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I had to laugh. “I hope you don’t really need to ask that.”
Reluctantly, I peeled myself off him. When my gaze found Gabriel’s again, his bright blue eyes were even more brilliant than usual. I retrieved my panties and jeans off the floor and scrambled into them as quickly as I could in the tight space. Ky hauled up his pants and gave me a final kiss before he returned to his seat to give me back mine.
I sat down, sagging into the padded leather surface for a moment of relaxation with my shoulder pressed comfortably against Gabriel’s. I was only just reaching for my seatbelt when a blast of magic slammed into us—and the SUV.
The tires screeched. Damon gave a shout, yanking at the wheel. But the vehicle swayed, and with a stomach-dropping lurch we tipped right over.
Chapter Nine
Rose
The side of the SUV hit the road like a thunderclap, a crash of metal and splintering glass. The impact flung me into Gabriel, who threw his arms around me just in time to stop my head from smacking into the shattered window now beneath us. His torso jerked against his seatbelt.
Somewhere ahead of us Damon was cursing up a storm and someone—Seth? Oh, dear Spark, he hadn’t been buckled in either while he slept— let out a groan.
Another wave of magic slammed into the car, rocking it. Gabriel hissed through his teeth. Even I felt it through the layers of protection I’d woven around myself: little shards of pain as if the magic were echoing the broken glass beneath me.
I scrambled around, trying to get my bearings while my head spun—and trying not to hurt Gabriel more in the process. Where were the attacks coming from? How close were the enforcers now? I stretched out my senses as my feet crunched on the remains of the window and registered the next blast of energy emanating from a cluster of bodies farther down the road on both sides.
They didn’t feel quite the same as the witches who’d been attacking us before. The faction that was after us had gotten ahead of us, sent a force to ambush us while distracting us with lesser assaults.
I swept my arms to draw up a barrier of magic between us and them, but it was hard to move at all in the toppled car. I had no idea how long that effort would hold.
“I need to get out so I can work properly,” I said. “The rest of you might be safer out of the SUV too, in case we need to run for it.”
“Got it,” Kyler said with a rasp. On the side of the SUV that was now above us, he heaved at the door. It swung open on his second attempt. Gabriel shifted beside me and offered his hands to boost me up.
Jin was shoving his way out at the front, Damon waiting to clamber after him. “Seth?” I said as I grabbed the doorframe and hauled myself up. I hadn’t seen him yet, hadn’t heard him except for that groan.
“I’ll help him,” Ky said quickly. “You stop those pricks out there.”
My heart wrenched, but stopping the enforcers was the best way I could keep Seth safe until I had time to heal whatever injuries he’d suffered. Gritting my teeth, I squirmed the rest of the way out.
“They’re to the west,” I called to the others as I slid down to the road. “Get behind the SUV. It’ll shield us a little.”
I darted behind it myself and immediately threw myself into a larger magicking, now that I had the room for it. My feet pattered against the asphalt, and the air whipped with the slash of my arms. I focused my attention on those clusters of figures ahead of us.
It wasn’t enough just to shield us. The closer they got, the harder they’d hit us, and there were a lot more of them than me. But my spark was freshly flaring and I’d die before I let them take me or my guys again.
With one last snap of my wrists, I hurled a surge of power toward our attackers. Knock them down, knock them out, I didn’t care as long as I got them to back off. The wind warbled around us, and a distant cry reached my ears. A few of the presences I’d sensed faded.
How hard had I hit them? Had Ikilledsomeone? The thought sent a shock of cold horror through me. But before I could deal with that, the remaining enforcers tossed another spell our way. A sizzling impression of a vast net hurtled toward us.
No! I pushed forth my magic, launching every movement I knew to sever and shatter. Energy rushed through my limbs. I propelled it out and felt the thrust of the enforcers’ spell crack just as it plummeted to meet us.
It broke apart, but the slivers of energy burned as they dropped around me. I flinched back, almost bumping into Jin. He and Damon had joined me.
“Where are the others?” I asked breathlessly.
“Gabriel and Kyler are looking after Seth,” Jin said. When my eyes widened, he added quickly, “He took a blow to the head, but it’s not bleeding much, and he’s coherent. Nothing unfixable.”
He couldn’t know that for sure, but the words soothed my panic a little.
Damon cracked his knuckles. One of the shreds of the magical net had brushed his cheek, leaving a red mark, but he didn’t look bothered. “How do we take the bastards down, Rose?”
I dragged in a breath. “I’ve got to hit them again before they hit us.” And even harder than last time. And if I did more than knock them out… I couldn’t worry about that right now. I didn’t want to kill anyone, but that didn’t matter half as much as making sure they didn’t kill us.
Damon clasped my waist, hugging me partly from behind. He kissed my shoulder. “Right here with you, angel. Take anything you need.”
