No Mercy by Shannon Dermott Page B

cove.  Many shoe prints marred the ground where a party had been in full swing not long ago.  Just by looking, you wouldn’t know that a fight had begun here with the exception of a few bodies lying on the ground.  One by one, I check them.  Thankfully, all were only knocked out and dazed by the events.  So humans hadn’t been the target after all.  So who was? 
     
    That was an easier answer than I wanted to admit.  Yes, it could be the shifters.  Yes, it could be Luke or I.  But really, the only thing out of place here was Sara.
     
    I compelled the wounded leaving suggestions for the craziness of the night leaving bits of truth of the fight just taking away any thoughts of supernatural beings. With some bruises and no Luke around to heal, they needed some truth.  Sending them home, it was another relief that the fallen had only been a few human males.  Everyone or everything else was gone.
     
    Noises rang out to my higher hearing from the forest.  Those sounds said that the fight had gone there.  On my feet again, I ran to confront whatever had attacked us.
     
    In the clearing I found myself in was a battlefield of humanlike or animal like creatures at each others throats.  Luke was in his element fighting a demon with the lethal skill of a natural born predator.  Even thought what he fought looked human, it wasn’t because it was holding its own.
     
    Surveying the landscape, the shifters in their preferred wolf form battled with other demons or vampires.  Currently, there was only one that looked like it was in trouble.  Like the moon wanted me to know, her wolf eyes glowed green in panic.  The demon had her by the throat.  Tamera.  She wasn’t a bad fighter either.  Somehow, it had gotten the drop on her.
     
    Without a second more to lose, I launched to where she was no doubt gasping for her last breath.  Tackling the demon, doing my best impression of an NFL defensive lineman, I wrenched the thing from her.
     
    It hissed over its shoulder revealing to me it was the vampire.  I’d yet to see its face full on.  All I had now was a view from behind showing dark hair and clothing. Making a mistake of my own, I took my eyes off the thing for a second to check on Tamera. It caught a hold of my arm. With the power of ten men, it whipped me over his head and into a tree.  But not before, I’d seen she was alive.
     
    “Damn, that hurt,” I muttered, hitting the ground hard. Shaking off the birdies that circled my head, I knew getting to my feet was a priority.  I double timed it knowing in a battle that was crucial.  The blur of movement gave me only a second to move before its deadly attacked landed the tree and not me.
     
    With a well timed placement of an elbow to the face, I stunned the fucker before ducking another fatal blow.  We traded punches and kicks, landing each other or the poor tree we circled.  I feared the tree wouldn’t survive or at best have any bark left when we were done.  Where was a stake when I needed one?  The branches that were reachable were all too thin to be of any use.  Fist and feet were the only weapons at my disposal.
     
    An uppercut to the jaw slid home against one of those deadly fangs and I felt the puncture into my knuckle.  “Christ,” I said as if the big guy would ever save me.
     
    Hopping back to avoid a knee to the groin, the vampire continued our dance around the tree.  It was like round the fucking mulberry bush and all that jazz or maybe ring around the fucking rosy.  My blood was pouring out the wound faster.  I could feel it.  No time to bandage my wound and stop the flow.  If I didn’t keep up this attack and defend, I would be dead anyway.
     
    “Flynn,” Luke cried out and I could have kissed the guy.  I knew what he meant to do and caught an arm of my assailant and threw him into the middle of the fray.  That wouldn’t have worked before because he would have come back at me.  But my man was about to light up the