Chapter 112
Volik
Something pulls my gaze to the north.
Nix.
I take a step in that direction.
Then I take a step back as I feel something else moving closer.
Three vampires drop from above, landing in a line a dozen steps before me.
More people scream.
These vampires jumped from somewhere nearby.
They were waiting for me.
An ambush to slow me down.
I do not recognize them or their scents. But I do not care who they are. I only care that they are in my way.
“If you are with Morell, you are my enemy,” I tell them.
The one in the center grins at me. “There are a lot of people watching Volik. You really want them to see you act like the monster you are?”
I pull back my lips. And beads of venom drip off my fangs. “I have pretended to be civil for long enough.”
We both jump.
But when we collide, my momentum is greater.
Because my power is greater.
And while he fights against my gravito, I grip his horn, jerk his head to the side, and sink my fangs into the front of his neck.
I do not pull in a mouthful of his blood.
I do not need it.
I just bite down.
All the way through skin and sinew.
Smoke rises as my venom starts burning through his broken flesh.
He gurgles.
He tries to push me off.
So I let him.
I step back. Keeping my jaw clenched. And ripping his throat out.
He stumbles backward, hands pressed against his neck. But then his hands start to smoke.
Spitting the chunks of flesh from my mouth, I tilt my head to the side.
The other vampires take a step back from him as we all watch his fingers dissolve.
Huh.
I lick a mixture of blood and venom off my lower lip.
The vampire drops to the ground.
The other two turn to me.
My fingers flex around the hilt of the dagger, but I keep the point down at my side.
I cannot use it here. I do not know how powerful Morell has become, so I cannot risk using too much of the magic.
But…
I roll my shoulders back.
I do not need my dagger.
The two vampires jump toward me at the same time.
I hold my ground.
Right hand gripping the dagger, I swing my fist forward. And at the same time, I reach out with my empty left hand.
My fist slams into the second vampire’s skull, knocking him back several feet. And at the same time, my left hand closes around the throat of the third vampire.
I lift him. Then I push my gravito through my arm as I slam him to the ground.
The stones shatter, and the earth indents around him. A perfectly formed shallow grave.
I release my hold on him and stand.
The other vampire stands a few yards back. His first buddy is no longer gurgling as he lies still on the ground, all his fingers dissolved, leaving only his thumbs.
My heartbeat is still racing. Telling me Nix is alive. But reminding me that she is still hurt. And I cannot calm our wild pulse. I cannot yet find any calm inside of me.
My mate is hurt.
And these men are trying to keep me from her.
I will end this now.
Fire stokes inside my chest.
The standing vampire smirks. “Morell jumped to a portal. You’ll never get to her in time.”
A portal.
She could be anywhere.
Then the air shifts. And five more vampires drop down before me.
The vampire I slammed into the ground groans as he starts to climb out of his hole.
There is not time for this.
Letting my wrath take over, I hold my arms wide and bare my teeth as I release a hiss that slices through the air.
The six vampires before me match my position.
But then there’s a crackle of magic behind me. Above me.
And a giant wolf leaps over my head, flying through the air.
He is silent.
His fur is nearly black, gleaming a rich brown in the rays of the setting sun.
The vampires react, but not fast enough. Because they did not know.
The shifters are on my side.
I watch as the Argus Pack Alpha locks his jaws around one of the vampire’s shoulders.
The crunch is audible over the thud of the wolf’s large paws hitting the ground.
The vampire yells, but the Alpha still does not make a sound as he shakes his head back and forth.
Humans somewhere scream. Keep screaming. But my mouth pulls into a grin when the wolf rips the vampire’s arm off.
Because it is no longer one against six.
The Alpha throws his head back and releases a howl that echoes off the palace walls.
I bare my fangs.
The vampires lunge.
But then another wolf jumps through the portal above me.
And another.
And another.
With snarls and growls, I watch as wolf after wolf leaps into the fight.
For Nix.
For me.
One of the vampires lifts from the ground, starting to jump away.
Two wolves turn toward him.
And their speed is immense.
The vampire lifts higher, his attention up to the sky.
The wolves veer into single file.
The one in front crouches, starts to jump. And the one behind leaps onto the first one’s back, using them as a launching pad.
And it is enough.
Their teeth sink into the vampire’s ankle, and the sudden weight drags the vampire lower.
Low enough that the first wolf can bite down on the other ankle.
A third, then a fourth wolf grab a limb as they drag him to the ground.
The vampire throws one wolf off.
Three more replace it.
My gravito lashes out, and I follow it to the vampire who told me about the portal.
He tries to jump.
But my gravito wraps around him like a leash. And drags him toward me.
He struggles. Digs his heels into the ground. He throws his power at me.
But it is nothing.
He is nothing.
My gravito knots itself around him. Holding his arms to his sides.
I drag his immobile body closer. “Where are they?”
“You’ll never catch up.” He struggles.
“Where.” I reach out and place my empty palm against the side of his face. “Are they?”
He tries to pull away. But my gravito does not like him. So it does not let him.
“Tell me now, or I will use my other hand.” I know he saw it. The dagger in my grip.
I am sure he can feel the magic trapped inside it.
And he knows that if I use it on him, he is dead forever.
He tries to smirk through his fear. “He took her to the cliffs. Your mate will be fish food, and you’ll be dead.”
Morell took Nix to the cliffs.
To the ocean.
My palm heats.
He took my girl to water.
She is afraid of water.
My anger flares white-hot.
The vampire’s eyes widen.
Venom drips thick off my fangs.
But I do not use it.
Do not need it.
My Fire Touch rolls out of me with intensity, making my hand glow a bright orange.
The heat is instant.
The vampire’s eyeballs shrivel as I flash boil his brain inside his head.
His skin cracks.
His features disappear.
Wonder if he will come back from that.
When the scent of burning hair hits my nose, I drop my hand and step back, my gravito releasing him at the same time.
And when the vampire hits the ground, his skull cracks.
A wolf gags as it runs past.
Looking up, I find the chaos of a battlefield.
Body parts are scattered around the historic garden.
Blood soaks into the gravel pathways.
Gore clings to the manicured shrubbery.
And the two dozen wolves are clearly winning the fight.
A deep bark pulls my attention to the Alpha.
My black eyes lock with his green ones.
He chuffs and inclines his head. Telling me they have it.
I nod. Then I jump straight up.
In the air, I find my bearing.
The cliffs is a spot with meaning along the northern coast.
It is filled with history. Bloodshed.
It is where we have held funerals.
But it is not where I lose Nix.
It is just where I will find her.
My gravito wraps around me like a hug.
It tightens.
It vibrates.
It heats.
I think of my mate.
I think of my Nixy.
And then I put my trust in my power.
Trust that it will get us there in time.
My gravito swells, promising me it will.
Then it detonates. And I blur forward.
Leaving a thunderclap of sound in my wake.