“Then sit and eat. I don’t want you swooning with weakness later.”
He grinned and shook his head. “I’ve never swooned in my life, woman.”
“There’s always a first time for—”
“Did you hear that?” he asked, his body going tense and alert.
“It was just the horses.”
Iain lifted his blade and went to the door. “Stay inside. I’ll go check.”
“I’m sure it was nothing,” she said, but the frown marring her smooth brow gave away her concern.
He gave Serena a long look so full of love that it nearly brought Jackie to her knees. She’d never much thought about finding true love. Her education and then her career had been more important. She’d always thought that there would be time for romance later, after she’d accomplished the things she wanted to do with her life. But now, watching this, she began to wonder if her priorities had been all wrong. Not only had she not done what she’d wanted, but she also had no one in her life to love.
“I won’t risk your safety,” said Iain. “Especially not while you’re still vulnerable.”
Serena followed him to the door, peering through the window. Jackie went to the closest window, which was on the adjacent wall. She couldn’t see Iain, but what she did see was several spots of glowing green.
Fear sliced through her and she began to shake. “There are demons out there. Synestryn,” she warned Serena.
Of course, Serena couldn’t hear her, because Jackie wasn’t really here. This was just a memory—a past event from Iain’s life. It had all already happened. She couldn’t do anything to change that. Could she?
Only one way to find out.
Jackie reached right through Serena to get to the doorknob. Her hand passed through the brass knob, too. Holding her breath, she stepped forward and went through the door and was standing outside.
The glowing green eyes had come closer. She could see Iain’s broad back headed toward a barn. He scanned the area, but a wagon was blocking his line of sight.
Jackie raced forward to warn him. She called his name, but he couldn’t hear her. He couldn’t sense her presence.
Finally, Iain went past the wagon, turned, and saw them coming. Serena burst out of the back door, shouting. He saw her and started sprinting back toward her, his face a mask of anger and fear.
“Get back inside!” he yelled.
The demons broke through the brush and came at them, running on all fours. Their powerful legs ate up the distance, sending chunks of dirt and weeds up behind them.
Jackie crouched behind a tree trunk, desperately working to combat her fear.
This wasn’t real. It wasn’t happening. She wasn’t even here.
But Iain was. He made it to the doorway just as the first demon attacked. His sword was raised, his mouth open around a vicious battle cry. He swung down, hacking at the demon’s furry back.
It let out a hissing scream, and black blood splattered out from the wound. Iain kicked the monster away, sending it crashing into the next one behind it. He backed up a couple of steps into the doorway so he could take on the demons one at a time.
There were at least six of them. Their black, furry bodies melted into the dark landscape. It was only when Jackie saw their eyes that she was able to tell how many were truly there.
Iain continued to fight, lopping off the head of one demon while another leaped over its back to go for his head. He ducked just in time, but the demon went sailing though the doorway, into the little farmhouse kitchen.
Where Serena was.
Jackie went racing across the ground to warn her, but by the time she neared, it was too late. The demon was inside and Serena was facing off with it, wielding a sword of her own.
She was fast—faster even than Iain was. There was less power behind her swings and thrusts, but she kept the demon at bay while Iain worked to kill the last two outside.
In the distance, Jackie saw a new set of lights approach and heard the rumbling of something big coming closer. The lights were yellow, not green, and as the sound grew louder, she could just make out the shape of people. Some were on horseback, some were in a wagon.
They were human, and, based on the swords many of them carried, Sentinels. A woman in a pale green gown stood in the back of the wagon as it slowed. In one hand she held a globe of fire. She flung it toward the fight. White fire spilled out over the demons and Iain. It slid off his skin, leaving him untouched, but the demons screamed as their fur ignited.
Iain turned before they’d even finished falling, and charged inside to deal with the demon fighting Serena.
Jackie could see only motion—Iain’s big body moving and flashes of black fur and a pale gingham skirt. She held her breath, walking closer to the house, where at least a dozen people were speaking in hurried voices.
A second later, the demon’s head came flying out through the door and passed through Jackie’s body. She swallowed down a wave of nausea.
Iain came out, his arm around Serena. Her face was pink from exertion, which seemed only to make her even lovelier.
“We’re under attack,” said a man on one of the horses.
“Where did they come from?” asked Iain.
“Everywhere. We need to take shelter here. More are on the way.”
“More Synestryn or more Sentinels?”
“Both,” said the woman in the green dress. “Serena, your mother is doing what she can to slow them down so we could warn you.”