Page 128 of Marked By Moonlight

I tried a pipe first, because the feel of one was fresh in my mind. Still running, I formed an illusionary pipe in my hand, then threw it behind me.

“Merde,” the shifter cursed, dodging it.

He could have run straight through it, but he didn’t know that, and the metallic bumping sound I cast — a first ever for me — helped maintain the illusion.

The tunnel sloped gently upward.

I raced toward the far end, hurling a stream of hastily created illusionary items, starting with things I’d had practice with. A newspaper. A hat. A book. Another book — a big, thick one.

“What the…?”

The men chasing me darted from side to side, dodging the barrage. Growing bolder — or more desperate — I started throwing more elaborate illusions. Flying bats. Darts. Hailstones. None were real, so they couldn’t trip up those in hot pursuit. Still, they formed enough of an obstacle course to keep the men from running at full speed.

One of my creations — a crooked frying pan — was so bad, they halted to stare at it.

“What is this?” one muttered.

I dropped the illusion before they tried grabbing it and ran on. The spiral stairs leading to the north bank of the Thames were only a few steps away now.

A scream rang out behind me. I cringed, picturing an innocent bystander caught up amid vampires and shifters. But a quick glance told me that was Henrik, sinking his clawlike nails into one of the vampires.

My steps faltered, because it was three vampires to one. Surely I shouldn’t leave Henrik to fight them alone?

Then I decided I definitely should. Especially when the three shifters stopped, hunched, and started morphing into wolf form. I gasped as fur broke out over their backs and their faces stretched into snouts.

I rushed on, taking the stairs two at a time. The ring of my shoes over metal echoed through the tunnel. Moments later, those echoes were joined by the swift, soft pad of paws. Growls followed, and I nearly cried out in fear. They were gaining, and I had no hope of throwing illusions at them while running in a spiral.

Marius!I screamed, if only in my mind.I’m sorry. So sorry…

Never, ever had I imagined that it was my destiny to be ripped to pieces by a pack of rabid wolves in a tunnel in London.

It isn’t,the back of my mind insisted.Keep running!

I pounded around three more stairs, and my next gasping breath was of fresher, drier air. I was nearly there!

A snarl sounded as one of the wolves tried to overtake another on the narrow stairs. They tangled and snapped at each other, letting me gain a few precious seconds.

I burst out onto a wide, grassy park. The night sky was shrouded with clouds, and the lights of skyscrapers shone behind a lower row of buildings nearby.

Another scream sounded from the tunnel, and I winced. Was that Henrik?

I didn’t stop to turn, though. Not even when snarls sounded behind me.

The faces of my loved ones flashed through my mind. My mother. My sister. My cousin. I pictured the château and everything I had hoped to achieve there. But most of all, I pictured Marius and the future we wouldn’t have.

A roar split the night, and I cringed, picturing more shifters closing in. God, they were everywhere. Even in front of me.

I squinted as a bright light flared between two buildings, then fizzled. Another roar sounded, and the light flared again.

I nearly stumbled, because that wasn’t a light. It was fire. And behind it…

A huge shadow swooped toward me, bulky in the middle, with narrower protrusions at each side.

Wings, I realized. Dragon wings.

It roared again, and my heart lifted. Marius?

Behind me, the wolves halted.