“Are there any more coming?” I stepped on the body of the nearest naturi, indifferent as to whether he was dead yet, as I walked toward the closed door.

“Yes, but we have a couple of minutes,” Danaus said, following close behind me. “The last of them are in with the others.”

I shoved open the door and for a second my confidence slipped several notches. The room looked like a cyclone had blown through. All the furniture had been destroyed. Exquisite landscapes were ripped off the walls, their heavy frames used as weapons. The walls were pockmarked with bullets and gaping holes created by flying bodies. Corpses littered the floor, broken and torn.

Sadira stood in one corner with a wounded Tristan behind her. One of the legs of the chair she’d been sitting in was tightly clenched in her fist and her fangs were bared. Other than the fangs, she still didn’t look like a vampire, just a mother protecting her child. Of course, we’re talking a half-crazed, bloodthirsty mother with her blood-splashed yellow shirt sticking to her thin frame and dark hair flowing down her back.

My Gabriel still stood strong beside her, a knife in one hand and a naturi short sword in the other. I didn’t want to contemplate how long he had been without ammo. His right shoulder and left thigh were bleeding, but he didn’t waver, so I hoped the wounds were superficial. I couldn’t lose him too.

And in the eye of the storm stood Jabari. His energy pulsed in violent waves through the room. At least a dozen bodies circled him, torn apart in various ways. The nightwalker stood empty-handed, covered in the blood of his enemies. Jabari didn’t use a sword or knife. He preferred to take apart his enemies with his bare hands. It was a lost art.

Watching him face down the five naturi that currently circled him, I remembered why I had always loved him. I loved his strength and his power. I loved that I only felt anger radiating from him, no fear, no doubt, no indecision. With little effort and no hesitation, Jabari pulled the heart from a naturi’s chest. He tossed the two objects carelessly aside and moved onto his next prey.

And deep down I knew I was standing in that line, no matter what happened from here on out.

“Shall we?” I said, looking over at Danaus as I tried gauge the best place to enter the fray. Relieving Sadira and Gabriel would probably be the wisest place to start. Jabari was doing fine on his own.

“After you,” Danaus said, motioning for me to precede him. I was beginning to think he was enjoying himself. He was splattered with blood and a line of sweat ran from his temple to his hard jaw. His narrowed eyes were keenly focused on the naturi in the room, weighing their skills. But there was also a glitter of amusement there, soaking in the thrill of the battle and the rush of adrenaline. At that moment, Danaus was more of a predator than the naturi could ever be. He was a dark stalker riding the wave of blood and death, his human side obliterated.

With a slight shake of my head, I jumped in, lunging at the naturi that was backing Gabriel toward the wall. After a couple of exchanges he was dead, his head rolling across the room. In the spare moment between adversaries, I tossed Gabriel the gun I’d been carrying. I wasn’t sure how many bullets it still had, but it was better than nothing.

“Keep back and make sure nothing comes through the door,” I said over my shoulder as one of the two naturi attacking Danaus rushed me. We crossed swords, circling each other the best we could considering the floor was thick with miscellaneous body parts and slick with blood. Poorly balanced with my left foot on someone’s chest while my right foot rested on another’s hand, I blocked an overhead blow aimed to split my skull. I finished by swinging my blade down, cleaving my foe in two.

Half stumbling off the dead body, I looked up in time to see Danaus skillfully finish off his opponent with a neat spinning slash that not only lifted and threw the naturi across the room, but cut him clear to the spine. While I was skillful with a sword, watching Danaus was like taking in the Russian ballet. I could feel more than see the ripple of muscle and sinew dancing beneath his tanned skin. Every movement was precisely timed and balanced for the maximum effect. The light throb of his powers tumbled from him to wash through me.

I glanced around the room. Jabari was down to his last two naturi. Sadira knelt beside Tristan, her bloody hands cupping his pale cheeks. Gabriel leaned against the wall near them, struggling to catch his breath.

“How bad is it?” I inquired, looking down at the young nightwalker. We were all covered in blood, making it hard to tell who was actually bleeding.

“The cut isn’t deep, but the sword was charmed,” Sadira said, flicking worried eyes over to me. There was a smear of blood across her forehead, and her blood-soaked clothes clung to her slender frame, making her look even frailer.

“It slows the healing. It’s more pain than actual poison. He’ll survive,” I said, turning my attention to my guardian angel. He stood staring down at the gun in his hand, a frown on his full lips.

“He died saving my life,” I volunteered, struggling to keep my voice steady as an image of Michael lying in my arms flashed across my mind. I should have been paying more attention. I might not have been able to sense the naturi, but I should have heard the door opening or the footsteps.

Gabriel nodded. “Then he died happy.” His fingers tightened around the handgun, his expression hardening. He’d said the words as much for me as for himself. My brown-haired angel had outlived three bodyguards now. The other two had been brash and careless, picking a fight when they should have known better. Michael, in contrast, had been smart. He knew when to keep his head down and how to follow orders. In the end, I was just bad for him.

Forcing my attention back to Danaus, I pushed those regrets aside for now. They would only distract me and get me killed. Later, I would cry bloody tears for my fallen angel. The hunter was staring toward the broken window, his expression intense and drawn. It wasn’t good.

“Here they come.”

I was already moving before the last word crossed his lips. Jabari had just ripped the arms off his final opponent and was standing in the open in the center of the room. Much like Michael had with me earlier this horrible night, I put my shoulder into Jabari, throwing us both to the ground as a barrage of arrows entered the room through the window. These bastards were starting to become predictable.

Frowning, I looked down to find Jabari staring up at me with a stunned look in his wide brown eyes. I guess I would have too, had I been in the same position. Less than an hour ago we’d tried to kill each other.

“It’s been years since we had fun like this,” I said, lying across his strong chest.

Jabari gave a weary sigh, his eyes suddenly turning sad. His face had lost its walking dead look. He looked almost human, or at least a little less like a corpse. “I still do not understand you, desert flower.” He reached up and tucked a dirty, wet strand of hair behind my ear. “But things have not changed between us.”

“I don’t expect them to. You are just one of the many people who wish to kill me right now,” I reminded him as I rolled off his chest and to my feet. I remained squatting down as another barrage of arrows soared through the room. I could smell his blood now that we were so close. He had been cut. It was impossible to tell how many times or how deep. As an Ancient, he would be able to tolerate the pain better than most, but without rest or a meal, he was going to slow down. We all were.

“Promise me something,” I continued, my eyes locked on the window.

“What do you desire?” He knelt beside me, his long body tensed and ready for the attack. His soft accent rippled across me like a soothing hand rubbing my back.