“Glad to see you survived.” I commented, my attention sliding to the woman that clung to his side.Bridgette met my stare, her eyes strong and slender nose upturned as she nodded respectfully. She’d once looked at me like I were the enemy, analyzing the way I stood and moved as though she were searching for weak points, but not anymore. She seemed completely at ease in this quaint little house, perched on the arm of the antique sofa with a glass of what I knew to be blood in her hand.She wasn’t the only one in the room, though. There were a few other Vampire’s, most of which had been here for a few weeks now. Two men around Asher’s age, one with hair as pale as snow and the other with curls that mirrored Giovanni’s, though they were a tad bit more unruly, were situated on a set of recliners just off to the side.“Well, when you told me this one here was alive, I had no choice but to get back to her.” Deacon grunted, his ice-cold gaze thawing when he turned it towards Bridgette.Asher
Several seconds passed, flitting into the ether as we all stared at one another, shock written clear across our features only in different fonts. Any and all laughter vanished from the room, it’s absence letting silence leak in like a drug.Asher and Deacon were the first to break free of it’s hypnotic gaze, barking out orders that were both awe-inspiring and terrifying.“We must’ve been followed, but I’m betting it was Lola’s appearance that made them act so soon. It would’ve been smartest to attack during broad daylight. We’d be sitting ducks that way.” Deacon snarled.Asher’s eyes momentarily glazed over, caught in a mind-link that left him biting back a growl.“Witches are close to the border of town. They’re close to breaking through. I’ve got six wolves stationed here. Four are currently fighting, two are rounding up every child and elderly person in town.” His grimace deepened, and my blood ran cold from the sheer harshness of it. “There’s a witch setting things on fire. That w
This was bad.The battle was no longer waging on the outskirts of town, not with our lack of numbers and the witch’s arsenal of weapons.Many of the Vampire’s here weren’t hardened warriors but families without a home, desperate for somewhere safe to raise their children and watch them grow. Seeing as Asher and I refused to force anyone to fight, fearful they’d be killed and ripped away from those they loved, it left us at a huge disadvantage.Deacon had been right. That much was clear in the feverish way the witches fought, banding together in small groups as they used both magic and human weaponry to take us down. There had to be over a dozen of them, possibly more. They could’ve waited until the sun had risen and claimed this town as their own, but there was always that chance I wouldn’t be here.It was a risk they chose not to take, and probably our only advantage.The witches had silver, and plenty of it. Clutched in the hands of many were guns with plated bullets, daggers etched
I didn’t hesitate to bound into the forest, chasing the sound of Breyona’s voice, the taste of her fear ripe on my tongue.There was something wrong, something so very wrong with the way her voice coiled around my thoughts and squeezed the life out of them. It wasn’t through mind-link that I was hearing her, I was sure of it. No matter how hard I tried to dig past her wailing, to the connection that spanned between us, I just couldn’t.Thoughts refused to form, each and every one shattering under the grip of her pleas.‘It hurts, Lola! It hurts so bad—so bad.’ She sobbed and screamed.I couldn’t think, not even to figure out where the hell I was going or whether or not I should slow down.The forest cracked and trembled beneath my feet. Limbs like outstretched arms reached to grab me, tearing away bits of my fur and drawing blood. Even the pain was dull, like it too was smothered by Breyona’s voice.Suddenly, she went silent.It should’ve occurred to me that the wrongness in the air w
It was dark magic, it had to be.Invisible claws latched onto a part of me that was much deeper than mere flesh and bone, wrapping and coiling like the scaled body of a snake. The pleasure soured, and as spasm after spasm rocked my body, I tasted its foulness on my tongue.I was entangled in it’s grasp, powerless even though mere seconds ago I killed an entire group of witches with my mind.The way it split my thoughts like a deck of cards, shuffling through them before turning each one over to inspect it felt like a violation.Everything hurt. The pain was so consuming that I couldn’t tell which parts of me were still intact. My skin burned from the silver tipped arrows, stung from the slices in my flesh, and burned because every movement I made jostled the quills protruding from my back.The forest was growing darker, the shadows dancing around the edges of my vision. They thrashed and writhed, their whispers just out of reach. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t the forest tha
“Shit.” I cursed.Breyona’s sharp gaze softened. She pursed her lips and murmured, “You didn’t even realize you did it, did you?”“No.” It came out as a whisper. “I didn’t.”“She wants to kill that one since her twin got away. Brandon actually ran into the fire witch on his way here. He’s got a nasty burn on his shoulder to prove it.” Breyona pointed out, her eyes still on the mess ahead.“Well, lets go intervene. Shall we?”Turns out, there wasn’t much I had to do to turn Dina’s attention away from Tessa. My mere presence was enough to have her hackles raising and lips pulling back to show rows of sharp teeth. Breyona situated herself in front of me, standing off to the side incase I needed her. Standing a healthy distance away, keeping a firm watch on Tessa, was Clara, Mason, Sean, along with a mixture of Vampire’s and warriors.“Dina…” I said in greeting. “You look good.”Breyona snorted but covered it up with a well-placed cough.“She’s uh, she’s trying to mind-link you, but since
The trip home was filled with silence.It wasn’t the comfortable kind that faded into the background and made your eyelids grow heavy as the purr of the car’s engine droned on and on.This one was full of tension and unspoken words that were so loud they needn’t be spoken at all.Zeke, Clara, and Mason hitched a ride with Asher and I since Tessa was currently tied up and unconscious in the back of the work van Breyona drove. Giovanni and Tristan had no choice but to sit back there as well considering they were the only windows blacked out from the rising sun.It would’ve been safer to wait until dark to move, but we didn’t have the time to waste.There was no telling if Ember would come back for her twin with more witches, and now that the location of the safe haven was compromised, we needed every spare warrior available to protect the territory.It did help that Deacon, Dina, and Spence stayed behind, but there was still the risk of the witches attacking during the day.Since my ner
I didn’t have to be linked to Zeke to feel his hurt. Even if he did hide it perfectly, it was there just beneath the surface, bubbling and festering away like an open wound. Things between Asher and I weren’t always perfect, and I knew from experience how badly it could hurt to be cast aside by your mate.Zeke didn’t dignify her with a response. He shook his head ruefully and left the room. When he emerged into the observation room, he made a beeline for the door and left without a word. The urge to storm in there and smack the hell out of her was strong, so strong that I had to take a few deep breaths to keep calm.‘Zeke interviewed Tessa. He just left, so you might run into him.’ I mind-linked Asher, giving him a heads up before he found out some other way.Asher’s disappointment trickled down the bond, mixed with his concern for Zeke.‘She didn’t tell him anything, did she?’‘No, she didn’t. She actually said that she’d prefer torture over having to talk to him.’ I scoffed, glaring