Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1) (17 page)

Gunnar pushed Nicole behind him and hurled a ball of demonfire at the nearest Ghazsul. It dodged to one side, avoiding a direct hit, but the fire singed and popped along its thick upper arm. It hissed and glared at the black streak of sizzling flesh on its bicep, then turned to Gunnar.

“Everything you do to us, Lash,” it growled, “we will do twice as slowly and twice as painfully. To her.”

“Like hell you will.” Gunnar turned to Nicole. “Stay back. Use your dagger if you have to, but keep out of this!” He needed her to listen. The primal need to protect her filled him, taking over his senses. He vowed to keep her safe, no matter the cost to him. His life, though immortal, was expendable. Her life was extraordinary, a rare light brought into the world for the purpose of saving it.

Long-buried visions sprang unbidden into his head, making him shake with rage.
Ghazsuls grinning as throats were slashed.
Screams heard and innocent blood shed as a sunny day morphed into a living nightmare
.
His family’s anguished cries. A frightened child who lost everything
.

A familiar rush surged through his veins, filling him with the red haze of rage. His rational mind slipped under as the fury of a berserker took control, and his single focus became killing the red-skinned demons. He would end their lives, one after another, until he eliminated the threat to his female. Calm and logic would return when he destroyed the demons, and when Nicole no longer stood paralyzed with fear. Only then would he be able to pull back from the precipice of destruction on which he balanced. Only then would the man she knew be able to speak gently to her, to hold her in his arms.

With a snarl of fury he launched himself at the Ghazsul whose arm was still smoking. It leapt up at the last minute, his feet connecting with its chest. It stumbled back but didn’t fall, and that gave Gunnar a split second to whirl and plunge his sword into its side. Black liquid spurted out, making the ground slick beneath them. The Ghazsul cursed loudly and swung its own blade at Gunnar, who had to duck low to the ground and roll to avoid it.

He paused, letting the Ghazsul creep closer even as its black blood continued to flow from its red body. At just the right moment, Gunnar drew upon his Lash speed and sliced upward, opening its belly completely. He followed it with a ball of fire, exploding the Ghazsul into burning bits of flesh and tissue along the forest floor.

The next demon sprinted toward him. Gunnar stood his ground.

“You would like to see her disemboweled, then?” It leered at him. “We’ll keep you alive long enough to watch.”

For a split second he was back in that awful place, frozen, watching the slaughter of those he cared for. But his childhood was far behind him. Gunnar roared and charged the demon. No longer capable of speech, he swung his sword mercilessly, landing blow after blow on the Ghazsul’s torso. It grunted and drew ragged breaths at Gunnar’s assault, its sword arm hanging low.

The tip of his sword sliced the demon’s bicep. It let out a deafening, agonized bellow and howled something in another language to one of the Ghazsuls behind him. At the same time, Nicole shrieked.

He turned to see her struggling as one of the demons held her tightly against its chest, its claw-tipped fingers tearing the flesh of her bicep. Her arm reddened as the sweet scent of her blood filled the air. The demon’s face contorted into a hideous grin as a set of black leathery
wings
appeared from its back. Gunnar stared, stunned. When the fuck had Ghazsuls gained wings, let alone the skill to magically hide them and produce them when needed?

Nicole’s anguished cries snapped him back to the moment, just before the demon in front of him took another swing. He pivoted, avoiding its blade. Renewed fury burst through his body as he surged forward. The Ghazsul stumbled on the uneven ground of the path, and Gunnar took the opportunity to sever its head.

He looked up as the leaves in the trees rustled. The Ghazsul held Nicole in an iron grip, and it was rising off the ground, its wings beating slowly with the vertical take-off. Through the haze of rage, Gunnar’s tactical mind sprang to life. Unless she had moved the dagger from its holster on her leg, Nicole wouldn’t be able to retrieve it to stab the Ghazsul. But she could do something else.

“Nicole! Bring it down!” he bellowed. He didn’t know if she would be able to understand him. His voice didn’t sound the same, even to himself. His ears buzzed, red clouded his vision, and his body hummed with battle rage. Nothing about him would be familiar to her right now. He prayed she would trust him, that she would not be afraid of what he looked like. He only knew that if she could force the air around the demon’s wings to bring it closer to him, then he had a chance to free her.

Pain seared Nicole’s arm, radiating down through her entire body. The nightmarish creature held her so tightly that her skin felt the prick of each one of its claws, and the more she struggled, the more they dug in. She was sure the ones that Gunnar had fought didn’t have wings. Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked to Gunnar for help. His blazing eyes locked onto hers, his voice roaring a command that she couldn’t understand. Her blood turned icy as the creature’s wings pushed upward, creating air currents in their wake…

In a flash of clarity, she understood.
I can prevent this thing from flying!
She grabbed at the air currents with her mind, turning them into powerful gusts that rocked the demon back and forth. It grunted and pushed harder.

Nicole reached for the breezes that swayed the branches higher in the trees, turning them into gales and bringing them forcefully downward. Her arm was on fire, but she pushed aside the pain as determination sung through her blood. The Ghazsul demon’s feet bumped the ground and it stumbled, nearly falling on her as it clutched her tightly. She continued to force the wind against its wings from behind. It let out a roar of rage as it struggled. She had precious few minutes and hoped fervently that Gunnar was right behind them.

A flash of silver confirmed her hopes as her warrior’s blade sliced down through one of the Ghazsul’s black wings. It screeched and released her. She ran for the area behind Gunnar, figuring that would be the safest spot, but the last of the red demons grabbed her before she got far. She yelped as it grasped her injured arm. Its wings were raised, their span even greater than that of its kin. Her fear turned to anger. Nicole mentally dared it to try to fly away with her.

She turned back to watch Gunnar, looking for a way to help him. Not that he needed it.

His blue eyes glowed with an inner fire brighter than any she had seen in him before. His gaze seemed simultaneously far away and resolutely focused on fighting the red-skinned demons before him. The angles of his face had grown harsher. His mouth curled into a vicious snarl and, inside, his teeth appeared longer and sharper. The tips of his fingers sprouted honest-to-goodness claws. He looked like a different, more frightening version of himself. The feral growls that came from his mouth sounded nothing like the sensual timbre she had been listening to for days.

His eyes shone as he struck relentlessly at the Ghazsul. It tried unsuccessfully to fold its wings, and now the injured wing hung at an odd angle, dragging on the ground like an unwieldy limb. The Ghazsul struck out, reaching for Gunnar’s vulnerable core, but it missed and sliced its blade across his thigh. Blood spurted from the wound, but Gunnar only grunted and kept moving.

It seemed an eternity that Gunnar’s sword clashed and clanged against the Ghazsul’s. Neither one gave in. Riveted by the battle, Nicole worried that Gunnar’s strength wouldn’t last. He had already fought off two of the things, but the Ghazsul had incurred a more grievous injury to its wing. Then again, Gunnar seemed to have barely broken a sweat. Maybe whatever made his eyes glow so brightly, whatever had changed his features, gave him extra stamina.

As he swung methodically at the Ghazsul, she saw that in his other hand he held a shorter blade. He struck the red demon in the thigh, slicing through muscle and down to the bone, making the creature waver. In the instant that the Ghazsul hesitated, Gunnar plunged the dagger into its neck and dragged it lengthwise, then drew his sword along the path that his dagger had taken. Black blood flew as the Ghazsul’s scream was cut short, its head already falling to the ground.

Gunnar whirled to face her and the last Ghazsul, who still clutched her upper arms. She had the fleeting thought that she should be feeling faint from blood loss, but she wasn’t. Maybe Gunnar was right–maybe being a Solsti had given her some enhanced healing abilities after all.

Right now, her vision was captivated by the man before her. Blood covered his body, both his own and that of the three demons he had slain. Within the hard mask of his face, his eyes flashed an inhuman blue and he let out an animal-like roar. She had no idea what was happening to him, and yet, she had no fear of him. She knew that the big demon she had grown fond of existed somewhere inside that terrifying figure.

Her captor’s wings were still extended, and Nicole focused her energy. She summoned a fierce gust that blasted it from behind, causing it to stumble and loosen its grip on her arms. Grabbing her dagger, she spun and hurled it at the demon’s belly.

It lifted off the ground, avoiding her blade, only to screech and dive for her. She hit the ground as Gunnar jumped in front of her, landing in a crouch. With his sword pointed at the demon’s soft underside, it had seconds to change direction. Breathing hard, it landed several feet away from Gunnar.

She rolled a short distance away and crouched near a cluster of thick shrubs, watching the two demons circle each other. This Ghazsul moved as fast as Gunnar, and in a flash it unsheathed its sword and thrust forward. Gunnar dodged the blow, but the Ghazsul repeated the strike, this time rising slightly off the ground as it struck. Gunnar’s shoulder took the tip of the blade before he could pivot out of the way.

That bastard
. Gunnar could probably take it down eventually, but she wanted so badly to help. And she didn’t want him to garner any more injuries, accelerated healing ability or not. Since the creature hadn’t folded its wings, it was as dumb as it was ugly, and it was fair game.

“Try that again,” she murmured.

The two males parried back and forth. Gunnar managed to fling a few fireballs, but the Ghazsul dodged most of them. Nicole watched and waited impatiently for her chance. Finally Gunnar got the opening he needed, and tossed a ball of fire directly at the Ghazsul’s belly. The red demon had to rise up a few feet to avoid being incinerated, and Nicole was ready for it. She instantly summoned a vicious vortex that caught the huge leathery wings and knocked the demon on its back. Swifter than she had ever seen him move, Gunnar released two fireballs. Flames consumed the Ghazsul in seconds, reducing it to ashes on the forest floor.

Nicole rose from her spot next to the shrubs. Gunnar turned to stare at her, his eyes travelling the length of her body before returning to meet her eyes. Blue fire pierced her with an expression she couldn’t read as he stood there, still as stone. “Gunnar.” She took a step toward him.

He opened his mouth, flashing those newly sharp teeth, and made a muddled sound.

“Don’t try to talk.” She stepped closer. “You’re hurt. I want to check your leg and your shoulder.” He rumbled something deep in his throat that may have been a warning, which she pointedly ignored as she walked within arm’s reach of him.

Sharp features and unnatural turquoise eyes regarded her as he remained motionless. She still didn’t understand what had happened to him or if he was going to stay that way, but she was compelled to draw nearer. “Gunnar.” She put as much tenderness in her voice as she could, gingerly extending her hand. His eyes glanced to her open palm and then back up to her face.

To her surprise, he dropped to his knees in the grass, his head bowed. She instantly knelt in front of him, winding her arms around him, mindful of his injured shoulder. He shuddered and relaxed into her as she gently stroked his hair. She murmured his name, not caring that she was now covered in the same blood and demon guts that slicked his clothes. Finally he raised his head and looked at her.

Familiar blue eyes locked with hers. Big hands that were calloused—but not clawed—skimmed lightly down her arms. She reached up to caress his cheekbones, now softened into the gorgeous face she knew. Frowning, she put her thumb on his lower lip and peered inside his mouth. Yep—his teeth were back to normal, too. A smile of relief filled her face. “Welcome back,” she whispered.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and crushed her to his chest so tightly that she could feel the pounding of his heart. He lowered his head and buried his face in her loose hair, her ponytail long gone. Drawing back suddenly, he cupped her face in his warm hands and gazed at her for a moment before covering her mouth with his. He kissed her tenderly, as if she was a delicate flower. She parted her lips to flick her tongue against his, reminding him that she was far from delicate, and he groaned as he deepened the kiss. He broke away to graze his lips across the tip of her nose, then he murmured her name. Or rather, he tried to. His voice crackled like broken gravel.

“Gunnar.” She searched his face. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, and then came fully back into himself. His hand went to her arm, inspecting it.

“This cut
was
deep,” he croaked as he gave her wry smile. “Looks like you’re able to heal quickly, too.” He scowled. “When that demon did this to you, I wanted to rip each of those claws out one by one. Through his throat.”

She blinked. “Um, okay.” Shaking off the violent image, she met his eyes. “Gunnar, what happened to you?”

He looked at her for a long moment. They were still kneeling, so he pulled her down to a sitting position and seated himself next to her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me. I mean, yeah, you
looked
scary…but I didn’t think you were going to hurt me.”

He took her hand. “I would never hurt you. I know I’m not capable of that, no matter what state I’m in.”