Creed

Chapter Seventeen

They were eating in the kitchen a few hours later when the pounding on the door jolted them both.

Creed rose, grabbed Angel’s arm, and hurried her into the bedroom. “Stay here,” he ordered. “Bolt the door behind me.” He grabbed the sword next to the bed, strode to the fireplace, and took down the second one.

“Wait!” Angel grabbed his arm. “Do you have more weapons?”

He nodded. “In the wardrobe.”

She let him go. “Do you know who’s out there?”

“No, but I’ll find out. Probably my brothers. I’ll assume they didn’t agree with Neb and have a problem with my challenging our father to the death.”

The pounding grew louder, and he knew time was up. They’d break in the door soon, and he wanted to battle them in the corridor instead of his home. “Bolt the door.”

He rushed into the living room, wishing he had his belt on to sheath his swords. He had to set one against the wall in order to unlock the door and jerked it open. It hit the wall as he grabbed the sword so he had them both in hand. A rumble came from him as three men in the hallway leapt backward.

Creed recognized each face.

He should have predicted that the surviving council members would have a problem with him killing one of them. He tensed and lowered his weapons, keeping the blades down. “Did you come to challenge me? I’ll assume that’s why you’re beating on my door. When and which of you shall I fight?”

Domb pulled his sword—but so did Milgo and Lisser. The three Gargoyles spaced each other by four feet, leaving Creed trapped with only the open doorway at his back. They obviously meant to attack him.

“You have no honor if you do this,” Creed pointed out. “You want to challenge me? Do it fairly one on one. Issue a time and I’ll meet you in court. All challenges are to be performed before Lord Aveoth for his ruling. You know this.”

Domb sneered. “We don’t acknowledge him as our lord.”

Creed gripped his weapons tighter, taking a defensive stance. The bastards had him outnumbered three to one. They were bad odds. “Cowards,” he accused.

“Executioners,” Milgo argued coldly. “You murdered a council member. We sentence you to death.”

“Lord Aveoth will kill you for this.” Creed had learned enough about his leader to know he wouldn’t allow them to get away with slaughtering one of the clan. He glared at Domb. “So will Kelzeb. Isn’t he your son?”

“I will disown him,” Domb spat.

“They both are plotting to kill us anyway.” Lisser began to slightly shell. “We’ve been stripped of power, and Kado’s death was methodically orchestrated.”

“That’s a lie. Have the three of you lost your sanity? I mated a human and my father tried to have me encased for it and demanded that she be enslaved as his breeder. No man would allow that to go unchallenged.” Creed slightly shelled his skin. “At least have the honor to come at me single file.”

Lisser stepped back a few feet, silently agreeing by lowering his weapon.

Domb swung his sword and lunged forward. So did Milgo.

Creed was glad he’d been taught to use double swords when worried about an attack. It was tempting to completely shell. They wouldn’t be able to kill him, but he wouldn’t be able to move or protect his mate if he did. That wasn’t an option.

Metal clashed as he kept Domb back and saved his neck from Milgo taking a swipe at it.

“What the fuck?”

The voice was a familiar one to Creed, but he couldn’t spare a glance down the corridor to see which one of his brother’s spoke since they sounded alike.

“We’ve got your back!” another voice shouted, again familiar.

Milgo spun, moving off. That left Creed fighting Domb. The Gargoyle was a bit stronger but Creed was desperate to protect the door and his mate inside. Adrenaline surged through his body and he found extra strength. He blocked another blow and was able to position himself enough to see what was going on around him.

His two brothers were taking on Milgo and Lisser. No matter how they felt about him challenging their father, he was grateful that they were fighting with him rather than against him.

Domb rumbled deeply, leapt back, and shot a glare at the other fighting men. He curled his lip before he took another swing with his sword at Creed.

He blocked the blade aimed at his chest. He could see Domb was becoming frustrated when Creed was able to use his swords to avoid taking direct hits. The Gargoyle unshelled his body to be able to move faster. It gave him an advantage but also made him more vulnerable to injuries his harder skin would have deflected.

Creed took advantage and managed to land a strike on Domb’s shoulder. Blood poured down his arm, soaking his shirt where it had sliced open. The Gargoyle roared from the pain and stumbled back. He shelled fast and hard, his skin turning gray.

Creed didn’t allow him to recover, instead focusing on disarming the bastard. It took three swings of his swords to send Domb’s flying from his hand.

“Submit,” Creed snarled.

Domb lunged at him. He couldn’t move too fast with his body in that dark gray state. Creed dropped his swords and spun, twisted out of the way, and threw out a leg. The Gargoyle tripped and crashed into the floor. Creed watched as the man had to soften his skin enough to get up. Swords clashed nearby but he didn’t look away from the pissed-off ex-council member, even when someone screamed in pain.

Domb spun and held a dagger in his hand. He lunged, attempting to stab Creed in the throat. He missed making a direct hit, but pain lanced the side of Creed’s neck.

Domb had to stay unshelled to be able to move fast, and Creed took advantage by letting his claws loose and punching them into his opponent’s chest.

The Gargoyle roared from the pain and jerked back, but then attempted to plunge the dagger into Creed’s face, going for his eye.

Creed managed to dodge and stabbed out with his claws again, scoring a direct hit to Domb’s exposed throat. Protective instincts over his mate and rage had him twisting his wrist viciously before he even gave it thought. Blood sprayed, and he used his other hand to stab into his enemy’s throat too, slashing.

Domb dropped and Creed jumped back.

Shouts and pounding boots sounded as Creed panted, his fingers soaked with blood. He watched as Domb struggled to breathe, choking on his own blood. Most of his throat had been destroyed. Creed expected the man to shell in an attempt to save his own life. It would stop the bleeding. He’d eventually heal, but he’d have to remain in a hard shell for months to survive that much damage.

He didn’t.

“Shit!”

Creed glanced to his side when Duster stepped next to him. The scout had others with him, who also crowded around the downed ex-council member. They looked as if they’d just come off shift, since all four of them wore their uniforms. Duster pulled out his cell phone, making a call. Creed heard him informing someone, probably Lord Aveoth or Kelzeb, that there was a problem and the location.

“Shell,” Creed ordered Domb. “You’ll die otherwise.”

Domb managed to lift his gaze from where he was on his knees a few feet away. A look of hatred blazed from the bastard’s cold eyes.

Duster ended the call. “What happened?”

“They came to my home and pla