Winter Embers [ Book 2 ]

Chapter Ten

 "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, friend," Draz replied before Claire could speak. "But Miss Belmont isn't going anywhere with you."

Ben smiled, a cool expression that never quite reached his eyes. He motioned with a flick of his hand and the cloaked figures who had emerged from the darkness began to move in. "Do you always let idiots like this one speak on your behalf?"

His eyes settled on Claire and she was reminded of the bus and how casual and easy going he had been. The way he had smiled and how anxious he'd acted when giving her his number. It made her shudder to think what could have happened if she had called him, or if Draz hadn't been around to come to her aid when Ben had shown up unannounced.

"I don't know who you think you are," Rollan said as he took a step towards Ben, "and it is true that Draz is an idiot but, loathed as I am to admit it, he's also right for a change. Claire is staying right here."

"Very well," Ben replied, his mouth curving into a smirk. "I am going to enjoy this."

Out of the corner of her eye, Claire saw a shimmer of green as a whip uncoiled from the hip of the nearest hunter. The tip brushed the snow with a soft sizzling sound, steam rising into the air only briefly before being swept away on a light breeze.

All around them other weapons were being drawn, the soft glow of magical light illuminating the darkness. Claire felt something heavy drop into her pocket and when she reached in to see what it was she was surprised and relieved when the tips of her fingers came into contact with the smooth surface of the cards. She wasn't sure where they had been up to that point, but who was she to question the nature of magic cards?

Hello again, old friends.

"Remember," Ben called out, drawing Claire's attention towards where he stood, "the woman is the only one we need to take alive."

At that, the hunters began their advance, slowly closing in on them from all sides. Claire wondered why they didn't simply rush in but saw the flames in the firepit dancing wildly and knew they were afraid of Draz and what he could do.

"Claire, get behind me," Rollan insisted in a hushed voice as he drew his sword free of its scabbard..

"No," Claire replied.

"But Claire-"

"They're here for me, I won't hide while other people fight my battles," Claire said, her tone sharp.

"Argue about it later," Draz interrupted. "We've got bigger problems!"

Rollan looked like he wanted to say more, but there wasn't time. Three hunters were coming around to flank them from behind as Ben and another approached from the front. Draz let out a loud yell and the once dying fire shot upwards in a pillar of red, angry flames that lit the surrounding area. It arched through the air, spiraling downwards in a brilliant display of fury and sheer power. It tore through the camp indiscriminately, obliterating anything unable to get out of the way. The three hunters managed to leap to safety while Ben also managed to evade the fiery wall as it encircled the trio. The shorter man who had been beside him, however, was not so fortunate.

Claire was fairly certain she would hear his screams in her dreams for many nights to come.

Draz leaped into the wall of fire and disappeared from sight.

Rollan also broke away to engage with a hunter that had leapt forward rather than back and was trapped in the fiery ring with them. There was a sharp hiss of metal on metal as Rollan's blade came into contact with the hunter's weapon -- a metal staff roughly three feet long.

She was so focused on Rollan that she didn't notice the hunter wielding the whip, a tall woman with dark hair and a dark complexion, was closing in on them.