Warrior's Hope (Dark Protectors #16)(96)

Paxton shoved his heart in Ulric’s throat, his fist going all the way in.

Ulric bellowed and snapped his fangs into Paxton’s arm.

Paxton growled and yet didn’t move.

Ulric ground down as if he was going to bite through Paxton’s entire arm, and then his terrifying red eyes opened wide, his jaw going slack.

Paxton pulled out his bloody and scraped arm before taking a step back. The members of the Seven did the same, everybody watching Ulric.

Hope caught her breath, holding it. This was insane. Everybody watched mutely. Ulric shoved himself to his feet and staggered, then coughed several times. He held his stomach.

Thunder rolled in the distance, and lightning zapped across the mountains. A dark shadow crossed the sky and molested the sun, as if an eclipse had come out of nowhere.

Ulric lifted his head and bellowed. Sparks flashed through the air. Electricity arced, and the ground rumbled as an earthquake hit. Buildings began to topple.

The Seven moved as one up to the fiery ring of the circle. Benjamin, Adare, and Ivar put their heads back and yelled to the heavens, seeming to push some of the shadows away from the sun.

Brothers Quaid and Ronan lowered their chins and focused, sending visible demon energy toward Ulric in the center of the circle. Logan and Garrett stood shoulder to shoulder, hands out, seeming to harness the wind.

The fight was brutal. The wind keened, the earth cracked again, and more darkness flooded the sky. The air was electric, and it burned Hope’s skin. She gasped. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe. Her body trembled and her soul shook.

It wasn’t enough. The Seven were destined to do this, but Ulric had more power than any of them had realized.

Ulric seemed to be harnessing the power of the universe. Had he gotten some sort of extra strength being in that prison world so far away?

The entire world started to shudder and struggle.

Hope cried out, running forward to grab Paxton’s hand and drag him to the circle. Blood flowed down his chest, but he stood tall with Vero on his other side. Her team followed suit, flanking her, and then three of the most powerful immortals ever born, Dage, Talen, and Zane, ran up to finish closing the circle.

Together, they surrounded Ulric.

Hope’s body trembled, and her lips shook. “Now,” she yelled, flinging every ounce of psychic energy she could pull from the universe toward Ulric.

As one, everyone’s heads lowered, and they focused on the undulating killer in the middle of the circle. All had demon blood in them, and they harnessed the power of a demon mind attack and laser-focused it on Ulric.

The pressure had to be unbearable.

The earth rumbled again. Lightning zagged down and struck the earth all around Ulric, throwing up ice and snow. The smell of ozone burned Hope’s nostrils.

“That’s enough! Everyone back but the Seven,” Garrett yelled. “Trust me.”

Pax lifted Hope, turned, and started to run from the circle.

She looked over his shoulder, holding him tight as the members of the Seven formed a tighter circle and moved even closer to Ulric. The energy between them was visible in sparks and zapping plasma until the air morphed from a gaseous state to a thickly violent liquid.

The Seven halted right around Ulric and propelled that glue-like liquid around him.

Then everything went silent. The sun remained darkened, but the earth stopped trembling and the wind fell silent. It was the calm before the storm.

Then Garrett’s head jerked up. “Run. Retreat now!” The Seven turned and started to run away from the circle, pausing a few yards out to turn and watch.

Hope held her breath.

The atmosphere changed, grew heavy. The earth roared; the sky crackled. Ulric turned and looked at her, shock sizzling across his face. Then he exploded. As if he had eaten dynamite, his entire body splintered into pieces that flew in every direction.

Hope ducked as a femur careened by her head. Gasping, she turned to look at where the Cyst leader had stood. The earth held a perfectly scorched outline of his feet and nothing else. Everybody was silent.

Benjamin Reese, one of the Seven, appeared next to Hope. “Well, that just happened,” he mused.

Paxton looked around at the assembled group. “Did it work?” He groaned, his hand to his chest as he placed her back on her feet. Her chest was covered in his blood, and she kept a hand on his arm to steady them both.

“Certainly looks like it,” Dage drawled, his face slack. “I’ve never seen anything like that. How’s your heart?”

“Mending,” Paxton said. “It’ll be fine.”

Hope looked at him, love all but consuming her. “You saved me.”

“Yeah, and we’re going to have a discussion about you being willing to cut out your own heart a little bit later, sweetheart,” he said grimly, pulling her into his side.

Yeah, she was up for that.

Paxton looked at the group. “I would like to see peace between the Realm and the Kurjan nation. Are those cameras on?”

“Yes,” Dage said. “We made sure they recorded the entire battle. We wanted the Kurjans to see that we didn’t kill many of their soldiers when we could have. We do want peace. It’s time.”

Vero stood next to his brother and spoke in a clear and authoritative tone. “I agree. My name is Vero, son of Talt, cousin to Drake, who was the leader of the Kurjan nation until a few hours ago. As you know, the line of succession is clear.” He gestured toward Pax. “This is Paxton Phoenix, my older brother, son of Talt, cousin of Drake. Let them stand.” He pointed to the kneeling Cyst and Kurjan soldiers.