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Then they landed on hard, forest ground.
She didn’t expect to be safe right away, considering everything they had been through and how nothing had been handed out to them freely. But she hadn’t anticipated her hair to stand on end, either, and the warning bells to rampage like mad. Hisses came from all corners as figures started popping up.
“Shit.”
Riva’s curse was enough to identify where they were and what they were up against. In short: they were doomed.
“Don’t let go,” Sona warned.
They were still holding hands, and the last in the group was blocking the portal from sight, still open. Slowly closing. The nearest to it, Daria could do nothing but brace herself as Sona quietly tried to get them all linked again—not an easy feat with how everyone else was focused on the vampires.
“Diego, what the hell? I didn’t expect to see you here again. We thought you were dead in that fire.”
“Stop. These are gifts for the master. Don’t touch them.”
“Gifts?”
“I have the scaled woman. I have the wolf. I got all of them out and have a few extra prisoners.”
“The wolf from the rival clan? Let me have her—”
“Let me bring my gifts to the master first. You can have your turn after.”
A chill went down Daria’s spine at his cold, calm tone, as if he was just bargaining objects.
“You bastard,” Riva growled. But her voice broke. The sound set the vampires off as they reached for her. “You—let me go!”
“I said don’t touch her—”
Something crashed, and another growl came, this one more familiar. The menace in it had Daria’s body stiffening before screams rented the air and turned deafening. She glimpsed a large, glorious bear form mauling another figure, then saw glints of fangs and claws exploding on each other. Then she heard it: Sona shouting at the top of her lungs, even while she was choking a vampire out with her tail.
“Now, Daria! Now!”
Daria pushed energy out of her body—and was stunned when it came out double the amount she was used to. It accelerated her descent into the portal, then had her crash landing on yet another hard surface. It jarred her bones, but the rest of the energy she had released came into play, softening the blow of the other’s landing.
She tried to release more, but only a soft internal whistling and seconds of invisibility came out of it. No one said a word. They were all so still, braced for the next attack…which didn’t come.
“I think we got transported to another forest.”
Forest, because she was seeing no mountain nearby. Her body held no warning, either, except that of Charlie nearby. She glanced to her right, found him coming, and closed the distance between them with a few steps.
“Are you okay?” was the first question from his lips.
“Yes.”
“Still alive?”
He didn’t sound amused, but the shared humor had her smirking. “Yes.”
“That was…”
Intense. Crazy. A good start.
“Yes.”
He didn’t hug her. She couldn’t figure out why when he had been so open with it before, and the longing to have one hug seeped into her bones. She looked away so he wouldn’t read it, sure it was shining vibrantly on her face. Then she paused when it registered that there were two figures semi-hugging.
“You can let me go now,” Riva said.
