He dislodged her with a shove, only to drop to the ground immediately after.
Karma gave a muffled cry.
Deidre struggled to her feet, driven by the scent of blood and the cold power within her. A dealer snatched her, and she careened into him, slashing at his throat and yanking back simultaneously. He gave a gurgled shout that alerted the five shapes rushing towards them from the palace.
With a second slash of her claws, she finished the job and spun to face the dealer that had Karma pinned to a tree. Deidre grabbed and pulled him away to give Karma the chance to escape. Karma whirled and snatched him, her hair going straight and eyes glowing eerily as she drained his vitality.
Deidre took a moment to catch her breath, unable to get the scent of blood out of her nose. She pinched it closed and faced the direction of the palace.
The five attackers were at the tree line.
"We have to go!" she shouted and darted forward frantically to grab Karma.
The deity released the bones she held and stumbled after her.
The scent of Darkyn was growing stronger, driving her closer to madness, making her stomach scream out of hunger and blinding her to anything but the need for blood.
Not two steps later, Deidre was yanked backwards, as one of the dealers caught up with Karma. She released the deity and caught her balance before turning. Karma was screaming, but it seemed like the sound and scene came from far, far away and was in slow motion.
Anger, hate, betrayal, revenge … Deidre let the cold power fill her, too physically exhausted to support herself without it.
And then she let go, the same way she had in the bathing chamber when Karma's life was in danger. The demon side of her stepped up, better equipped to protect her than the human side.
Deidre dived into the melee, shredding every inch of skin that came near her and sending death charges through those she touched for too short a timespan. Magic swirled and gathered around her, through her, and blood rained down on everything like honey falling from the sky.
Lost in the bloodlust, she didn't stop, until someone snatched her out of the blood-fueled trance.
Jarred back to her senses, Deidre blinked and tried to pull away, looking up into the eyes of the one creature able to stop her.
The Dark One was a head taller than her, lean in the way of a warrior, with eyes that appeared to be sinkholes at night. A low growl emanated from his chest, while his direct stare sank into her mind. His body sucked up the excess magic, freeing her from its hold. His scent, warmth and the nearness of his strong frame brought her back from the blood-infused haze, made her body tremble once more as it recalled how weak she was.