Fuck. The woman was going to get herself killed before he could do a thing to stop it. He had to get between her and them before she got too close.

Rage poured through him, giving him strength and speed. Three of the sgath had turned to look at her. He plunged his sword into the back of the skull of the closest one, pushed himself over its body, and jerked the sword from its twitching carcass from the far side.

Two of the beasts abandoned him and lunged toward her. She stopped, skidding over the ground, leveled the shotgun, and fired.

Her eyes squeezed shut and her body jerked with the force of the weapon, but her shot had hit one of the sgath, knocking it into the next.

They went down in a pile of claws and teeth, fighting each other for a few precious seconds.

Madoc jumped toward them, slicing through the air as he landed. This sword’s balance was different from the one he’d used for centuries, and because of that, his aim was off by a fraction. Rather than lopping off the head, he missed and his sword lodged in one of the sgath’s shoulders.

The thing turned on him, baring its teeth. Madoc kicked it in the head with his boot, stunning it.

He heard Nika scream his name in terror. His gaze went toward her, unable to go anywhere else in the face of a scream like that. He saw her point at something behind him; then her body crumpled to the ground like a puppeteer had cut her strings.

Madoc bellowed and headed for her, needing to catch her before she hit the ground even though he knew it was a futile attempt before he’d even started moving. He felt something tug on the back of his leather jacket; then a cold blast of wind hit his back as claws barely missed his skin.

Madoc turned toward the sgath, his sword lifted to defend against another attack.

The sgath that had slashed his jacket to pieces was in the process of clawing at him again, only now that the blade was in the way, it ended up severing its own paw.

Behind that one, there were still four more coming for him. Only one of them was injured. Those weren’t good odds on the best of nights, but tonight, with Nika lying helpless only a few feet away and Madoc fighting with an unfamiliar sword, the odds were fucking grim.

Instincts embedded in his DNA demanded that he protect her. He’d come here tonight to die, knowing that the sgath left alive were strong, smart, and fast. A six-on-one fight was a lost cause waiting to happen. If he took out half of them before he died, he’d be lucky. But the rules of the game had changed. Nika was at stake now, and that changed everything.

Madoc bellowed, rushing the closest sgath, forcing it back with a series of fast, short jabs from his sword. None of the strikes hit, but they moved the fucker back enough that he wasn’t going to be trampling Nika with his booted feet.

The injured sgath was busy licking up a puddle of its own blood, which would heal it, but there was nothing Madoc could do about that. He’d kill it when he could. There were four more to deal with right now.

Two of them moved out to his sides to flank him while the one in his face kept his attention. He saw them moving, knew what they were doing, but there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop them until the odds were more in his favor.

Madoc swiped at the one nearest, angling to his left.

The one on his right let out a deep hissing kind of growl, and the others’ ears twitched as if listening.

Then, as if they’d choreographed it, all four of them charged at once.

Madoc fell back. One of them got in a hit on his arm. Its claws cut through his leather jacket and raked over his skin. He could feel the sting of poison as it entered his system and knew he was totally fucked now. First, his reaction speed would slow; then he’d simply collapse, leaving Nika defenseless.

Like hell. He’d just have to take them all out before that could happen.

The sgath snarled and snapped as they fought to get closer. He kept his sword moving to fend them off, unable to get in a clean blow. With each beat of his heart, his movements became slower, his mind foggier.

He was failing Nika, letting her die. These things were going to kill him; then they’d tear her delicate flesh apart and feed on her blood.

Rage exploded inside Madoc, driving back some of the effects of the poison. He kicked one of the sgath away with his boot, giving himself a little room to maneuver.

Of course, that gave them room, too, and the one that had already gotten in a blow came back for seconds. Only this time, it wanted a bite.

Sharp yellow teeth closed in on Madoc’s thigh. He saw the bite coming, but was too busy with the other sgath to stop it. He braced himself for the blow, hoping it wouldn’t take his leg clean off and fuck up his balance.

Then suddenly, there was a streak of oily fur where the thing had been a second ago as one of the other sgath attacked it. It turned on its own kind and sank its teeth into its fellow sgath’s neck.

Madoc didn’t question his luck. There wasn’t time. With those two distracted, he had a fighting chance.

He shoved his blade through the bottom jaw of the sgath on his left, pinning its mouth shut. Then he levered its heavy body at the tip of his sword, flinging it at the one left standing. They toppled over. Madoc didn’t wait for them to regain their balance. He followed, hacked the head off one, and leaped over the pulsing arc of black blood that spewed out of its neck.

A hard boot to the side of the next sgath’s head kept its teeth away, but its back claws caught Madoc’s leg. Pain and fury collided in his chest, coming out as a ragged bellow.

Madoc sliced off the offending paw and shoved his sword into the thing’s gut. It wriggled and howled as he cut it open. It took only seconds to kill, but each one of those seconds left him slower and groggier than before.

The two that were fighting continued to do so while Madoc sneaked up behind the one trying to heal itself with its own blood. His blade dived down in a deadly arc, but his strength was fading and the cut wasn’t clean. His sword lodged in the thing’s spine. It bucked, knocking Madoc to the ground. The motion shoved the sword in deeper, which must have cut through something vital. The thing collapsed, twitched twice, then went still.

By the time he managed to push his shaking body up, only one sgath remained. Its jaws were shining black with the blood of its kin and its glowing eyes fixed on Madoc.

He was too weak to defeat it. He could barely lift his blade.

The thing stalked toward him, its body shaking as if something was wrong. Madoc braced his feet apart and blinked in an effort to clear his fading vision. As he neared it, it lifted its head as if offering itself up as a sacrifice.

He didn’t trust what he was seeing. It had to be the poison fucking up his vision.

Or maybe this was some kind of trick.

Madoc lifted his sword. He’d use every last scrap of strength he had defending Nika. It probably wouldn’t be enough, but he had to try.

The thing came closer. A deep growl slid from between its teeth, but they stayed clamped shut as if held that way by an invisible muzzle.

It got to within sword range and stopped.

He had no idea why it would do such a thing, but he didn’t question his luck. He lifted his sword and lopped off the thing’s head in one clean stroke.

The motion knocked Madoc down. He could smell the blood of the sgath mixed with the scent of his own.

It wouldn’t be long before they had company.

He reached for his phone, hoping to call for help, but it was gone. He hadn’t replaced it.

Fuck.

Madoc peered over the cold ground to where Nika lay. Her hair was the color of the snow surrounding her. Her breath came out in white plumes, proving she was still alive.

He ached to go to her, to curl himself around her body and hold her close. He wanted her to be the last thing he felt before he died.

But he was bleeding, drawing nasties from their dank hidey-holes. He needed to get as far away from Nika as possible.

Madoc pushed himself to his feet, only to fall down again. He was too weak to stand, so he pulled himself over the frozen ground, crawling away. The poison was raging through his system now, making him cold, slowing his limbs, and stealing his thoughts.

But he remembered Nika. Her soft skin only he could touch, her pretty eyes so full of trust, her boundless faith in him. He’d take his memories of her with him. No fucking poison on earth could steal those from him.

Chapter 10

Nika almost got trapped inside the dying sgath’s mind. She knew she had to stay until the last second and hold it still while Madoc killed it. He was weak and bleeding. Without her help, he would have died.

But the sgath was strong and it fought her hard, nearly winning several times. In staying inside its mind while it died, she’d nearly died, too.

She came back into her frigid body and immediately began to shake. A groggy kind of light-headedness settled over her, and she idly wondered if the effect was from her mental wandering or possible hypothermia.

As soon as she was able to move, she surveyed the area, looking for Madoc. The headlights cast enough of a glow for her to see a trail of red in the snow.

Madoc’s blood.

Her world spun in panic, making her dizzy and breathless. Beside her, the truck’s engine hummed. Below that was the tinny, distant sound of voices.

Her cell phone. Help.

Nika found the phone in the snow and grabbed it up with clumsy hands. She pressed it to her cheek as she struggled to stand. “Help,” she said. “Madoc’s hurt.”

“Nika?” It was Nicholas’s voice. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“No. But Madoc is.”

She was still wobbly, but she had to find him. Her legs shook with every step, but she forced them to move and take her to Madoc.

“Help’s on the way, Nika. I’ve called in everyone nearby. The chopper’s in the air. Just stay on the line with me, okay?”

Movement caught her eye. She saw Madoc crawling over the ground, pulling himself along on his belly.

She raced to him, slipping in the snow as she went. From here, she could see the wet shine of blood covering his arm.

She fell to her knees at his side, feeling like her guts were being squeezed. He wasn’t supposed to get hurt. He was too strong for that. He was supposed to be invincible.

“Madoc.” His name came out as a whisper of fear.

“Get away. Blood.”

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving you alone.”

She grabbed his hand. He tried to pull away but was too weak.

“Go. Please. Can’t fight.”

“Help is coming.” She only hoped it would get here in time.

She started to ask Nicholas how much longer it would be when she realized that she’d dropped the phone somewhere along the way. She didn’t want to leave Madoc, but she needed to know what to do to save him.

“I’ll be right back,” she told him.

She hurried back along the path she’d taken until she found the cell phone. Lying only a few feet away was Madoc’s sword.

She very well might need that if the Synestryn came, so she grabbed it up.

The metal was freezing. The weight of it startled her. The way he whipped this thing around, she half expected it to be light.

She didn’t know how she was going to swing it if things got bad, but she knew she’d find a way.

By the time she got back to Madoc, he’d crawled another few feet.