“I have to protect them... and that means I need to keep them here until I can find a secure home for them.”
“No.” Snow frowned and his pupils stretched, turning cat-like, and his fangs extended. “It means you need to get them away from here... now.”
Payne froze.
Snow growled.
“We are not alone.”
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 15
Payne’s senses stretched out, screaming in alert. Antoine and Andreu tensed, both males pulling their females close to them. Both females broke out of their arms and readied themselves for a fight. Payne knew if he tried to coddle Elissa she would react in the same way.
Snow leaped up onto the stage, his red eyes scanning the stalls and then the private boxes that lined the walls of the theatre.
Payne couldn’t detect what Snow had sensed coming but he tried to prepare himself for it.
Witches or incubi?
Were they coming for Elissa or coming for him?
Either way, he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to Elissa or the boy.
He backed towards her, keeping her close.
What was keeping them?
He turned and scanned the stalls, and then froze as the hairs on the back of his neck rose and he caught their scent.
Incubi.
They were here for him. He growled and extended his claws. Five males appeared on the stage and it erupted into pandemonium. Payne tried to remain near Elissa as he fought, dealing with a dark-haired young male wielding a sword. It seemed the incubi had come prepared for the fight, leaving his side at a disadvantage.
Antoine growled at Andreu. “Take care of the females.”
Andreu looked as though he was going to protest and then thought the better of it, sticking close to Sera and Chica as he battled a man with long blond hair.
Snow roared and swiped his claws across the throat of a middle-aged dark-haired male, ripping it open. The sight of one of their comrades dying didn’t slow the incubi. More of them appeared, among them the two males Payne had met at the mansion. The one who had welcomed them and the one who had pretended to be his grandfather. Antoine threw himself into the fray, taking on two incubi at a time, his movements swift and brutal. Snow fought alongside him, dealing deadly blows and bloodying his hands. His eyes burned crimson.
Payne kept a wary eye on the immense lethal male, unwilling to trust him when the scent of blood was thick in the air. One wrong step and Snow would lose himself to bloodlust.
“Antoine,” Payne shouted above the din of the fight and the dark-haired aristocrat’s blue eyes met his as he punched a hole through the chest of one of the incubi. Payne caught his opponent with a right hook followed by a swift left uppercut, sending him crashing onto the stage. “Take Snow away from here.”
Antoine glanced at Snow. Snow grinned at his enemy, shredding him with his claws, his fangs enormous and bloodied. He was feeding on the incubi. No good would come of this.
Antoine nodded and then his eyes widened. Payne sensed the incubi who had appeared behind him, close to Elissa. He turned, his heart lodging in his throat. Everything moved in slow motion, his actions sluggish. Elissa’s beautiful eyes grew enormous and she clutched Luca against her. The blond incubi male brought his sword down, aiming straight at her. Payne lunged forwards, reaching for the male, his blood rushing through his ears again.
Antoine reached them first, shoved Elissa backwards out of harm’s way, and tried to evade the strike. The tip of the sword slashed across his chest, slicing through his silver-grey shirt. Red instantly drenched the material.
Snow roared.
Everything sped up then. Payne could only stare as Snow tore through the incubi, ending lives in a split second with claw and fang, spraying blood everywhere and butchering the males.
Sera screamed and ran through the insane fight, ducking under Snow’s arm as he swung at an incubus, driving claws deep into his chest and tearing through bone to reach his heart. She dropped to her knees and skidded on the blood, and caught Antoine as he collapsed.
The floor ran red with blood.
Snow stopped in the centre of the carnage, holding a male by his torn throat, threw his head back and roared, the sound deafening.
Silence fell.
Snow turned dark red eyes on Elissa.
Payne growled and moved between them, shielding her. Snow would easily tear through him as he had the other incubi, but Payne would do all that he could to protect her.
Snow’s broad chest heaved, his black t-shirt drenched in blood. It rolled down his pale thickly muscled arms and dripped from his fingers. He dropped the body of the incubus and regarded Payne with narrowed eyes.