Page 27 of Fateful Reunion

Zane took the lead, running up the hill. Trees and bushes grew on the slope.

“What if they don’t see us?” Roxanne whispered to Charles as they started climbing side by side.

“They might not have the sensitive hearing of vampires, but they will sense us: two witches and a vampire trying to get away. They’ll take the bait. The question is, how far will we get until they spot us?”

“Not far enough,” Zane hissed and whirled around just as flashes of light illuminated the sky above them.

“Shit!” Roxanne cursed and reached for her gun, spinning around as well.

She saw the witches immediately. While their forms were difficult to ascertain in the dark despite her vampire vision, their auras were unmistakable. Roxanne aimed and fired. The bullet should have hit its target, but the witch she’d aimed at had thrown up her arms and sent a blast of energy in its direction, sending it off course.

“Duck!” Charles screamed, just as Roxanne realized that the bullet hadn’t just veered off course, but was coming straight back at her.

Roxanne felt an impact, however, it wasn’t the bullet that knocked her off her feet but Charles slamming into her side. Together, they rolled down the hill a few yards, until he managed to dig his heels into the ground and stop them from tumbling farther.

Meanwhile shots—subdued by a silencer—fired by Zane from higher up where he was sheltering behind a tree, crackled through the night.

“The entire neighborhood is going to come running,” Roxanne ground out. Innocents would get caught in the battle.

Pulling her with him to hide behind an old tree stump leaning against a boulder, Charles said, “They will have thrown up a sound barrier. A spell to hide what’s happening here. It’s not in their interest to attract attention. All they want is to kill Ilaria.”

They dove behind the boulder, narrowly avoiding a spear of fire one of the witches had aimed at them. Roxanne felt the heat singeing the ends of her hair as it passed over her.

“Nice weapons your friends have,” she hissed.

“Even you must see they’re not my friends,” Charles retorted and shoved her behind him. “Stay down.”

Before she could stop him, he jumped up with outstretched arms and sent a blast of energy toward the witches. An ear-shattering scream sounded through the night. Roxanne jumped up, her gaze darting past Charles’s broad body. The aura of one of the witches lit up like a flame, then extinguished just as quickly. Charles’s blast had incinerated her.

But Roxanne could find no satisfaction in the witch’s death, because one look down at the bottom of the hill confirmed that they were indeed outnumbered. At least six or seven figures were approaching, starting to climb up the slope. And no matter how many bullets Zane fired from high up, his shots kept missing their intended targets. Roxanne did the same, alternately shooting and tossing throwing stars at them. Without any success. As if they were protected by a shield not even Charles seemed to be able to breach.

Steadily, the witches moved closer. Roxanne glanced around. But there was no place to run or hide. They’d gambled and lost. In a few moments, the witches would have them surrounded and pick them off one by one.

“Promise me something, Roxanne,” Charles suddenly murmured next to her.

She whipped her head to look at him, his tone sending a shudder down her spine, when her eyes caught the glare of headlights on the street that wound up to the safe house. She focused her vision. SUVs. Black-out vans.

“They’re here.” She gripped Charles’s shoulder and pointed to the road. He followed her outstretched finger. “Scanguards. They’ll be able to attack them from behind.”

“Only if I can disrupt the shield the witches have erected around themselves. I’m the only one who can pierce it.” All of a sudden, Charles pressed his lips to hers, kissing her fiercely. “Always remember that I love you.” Then he jumped out from behind the boulder and charged forward, his arms spread like wings.

“Nooooooo!” Roxanne screamed. This was suicide. But this time she wouldn’t allow Charles to leave her. This time she’d go with him wherever he went.

A blast of air tossed her on her ass. She scrambled to get up and searched for Charles. He was already facing the enemy, arrows of electrical charges shooting from his fingertips, raining down on the witches and bouncing off their collective shield. Relentlessly he fired at them in an obvious attempt to weaken them, when he finally sank to his knees.

“Noooo!” Roxanne screamed and jumped up. Hoping her witch aura was still intact and knowing that the witches didn’t know what Ilaria looked like, she waved her arms at them. “Come and get me, I’m what you want, you fucking cowards!”

Every eye shot to Roxanne. But she only looked at Charles, who now, even in his weakened state, raised his arms. When tiny sparks appeared on his fingertips, she turned on her heel and ran uphill, knowing it would further distract the witches and lure them in her direction.

“This way,” Roxanne heard Zane call out to her, and she changed direction.

Behind her, screams and shouts mingled with gunshots and what sounded like explosions. When she reached the tree where Zane was hidden, she looked over her shoulder.

From high above the property she had the perfect vantage point. Somehow Charles had managed to break the witches’ protective shield, allowing Scanguards to attack them from behind. The attack took them by surprise. Six witches against more than a dozen vampires. The odds weren’t good for the witches.

“We are the best, aren’t we?” Zane chuckled next to her. “Though I must say, your man down there isn’t too bad either. For a witch, that is.”

Her eyes darted to the spot where she’d last seen Charles. He was gone. Panicked, she jumped up, but immediately felt Zane’s hand on her arm.