Coupled with her hunger, the thought of tasting him was overwhelming.
The cold flow of energy was stronger from this man, and even stronger from the man behind him. Her demon senses were opening, and she drew in the evil with less effort than before, collecting it with some bafflement, and then readying it to defend her.
Driven beyond emotion by hunger and fear, Deidre didn't wait for the next man to grab her but gripped his arm, unleashing the cold energy into him.
He fell instantly.
The man behind him drove her back with a slash of his sword. Deidre jumped away, uncertain what to do against the weapon, and concentrated on sucking in more of the cold energy circulating in the room to use when she had the chance. Slipping on the tile, she landed hard on her knees, barely avoiding another blow.
He hauled her up, and she slashed his forearm, forcing him to let go.
The dealer bellowed, and the scent of blood filled her nose. Deidre barely had time to move before he wrapped his hand in her hair and wrenched her head back, knife at her neck.
"Got one!" he shouted behind him.
His blood dripped down his arm, and she found herself unusually fascinated by the trickle of maroon droplets towards her.
Deidre licked her lips. Horrified by her body's response, she steeled herself, touched his forearm and released the cold energy.
Man and knife fell.
Her hand was covered in his blood. She stared at it, resisting the need to lick it clean. She wiped it on her dress instead and rose.
"Deidre!" Karma's choked cry drew her gaze.
With her hand around the neck of one man, Karma was immobilized while her magic wound around him, unable to fend off the second death dealer with a sword at her throat.
This ends now. Deidre chanted silently, gaining strength from the fury behind the words.
The dealer raised the weapon to strike off Karma's head. A flare of fear drove away what little thought Deidre could muster. Demon instinct, intoxicated by the scent of blood, compelled her forward, a black fog wrapping her in its embrace as she all but flew over the ground.
She felt it more strongly then, the flow of evil emanating from the man. Betrayal, malice. He'd done bad things and betrayed Gabriel, and his depravity called to the demon in her like a siren song.
Deidre let go of the human side of her, knowing it wasn't strong enough to do what the demon side of her needed to do and save Karma. She closed her eyes and let her senses take her. Vaguely, she registered slashing someone's body with her claws not once, but three times.