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All around them the wolves were frozen in place. Two, who had been in mid leap, were actually suspended in the air. The rest were set in whatever position they’d been in when she’d spoken the word or spell or whatever it was. Snarling, claws outstretched, mouths gaping. Her blonde “friend” lay on the floor, blood streaming from a vicious wound in his shoulder. She tried to feel sorry, but he’d been spying on her. Setting her up. He wanted to turn her into a werewolf.

Her sister Regan was a werewolf. As far as Lola had seen, it hadn’t been an improvement. Though maybe a pack would be nice. Except this one was obviously full of assholes, so maybe not.

Even the snow was unmoving. Reaching out, she touched her fingertip to a flake in front of her nose. It moved out of the way.

Lola pushed herself to her feet and stumbled to where the man in the mask stood in front of Lachlan, sword raised. She prodded him with her finger. No response.

“What the hell just happened?”

She almost jumped out of her skin as Lachlan spoke from behind her. She whirled around. “You’re not…” She waved a hand at the others, frozen in place.

“Obviously not.”

One arm was clenched at his side, blood dripping to the white snow. She’d never seen anything like him fighting. He’d moved so fast, spinning and kicking, like a dancer, so graceful. But he’d clearly taken a lot of damage. He swayed slightly as though in an invisible wind.

She stepped closer.

He flinched and moved back out of her reach as though he didn’t want her to touch him. His expression was…wary. “You said you couldn’t do magic?”

“I shouldn’t be able to.” It was slowly dawning on her that she had somehow dredged up a word of power. She had used the Earth magic. “Oh, this is so bad,” she muttered. “So very, very bad.”

What had she done? And what would the price be? Because there was always a price for using the Earth magic. Whether you did it by accident or design—it didn’t matter—you had to pay.

But they were alive. For now. Concentrate on that. “We have to get away from here,” she said. “I don’t know how long they’ll be…” She searched for a word, but had no clue what they were, what she had done. “Out. They could come around at any moment. And you don’t look too good.” In fact, he looked terrible. If the wolves awoke, she didn’t hold out much hope of their chances.

He appeared dazed, his gaze fixed on the man in the mask, and she snapped her fingers under his nose. “Lachlan. We have to move. We have to go.”

A shudder ran through him, and his eyes cleared. Thank God. He was back in the land of the living. Or maybe not. But at least he was paying attention. He nodded, but then just stood there. Perhaps delayed reaction and he’d frozen as well? She so did not need this.

She had no clue where to go. And the snow had soaked through her clothes. She was icy cold and soggy. And she had a horrible suspicion that Lachlan was dying. Could vampires die from loss of blood? And even if she hated him and had zero desire to kiss him under the mistletoe, she still didn’t want him to die.

After all, they might be the only two people left alive. For all eternity. A whimper of denial rose up inside her, and she swallowed it down. Worry about that later.

She took his arm, gave him a shake. He felt cold, so cold. She looped her arm through his and sort of tugged. At first he resisted, then he stumbled, nearly bringing them both down. Lola braced her legs and managed to stay upright. For now.

“Which way?” she asked. “Come on, Lachlan. I need you. Remember, you told Darius you would protect me. Not doing such a good job, tonight. Time to step up. So which way?”

For a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer, that he was too far gone, then he raised an arm and waved off to the left, into the forest.

She didn’t want to go into the forest. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “That way there’s shelter. You need shelter.”

He was right. She was shivering, the cold seeping down to her bones. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she set off. There was a strange, eerie light, just enough for her to see the way between the trees.

They passed an owl on a branch. Frozen in place. A fox unmoving on the track in front of her, so she had to maneuver the vampire around it. She saw nothing moving.

The Earth magic was powerful. That was why there were so many rules. Why young witches weren’t allowed to learn until they had a measure of control. Because if you didn’t know what you were doing, you could do something really bad. Like stopping the entire world and everything in it.

Lachlan had been vaguely steering them, but his movements were becoming jerkier, more uncoordinated.

Finally, he stopped, a shudder ran through him, and he crashed to his knees, dragging her with him. Then to the ground, landing half on top of her. She pulled herself free and knelt beside him. His eyes were closed. His face as cold and pale as death, and her heart hitched, skipping a beat. He couldn’t be dead. He was a vampire. She shook his arm, then slapped his face. “Lachlan, wake up.” Nothing.

Damn, damn, damn.

She sat back on her heels. What was she supposed to do? She had no clue where she was, and she could wander around in these woods all night and never find shelter. Besides, she couldn’t leave him. What if she lost him and somehow, by some miracle, the world hadn’t completely stopped, and the sun came up and he was out here? He’d fry to a crisp.

Breathe.