“It must’ve been the—”
“Hate to break up the lovefest, but, uh…” Asher crouched down next to Sparkle and followed her line of sight to a dense copse of trees beyond the cemetery. The hound’s haunches were raised, a menacing growl reverberating from her chest.
Asher got to his feet and rolled his neck, the bones cracking. “Fight or flight, assholes. We got company.”
Two
DARIUS
“Sellouts.” Asher spat at the ground, leaving a smattering of blood in the snow. His jaw was red and swollen where he’d taken a hit, and his blue eyes blazed in the darkness, the adrenaline from the fight still zipping through his blood. “My guess? The inside team called for reinforcements, but these fucks wanted no part of it. They took their time getting here like a bunch of pussies, waiting until our numbers thinned out and the spellcasters left so they could get the drop on the rest of us.”
“Agreed.” I bent down to scoop up a handful of snow, using it to rinse the taste of hunter blood from my mouth. After the incident at the motel when I’d attacked two of them and overdosed—a brutal scene I now remembered with utmost clarity—I refused to swallow even a drop of their bitter poison.
There’d been about a dozen of them tonight, all human, hiding out in the dense trees and waiting to make their move. They’d underestimated us, though, as hunters with big egos and small pricks were wont to do. With Gray’s loyal hound leading the charge and Emilio’s wolf a close second, we’d left Liam to watch over Jael and Gray, bolted into the woods, and sliced through their ranks like a hot knife through butter.
Back on the other side of the cemetery, Jael continued to work on the portal spell, Liam doing his best to stand guard. He’d wrapped Gray in another cloak, and now he held her close, stroking her hair. The sight brought me comfort.
Liam was one of us now.
We’redefinitelygoing to need a bigger bed…
“You think we’re in the clear?” Ronan asked, reclaiming my attention.
I turned to see him rubbing snow into his hands in an attempt to clean the blood. Moments earlier, when the last hunter standing had given us a rather detailed account of what he’d been planning to do to our witch, I’d watched with delight—and a good measure of awe—as Ronan tore out the bastard’s throat with his bare hands.
I scanned the woods behind him, taking in as much sensory detail as I could. Save for our movements, the night had fallen silent once again. The air was tinged with the scent of human blood, but if any hunters had survived our attack, they’d scampered back the way they’d come.
“The last of the rats have either expired or fled back to their cages,” I confirmed.
“For now,” Asher said. “But we’re still exposed out here. Gray’s immobilized, Liam’s got no defensive powers, we can’t risk anything happening to the moonglass, and we havenoidea what other surprises are waiting for us in the woods.”
“You think there are more fae out there?” Ronan asked.
Hunters were one thing; relatively easy to contain, they didn’t stand a chance against a vampire, a wolf, a hellhound, and a pair of demons. But the dark fae could present a serious challenge—especially if there were a lot of them.
“Unlikely,” Asher said. “The fae aren’t fucking cowards. If they were anywhere in the vicinity, they’d already be on top of us. Nah, I’m more concerned about hunters playing games. We’re stronger and faster, but that doesn’t mean they can’t fuck with us. Sun’s not too far off now, and like I said, Gray and Liam are basically sitting ducks. They need to get the fuck back to the lodge. You too, Beaumont.”
I nodded, conceding the point. All the vampire strength and speed in the world couldn’t compete with a sunrise. “But we’re not going anywhere until Jael—”
The force of the explosion knocked us to the ground, the light blinding.
“What thefuck?” Ronan shouted. We got to our feet and shook off the impact, trying to see through the thick blanket of smoke engulfing the entire cemetery.
Seconds later, Liam walked out of the smoke like an apparition, carrying the still-unconscious Gray.
A bolt of horror pierced my heart.
“Where is the moonglass?” I demanded.
But Liam seemed unfazed, his eyes cold and mysterious once again, just like his voice. “Jael has completed his mission.”
“Successfully?” I asked.
“He and the moonglass have vanished, along with all signs of the portal.”
“I’ll count that as a win,” Asher said.
“He could’ve been a bit more subtle about it,” I snapped, brushing the snow from my backside. But with Gray’s soul safely out of harm’s way, and her body still whole, still assimilating, it was nearly impossible to hold onto my anger. By the time Liam placed her back in my arms, there wasn’t even room inside me for mild annoyance. Her presence immediately calmed me, steadied me, and again I buried my face in her hair, taking in her scent.
