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Theclose to Fiona, or as close as they could with all the aard benches in the way With swords drawn, they for away from her

What he feared the most had come upon him His woman was at his back and dozens of death vah the forest How could he keep her alive against so many?

They came

They were so beautiful, dark hair, bluish translucent skin, dark eyes, ods, fierce, fair of face Mon Dieu Even afterthem, he could still be almost mesmerized by such incredible beauty

But he knew their beauty served them in exactly that way--for what mortal or ascender, other than trained warriors, could withstand such ned to enthrall, to trap, to kill the mortal in order to quench their addiction to the powerful effects of dying blood

He lowered his chin and dropped into a fighting stance

Three attacked him at once, but his sword flew in swift arcs and at preternatural speed, leaping over the bench in front of him, and before he had even struck steel two pretty-boys were on the ground cut, bleeding, and flying toward death on sings

The third was older and much more skilled with his sword He matched strike for strike Jean-Pierre focused his attention on his adversary’s waist and, noting the direction of movement, he countered, struck, and decapitated him

He did not dare look behind him but he heard Fiona softly within his head Five to the left

How calm his woman sounded in the midst of battle

Five to his left and another three to his right Merde

He had never seen so many death va the night

To Fiona, he sent, Make yourself very sround, near a bench if possible

What he had to do next would require skill and much movement He did not want a blade to touch her accidentally He folded, ht, and took out three along the ha, then resu tere bewildered by thewits and approached He could not risk leaving Fiona again

He drew a deep breath, plotted his course, andwith preternatural speed The other warriors did the saround but none were dead and they would heal

What he had to do next, he did not have ti to Fiona

He moved from one to the next and took each head in a barbaric series of moves This he would have protected her froht gliround, butaway from the warriors when needed She never once uttered a sound Luken and Zacharius fought as well, in the sa of centuries

Fiona’s determination shaped itself into a rock The beauty of the death va to her, had no power over her, because she knehat they did to arrive at such beauty After all, her blood had fed the that really surprised her was how much they looked alike--not co resemblance She knew this was true of the e boiled in her blood, in her chest, in her lungs until she felt choked with it She wished for a sword in her hand and the ability to battle as the warriors around her were battling These creatures deserved death and as each Warrior of the Blood took death va primal within her rejoiced, even savored the blood that now poured over the pine needles and into the hard ground beneath

Her heartbeat pounded in her head, loud, hard thumps She should have been horrified by what she saw around her, but she kne these ht She had heard tales for months now, and she had listened to the battles of the Militia Warriors over the loudspeaker at HQ

On her dates with Jean-Pierre she had asked him many questions about what his battles were like He had been reluctant to speak at first, but in the end her persistence had been rewarded andthe enemy, because he knew each kill meant that he had saved lives

So it was that she rejoiced with every death now

The nuhting had extended farther away from her since there were bodies everywhere She recalled what Jean-Pierre had told her about Central Command, so she made a phone call to Alison who connected her Central Command served Endelle and the Warriors of the Blood, while HQ served Seriffe and the Thunder God Warriors, as the Militia Warriors were known a the ranks

"Carla here, Fiona How h no doubt Alison had told her as going on Carla worked Central during the day while her counterpart, Jeannie, served the warriors at night Both women were utterly adored by the Warriors of the Blood

"We need cleanup There have to be at least thirty, round, but soue should have Militia Warriors on standby" She heard the clicking of fingernails on a keyboard

"We’ve still got a battle going, right?" Carla asked

"Yes" The women at Central were so calm