Refuge (Relentless Book 2)

THIS CAN’T BE real. The perimeters were tightly patrolled day and night. How could vampires get past the armed warriors and get so close to the stronghold?

“Is this her?” the female asked, pointing at me.

“Yes,” Michael replied in a small voice.

I sucked in a sharp breath. Behind me, I heard two low growls.

“You rotten little traitorous piece of shit!” Jordan shrieked, leaping at Michael who stumbled backward. One of the vampires moved, and I grabbed Jordan’s arm to hold her back.

“I’m sorry,” Michael cried to me. “They have Matthew and they’ll kill him if I don’t help them. He’s all I have.”

All I could do was stare in horror at the boy waving his arms frantically as he pleaded with me. I had suspected Michael was a bit messed up from losing his family, but in that moment I saw how broken he really was. He was so desperate to believe his brother was alive that he was willing to trust his mortal enemy and sell out his own people for a ghost.

“Touching.” The female vampire sneered and motioned to her companions. “Take her and kill the rest.”

“You said you wouldn’t hurt anyone else!” Michael yelled. “You said you would trade Matthew for her.”

The female laughed and her fangs grew. “We don’t make deals with the likes of you.” She moved in a blur and struck him so hard he flew fifteen feet and hit a tree with a sickening crack. He landed in the snow and lay there unmoving. The vampire turned to me. “Now where – ?”

She gasped and stepped back as loud growls erupted behind me and two massive werewolves appeared where Roland and Peter had stood. I had never seen my friends transform, and it was shocking even for me.

“Werewolves!” the female spat, stunned that she and her companions had not picked up on my friends’ scent. She recovered quickly. “Two of you are no match for five of us.”

“What the fuck am I, chopped liver?” Jordan’s hand moved and the vampire closest to her made a gurgling noise and clutched at a silver knife handle protruding from his chest. The male sank to his knees in the snow and Jordan waved a second knife in front of her. “Now it’s four to three.”

The female snarled. “Lucky shot, little hunter, but Stephen was a fledgling. You won’t take me that easily.” She waved the others forward. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

One of the werewolves let out a ferocious growl and jumped over my head to face the dark figures moving in on us. I didn’t need to ask to know it was Roland in front of me. Behind me, Peter guarded my back while at my side, Jordan brandished her long knife. I looked down helplessly at my weaponless hands before I realized that a knife in my hand wouldn’t help our odds much anyway. The best weapon I had was me.

Roland dove at one of the approaching vampires, and I heard the sound of flesh ripping and felt a spray of hot blood across my cheek. Snarls and shouts filled the woods around me, and it became impossible to make out one flying shape from another.

A cold hand grabbed my wrist and whipped me away from my friends, the sharp claws digging into my skin. I knew immediately this was no baby vampire. Terror gripped me and memories of Eli flooded my mind. No. Never again.

Heat roared through me as I opened the barrier holding back my power. Instead of trying to pull away from my attacker, I whirled and placed my free hand on his chest. After my experience with Nate, I knew exactly where the vamhir demon lurked and how to hurt it. Before the vampire knew what was happening, white hot energy burst from my hand and pierced his chest as easily as one of Jordan’s blades.

The vampire froze and his hands went slack. I yanked my wrist from his grasp and staggered back a step. It was too dark to see his expression, but I could tell his eyes were still open and staring at me in shock. I had no idea how quickly he’d recover, and I had no weapon to finish him off. I raised both hands to blast him again, and he made a small sound like a smothered scream.

A second later, someone shouldered me aside and a blade sank into the vampire’s chest. Jordan pulled her knife free and grabbed my arm. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”

I whirled around and realized we were alone except for the dark shapes littering the ground. My stomach dropped. “Where are Roland and Peter?”

“They went after the female.” Jordan started pulling me through the trees. “We need to get back and raise the alarm. How the hell did five vampires get past our sentries?”

From deeper in the woods my friends’ snarls grew fainter as they pursued the vampire. I dug in my heels. “We can’t leave Roland and Peter. And what about Michael?”

Jordan stopped and looked back at me. “Your friends ripped two vampires to shreds; I think they can take care of themselves. And that little traitor can stay – ”

I froze, almost doubling over from the cold stabbing me in the chest. “More coming,” I croaked.

“Shit! Where?”

I shook my head because my new vampire radar wasn’t that specific. The only chance we had was to run and hope it was away from danger. This time, it was me who grabbed Jordan’s hand and plunged into the trees. After a dozen or so yards, the cold fist in my chest loosened, which told me we were heading away from the vampires, but still being pursued. That wasn’t our only problem. In the dark, everything looked the same and I had no idea where we were going. If we didn’t get out of these woods soon, our chances of escape were not good.

I came to a stop and listened to a faint gushing roar off to our right. “The river. Come on.” If we were near the river, we couldn’t be too far from home, and we only had to follow it downstream to get to safety. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I changed course and headed for the water with Jordan close at my heels.

The cold deepened in my chest again, and I ran with everything in me. My foot snagged on a tree root, I would have gone down if Jordan hadn’t caught me. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my ankle, I pushed forward. The roaring grew louder. We were so close.

We burst from the trees and teetered at the top of the steep riverbank for several seconds before we righted ourselves. Gasping for breath, we spun and ran down the narrow path that followed the river. There was barely enough moonlight to see the path, but we couldn’t afford to slow down. With every step we took, I sensed the vampires getting closer. They couldn’t know where we were or they would have grabbed us already. It was the only thing we had going for us. We’d never be able to outrun them otherwise.

Jordan let out a small scream and stopped abruptly, and I caught myself just in time to keep from plowing into her. I looked past her at the tall shape standing in a patch of moonlight at the bend in the river. My newfound gift told me all I needed to know. Vampire.

I whirled to go back the other way, only to see someone coming up the path toward us. We were trapped. If we ran for the woods, they would catch us for sure. That left only one option.

I grabbed Jordan’s arm and, as soon as she turned her head toward me, I yelled, “Jump.” She gripped my hand tightly, and we moved as one. My feet left the ground, and there was barely enough time to suck in a deep breath before I hit the river. Freezing water closed over my head. The impact pulled Jordan’s hand from mine, and I grabbed for her frantically before my bursting lungs forced me to give up. My head broke the surface, and I sucked in cold air then choked as I swallowed water.

“Jordan!” I sputtered as more water flooded my mouth. The current tugged at my heavy clothes, dragging me back under. I kicked my feet and fought for the surface as the swift river carried me away. A gasp of air then water washed over my head again. Terror filled me and I lost all sense of up and down. My lungs burned and tiny stars exploded before my eyes.

No, not stars. In my panic, I’d summoned the water’s magic, and it had answered my call. A cloud of sparkling lights moved rapidly toward me, surrounding me, lifting me. I broke the surface and sucked in a deep breath of cold air that burned my throat.

Gasping, I searched the water for Jordan. A flash of blond in the foaming water ahead of me caught my attention. It disappeared and I thought I’d imagined it. Then I saw it again.

“Jordan!” I pushed forward with renewed strength. A few seconds later my numb fingers snagged the collar of Jordan’s jacket, and with a cry, I pulled her to me. Her arm wrapped around my waist and she laid her head on my shoulder as I kept us above water. She was battered and freezing, but alive.

“Hold on to me. I’m going to get us out of this.” I took several deep breaths to calm myself and reached out to the magic in the water. I felt it respond almost immediately and watched as millions of golden particles formed a warm glowing shield around us and kept us afloat in the rushing water.

“W-what is that? Is that y-your power?”

“Sort of.” Surrounded by the familiar magic, I felt my courage and strength returning. This was my element; there was nothing for me to fear from the water. I was back in control, and the river would take us exactly where I wanted it to.

Minutes later, I saw a glow through the trees ahead. The stronghold. Using my free hand, I directed the water to carry us to the shore below the low bank I often sat on. Our feet touched bottom, and we supported each other as we stumbled across the slippery rocks to collapse on the shore. As soon as we left the water, the cold hit me again and I shivered violently. Rocks dug into my back as I stared up at the clear moonlit sky, but for a full minute I was too exhausted to move.

Stiff from the cold, I got to my feet and pulled Jordan up with me. “We have to get inside and warn everyone.” I was still reeling from Michael’s betrayal and the fact that so many vampires had gotten past Tristan’s security. The stronghold was supposed to be impenetrable, but it looked like no place was safe from the Master.

“Well, hello there,” drawled a strange male voice above our heads. I jerked backward and stared in shock at the two vampires standing on the bank. I was so cold I hadn’t even sensed them.

“Stay back.” I shuffled backward until I felt cold water around my calves. Where the hell was everyone? We had vampires running around the grounds and there wasn’t a warrior in sight. My gut told me the situation was a lot worse than I’d thought. There was no way vampires would get this close to me with Nikolas here unless . . . unless something really bad had happened to him. My stomach squeezed painfully.

“Don’t come any closer,” I yelled at them, my fear for Nikolas overriding my own.

“Or what?” The second vampire let out a laugh as he jumped off the bank and landed a few feet away. “You’ll splash us?” Before I could respond, he seized my arm in a steel grip, yanking me against him. Jordan pulled out her knife and waved it at the other vampire who was advancing on her.

“Mmm, you do smell good. I bet you taste amazing.” The vampire’s nose nuzzled my neck, and I pushed back on the terror threatening to engulf me. He was trying to use my fear against me, to make me so scared I could not fight. A few months ago, he would have succeeded.

I twisted around and put my hands on his chest. I wasn’t too scared or cold to notice he had moved faster than a baby vampire but not as fast as a mature vampire. I might not be able to knock him out, but I was prepared to do my damnedest. Keeping my eyes on him, I reached into the water swirling around my knees and sent out a silent, urgent call to the magic that waited to do my bidding. Come to me. Help me, please, I cried, terror tinging my inner voice.

Water exploded upward behind me, sending a cold shower down on our heads. The vampire’s eyes flew wide and his mouth opened in a silent scream as an ungodly screech rent the air. Before I could turn to see what was behind me, a huge white shape leapt over my head to land on the shore behind the vampire. The snow white kelpie towered above us and shook his magnificent mane before he opened his mouth to emit another earsplitting sound.

“Noooo!” the vampire screamed as Fiannar clamped down on his shoulder and ripped him away from me. The vampire’s horrified eyes met mine, and then he was gone. With a flick of his powerful head, Fiannar tossed him out into the river.

“Fiannar,” I breathed as the kelpie ran past a stunned Jordan to grab the second vampire who shrieked in terror as he was dragged into the water. The water guardian stopped beside me and gave a slight bow before he disappeared beneath the surface with his struggling captive.

Farther out, the first vampire recovered from his shock and started swimming frantically back to shore. Out of the water rose the black head of Feeorin. The kelpie latched onto the vampire and dragged him screaming underwater.

The whole attack had lasted no more than a minute, and I was left staring at the dark river where the two kelpies had been a moment ago.

“What the fuck was that?”

I faced Jordan, who stood with her knife hanging limply from her hand. She sounded like herself for the first time since we’d entered the river.

I started climbing the riverbank. “That was Feeorin and his brother, Fiannar. They’re the kelpies who guard the river.”

“Oh, is that all?” She tucked her knife away and followed me. “Friends of yours?”

“You could say that.”

Almost numb from the cold, we pulled ourselves over the top of the riverbank. We lay there for a minute to catch our breath before we set off running toward the buildings. There could be more vampires lurking around the property, and we had to find help before someone else was attacked. I didn’t want to think about Roland and Peter out in the woods dealing with God only knew what. Or Nikolas. Or Nate.

My pace picked up. I had to get to Nate.

Shouts and screams reached us as soon as we left the roaring river behind. Cold blossomed in my chest and I sprinted around the nearest building and came up short at the sight in front of me.

“Oh, God!”

The unimaginable had happened. Westhorne was under attack, and everywhere we looked, warriors battled vampires. The vampires were slow, new, but they made up for that in their numbers. Most warriors fought three or four at one time, their swords glinting in the moonlight as they cut down one vampire after another with deadly precision. The warriors without swords fought with knives or bows. I watched one punch a hole through a vampire’s chest with his bare fist. It was a bloodbath.

Movement by a corner of the main building drew my attention. I gasped when I saw Tristan decapitating one vampire only to have two more take its place. Beside him, Celine wielded a sword with deadly accuracy, despite her long red dress. I harbored no love for Celine, but I had to admit the woman could fight and I was glad Tristan had her at his back.

I scanned the grounds for Nikolas, but there was no sign of him or Chris. Knowing them, they were out here somewhere in the middle of all the bloodshed. More than anyone, Nikolas could take care of himself in a fight, but that did not prevent the knot of fear from settling in my stomach. God, let him be okay.

Two more warriors joined the fight, and my heart leapt into my throat when I recognized Terrence and Josh. Immediately, the two boys were attacked by three vampires. Terrence swung his sword, and one of the vampires screamed when his arm fell to the ground. Josh leapt to one side, his sword flashing, and one of the vampires staggered back holding his gut. Two of the three vampires howled in pain, but they didn’t retreat. Josh moved until he and Terrence were back-to-back, and they waited for the next attack.

“We have to do something,” I said. Our friends were fighting for their lives; the people I cared most about in the world were under attack. Nate was inside that building. I just got him back; I could not lose him again.

Jordan opened her mouth to reply when a girl screamed off to our right.

“That’s Olivia.” She took off in the direction of the scream, away from the main battle. There was nothing to do but follow her. Nate and the others were a big question mark, but Olivia was here and she needed us now.

“Get away from her, you bastard!” Jordan screeched, throwing herself at the vampire latched onto Olivia’s throat. The male released Olivia who crumbled to the ground like a rag doll. He swung his arm, and Jordan flew half a dozen feet to land on her back in the snow.

The vampire ignored her and advanced on me. “All this sweet young Mohiri blood . . . delicious,” he hissed. He wavered slightly on his feet as if he was drunk and drops of blood – Olivia’s blood – dripped from his chin onto the snow. Bile rose in my throat, and my eyes darted to the girl who lay motionless a few feet away. Please be alive, I pleaded silently as I backed away from the vampire stalking me hungrily.

My heel struck something, and I flailed as I almost went down. Righting myself, I looked behind me and choked when I saw Mark’s sightless eyes and ravaged throat. He and I had not been friends, but something inside me snapped at the sight of his lifeless body. Instead of Mark, I saw my dad lying in the snow covered in his own blood.

White-hot rage exploded in my brain, and my Mori cried out happily as we came together. Its power roared through me, saturating every muscle, every tendon, and bone. I lifted my eyes to the vampire as the world sharpened into brilliant focus around me.

I don’t know who was more surprised – the vampire or me – by the fist that slammed into his nose with a satisfying crunch. He howled and put a hand to his bleeding face. A few seconds later, his mouth twisted into a snarl and he came at me again. He was fast, but not fast enough.

The world slowed down around me, and I watched his clawed hand swipe at my face before I tilted to one side to evade it. I kicked out and my booted foot struck him squarely between the legs.

He wheezed and sank to his knees, and I grinned with malicious pleasure to see that Nikolas had been right about the effectiveness of a well-placed kick. Before the vampire could recover, I spun and my other foot connected with his face.

The vampire flailed as he flew backward, right onto the blade in Jordan’s hand as she came up behind him. His eyes widened in shock, and he made a choking sound before he fell face first into the snow.

“Liv!” Jordan dropped her knife and ran to Olivia. The rage drained out of me as I went to kneel beside our fallen friend. As soon as I touched Olivia’s face I knew her life force was gone. My eyes met Jordan’s and I shook my head, unable to speak.

“Can’t you help her?” Jordan begged desperately.

“She’s gone. I’m sorry.”

Jordan’s eyes filled with tears for the first time since I’d met her. “You idiot,” she whispered hoarsely, brushing Olivia’s hair out of her face. “How many times did I tell you to always carry your weapon?” Her breath hitched, and she looked at me. “I always teased her, but she was my friend.”

“I know, and she knew it, too.” I stood and grabbed Olivia’s arms.

“What are you doing?”

“She should be next to Mark.” The two of them had finally admitted they were a couple last week, but everyone knew they were crazy about each other long before that. They had died together, and it was only right that they lie beside each other in death.

Jordan got up and took Olivia’s legs, and together we carried her over and laid her at Mark’s side. I closed his eyes, and Jordan put their hands together. Then she wiped her eyes on her sleeve and cleared her throat. “Come on. We can’t stay here.”

I cringed at the screams coming from behind us, near the main building. We were out of sight for the moment, but we were stuck between the battle and the woods. An attack could come from either direction, and we were looking a bit worse for wear with only one weapon between us. Using my Mori’s strength had left me tired, and our dunk in the river hadn’t helped. I wasn’t sure either of us would survive another attack.

“Which way should we go?”

Jordan found her knife and wiped it on the snow, leaving bloody streaks behind. “I don’t know, but we’re sitting ducks out here.”

“Lead the way,” I said, waving in front of me. Pain shot up my arm, and I grunted loudly.

“Ah shit, did he get you?” Jordan lifted my arm to examine it, and I saw for the first time, the long tears in my coat sleeve. There was blood on my sleeve, but it didn’t look too serious. It just hurt like the devil.

“I’ve had worse than this. Let’s go.”

“Sara!”

I turned at the sound of my name, and my lips parted in a trembling smile when I saw Chris sprinting toward us from the main building.

“Chris,” I yelled hoarsely, running toward him, relieved to see he was okay.

“Behind you!” Jordan shouted, and Chris and I looked at the same time to see two vampires run at him from behind. Neither of them looked older than sixteen, and their slower movements marked them as newly made. Chris brought up his sword and cut them down with little effort. I couldn’t help but feel a dull pang of sorrow for the two teenage boys whose life had been cut so short.

Chris waved us toward him. “Let’s go. We have to get you two out of here.”

Jordan and I were twenty feet from Chris when he suddenly stopped, his body going rigid like he’d been shot. I screamed his name as his face twisted in agony and he sank to his knees. A second later, my eyes were drawn to a slight figure emerging from the woods to our right, walking with purposeful strides toward Chris. It took me another few seconds to recognize the white markings on the person’s dark face.

“No!” Power seared my throat and tongue as I sprinted forward and threw my body on top of Chris’s to shield him from the Hale witch. My hands found Chris’s face, and I opened myself to rip the witch’s magic from him before it could burrow inside his mind like a cold maggot. Revulsion filled me when I touched it, but unlike the old magic that had festered inside Desmund, this was new and much weaker. This witch was nowhere near as powerful as the one who had attacked Desmund or the witch who had come after me.

I ignored the cold nausea as I pulled the dark magic into me. It seemed to take on a life of its own, fighting to escape as if it knew its impending fate, but I was a lot stronger than I’d been two months ago when I encountered my first Hale witch. My power incinerated the magic. I heard a scream nearby, but all I cared about was Chris.

“Chris? Chris?” I rolled off him and tapped his cheek a few times before his green eyes opened and he gazed at me in confusion. “Hey. You with me?” I asked him.

He groaned and rubbed his brow. “That is some war cry you have, cousin. What the hell happened? I feel like I have a killer hangover.”

“Hale witch.” I glanced over at the witch who was lying on his side, facing away from us. “Come on, we have to get up.”

“Up?” He blinked in confusion. “Why are you so wet?”

I tugged on his arm. “Long story. Come on. Get up.”

“Shit!”

I looked up in time to see Jordan dive away from the attack of a snarling female vampire who had probably been a college freshman a few weeks ago. Jordan rolled in a ball and came to her feet with Chris’s sword in her hand.

“This is more like it,” she said fiercely as she brandished the weapon with ease. The vampire skidded to a stop and stared at the sword warily. Jordan leapt forward in a burst of speed and sliced off one of the female’s arms at the elbow.

“That was for Mark,” she shouted over the vampire’s screams. “And this is for Olivia!” The sword whistled and the vampire’s head separated from its body.

Jordan stood over the corpse, shoulders heaving and silent tears running down her face. Then she spun with the dripping sword in her hand and stalked angrily toward the fallen Hale witch.

“No.” I pushed to my feet and caught her arm. She tried to pull out of my grasp, but I held firm. “Trust me; you don’t want him in your head. I’ll handle this.”

The witch had his arms wrapped protectively around his head. I nudged his back with my boot, and he moaned loudly.

“If you can’t take it, don’t dish it out,” I told him pitilessly. “Get up.”

He rolled onto his back and uncovered his face. I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw that he was only a boy, maybe sixteen, if that. How young did these guys start in this business?

“Please,” he whispered brokenly. “Please finish it. Kill me.”

“What?” I took a step back. “I’m not going to kill you. I just wanted to stop you from hurting people. Did you hurt more of my people out in the woods?”

The boy nodded, and I swore furiously at the thought of the warriors lying out in the woods in pain. “You better hope they’re alive,” I ground out. More screams pierced the air around us. “If we survive this, you are going to show us where they are and then you are going to fix whatever you did to them. You understand me?”

“Please.” He sounded more like a young boy than a powerful witch. “They took my mother and my sisters, and they will kill them if I do not do as they ask.”

“I’m sorry about your family, but I’ll do anything to protect my family, too. You can sacrifice yourself later if you want to, but not until after you help the people you hurt. Now get up.”

He stared at me for another minute before he sat up. His strained expression told me that was as far as he could go on his own.

I was loath to touch him, but I could not leave him here and give him the opportunity to escape. Reaching down, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. He wavered unsteadily and I called Jordan over. “I don’t think he has enough juice left in him to try anything, but if he does, you can kick his ass.” I gave the boy a hard stare. “You hurt anyone else and you’ll deal with me.” I had no idea if I could hurt him, but he didn’t know that. He nodded submissively.

Jordan gave the boy a warning glare before she took his arm. I hurried back to Chris, relieved to find him sitting up. “Can you walk? We can’t stay here.”

Shouts reached us before he could answer, and I turned to see Erik and three other members of his team racing toward us. The warriors sped around us and intercepted a group of six vampires advancing on us. My heart thudded when I realized how close we had come to being taken by them. Surrounded by so many vampires, I had a permanent lump of ice in my chest, which rendered my vampire radar useless.

Erik quickly sized up our pathetic group. We had one sword, an injured witch, and our seasoned warrior was down. “Get out of here,” he shouted at us. “We’ve got this.”

I glanced around us frantically. In every direction, I could see fighting, hear screams and shouts. Until now, we’d kept away from the main battle, but it looked like it had found us. There was nowhere to run.

“You’re going to have to help me up, cousin,” Chris said, and I wished I had some of his fortitude. I took his hands and helped him to his feet, putting one of his arms over my shoulders so I could support him. He shook his head to clear it, and despite my fear, I felt the urge to grin at him.

“See, Dimples, I knew I’d end up having to save your ass someday.”

He tried to scowl but couldn’t quite pull it off. “If I remember correctly, you said it would be from all the women. You didn’t say anything about almost getting my brain turned to mush.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

He stumbled, and I shifted to take more of his weight. Damn, Mohiri warriors were not light.

I looked around us. “Where to?” I asked Chris, trying to keep the fear from my voice.

“That way.” He pointed to the cluster of low buildings a few hundred yards away on our left that housed the garages. “If we can make it there, we’ll be okay.”

“If we make it.” I took a deep breath to steady me and started in that direction, trying not to stagger under his weight as we moved as fast as we could. I looked straight ahead so I didn’t see the battle around us, but there was no way to block out the sounds of fighting and dying. If I survived this, those sounds would haunt me for the rest of my days.

“Sara, we will make it.” The arm across my shoulders squeezed me. “Nikolas will be so proud of you.”

“Have you seen him? Where is he?” I asked anxiously.

“We were coming back from town when someone raised the alarm. We found the main gate open and ten vamps waiting inside. The two of us were holding them off when Desmund showed up to help. Nikolas asked me to come find you.”

“You left them there?” My voice rose when I thought of Nikolas and Desmund alone and outnumbered five to one.

“Don’t worry about the two of them. Desmund is as good as Nikolas with a sword, and he actually looked like he was enjoying himself. Trust me; he and Nikolas are safer than we are right now.”

A menacing growl behind us made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and I spun us around, fearing for Jordan who followed us with the witch. My breath hitched at the sight of the black werewolf ripping apart a vampire less than twenty feet from us. Roland made short work of the killing then dropped the body and bounded toward us with Peter close behind him. Both of my friends looked like they’d been through more than one battle tonight. Their fur was wet and dirty and bloody. Peter was limping, and Roland had a nasty cut above one eye that looked like it was already starting to heal.

“Phew, you guys really do smell like wet dog,” Jordan declared, stumbling when Peter brushed against her.

Roland came up to me, and I would have hugged him if I wasn’t supporting Chris. I put a hand in the rough fur on his back, and he leaned against me.

“I’m so glad to see you guys.” I wanted to sob with relief, but now was not the time to break down. My friends were safe and their arrival greatly improved our odds of survival, but we were far from out of danger. We picked up our pace with renewed energy. Roland walked beside me, and Peter took up the rear to protect us from a surprise attack.

“Roland, once we get to the garage, will you go find Nate and keep him safe? Please?” My voice broke on the last word. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about Nate, but seeing my friends made me painfully aware that he was the only one whose whereabouts were unknown. I also knew Roland and Peter would not leave me until I was safe, even to help Nate.

Roland growled softly and nodded his large head.

When a high-pitched cackle echoed through the woods a few seconds later, my bladder almost gave away and my heart threatened to break through my ribs. Chris stiffened and tried to stand on his own. Roland’s hackles rose as Peter came racing back to us. We all turned to stare at the trees.

“What is that?” Jordan asked.

“You don’t want to know,” I said through numb lips. “We’ve got to go – now.”

We broke into a run, going as fast as we could with two injured people. I tried not to think about what was out there, but it was impossible to not picture the grinning mouths and the six-inch claws that could rip the roof off a pickup truck.

The sound came again, much closer this time, and I knew we weren’t going to reach the buildings in time. Roland and Peter realized it, too, and they moved to take up defensive positions between us and the trees. They had a chance against the creatures, if there weren’t too many of them. All I could do was stand there and hold up Chris, who was wheezing from our short run.

Jordan let go of the witch and hefted Chris’s sword like it was made for her. She was wet and bloody and tired, yet she stood bravely to face a threat unlike anything she had encountered.

“Jesus!” she hissed when the first massive hyena-like creature stepped from the trees. “What the hell is that?”

No one answered her. We were riveted on two more creatures emerging from the woods, followed by at least ten vampires. Terror slammed into me at the sight of the three massive crocotta.

A large head swung in our direction and spoke in a perfect imitation of Jordan’s voice. “Jesus!” it said and giggled.

A second later, roars followed by screams came from the other side of the grounds. What other horrors were the warriors facing? How could we hope to survive this?

God, please help us.

The vampires held back as the crocotta advanced on us. Roland and Peter sprung forward to meet them. One of the crocotta raked its long claws along Peter’s flank. Peter howled and clamped down on the crocotta’s throat with his own powerful jaws. The two of them went down in a snapping, growling mass of fur, claws, and teeth.

Roland let out a snarl, and he and the second crocotta lunged for each other at the same time. I cried out as the crocotta’s mouth latched onto the back of Roland’s neck. They hit the ground with a loud thud and rolled over a few times in the snow before Roland was able to shake free of the creature’s hold.

I was so fixated on my friends that I forgot about the third crocotta until Jordan screamed my name. She leapt in front of me swinging Chris’s sword in a deadly arc. The tip of the sword sliced easily through the shoulder of the creature bearing down on us. The crocotta roared in pain and swiped at her. She dove to the side, but its claws hooked the pocket of her coat and threw her off balance.

Jordan landed hard on her stomach but kept her grip on the sword. In one fluid motion she rolled onto her back and slashed at the crocotta looming over her, cutting a long shallow gash in its chest. Her attack took the crocotta by surprise, but that did not last long. It struck out with a paw and knocked the sword from her hands before it reared up to strike, its mouth opened and drool dribbled between the razor-sharp teeth.

“Jordan!” I screamed. I tried to run to her, but Chris held me back.

A roar split the air, unlike anything I had ever heard. From out of nowhere, a large winged shape dived from the air, dipping so close to our heads that the downdraft from its leathery wings made my hair fly around my face. The crocotta stumbled away from Jordan, and I saw terror in its eyes before it turned to flee. It didn’t get far before it was swallowed by flames so hot I felt them from twenty feet away.

“Alex?” I whispered, too awed by his appearance to be terrified he would come after me next.

Engulfed by flames, the crocotta screamed and thrashed violently on the ground. The wyvern circled the dying creature once before taking off toward the vampires that had stopped their advance on us to stare in shock. Flames sprouted from his snout again, and I heard a vampire shriek in agony. The others scattered.

If Alex’s appearance shocked me, it was nothing compared to the sight of the golden griffin that dropped from the sky with an enraged squawk and snatched one of the vampires up in her sharp talons. The vampire’s screams lasted only seconds before he fell in pieces to the ground. I stared at the gruesome sight and swallowed several times to keep from gagging. If my sweet Minuet could do this, I did not want to imagine what an adult griffin was capable of.

Chris let me go, and I ran to help Jordan to her feet. She retrieved the sword, and the three of us watched the vampires scream and run from the endless attacks from above. The snow-covered ground turned scarlet, and I could not understand why the vampires did not run for their lives, choosing instead to be burned alive or ripped to pieces.

Growling pulled my attention from the vampires to Roland and Peter still locked in deadly battles of their own. Sharp teeth and claws tore at flesh and tried to snap bones. Blood sprayed and hot breath steamed the air. The werewolves and crocotta were evenly matched. We had to do something to help Roland and Peter.

“Jordan, we need to – ”

Jordan jumped forward with the sword raised. But not to my friends’ defense. I saw the vampire as he swerved around her and came at me. He was not a baby vampire, but he was still young and his sneer was cocky, obviously not seeing either of us as a threat. Jordan staggered slightly as she spun to intercept him, and I knew she was exhausted.

I was running dangerously low on energy, but I stepped away from Chris and summoned what power I could. When the vampire grabbed me, I slammed my hands into his chest and gave him a weak jolt. It wasn’t nearly enough power to disable him, but he stopped short and stared at me in surprise.

It was all the opening Jordan needed. Our eyes met briefly, and I stumbled backward as her sword sliced cleanly through his neck. The severed head hit her boot, and she kicked it away before letting out a whoop and shooting me a savage grin.

“You and me are one badass vampire-killing duo.”

I tried to smile back as I swayed on my feet, and Chris had to grab me to keep me from falling. “Looks like you’ll have to go solo,” I panted. I was used up.

Chris yelled Jordan’s name, and she spun around as a male and a female vampire weaved their way toward us. Their ability to evade Alex and Minuet and the way they sometimes blurred as they moved told me these were almost mature vampires.

“Give me my sword,” Chris commanded, but I knew he was still too weak to fight. Jordan knew it, too, and she shook her head without looking at him. She was going to die defending us.

I heard a whimper to my left and cried out when I saw Peter slumped over one of the crocotta. He was bloody and barely moving. A few feet from them, Roland was locked in a death grip with the second creature. My friends were all going to die before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to help them.

I felt the air move around me a second before two long furred bodies sailed over my head and hit the ground snarling. Hugo was on the female vampire before she knew what hit her, and with one bite, he tore her head from her shoulders. Woolf went after the male who had already turned tail and run. I watched Hugo give the female’s body one last shake before he dropped it and joined Woolf in the pursuit of his prey.

The remaining vampires’ courage left them when they saw the two red-eyed hellhounds that had come to join the fight. They turned and fled for the trees with Hugo and Woolf snapping at their heels and Alex and Minuet attacking them from above.

The sound of snapping bones tore my eyes away from the hellhounds, and I spun in time to see the last crocotta sink to the ground. Roland released its broken neck and staggered back from the dead creature.

I fell to my knees beside Peter and ran my hands over his head and sides. My power was so drained I didn’t know if I had enough to heal him, but I would give everything in me if I had to.

His large head lifted sluggishly, and his amber eyes met mine before he gave my chin a lick.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and he nodded once. I threw my arms around his thick neck and hugged him tightly. Roland came to sit beside me, and I found myself sandwiched between them and struggling not to fall apart. I’d come so close to losing them again. If Alex, Minuet, and the hellhounds hadn’t arrived when they did, we’d all be dead now. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take tonight.

“I think it’s over,” Jordan said in a disbelieving voice.

An eerie silence hung over the grounds. Everywhere I looked, warriors stood with dead vampires at their feet. The quiet was broken only by the distant roars and growls growing fainter by the second.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” I asked no one in particular, staring at the woods.

Chris let out a bark of laughter that was followed by a fit of coughing. When he recovered, he wiped his eyes and smirked at me. “Sara, I’d take you and your pets into battle with me any day.”

Jordan harumphed and gave Chris a look of pure chagrin as she stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground so close to his foot, he had to step sideways to avoid losing a toe. “Next time, you can carry your own damn sword, Blondie.”

I burst out laughing at the bewildered look on Chris’s face, but my laughter faded when a familiar presence brushed across my mind. My heart soared. He’s safe. I whirled and searched the grounds breathlessly for a glimpse of Nikolas.

He tore around the corner of the main building, carrying a sword in each hand, and wearing a thunderous expression I could see from where we stood twenty yards away. Spotting us, he veered in our direction, and I barely had time to take a breath of air before he was in front of me. He threw down his swords and grabbed my shoulders, ignoring everyone else.

“Are you hurt?” he bit out. His rigid posture and the blazing intensity of his gaze told me he was close to losing it.

“I’m okay, Nikolas; we all are.” I laid my hands against his chest and felt his body tremble from the effort to calm down. Rising up on my toes, I whispered in his ear. “Please, don’t freak out on me, okay? I don’t think I can take it right now.”

A sound like a soft growl rumbled deep in his chest, and I took a hasty step back, only to be pulled against him. I started to protest, but my words were smothered and all thought fled when his mouth came down over mine.