A shrill scream suddenly pierces the air and we slow to a stop, right before the roof is blown off the Early Bird Inn.
“Lena,” I whisper, shock rooting me to the ground as I watch wood planks and debris float down into what was once the second floor of the inn, but now is just a blackened, smoldering hole. The same floor on which I chained and entombed a pleading Lena.
But the shock barely surfaces before a voice suddenly booms within my mind. A raspy, seductive voice I’m beginning to know better than my own.
“The East gate has been breached. The Soulless have invaded your city. Gather your weapons and protect your home.”
“Did you hear that?” Kace gasps. “That was -”
“Lena,” I growl, relief warring with irritation at the discovery that she has another Gift. A human with two Gifts.
More fucking secrets.
“The human district,” Kace whispers.
Then there are no more words as we bolt down the street. Not when Griffin rushes to join us. Nor when Calder, Silas, and Ajax appear. Not when bleary-eyed immortals, solemn fae guards, and terrified humans rush from their shops and homes, brandishing knives and swords to run beside us. No sounds can be heard besides our breaths sawing from our lungs and our feet pounding against stone. Not until we race through the market district do we begin to hear the screams, which grow louder and more tortuous as we round the hedges of the Gods Garden and enter pure chaos.
Hundreds of humans fill the street. Their shrill cries meld with that of the creatures’ frenzied shrieks. Screaming women drag sobbing children. Terrified men frantically board up windows. Families huddle atop homes. But there's no escape from the snarling Soulless crawling into windows and ramming through doors.
An undead scurries to the top of a hut and claws at the thatched roof, diving headfirst into the home. A woman’s scream quickly follows, but it instantly cuts off. A man rushes a Soulless with a pitchfork, stabbing it in the abdomen. It takes no notice. Pouncing on the man, it buries its fangs into his throat and then discards him, adding his bloodless corpse to the dozens of twitching bodies littering the pitted road.
It's a massacre.
Ruby flecked shadows trail behind the Soulless, blackening the night even more and obscuring my vision. I squint my eyes, trying to see past to the East gate, needing to know how the Soulless breached our defenses. My stomach hollows out when I see the East gate undamaged and spread wide open.
“Someone let them in,” I breathe.
Traitors… traitors everywhere.
“Fuck!” Kace shouts, running his hands through his hair.
A Soulless catches sight of us and snarls, racing towards us. Reaching over my shoulder, I unsheathe my sword and meet his snarl with a growl of my own, slicing cleanly through its neck. Turning my back on it before its body crumples to the ground, I look to where Silas and Calder hover nearby.
“Search for any survivors and take them to the brothel,” I order, assessing the ramshackle building. It’s not secure in the least, with its thin windows and flimsy door, but the Soulless haven’t reached it yet. That’s more than I can say for the humans’ homes. “Check everyone for bite marks before they enter.”
They both nod and unsheathe their swords, jogging away to the closest hut.
“Ajax, gather as many males as possible and form a barricade.” Leveling my sword, I draw a line through the air where the human district ends and the Gods Garden and market begins. “Don’t allow anyone or anything past.”
Ajax hesitates, frowning. “What about the survivors? Shouldn’t we be helping them escape?”
Glancing down at the street, I watch as humans who were dead only moments ago rise to their feet, now enshrouded in shadows with glowing red eyes and wickedly sharp fangs. “No one leaves.” Knowing Ajax won’t dare question me further, I pivot away. “For the rest of you,” I shout, readjusting my grip on my sword as I stalk forward, Griffin and Kace beside me, “kill every last one of them.”
Battle cries sound behind me just as I reach a Soulless crouched over a man, feeding off his twitching body. Its head snaps up with a snarl and I swing my sword, cutting off its head before stabbing the man in the heart.
“Kill anyone who’s been bitten!” I call out, stabbing a woman in her eye as it begins to fill with glowing crimson. That's all we need right now. Soulless breeding more Soulless. Adding my people to their ranks.
A claw swipes at me and I duck. Swinging my sword upward, I slice through the creature’s wrist and swing again, severing its head.
Another charges toward me, frothing red spittle and I kick out, connecting with its chest as I grab my dagger from its sheath and stab up beneath its ribs.
I jerk my dagger free and as its body falls, I hear a pain-filled shout. Lifting my gaze, I see Griffin struggling against three Soulless while clutching his abdomen. I throw my dagger, hitting one of his assailants directly in the heart. Griffin stabs another just as I reach him, and I skewer the third Soulless through the back. Gripping Griffin’s arm, I drag him up to his feet. “Are you alright?”
He winces. “I’m fine.” Peeling his hand back, he peers down at the blooming red spot. “It got me with its claws.”
A shriek sounds behind him and I shove Griffin out of the way, raising my sword. But when I move to swing, another blade suddenly spears through its chest.
“I hate these things,” Kace says, kicking the dead off his sword before spinning to swipe at another.
A Soulless lunges at my side and I dodge it, slicing above its knee. It topples to the ground and I stomp on its head, crushing its skull. A loud, concussive boom rumbles beneath my feet and I look up, finding a fae with orange, glittering hands shooting fire orbs at the Soulless surrounding him. They instantly catch fire but continue forward, burning torches who pounce on the fae with a screech.
Dumbass.
I can't even feel pity for the fool as I watch the demons feed off him. He knows just as well as I or any other Cascadonian that the Soulless can’t be killed by magic. Before, we only had to concern ourselves with fangs and claws. Now, he'll burn Seboia to ash in his stupidity.
Just as the thought enters my mind, a flaming Soulless runs into a hut. Screams and shouts sound inside before the thatched roof catches fire, blazing into a wildfire that quickly spreads to the hut next to it, then the ones beside that one. Until all the homes on that side of the street are inflamed in billowing, orange flames that rise as far as the eye can see, a beacon to the Stars of our destruction.
I cut down one Soulless, two, then three. Seeing a small pocket form between me and the next approaching undead, I seize my opportunity.
Dropping my sword, I quickly summon my Gifts, blasting away the Soulless nearest to me with a torrential gust of air. Then I raise my hand, water streaming from my palms towards the huts, dousing more than half, but many still burn.
It'll have to do.
A Soulless reaches for me. When I crouch down to retrieve my sword, Griffin stabs it in the eye.
“How many more are there?” he asks, color returning to his cheeks as he swipes a blue glittering hand in the air, flipping several of them ass-over-end into the swarm.
“I don’t know,” I growl, wiping the sweat from my brow. Frustrated, I don’t have time to think of strategy when faced by the unceasing horde of Soulless. I swing, stab, duck, and slice, felling one creature after another, but they keep on coming. Raising my dagger, I stab another in the ear canal, when a new cacophony of screams reaches me. Snapping my gaze to the East gate, I watch as dozens of Soulless flood into the city. Before I can figure out a way to handle this new development, roars sound behind me. I whip around to the sight of a line of demons attacking the barrier.
