Page 40 of Bound By Love
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Saber wouldn’t allowthem to take her; he’d fight to the absolute death before that happened. He swung his sword as he kept his back to Caro and his senses attuned to how she was faring.
As he worked, he carved through Savages and joyfully watched as they burst into flames and ash. He’d happily destroy every last one of them.
Unlike before, when they had less to fear, the swords kept them at bay, but the Savages circled as they tried to find a weakness in their defense. Behind them, the demons watched and waited for the inevitable fall.
But as they circled, more descended from the hillside that Caro had gone down. The demons weren’t taking any chances on losing them; they’d unleashed an army.
Caro’s father had trained her how to fight with swords, as well as countless other weapons. She should be tired from this night’s emotional and physical drain, but the adrenaline pulsing through her made sure she was wide awake and ready to kill any who dared to threaten her or Saber.
Her fear for him also had her moving with a speed and strength she’d never experienced before becoming mated to him. Their chances of making it out of this were smaller than a snowball’s chance of surviving Hell, but she’d fight to the last second.
She swung, lunged, and hacked at the monsters closing in on her. The sword made them a little less brave, but their rapidly increasing numbers helped build their confidence. Of course, none wanted to die, but they’d sacrifice some of the weaker ones to take them down.
She wondered if those soon-to-be sacrificial lambs had any idea it would be them. She suspected the Savages who were already plotting this course knew who.
Sweat beaded her forehead, crept down her spine, and stuck her pants to the back of her knees. The clang of metal hitting bone filled the air, as did the hisses and screeches of the Savages.
At least the freaks had stopped shrieking like they did when they first emerged from their cars and pursued her into the woods. The near silence of so much death and brutality was strange, but she’d hated those sounds.
For every Savage she cut down, more emerged. It was as if they were pouring out of the earth, like the dead rising from their graves.
Where do they all keep coming from?
Occasionally, she glimpsed the freaks on the sidelines, standing with their arms clasped and their eyes burning out of the darkness. It was unnerving to have those demons standing there, watching them, but she tried to ignore them as spiders of unease ran down her spine.
She swung to push an overeager attacker back. As she did so, one broke through her defenses on the right and charged her. Its arms encircled her waist as it propelled her through the crowd, to the ground, and into a rock.
Pain exploded through her shoulder, but she suppressed a grunt as she commanded herself to keep moving. The rotten stench of the thing engulfed her, and she restrained a gag as she slammed an elbow into its face.
Blood gushed from its broken nose; it yelped as its hands flew to its face. With her sword in hand, she scrambled to get away from its weight, but the others descended like vultures on carrion before she could rise.
Fingers entangled in her hair and wrenched her head back as their hands pulled at her face. They shredded her shirt as they yanked her arms behind her back, tore her sword away, and lifted her from the ground.
The loss of her sword was more painful than the fingers they broke as they pulled it away. They’d taken a piece of her, and she wanted it back!
Lunging against them, she tried to break free, but there were too many, and it was impossible to break their iron hold on her.
Saber roared when they ripped Caro to her feet and surrounded her. They shouldn’t betouchingher or be anywhere near her, yet they were all over her.
With his knife in one hand and his sword in another, he hacked his way through the Savages surrounding him. Ashes filled the air, blurring his view, but he didn’t care as wrath fueled him.
He was spiraling out of control as Caro’s red eyes met his. He wouldn’t ever be a Savage again, but he could tap into that worst part of himself and unleash it on those who deserved it most.
Power thrummed through him, his muscles swelled, and his veins hummed. When he swung his blade again, he saw the red and black color seeping through his skin. The demon part of his purebred DNA was taking control as it surged forth.
They had his mate, and he wouldn’t allow that to stand.
He was about to carve into one of the Savages holding her when four shots rang out. Almost as soon as he heard the sound of them, the bullets peppered his back, tore into his spine, and his legs went numb.
Saber almost went down but somehow managed to stay up, though he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. The Savages weren’t trying to kill him; they would have put a bullet through his heart if they were, but they were determined to bring him down.
It was difficult, but he somehow willed one foot in front of the other as he hacked his way through the Savages surrounding her. He lost sight of her in the ash filling the air, but she was there, and he would get to her.
Then the wind shifted, and he spotted her as she lunged to break free of her captors. She bared her fangs and, like him, red and black color seeped across her face.
He wasn’t the only one losing control, and he wasn’t the only purebred whose mate was threatened. These demons and Savages had pushed the two of them into a whole new realm of pissed off.
