I’d seen him fight before, but it never got old. He was captivating. He never stopped moving. Every action was graceful and lethal. He was a dancer of death. Ignoring the guy he’d just thrown, Dimitri surged toward the others. He immediately went for the guy with the sword. A swift kick from Dimitri sent the assailant flying backward. He dropped the sword and barely managed to catch hold of one of the churchyard trees.

Meanwhile, one of the men holding Sonya simply turned tail and ran back toward downtown. Dimitri didn’t pursue. His attention now was on the last guy, who was foolishly attempting to fight back. This freed Sonya, however, and she wasted no time getting to her feet and scurrying over to my side. I was rarely touchy-feely with anyone—certainly not Moroi—but I clung to her without even thinking twice. She did the same, and I could feel her trembling. Once, as a Strigoi, she’d been a force to be reckoned with. As a Moroi, one who’d just had a sword at her throat, things were understandably different.

The guy facing down Dimitri actually managed a couple of good dodges. His mistake came when he attempted to hit Dimitri. It opened his guard, and like that, Dimitri punched him hard in the face. The tall guy who’d hit the tree earlier attempted an attack, but he was an idiot if he thought Dimitri was distracted. Dimitri dispatched him easily, and he landed near the guy Dimitri had just punched. The tall one struggled to his feet and looked like he wanted to attack again. His friend grabbed hold of him and tugged him away. After a moment’s struggle between them, the two finally ran off. Dimitri didn’t pursue. His attention was all on Sonya and me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, swiftly striding over to us.

I managed a weak nod, even though I was shaking uncontrollably.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Dimitri. He put a hand on each of our shoulders and began to steer us away.

“Wait,” I said, moving toward the churchyard. “We should take the sword.”

I scanned in front of me, but it was even darker than before. Dimitri found the sword right away with his superior eyesight. He tucked it under his duster, and the three of us quickly got out of there. We walked to Adrian’s apartment, since it was much closer than Clarence’s property outside of town. Even so, the brief trip seemed to take forever. I kept feeling like we could be attacked again at any moment, but Dimitri continued giving us assurances, while still pushing us at a good pace.

Adrian was surprised to see us at his door. He also looked pretty drunk, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was the security of his four walls.

“What… what’s going on?” he asked, as Dimitri urged Sonya and me inside. Adrian’s eyes looked at each of us, resting longest on me. “Are you okay? What happened?”