Bianca watched in horror and awe as the two men fought. The brutal display of strength and speed was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Swords clashed and spit sparks while their feet danced too fast for her to follow. Talon fought with fury, his eyes glowing red, while Dusty fought with a calm, controlled intensity.
Several times she'd thought Dusty had the upper hand and could've killed the leering vamp, and several times, he'd stopped, once with a glance at his watch. Lightning tore across the otherwise silent room, where vamps stood enraptured by the battle before them.
Darian hadn't been able to look away from the Black God, whose hand was clenched with painful tightness around Bianca's forearm. She quelled her rising panic. She hadn't seen Darian since he dumped her with the Black God in the alternate dimension, and she didn't like the way the air around him shimmered, at once dark and light. While he stood in Dusty's corner, she wasn't convinced he'd chosen a side.
Talon stumbled, and Dusty froze rather than pounced, his head whipping around. The Black God tensed simultaneously, and Darian's eyes glowed brighter. They stared towards a hallway too dark for her to see into. Talon lashed out at Dusty, and she gasped as he barely blocked in time. The two continued, but the Black God snatched her by the neck and moved out of the candlelight, into the darkness.
Whatever was in the hallway distracted Dusty again, and red splashed across his forearm as Talon's blow grazed him.
"Dusty!" she cried.
Czerno squeezed her neck hard with a shake, and she gasped as he cut off her air. Across the room, Darian shifted closer to the battle, one hand rubbing the back of his head.
Lightning split the ceiling with a boom, frying several vamps in the crowd. The force of the strike knocked everyone off their feet and deadened the firelight, except for the torches in the corners. The storm roared in through the ceiling, hail and water pelting her body while thunder deafened her.
Still, Czerno didn't let go of her. He pulled her to her feet and against the wall, where the rain was less harsh. He'd stopped draining her healing power, and she felt a change in his body. He was weak, a type of weakness she couldn't heal.
In another flash of lightning, she saw a form dart from the hallway, around the stunned crowd, towards her. The scent of burning flesh filled the hall, and she shuddered beneath the onslaught of rain and wind.
Dusty and Talon rose, Talon taking the chance to launch himself at Dusty. She gave a strangled cry as Dusty twisted out of reach, the sword slicing through the back of his shirt. Sparks soon flew again.