Around them, the battle blazed between Carpathians and the Lycans led by Daciana, Makoce and Lykaon and the hellhounds and Sange rau army the mages had created. Still, in that moment, it seemed as if there was only Xaviero and Branislava staring at each another.

Branislava moistened her lips and waved her hand to restore the Lycans’ abilities to move. “He’s baiting all of you. You can’t defeat him,” she said aloud. “You can’t. Join the others in fighting off his army and leave him to me.” She forced absolute confidence into her voice, the confidence Zev instilled in her. His belief in her overcame her childhood terror of this man.

Eyes darkened with anger, the mage stared at Branislava, a clear warning that he would retaliate if she tried anything at all.

Zev took a step toward the mage, drawing his attention. Branislava shook her head, but said nothing. Zev wasn’t a man who fought battles with anger or made impetuous moves. He’d deliberately caught the eye of the mage to give her time to get back to taking down the barrier and removing Xaviero’s inverted pentagram and the unholy fog.

Staring at Zev, the mage slipped his hands into the pockets of his robe and took out two very benign-looking pebbles. They were about the size of a man’s eye and smooth as if they’d been polished over and over. With slow deliberation, Xaviero opened his hands, allowing the pebbles to slip out of his palms and drop onto the furred chest of the two dead Lycans at his feet. He never once looked down to see if his aim was true. He only stared at Zev with his sneer of absolute contempt.

Zev could see that the pebbles landed directly over the hearts of both Lycans. There was no bouncing or sliding off the thick mats of fur. The pebble blazed into a curious blue-purple flame and sank into the chests of the Lycans. His breath caught in his throat as the two dead warriors spasmed. Convulsed. Began to grow. Where there had been fur, great spikes burst through skin, covering back, chest, arms and even legs. The muzzles expanded to accommodate a second row of serrated teeth. The two creatures stood up on their legs, claws growing until they were twice the size of a grizzly bear’s.

Zev sighed and looked around at the Lycans staring in disbelief. There was little of the two men they knew recognizable under the monstrous builds. “I’ll need Fen and Dimitri here to help me deal with porcupine boys,” he said in a carrying voice, going for humor when it appeared they were all doomed.

A few of the pack leaders smiled. He signaled to Branislava to move back away from the fire and into the circle of Lycans.

“You must protect the women. More than anything else that matters. You know how to kill the hellhounds, and you must deal in packs with the Sange rau. There’re more of us than them. Mob them if you have to, but take them down. And protect the women. They have to deal with the mages.”

Branka, you have to break his circle of power. I haven’t been able to find his sacrifice as of yet. I’m drawn to the other side of the fire. I’m certain that’s where he’s kept, but Xaviero keeps throwing things at me I can’t ignore.

He’ll go back to work once he’s satisfied that you’re occupied with the giant porcupines. I’ll see what I can do.

No, it’s more important that you figure out how to bring down the inverted pentagram and the fog barrier. I can sense Mikhail and Gregori with reinforcements on the other side, but they can’t get in.

The large monsters Xaviero had created shook themselves, and then turned black vacant eyes on not Zev, but Branislava. Clearly the mage knew which of them his greatest enemy was.

Get out of here, Branka. Right now. Stay inside that circle and get back where the Carpathians can help protect you.

Somehow, Zev, you have to retrieve the pebbles from their chests. Nothing else will actually kill them. The pebbles give them life.

Got it. Now go. And be safe.

Zev needed to keep his attention on the porcupines. Each took a shuddering step as if testing their new body to see how it worked. The first one stepped out of the circle of protection with one leg, and Zev, using his mixed blood speed, whirled forward and severed the limb with blurring speed, gliding out of reach in one continuous movement.

The porcupine howled and tipped forward, a slow ponderous fall as black blood poured into the ground around him. To Zev’s disgust the creature licked at the blood and then tried to get to his one remaining knee.

Zev whirled in close a second time, coming in from above at the last moment. His sword flashed, severing the head as he continued his trajectory, landing a few feet away in a crouch. The head bounced and rolled, spilling more of the black blood across the field. Relief swept through him. It was a delaying tactic, but as tactics went, the porcupine wasn’t the worse thing on the battlefield. Branislava hadn’t considered that Xaviero wanted to delay them as well.

“Zev, what the hell?” Fen was beside him.

Dimitri took up position on the other side. All three stared in a kind of appalled fascination at the severed parts of the fallen creature. The leg shook and shuddered. The body did the same. The head elongated grotesquely.

“I don’t think cutting them up is a really good idea,” Fen said. There was the faintest humor in his voice. “We need a different plan.”

Zev, maybe I can help, Branislava said, terror in her voice again.

He’s targeting you. Get out of his sight. I want you safe, Branka, you’re our hope to get out of this mess.

She winced at the lash of pure authority in his voice. He was impossible to ignore when he spoke like that. She knew he commanded armies, and right now, both Carpathian and Lycan alike were under his orders. He commanded the battlefield like a general and clearly knew what he was doing. It was just that he didn’t know about mages—these mages—as she did. She couldn’t help but be afraid for him.

Still, she wasn’t going to argue in the middle of a battle and distract him from the three new porcupines coming at him. Or the second original porcupine lumbering out of the circle of protection. Already, Xaviero was back to ignoring them, his arms wide, facing the fire, his features settling into lines of concentration.

Zev muttered under his breath, wishing he knew a few incantations. “We have to know which one of the new ones was the torso. Branka says we need to retrieve the pebbles, that, by the way, turned into blue flames before they entered their bodies. So you know, this is going to be easy.”

Dimitri sent him a little smirk. “It always is, isn’t it?”

“They don’t move as fast as his hellhounds, or the Sange rau,” Fen pointed out with a small frown. “So what is it that is lethal about them, other than teeth and claws?”