Chapter 12
Kateri couldn't breathe as she stared into a pair of eyes that were so vibrant a blue they practically glowed, especially in contrast to his dark tawny skin and black hair. "What's going on?"
"I-I-I-I..." He slammed his eyes shut and ground his teeth. After a few seconds, he tried again. "I-I-I've lost all m-my p-p-powers."
"Okay, so we can't conjure anything."
He shook his head. "I'm m-m-mortal ag-gain." He tried to say more, but he couldn't get it out, which only frustrated him more. Damn it! Without those powers, he was a stammering, effing moron.
She reached up and gently pulled his head down until she had her forehead pressed against his. Smiling, she brushed her hands against his cheeks. "Breathe, sweetie. Take your time. The only part about your speech that bothers me is how much it upsets you. Give yourself a break and stop calling yourself names in your head."
He frowned.
"Yes," she continued, "I know you're doing it. Now stop."
He took a deep breath before he made another attempt. "I can die now."
"Okay, I liked it better when you were stuttering and couldn't get that out. Are you serious?"
He nodded.
Releasing him, Kateri took a step back. "What do you need me to do?"
He shrugged, then hesitated as if he dreaded speaking. But when he did so, his voice was calm and perfect. "I've never lost them completely before. I have no idea."
As Kateri opened her mouth to speak, she heard a rustling in the trees behind him.
Ren turned at the same time a fireball came flying toward her. It was so close that she felt the burn of it an instant before Ren threw her to the ground and covered her with his body. He flung his hand out to return the fire, then cursed as he remembered he didn't have his powers.
Beautiful timing there.
Fine. He still had his bow, and even as a human, he could do a tremendous amount of damage with it. While more fireballs bombarded them, he started to move in front of Kateri to cover her, but before he could, she let fly her own shot.
It went straight between the demon's eyes. Three more arrows went past him in rapid succession, taking out more demons.
Damn, she was impressive.
He moved in for cover fire. "Deeper into the woods."
She shot two more arrows, then complied.
Hiding behind a forked tree, she covered him as he ran to join her.
Gah, what he wouldn't give to be able to conjure armor for them. While it wouldn't save them completely, it would at least give them a little more protection than bare skin.
And at the rate they were firing, they'd be out of arrows soon.
He met Kateri's nervous gaze. "Keep moving forward."
She did and he stayed one step behind her. All of a sudden, one of the black trees reached to grab Kateri.
Reacting on instinct, Ren let out his demon crow's call. The tree shirked away from her.
A slow smile curled his lips. He might be mortal, but he still had the demon in him. While he wasn't happy with Ravenna, at least she'd given him a few handy things no one could steal.
With that thought, he yanked his quiver over his head and handed it to Kateri.
Kateri froze as she tried to understand what Ren was doing by shoving his arrows at her. Before she could ask, he changed from man into a huge crow. Stunned, she watched as he took flight and went to engage the other demons.
"Keep running." His voice was inside her head.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm preventing them from harming you. Go, Kateri. They can't harm me like this."
She wasn't sure if she believed him or not. "You said you were mortal."
"I am, but even as a mortal, I had a few things that weren't normal. Now, please, go deeper and avoid getting close to the trees."
Though she'd never been a follower as a rule, she obeyed him. After all, he was used to these things. She wasn't. Best course of action was to withdraw until you had a chance to study your enemy. Thank you, Sun Tzu.
She scurried through the brush, dodging the trees that came at her. She'd just hit a clearing when something bright flashed in front of her. Temporarily blinded by it, she held her hand up to shield her eyes.
One minute she was facing nothing. In the next, three men were there.
Reacting on pure instinct, she let loose an arrow, then gasped in horror as she realized she'd just shot Cabeza.
Yet as the arrow reached him, he literally grabbed it out of the air and gave her a peeved glare.
"You know, that wouldn't have killed me, but it would have hurt and pissed my ass off."
"Sorry," she offered.
"Damn, Base," the blond with short hair said from beside him. "Don't ever take her hunting. She's one of those 'I heard a noise, let's shoot at it without finding out what it is first' people. It's what I hate most about trying to roam free in the modern world. Last thing I want is to have buckshot enter my hindquarters while I'm trying to take a leak because no one can spare a second to ascertain who's around them in the woods before they shoot it. America doesn't need gun control. What they need is idiot control."
Cabeza and the man with a blond ponytail laughed.
"I don't have a gun," Kateri reminded him as she realized that she and the blond with short hair were the only two non-fanged beings in this group.