER IN THE WOODS. HE FELL ON TOP OF her, rolling her into the leaves underneath a tall pine tree. The needles stuck into her skin, but it was only a breath of annoyance compared to the enraged, red-eyed Atrika pinning her down.

How could she possibly hope to defeat a being that had the capacity to bend space and time? She didn’t have a prayer.

Pushing that negative thought from her mind with a healthy dose of rage, she fought him like she imagined any bar brawler would do — throwing punches, kicking, screaming. She figured she was pretty safe. After all, he wasn’t going to damage his future children’s mother, right?

His hands clamped down on her upper arms and his huge body weighted hers into stillness. “Stop.” He growled. “Don’t force me to do something I will regret.” “You couldn’t do anything worse than taking me from my world and forcing yourself on me, Bai. That’s worse than death for me!” “I could kill the one you claim to love. I could do it while you watched.” He bared his teeth. “It would give me pleasure.” She went absolutely motionless. “You leave him alone.” The words came out thin and shuddering with terror. They sounded as weak as she felt.

“If that’s what it takes to break you, I will do it.” He growled again, leaning in close to her face. She wanted to gag from the stench of his breath — rotted meat — but bit it back with effort. “Because I do intend to break you.” She struggled against him to no avail. The man outweighed her by an entire person. “Bastard.” It was pathetic, but it was all she could do. Her stomach had turned to a wad of frozen dough.

Contorting enough to unsheathe her syringe, she brought it up, slammed the needle deep into his side, and pushed the plunger down. Then she held her breath.

Please, let it work .

Bai laughed. “ Vae Sarafina, do you think me stupid? I learned from my predecessor’s mistakes. I have taken enough caplium to protect me against even a direct injection of charmed copper.” Well, that was just great.

“I think it’s time we cement our relationship.” His face dipped toward hers.

In her mind that translated into. . well, a very bad thing. She couldn’t even think the word when it pertained to this being.

And it wasn’t happening.

She did what Theo had told her to never do. She yanked a huge hunk of power from her seat and exploded it between herself and Bai, using the technique Claire had taught her to get past a demon’s natural shields, while also protecting herself from the magickal backlash.

Fire arced, pushing Bai backward. The scent of burning daaeman flesh made her gag and this time she couldn’t suppress it. Groping for her sword, she pushed to her feet to run while she had a chance. She staggered, fell, caught herself one-handed in some dead leaves, and pushed back up. Her chest felt on fire.

Bai was rolling on his back, groaning as if in severe pain.

Pain arced through her, too. Staggering and falling to the ground for a second time, she gasped in agony, clutching her chest and crawling in the deadfall for a few moments before forcing herself to her feet. She’d just tossed everything she had on the table and it probably wouldn’t be enough.

Sarafina forced herself to run, even as her head swam. All she wanted in the world was to pass out, but passing out now would ensure her defeat. Gripping the sword, she ran into the woods, headed toward the road. It was late afternoon, still light outside. Maybe she could reach the road and flag down a car. Once she was in the company of a human, she might be safe.

Maybe.

Her shoes crunching on twigs and leaves as she raced toward her destination, she tried not to think about what might be happening back at the Coven. She tried not to think about what might be happening to Theo.

A sob escaped her. All she could do now was concentrate on escaping Bai. She had to take this moment by moment.

Just as she reached the small lane that led from the main part of the land to the road, she heard a whoosh, pop , behind her. Suddenly, Bai was there. He’d jumped from his last destination to here, probably figuring where she’d be headed. His face and arms were badly burned, the fabric of his shirt curled and melted. Yet she could see he was already healing.

The bastard.

He reached for her, but she swung her sword first. The tip of the blade sliced his throat. Acidic blood gushed, but it wasn’t a deep enough cut to send him down. All it did was piss him off.

Bai stood for a moment, stunned, his hand to his throat, blood seeping between his fingers. Then he fixed his gaze on her and growled low.

Sarafina stepped back and tripped on a fallen branch. Using the tip of the sword on the ground to maintain her balance, she continued backward. Bai advanced on her, power gathering around him like dark clouds.