I glance down. The ground still looks too far away, but I don’t have a choice. The longer I hang here, the more likely I am to be discovered.
Drawing in a breath, I squeeze my eyes shut and let go.
Thirty-Seven
BECKS
There are more vampires than I realized—at least two dozen by my count—and only five of us to hold the line. They move fast and are coordinated, trying to split us up, but we refuse to break.
Gunshots sound. Magic detonates. Snow is churned into slush beneath our boots as bodies hit the ground.
It’s brutal and relentless, but little by little we thin their numbers. The fight drags us deep into the trees, farther from the cabin. But that doesn’t weaken us; it gives us room to fight without worrying about collateral damage. Without worrying about Haven.
The farther we get from the cabin, the more certain I am that at least she’s safe. I’d fight a whole forest full of vampires on my own if it meant they’d never reach her.
When the tide finally turns, the remaining vampires scatter into the trees.
We split up without needing to say a word, each of us giving chase. We can’t let a single one escape. Not to warn anyone, not to regroup. No survivors.
I toss the still warm heart of the vampire I was chasing onto the snowy ground. I may have gotten a little carried away, but protecting Haven brings out the beast in me and I didn’t just kill the vampire, I tore it apart.
Movement catches my eye, and I glance up to see Titus striding toward me. His upper lip curls when he sees what I did to the vampire.
“Was that really necessary?” he asks, and I shrug.
“He’s dead.”
“And then some.”
I glance at the sky through a break in the trees. The moon is almost completely red now. We took too long. Even though we rounded up the group of vampires who descended on the cabin, I still have this itchy feeling that Haven is in danger. It won’t go away until I can see her and know she’s all right.
“Let’s get back,” Titus says, frowning into the night, looking like he’s feeling the same unease I am.
I nod and then freeze, taking in a lungful of air.
“Do you smell smoke?” I ask, and Titus goes rigid.
I don’t wait for his confirmation before taking off for the cabin. Moving like a blur through the trees, I sprint faster than I ever have before, cursing that there isn’t a clearing where I can shift into my dragon.
The smell of smoke and ash only gets stronger as I near the cabin, until up ahead through the trees I spot a fiery blaze.
Running faster, scales break out over my skin. When I break through the tree coverage, I skid to a halt.
The cabin is completely engulfed in flames.
I was wrong. Fighting the vampires away from the cabin didn’t protect her, it left her exposed. The realization hits like a blow to the sternum, a soundless snarl ripping out of me as my legs fold.
It was a trap we walked right into.
I scan the windows, looking for signs of movement.
She has to be all right. Fire won’t hurt her.
Except that isn’t entirely true. She has some resistance as a fire wielder, but only to a point. Burn hot enough, long enough, and even her body will fail. And smoke doesn’t care about magic. Inhalation could kill her faster than the flames ever would.
Titus catches up with me, panting from the sprint. “What happened? Where are the girls?” he pushes out between breaths, his gaze wide and wild.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I don’t see signs of anyone.”
