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She didn’t have time to think or to do anything.
And in that horrible moment, Hannah knew that death had found her.
But just as the wraith would have reached her, a streak of blue struck the wraith’s back. She arched in the air, shrieked, then fell hard not five feet from Hannah. She was dead, her back obliterated.
Hannah put her hand to her mouth. The smell of burned flesh nauseated her.
Hannah’s gaze moved past the wraith and back to Jude. And as if time had slowed, she watched in horror as Jude fell to the earth as well, the front of his shirt smoking. The mated-vampire, thank God, faltered as well, then hit the pavement with a thud, rolled once and fell unconscious.
She ran to Jude, not caring what happened to either the wraith or her bonded vampire-mate
Jude lay ten feet from the dock, breathing hard, his stomach sliced open, blood pouring from the wound. The same rancid smell of burned flesh caused her to weave on her feet.
His eyes were closed, and he breathed in small pants.
“Jude.” She knelt beside him, wanting to touch and comfort him but afraid anything she did right now would cause him pain. She rubbed his arm. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. I’m healing as we speak, but thank the Goddess you’re okay. The wraith?” He tried to look around but she could tell each movement hurt.
Hannah twisted to look behind her. “She’s dead.?
?
“Good. If her mate isn’t gone as well, he will be soon.”
Hannah glanced at the prone vampire who had one leg bent at a strange angle. “He’s still breathing, but not moving.” She knew that once either part of a wraith-pair died, the remaining mate often followed, especially if wounded in battle as the vampire had been.
Jude winced. “Hannah, listen, I’m in trouble here. I need you to call Longeness. I won’t be able to move by myself and the sun’s coming up.”
To her eye, it was pitch black out, but she’d been around both the light sensitive fae and vampires from the time she could remember and knew that they had internal clocks that counted down the rising sun to the split-second. A vampire caught in the light, even a faint and very distant dawn, would end up burned and blistered. She’d seen the results more than once and it wasn’t pretty.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced toward the street. Familiar lights flashed from a Port Townsend police car. The wraith’s shrieking had probably prompted some of her neighbors to make a complaint and she couldn’t blame them.
Hannah made her call and when Longeness answered, she spoke quietly. “Jude’s been hurt and there’s a dead wraith nearby and a vampire on his way out as well. The police have shown up, which is never good, and I’ll deal with them, but I need to get Jude inside before the sun comes up and I don’t know what to do. His Guardsmen have long since returned to Kellcasse.”
“Hannah, don’t worry. I called for Fleet support as soon as I heard that a wraith-pair had breached the access point. You should be seeing them any second.” Kellcasse had a large boat-based policing fleet that patrolled the hundreds of waterways in the realm but which also worked the access point and often entered Sound waters when needed.
“Oh, thank God, and yes, I see the ship now. They’re moving at a fast clip.”
Jude gripped her hand. “How we doin’? What did Longeness say?”
Hannah had never seen him look so pale. She could feel by the way he held her hand just how much pain he endured. “The Kellcasse Coast Guard is here.”
“Thank the Goddess.”
The sound of boots on the pavement, coming from the direction of the street, forced Hannah to lift her gaze. A light shined in her face and a scowling policeman stared down at her. “Well, this is a fine mess, Hannah. We’ve got plenty of people who don’t like their kind in our town. And now this, a bloody air battle. You’re not helping your reputation by sheltering these assholes.”
Hannah had gone to school with this idiot who now shined his light at Jude’s head. She let go of Jude’s hand and rose to her feet. “You know what, Brett,” she said, keeping her voice low. “If you don’t cut the attitude, I’ll tell everyone what you did in your patrol car. Remember?”
His forehead pulled back and his lips formed a thin, tight line, but he didn’t say anything else. He shifted his gaze out into the Sound. “Well I can see that Mastyr Jude has a crew coming in. Just make sure they get rid of the bodies. I don’t want to have to take any of this slime to my morgue.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond but turned on his heel and started barking orders at his partner and rounding up the civilians, sending them on their way.
She dropped down beside Jude again. He wore a half-smile and said, “Blackmail. I like it.”
“That’s all his kind deserves.”
“What is it you hold over him?” He hissed after getting this sentence out.
