“Stay back, Gray.”
“It’s Jonathan,” I said again. “He’s turned himself into a shifter.”
“And a vampire,” Darius said, struggling to keep his hold. “He’s got vamp fangs.”
“I thought I killed him,” I said, still in shock.
“If he’s got vamp in him, we have to burn him or behead him.”
Snapping out of my stupor, I went for the dagger at my thigh, but Jonathan refused to be pinned down. He shot out of their grasp, snarling and snapping, dodging at every turn.
“I can’t fucking catch him!” Ronan shouted. “Grab him, Beaumont!”
Darius was no more than a blur in my peripheral vision, but so was Jonathan.
The last thing I saw was his twisted, mutilated body launching over the stones, disappearing into the pool below.
I charged after him, ready to jump in and fight. Ready to chase him down in my own realm and take his head, once and for all.
But before I could even talk myself out of that idea, a great darkness blotted out the sun, and Ronan was shouting at me once again.
“Down! Get down!”
I dropped to the ground and covered my head just as a huge, winged beast swooped past me, clipping my shoulder with its monstrous hoof.
Ignoring the shock of pain, I unsheathed the dagger and rolled onto my back, holding the knife close to my chest.
The beast was airborne again, circling, joined now by two others.
“Memory eaters,” I gasped.
The creatures were awesome in the truest sense of the word—winged horses with sleek midnight-black bodies and silver manes and tails, and great gossamer wings that glittered in the sun. I watched them circle overhead, then dive, but I was no longer afraid.
I wanted to see them up close. To look into their eyes and seek out the depths of their magnificent beauty. To let them take away the last of my earthly burdens.
The blade trembled in my hands.
“Gray! Move!” Darius ran past me, scooping me up and shoving me out of the way just as one of the great beasts landed on the ground beside us. It sighed and whinnied, then shook its massive head, silver mane catching the light. A thousand galaxies glittered in its eyes.
I dropped my blade. Fell to my knees.
“Don’t look into its eyes!” Darius shouted, but it was too late. The creature was so beautiful. So peaceful. Why would I look anywhere else?
Slowly, I felt something tingling in my mind, like warm water seeping into my skull.
Don’t carry these burdens, sweet girl…
The warmth vanished in a blink, and I looked up to see Darius tearing out the beast’s throat. Blood gushed from the wound, and a moment later, the memory eater collapsed to the ground.
Behind him, Ronan had leaped onto the back of the second beast. In a burst of raw demon strength, he grabbed the beast’s head and twisted, snapping its neck. The thing crashed to the ground with so much force, the earth trembled.
“Gray!” Darius was at my side, shaking me out of the momentary trance. He picked up my blade and handed it to me. “Are you hurt?”
I looked into his eyes and shook my head, trying not to look at the blood covering his mouth and chest.
“What’s my name?” he asked.
“Are you serious?”
