Dorian’s vehicle was flipped on its side. Dents and crinkles marked its normally smooth surface and the back window had shattered.
“Oh my God!” I heard Ridley shout from somewhere behind me. “This person is dead!”
The word had my feet crunching down the embankment.
“Eli!” I shouted as I jumped over a chunk of the bumper that had been torn off during their tumble. My heart raced in my chest, beating so hard and fast it hurt. All I could think of was him. He had to be okay. He was a werewolf. He would walk away from this. “Eli!”
“They hit so hard.” Ridley’s voice made its way to me. As I rounded the SUV to get to the passenger side where Eli had been, I noticed Ridley standing at the top of the embankment from the corner of my eye. “Are they—?”
She never finished her sentence. My mind knew this. It registered, but I didn’t understand why. It wasn’t until I glanced at her that I realized what caused her to go mute.
Two vampires flanked her—one male and one female.
14
“Damn, I should’ve thought to grab us a getaway vehicle,” the female said from where she stood at Ridley’s side. “Oh well, I guess yours will have to do.” She grabbed Ridley by her hair and dragged her behind her as she walked toward Ridley’s car. A cry of pain spurred from Ridley.
My wolf went crazy, nipping and howling as she tried to get me to set her free.
I watched as Ridley hit the female vampire—whom I assumed was Lilith—and put up a fight, but it did her no good. She was no match for Lilith’s vampire strength.
“A little help, please,” Lilith snapped at the male vampire.
He stepped to her and wrapped his arm around Ridley’s waist. She looked like a child tucked into his side due to his height. His gaze locked on me. He didn’t speak, but his lips twisted into a wicked grin that sent a shiver creeping down my spine.
He was waiting for me to react. Something in his expression let me know he wanted me to come at him. He wanted a fight.
I did nothing. I couldn’t.
At first, I thought it was fear and being overwhelmed by the situation, but then I realized my inability to move was because I couldn’t. I was paralyzed. I could breathe. I could swallow. And, I could move my eyes. Nothing else worked.
What the hell?
I couldn’t get to Ridley. All I could do was watch as she was carried away.
It was my worst nightmare come true—not being able to help save someone I cared for.
My wolf nudged me, attempting to push my human side away. She wanted to be released. She wanted to help Ridley. I didn’t fight her.
At this point, she was the only hope Ridley had.
The wicked grin on the male vampire’s face grew. Did he know I was paralyzed? Was this something he was doing? Was he the one among the Midnight Reaper vampires who was able to get inside people’s heads and pull out their worst fears?
As though he could read my mind, his head tipped to the side, and he winked. Just like that, I had control of my body again. Even so, there wasn’t enough time to get to Ridley. Not in my human form.
My wolf let out a howl. It was her way of demanding I release her. Now.
I slipped my silver off and peeled my clothes away.
“Roman, please tell me you’re making her do that.” Lilith laughed. It was equal parts sultry and wicked.
So this guy was Roman. He was the fourth Montevallo vampire.
“Making her do what?” he asked.
“Strip. Being naked in public is hilarious! I love it when that’s someone’s biggest fear.”
“I wish I could take credit for it, but it’s not me. It’s her. She’s getting ready to burst into wolf form for us.”
“Oh, I guess we better go, then,” Lilith said. Her tone made it clear she was no more afraid of me than Roman was.
They were underestimating my wolf. She could kick some serious ass.
“Let me go!” Ridley shouted. She kicked and thrashed, but Roman’s grip was secure. Her hand came up, and she jammed her palm against his nose. Blood sprayed from it and pride slithered through me. “I said let go!”
I gave way to my wolf as soon as I stepped out of my last article of clothing. The shift was smooth. Automatic. My wolf and I had been through this transition enough that it was a thing of beauty to change.
A yelp from Ridley pulled my focus from the change to her.
Roman had gripped her by the back of the head, his fingers entwined in her hair, and pulled her to the ground. Her head bounced against the asphalt with a sick noise, knocking her out cold.
“You better not have killed her,” Lilith fumed. “You know how much I need her. She has to be able to think enough to connect to the other side, which she can’t do if she’s suffering from brain damage!”
“I didn’t hit her head that hard. Just hard enough to knock her out,” Roman spat. He wiped at his nose with the back of his hand. “Thanks for the concern, by the way. I’m fine.”
Lilith waved his words away. “I know you’re fine. Don’t be so dramatic.”
I rushed toward them during their exchange, unsure what I’d do once I reached them. Movement in the car that hit Dorian’s SUV caught my eye. Apparently, the driver of the other vehicle wasn’t dead—he was a vampire.
Ice blasted through my veins. This had all been a setup.
Lilith and Roman weren’t planning to grab Ridley from campus. They’d planned to snatch her on the ride home. Possibly run her car off the road and grab her.
Had they known we’d be with her?
“Are we about to face off?” Roman asked me. Now that I knew who he was, I recognized Montevallo traits in his features. He looked like an evil version of Julian. It was strange. “I’ll try to make it a fair fight for you.”
My wolf bared her teeth and growled, showing how ready she was.
“No. Enough with the games. Grab the anchor and get in the car,” Lilith said. She situated herself behind the wheel of Ridley’s car. “We’re not facing off with anyone. We’re getting out of here now that we’ve got what I want.”
Roman licked his lips and pointed at me. “This isn’t over between you and me. I would’ve loved to go head-to-head with you. You’re a spunky little thing. I find you interesting. To be continued...”
I lunged at him as he scooped Ridley up from the asphalt. I was fast but not fast enough. He’d shoved her in the backseat and climbed into the passenger seat of the car in a blur. Lilith sped off, and I felt the weight of what happened crush me.
I’d lost Ridley to the Midnight Reaper vampires.
A battle cry sounded from behind me. The vampire who’d been in the other vehicle had managed to escape its wreckage. He was coming toward me, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.
I’d let Ridley down.
I’d let my pack down.
Seconds before the vampire descended on me, my wolf took full control over my movements. She spun around and lifted up on her haunches to sink her teeth into the vampire’s neck, ripping it out before he had a chance to do me any harm. The taste of blood burst through my mouth. My stomach churned, rejecting it. Emotions got the best of me, numbing my mind as I fought against nausea.
For the first time in my life I had no clue what I was supposed to do.
My stomach retched as the vampire’s vile blood worked its way into my system. I glanced at him. He was slumped across the asphalt. I didn’t soak in any of his features, only the marking on the inside of his forearm. It was the same rune we’d seen before.
The Sire Brand.
This vampire had been compelled like the one in the woods. To do what? Wait until we came down the road and then smash into Dorian’s SUV?
Eli! I needed to make sure he was okay.
The shrill sound of metal scraping against metal made its way to me. Someone was moving from the wreckage of Dorian’s vehicle.
My wolf slipped aside, allowing me back to the surface.
“Eli!�
�� I shouted once I was in human form again.
A loud grunt filled the air. More clatter sounded. It had to be Eli. He had to be okay.
I dashed down the embankment, eager to get to him. When I reached the bottom, I realized it wasn’t Eli.
It was Julian.
He’d ripped the back door off Dorian’s vehicle and was busy making his way through it. Cuts and bruises marked him, and it looked as though his glasses had been snapped in half. They dangled from his nose. I reached for his arm in an effort to help him out, but he shook off my touch as a growl rippled through him that startled me. His gaze lifted to mine, and I noticed how dark his eyes were and that his fangs were descended.
I took a step back, giving him space.
Once he was free of the vehicle, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. When his gaze lifted to me again, his creepy vampire mode was gone.
“Mina? Are you okay?” he asked. His eyes scanned the length of me. “Why are you naked? What happened?”
I opened my mouth to answer but saw movement from inside the vehicle.
“Eli!” I rushed to the front of the vehicle. The door was jammed. I pulled at it with all my might, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Here, let me help,” Julian insisted. I stepped aside, watching as he got a good grip on the passenger door and ripped it off its hinges. He reached inside and pulled out Dorian. Blood oozed from his nose, and his arm dangled at an odd angle.
“Get Eli out,” Dorian coughed. “Get him out of there. Now!”
As Dorian said this, Octavia emerged from the back of the vehicle. Her left leg was bent wrong at the knee. Scratches slashed across her face and pieces of glass were embedded in her forehead.
“Well, that was a joy ride from hell,” she grumbled as she swung her leg out in front of her and gripped her knee. She jerked it straight out and everything went back into place. “Ouch! Damn it, that hurt! Thank goodness for vampire regeneration.”
“Help me get Eli out,” Julian yelled to her. “It looks like he’s pinned beneath the dash.”
Why wasn’t Eli talking? Why wasn’t he making any noise at all?
My heart lodged in my throat as my lungs forgot how to breathe. I sent a prayer up to the moon goddess, asking for Eli to be okay.
Octavia moved to where Julian was. “What do you want me to do?”
“When I lift this up, I want you to reach in and slide him out as carefully as you can. His legs are crushed by the weight of the dash, but I don’t know how severe the damage is so you need to be careful. We don’t need him bleeding out on us.”
Bleeding out.
As soon as the words fell from Julian’s lips, my senses zeroed in on the smell of blood. There was too much; the ground swayed beneath my feet.
“Reach in and get a good grip on him,” Julian coerced Octavia while he moved to the front of the vehicle so he could grab onto the hood. “On three, I’m going to lift this up and I want you to pull him out.”
“I’ll help from here,” Ivette’s soft voice called from inside the vehicle.
“Good,” Julian muttered.
“Okay. I’m ready when you are,” Octavia said.
“One, two, three!” Julian shouted.
Metal bending and twisting echoed through the air as Julian lifted the front of the vehicle. My entire body froze as I watched Octavia and Ivette do as they were told. My lungs constricted as I held my breath, waiting for what I would see once they pulled Eli free.
Seconds later Eli was sprawled on the ground a few feet away from the vehicle. At the sight of him, my lungs breathed again and my feet moved. I was at his side in an instant, my shaking hands hovering over him as I took in every inch of his body, afraid to touch him.
Blood trickled down his face from a gash above his right brow. Chunks of glass were embedded in his skin. Cuts crisscrossed his arms.
But it was his left leg that was injured the worst. That was where all the blood was coming from.
“Oh my God! Eli!” Tears streamed down my face. I knew I shouldn’t touch him, that I should get out of the way and let Julian look him over, but I couldn’t. My fingers trembled as I brushed against his cheek, praying his eyes would open at the feel of my touch.
My heart shattered when they didn’t.
“He’s going to be okay,” Julian insisted. He crouched beside me. “But I need you to step aside so I can assess his injuries.”
“Come over here,” Ivette insisted. She’d climbed out of the vehicle. Her cold hands landed on my bare shoulders as she guided me away from Eli. “Let my brother do his thing.”
I watched Julian assess Eli’s wounded leg. He ripped his jeans away until the injury was exposed. The gash went to the bone. I could see the creamy whiteness of it between the flesh. My mouth grew dry. While I didn’t know much about caring for wounds, I knew this one was too deep and he was losing too much blood.
Tears streamed down my face. I was going to lose him.
I was going to lose Eli.
“Mina, I need to ask you something. I need you to focus,” Julian insisted. His intense gaze was locked on me, I could feel it, but I couldn’t pull my eyes from Eli.
What if I was watching him take his final breaths?
“His wound is deep. Too deep for him to heal on his own, even with werewolf healing. And honestly, I don’t think he’d make it if we were to call an ambulance. Which means I need your permission to do something—to do the only thing I think will save him,” Julian said. “As his mate, I need to know if it’s okay if I give him my blood. Do I have your consent?”
I’d heard of vampires giving blood to werewolves for one reason or another, but it was a rare occurrence. I also knew there were consequences. However, I couldn’t think of what they were off the top of my head.
“No,” Dorian grunted from where he leaned against the bank. “It’s not something Eli would want.”
I blinked. Was this something Eli wouldn’t want? I didn’t know.
I couldn’t think.
There was too much blood. Too much happening.
My hand lifted to my temple as I struggled to clear my head. I needed to think. I needed to act. What would Eli do? What would he want?
“Mina, look at me,” Julian demanded. “Look at me. I need you to focus on what I’m offering because we’re running out of time. As Eli’s mate, do you agree to me giving him my blood?”
My eyes drifted from Julian to Eli. He was motionless, bleeding out as the seconds ticked away. I licked my dry lips.
What was I supposed to do? What did it mean if a vampire gave a werewolf their blood? I couldn’t remember.
Did it matter?
No. It didn’t. All that mattered was Eli being alive, him being okay.
I locked eyes with Julian. “Yes. I agree to you giving Eli your blood.”
Dorian muttered something about it being a mistake, but I couldn’t hear him through the pounding of my heart. I focused on Julian. He sank his teeth into his wrist, puncturing the flesh and drawing blood, then he pressed his wrist to Eli’s lips. Time seemed to stop as I watched Julian’s blood transfer to Eli. Dorian’s words looped through my mind, causing a seed of panic to sprout.
What had I agreed to?
What had I done to Eli? Would he hate me for it when he woke?
15
Julian wiped his wrist on his jeans. I stared at Eli, waiting for his eyes to flutter open. My breath caught in my throat. He didn’t seem as though he were alive. There was no change in his condition.
Had it not worked?
“How long before we know if it’s working?” My voice was barely above a whisper.
Ivette handed me my clothes. “It can take minutes or hours. It’s entirely unpredictable.”
“Which is one of the reasons Eli would be pissed you allowed it to happen,” Dorian insisted as he forced himself to a standing position.
I pulled my shirt over my head, trying to ignore the unease pooling in the pit of my stomach. I tried t
o shake the sensation.
If time was the only issue, then what the hell was Dorian’s problem?
Eli would have asked Julian to do the same for me if I’d been the one bleeding out. I knew he would.
“We don’t have time to wait around for him to wake,” Julian insisted. “We need to figure out where Ridley has been taken.”
Ridley.
My throat grew tight as the image of her being shoved in the backseat of her car flashed through my mind. I still couldn’t believe she’d been taken by Roman and Lilith. The sight of her head bouncing off the asphalt looped through my mind. I prayed she was okay.
“I’ll call Officer Dan and see what he can do about the vehicles. I mean, there’s no way in hell mine is drivable. I’d like to report this,” Dorian growled. He hugged his injured arm to his chest. “But I’m sure that damn vampire doesn’t have any insurance.”
“We should call someone to pick us up. Tate? Or my mom?” I suggested as I buttoned my jeans.
The only way I was going to make it through this moment and to the next was if I focused on getting home. In my head, once we made it there, things with Eli would be okay. Enough time would have passed for him to come to and then I could shift focus to Ridley and figure out a way to get my friend back.
My gaze drifted to Eli. He was still sprawled out on the grass with Julian’s blood smeared across his mouth. He was going to be okay. I trusted Julian’s blood would help keep him alive.
I forced my eyes away from him and pulled my cell from my back pocket. My thumb scrolled through my contacts until I came to my mom’s number. Hesitation pulsed through me. It might not be best to call her. She would freak out and ask me a million times if I was okay.
Tate it was, then.
He wasn’t one hundred percent healed yet, but I knew he was roughly eighty-five percent when Eli had checked on him last. He was probably itching to do something.
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