The invaders were beautiful and even a brief glance at them was painful. I knew what they were and it made my stomach roil. I didn't think they left their land very often, but apparently they were tired of waiting for their Queen. The Fairies had come for Gemma because she had refused to go to them. They did not look happy to see her and I knew her minutes were numbered. This was not working for me.
The Kev no longer looked like David Hasselhoff. He was a gorgeous avenging Fairy in hand to hand combat with three other viciously beautiful people of his race. Gemma had shifted into something that resembled a shimmering Dragon with fangs that put a prehistoric tiger's to shame. She was roughly the size of an SUV and I said a quick prayer to Uncle God that the floor would hold.
It was happening so fast I wasn't quite sure it was happening at all. Instinct took over and I began to shoot magic from my fingertips that should have turned the ethereal bastards to dust, but only served to piss them off.
"Ethan," I shouted. "Behind you!"
He turned quickly and decapitated two ferocious Fairies with his bare hands. They were headed for Gemma and would have happily made my mate collateral damage along the way. His furious roar bounced off the walls of the room and captured everything I was feeling. Who did these pretty cocksuckers think they were busting in on game night and destroying my house? I was so done with people messing up my stuff. It was one thing if Sammy did it…Oh my God. My baby.
As I began to run to the nursery next door, I was trapped in a chokehold by one of the best looking dudes I'd ever seen. He had no idea what a mistake he was making. I was a mother who was going to protect her child and he was in my way. Bad fucking move—very bad.
My scream stopped time and the Fairy tried to back off, but that was so not happening. His ass was mine. "Martha and Jane, nursery," I shouted. "NOW." They were insane, but they would die for my child.
"On it," Martha grunted as she literally flew from the room with Jane in tow, kicking every Fairy in the head as they left. How in the Hell could they already fly? Honestly, I didn't care—I was overjoyed that they could fly. It would mean they could grab Sammy and get away from here if need be.
Above the frightening sounds of the battle I heard The Kev commanding a reluctant Gemma to transport to a safe house, but she was having none of it. She fought savagely right alongside her man. However, The Kev was right—she should leave until we got rid of the enemy. I needed to kill a Fairy real quick and then have a brief word with my BFF. First things first…
"You're just a woman," the Fairy snarled with disgust as long, deadly claws ejected from his fingertips. "A filthy Vampyre to boot. I eat shit like you for breakfast."
"Oh my God," I shouted to the room. "This stupid assjacket eats shit. That is soooooo gross."
Pam's cackle from across the room as she, Venus and the King destroyed Fairies almost made me smile.
"That's not what I meant," he screeched as he noticed other Fairies laughing at him.
"Well dude, you're gonna have a really hard time living that shit eating thing down—so I'm gonna help you out with that."
His anger made him sloppy, which was exactly what I was banking on. Fairies were some of the deadliest warriors around. I silently thanked The Kev again for my training. He was the most deadly of them all, evidenced by the way he was ripping through Fairy after Fairy as they tried to abduct Gemma. Ethan had killed his share and was headed for the nursery. With a quick nod and one last decapitation of a Fairy on his way out of the room he winked. God, he was hot. A man who could rip the head off a magical asshole and then make my panties wet while I was getting ready to kill a shit-eating immortal bully was a total keeper. That calmed me greatly. My son would be fine with his father and the old hags. I needed to off the rude dude and make sure Gemma escaped.
I closed my eyes and pulled magic from the darkest part of my soul. This was over. Now. The pain shot through my body like hot knives, carving up my insides. I jerked and convulsed as the black magic coursed through my system. The Fairy laughed. I glanced up through my agony and I smiled. That was the last thing he expected and it was the last thing he saw. My scream hurt my own ears, but the sound of popping Fairies was like soothing music. They didn't just drop and turn to dust. Nope, the beautiful monsters burst into sparking glitter and flames in every color of the rainbow. It was breathtakingly macabre. I had killed all the bad ones and thankfully not The Kev and Gemma.
"Astrid," Venus yelled frantically as she wrapped her body around mine. "Are you okay? Do you need blood? Gemma, come over here and give her blood."
Gemma shifted back to herself and pressed her wrist to my mouth. I bit down and drank.
"Pancakes?" I asked weakly.
"Yep, pancakes." Her smile did not reach her eyes, but her love for me was evident.
Anything my BFF ate, I could taste in her blood. Ice cream was one of the things I missed most about being human and my beautiful buddy made sure I still got my fill. It had come in tremendously handy when I was pregnant and craving pickles and Taco Bell bean burritos.
"They're gone," The Kev said with rage simmering in his voice. "Astrid, you've done well. Only two escaped."
"I missed two of them?" I asked, surprised.
"They had already run from the room," he answered with disgust. "I will find them and destroy them," he promised.
"Gemma, you have to go into hiding," I said as I sat up gingerly and took in the destruction of the room. The cleaning service was definitely going to quit.