Assassin's Kiss by Sharon Kay Page A

her gut reaction—then again, did she need to? Were they not unexplainable by nature?
    She watched in awe as he summoned his own twin balls of orange flame in his palms. He feinted a throw to one mage, then switched direction to send them toward two others who lurked near a line of shrubs. His fire flew with unrivaled speed, so much that she could barely track it. Apparently, neither could the mages. Agonized howls split the air as they fell helplessly to the ground. In seconds, they were gone.
    The other two Bronwy guards fought, seemingly equally matched in sword skill. Tessa gulped, knowing if the Vespera guards used a dark spell, her guards would go down.
    The remaining three Vespera guards turned on Scorpio, hurling blue fire from their hands. Scorpio returned the volley with his own fire, and two huge booms echoed through the air as his demonfire met their witchfire. Blue and orange blazed overhead.
    Operating on pure instinct, Tessa grabbed another blade and flung it at one of the males. She hoped that the seconds he’d wasted staring up at the fire ball would benefit her…and her knife sailed according to her intent, sinking into his neck.
    With a strangled shout, he dropped to his knees and turned his dark gaze to her. He extended his arm.
    “Duck!” Zeebi grabbed her arm and yanked her down.
    Tessa dove for the grass, expecting blue fire, but all she heard was a yelp. Peeking through her hands, she saw the Vespera mage engulfed in orange flame.
    But the guard still facing off against Scorpio snarled. Tessa’s breath came in choppy gulps as she wrestled with the strange new feeling of wanting to defend the demon. What is this? I shouldn’t care if he gets hurt.
    For reasons she couldn’t explain, she knew she’d do anything to prevent that from happening.
    The Vespera mage’s mouth moved, but one of Bronwy’s remaining guards charged him. Orser favored his broadsword, which Tessa had enhanced. With a slice the mage couldn’t anticipate, Orser drove it deep into the male’s side and twisted. A garbled cry escaped the man.
    Tessa looked away from the gore, knowing there was one more Vespera.
    A rumble vibrated the ground and Tessa jumped to her feet. The mage was speaking, one hand extended as he fought the last Bronwy guard, Kharv. A groan came from the branches high above.
    “The trees! Get away from the trees!” Tessa gestured wildly as roots snaked up to wrap around Kharv’s legs.
    He cursed but kept swinging at the Vespera.
    “You have to kill him to stop his spell!” Tessa yelled to Scorpio.
    Scorpio darted toward the Vespera. Lightning fast, a branch dipped low in his path. Without hesitation, Scorpio dropped and rolled under it, barely slowing his momentum. Eyes locked on the last enemy, he was unstoppable.
    Roots and branches continued to encircle Kharv, who was forced to drop his sword.
    Scorpio was still running full tilt. Tessa had no idea what he had planned. He reached the mage just as a root popped up to grab at his ankle. Ignoring it, he grabbed the Vespera’s head and wrenched it sideways,
    “Oh my gods,” Zeebi said softly.
    The mage fell to the ground, neck broken.
    The roots and branches around Kharv slowly withdrew to their natural places. He heaved out a breath and stepped away from the tree. “I owe you my life, demon.”
    Scorpio eyed him. “You don’t owe me anything. I’m doing what was asked of me.”
    Orser stepped closer, getting between the women and Scorpio. “And you wouldn’t even be needing to do anything, if you hadn’t killed Pennar all those years ago. We wouldn’t have to be sneaking onto our own land.”
    “Orser!” Tessa growled, hitting him on the arm.
    Scorpio’s face remained impassive. “Those statements are factually true.”
    “But still, we couldn’t have done this without you.” Zeebi glared at Orser then looked at Scorpio. “We need these crystals.”
    “I’d rather be alive than dead by Vespera hands, that’s for sure,” Kharv