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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

K endric’s breathing hitched, and Briar pressed both palms to his side. Gage opened the trunk, searching for something. Xander placed Adara back in the trunk and stood in front of it to protect her… not that it would make a difference at this point. Cassi stood up, arms lifted, but her magic didn’t work. She’d used up her supply when we ran from the house.

The circle of cold squeezed tighter.

“They’re everywhere .” I inhaled shakily, watching them slowly close in on us. They knew this was over… that they would win.

Lil rebel, Ryker linked, taking my hand and tugging me toward him. He placed his forehead to mine, and our bond cracked open, flooding me with every ounce of his love, his terror, his rage. If this is it—

Not without a fight, I answered, blinking back unshed tears.

He kissed me hard to the point we both tasted blood.

As I pulled back, a shadow slammed into me. I fell on my back as Ryker snarled and kicked the spot above me. The shadow jerked to the side, but four more tackled Ryker.

“No,” I shouted as fear and turmoil exploded within me.

A pressure wave rolled across my body as sharp as broken ice. It slammed into my chest, shoving air from my lungs as a shadow launched at me with its hand extended like it was going to claw me.

Briar screamed, and my blood turned ice cold.

All of a sudden, the shadows staggered, hissed, and looked up.

Wind howled out of nowhere, sending dust and dead leaves spiraling into the air. The ground trembled like a pulse, as if it might open up at any second.

I sat up, ready to continue the fight even if it was pointless. I twisted around to see what the vampires were all glaring at.

My heart stopped.

The little girl we’d saved from the vampire prison stepped from the woods, the woman with the swollen eye to her right and the tall woman with the scarred cheek to her left. More bodies filled in behind them.

Dizzy, I tried to not fall over. I blinked again, wondering if this was some sort of death dream, because all the witches we’d freed were now standing in front of me. The very ones who’d sworn neutrality not even eight hours ago.

The little girl raised her hands, and white magic poured from them, striking the shadows between us. The cloaking peeled from the vampires’ bodies like skin. One second, they were smears of nothing, the next, they were solid flesh, fangs, and wide, terrified eyes.

Cassi gasped. “I can see them!”

That was all any of us needed.

The tall witch with the scarred cheek thrust both palms outward. A slab of packed earth bucked up beneath the nearest vampire and launched it sky-high.

The swollen-eyed witch shrieked and curled her fingers into claws. Water burst from the ground in geysers. Three vampires were caught in the sudden force and then lifted off their feet and slammed into trees with bone-crushing force.

I scrambled to my feet as Ryker fought his way through the revealed vampires toward me. Blood trickled down his arms and face.

"This changes nothing," hissed a female vampire. She lunged at the scarred witch.

A fourth witch stepped forward, hair a wild halo around her face. With a flick of her wrist, the air around the vampire ignited. Flames engulfed her, and her screams pierced the night until nothing but ash drifted to the forest floor.

The vampires hesitated.

"Regroup!" a vampire snarled, his voice edged with panic. Five of them converged, forming a circle with their backs to one another as they assessed the changing battlefield. The tallest one, his black hair swept back from a pale, angular face, lunged toward Briar.

I dove forward and caught him mid-stride. My shoulder connected with his ribs, and we crashed to the gravel road. Pain exploded through me on impact, and pebbles cut into my skin, but adrenaline dulled the sensations to a distant throb. He hissed, fangs inches from my throat, before Ryker yanked him off me and slammed him into a tree trunk.

The ground trembled once more. Through the trees, more figures approached. Seven witches stepped forward, followed by nine more. Their hands glowed with different-colored magic, illuminating the night in eerie hues of blue, green, and amber.

"The queen’s worst nightmare has come," whispered the little girl, tilting her head as if the deaths she’d just witnessed hadn’t impacted her.

A vampire with silver-streaked hair snarled, backing away, as three more witches emerged from the tree line. His gaze darted wildly about. "This is impossible. The queen—"

"The queen is not here," said a witch with a burn scar across her neck, her palms crackling with black tendrils of energy. "But we are."

The vampires hissed and clustered together, their movements frantic and disorganized. One lunged at Xander, who was still protecting Adara, but a witch with braided hair flicked her wrist, and the vampire froze in midair, suspended by an invisible force, before being hurled backward into his companions.

I pushed myself to my feet despite my aching body. Blood trickled down my knee where the gravel had torn through my sweatpants. Ryker appeared at my side, his hand coming to rest at the small of my back.

More witches emerged from the darkness and added to the chaos. Streams of magic whirled in front and behind us as the witches continued their attack. The air thickened with power, making my skin feel as if sandpaper was running over it again and again.

"Impossible," breathed the silver-haired vampire, his confidence crumbling before my eyes. "You were freed from prison only to come back to be captured?"

The little girl stepped forward, her small frame commanding the entire clearing. Her eyes—too old for her child's face—found mine.

"We will protect the woman who risked her life to save us," she said, her voice clear as a bell despite the chaos. "Fire, you and your friends can make it to the end of the road. We will protect you.”

"Let’s move," Ryker commanded.

I moved forward with him but looked over my shoulder for Briar. She was helping Kendric to his feet with Gage scooping up Adara from the trunk. Xander removed his gun from its holster while Cassi stumbled after us, her face pale but determined.

The witches parted, creating a corridor of safety through their ranks. The vampires even stopped trying to come forward since, each time they tried, a witch pushed them back or used magic to harm them.

As I passed the little girl, her small hand reached out. Her fingers, cool and impossibly strong, wrapped around mine. She matched my pace, her white dress fluttering around her legs like an angel’s gown.

"The shadows cannot touch you anymore," she whispered, her icy blue eyes scanning the chaos around us. "But we must hurry."

The witches moved with us, continuing to use their magic when necessary. The little girl's hand remained firmly in mine, her presence oddly comforting despite the chaos around us.

"Keep moving," she murmured, her gaze fixed ahead.

A vampire with long, red hair darted from the shadows, targeting a witch at the edge of their formation—an older woman with a limp who trailed slightly behind. The vampire's fangs gleamed as he lunged for her throat. My heart lurched, expecting blood and death.

But the witch merely turned, raised a palm, and the vampire crumpled midair, his body contorting unnaturally before he fell to the ground, writhing.

A blur of motion caught my eye as a dark figure lunged from behind a thick oak trunk toward the witch with braided hair. The witch spun, palm thrust outward—but too late. The vampire had already closed the distance.

I tensed, waiting for the inevitable clash, but Ryker's grip on my arm tightened. "Keep moving," he growled, but I kept watching even as we ran.

The vampire slashed the witch’s throat. Blood poured from her neck, and her hands grasped it as the witch beside her spun and launched the vampire backward until it crashed through the underbrush and disappeared into darkness.

The witch with a limp ran to the witch with braided hair and tried to help her, but the injured witch dropped to the ground. The stench of her blood was strong and fresh, and I knew the vampire had nicked an artery.

My breath caught. So many people had died because of the vampires, and these witches had come here to protect us when they hadn’t wanted to. And now one of their own had died in the process.

“We have to keep moving,” the little girl whispered, and Ryker tugged on the hand he held once again, urging me forward.

The braided-hair witch’s hand slackened as death crept in. Her throat had been clawed out.

My heart stuttered. That was why the vampires didn’t have guns and weren’t using knives, and why they still smelled like wolf shifters. The vampires still want to make it look as if wolves are fighting one another, I linked to everyone.

Fucking bloodsuckers, Gage replied. I’m embarrassed that I even liked them for a minute. They all deserve to die and walk around with no peace for eternity.

Sometimes I thought Gage was melodramatic, but not this time. I agreed full-heartedly.

They wanted to eliminate the packs that were threats to them and make it look as if we attacked each other, Ryker added. His disgust and anger slammed into me, mixing with mine. The bitch is still thinking she’s going to win.

In fairness, she might, Briar connected. We almost died back there. Did you already forget that?

I raised my eyebrows, and pride tightened my chest. I’d always known that Briar had spunk, but she’d also enjoyed being a pleaser. Even though I wished we hadn’t had to go through all this shit, I couldn’t deny that a little bit of good had come from it. Each one of them had been pushed to grow and develop.

Another vampire with a military-style crewcut darted in from the left, targeting a slender witch near the rear. However, the witch who’d watched her braided-hair sister die swung her arms out, causing him to fly into a tree trunk with a sickening thwack.

I shuddered as the vampire's body slid down the trunk, leaving a dark smear against the bark. Ryker and the little girl tugged me forward again. She was nearly as strong as Ryker, and both of them propelled me along the road, my feet kicking up gravel.

"Almost there," she whispered, scanning the tree line constantly.

The road curved ahead, revealing its end, where it met a wider paved street. My heart leapt with hope—we were almost out.

But the vampires weren't giving up. They circled, moving faster than before, their desperation making them reckless. Three more broke through the trees ahead of us, cutting off our path to the main road. Behind us, at least a dozen more closed in.

"Shit," Ryker growled, pulling me closer to his side.

The swollen-eyed witch staggered forward, her steps wavering. Blood trickled from her nose, and the dark tendrils of her magic slithered around her hands like dying flames.

"We're weakening," she rasped just loud enough for us to hear. She staggered, nearly falling before catching herself against a tree trunk. "We can't hold them off much longer."

My stomach dropped. The witches had seemed so powerful moments ago, but now I could see the toll their magic was taking on them. They’d been stuck in captivity for who knew how long. Several had bloody noses, others trembled visibly, and the chill of their magic was weakening.

"We need to get to the main road," Ryker said, scanning our surroundings. "If we can make it past those three—"

"They'll just follow us." Despair clawed at my chest. "Even if we make it to the main road, they'll still be there. I doubt they’ll even care if humans see them attack."

The swollen-eyed witch stumbled toward us, her face pale and drawn. "We can't—" She cut off, swaying dangerously. "Our magic is nearly depleted. Years of captivity... drained us. We thought we had more strength, but—"

Panic clawed my throat. The vampires must have realized the witches were sputtering as a few more attacked, testing them. Several witches worked together to fend them off, but it was a closer thing.

"We need a plan." I scanned our surroundings.

Engines purred in the distance, coming quickly in our direction.

"Do you hear that?" I whispered.

Ryker's head snapped up, his golden-flecked eyes narrowing as he scanned the darkness beyond the tree line. The little girl's grip on my hand tightened.

The distant rumble grew louder, and headlights cut through the darkness at the far end of the main road. Not one pair of lights but many—a convoy, approaching fast.

"Could that be…" Cassi trailed off.

I squinted against the glare, trying to see who was in the closest vehicle barreling towards us. Could it be the Blackwood pack?

"Get ready," Ryker growled, pushing me behind him while scanning for escape routes.

There were none. The vampires had already surrounded us once more.

The vehicles skidded to a halt just a few feet away. The truck in front’s door flew open before it had fully stopped. Reid leaped out in one fluid motion, gun raised. Sun emerged from the passenger side simultaneously, her weapon steady in her hands as she scanned the battlefield.

Reid's eyes glowed, no doubt giving instructions as he began firing. Three SUVs and an additional truck screeched to a halt behind him.

The Blackwood pack and Bruce and a few of his pack members poured from the vehicles—four, eight, twelve, sixteen in total—fanning out and firing at the vampires.

"Get down," Sun shouted, her eyes never leaving the vampires circling the witches.

Bullets ripped through the air, most hitting vampire targets. Vampires shrieked as their bodies jerked and convulsed before dropping to the ground. One by one, the vampires removed the guns they had hidden around their ankles and returned fire, ignoring the blood pooling under them.

"Everyone get to cover," Ryker yelled and grabbed my arm, yanking me toward the vehicles as bullets whizzed past my head.

I ducked low, heart hammering as we scrambled for cover. The little witch girl released my hand and dove behind a large oak tree, her white dress billowing like a ghost in the darkness.

Briar stumbled beside me, her face pale. Together, we crouched behind Reid's truck, the metal frame vibrating with each impact as bullets pinged against it. Cassi slid in beside us, breathing heavily, her eyes wide with panic.

Kendric limped toward us, face ashen with pain. Gage ran over, too, and threw Kendric’s arm over his shoulder, helping him get to us, while Ryker stood at the end of the truck, looking for an opportunity to help. Just as he tensed to move, Xander popped out from behind a tree, firing his gun methodically to cover them.

Several more witches were taken down. I had to do something to help them. Casting my gaze around, I saw some large rocks a few feet away. If I got them, I could use them as a weapon.

I lunged, but suddenly a strong arm circled my waist and pulled me back against a brick wall. The jolt of the fated-mate connection sprang to life, alerting me it wasn’t a wall… it was Ryker’s muscular chest.

"Stay down," Ryker ordered, pushing me against a truck tire and positioning his body protectively in front of me.

I peered around Ryker's shoulder, trying to see what was happening. More Blackwood pack members had arrived, providing fresh firepower against the vampires.

A blur of movement caught my eye as a stocky wolf darted between two trees with his mouth wide open. A vampire appeared and tackled him to the ground. The wolf's whimper cut through the chaos as the vampire's teeth tore into his throat, ripping and shredding until the wolf shifter gurgled into silence.

"No," Sun shouted, emptying her clip at the vampire.

My stomach lurched as the wolf's body went limp, blood pooling beneath him. Another life taken because of a vengeful bitch. Who would’ve thought I’d find someone I despised more than Fate?

The swollen-eyed witch collapsed next, a bullet meant for a vampire catching her in the shoulder. She crumpled to the ground, her magic dissipating. Three more witches fell in quick succession—one with her throat torn out by a vampire, another shot through the chest, the third simply collapsing from magical exhaustion.

"They're dying because of... us." My voice broke as guilt weighed down my entire body.

The little girl now stood alone, her tiny frame trembling as a vampire stalked toward her.

Rage exploded inside me. These women—these witches who'd been imprisoned and tortured—had come to save us, and now they were dying for it. Because of me. Because I'd asked them to choose sides.

The rapid-fire gunshots that had filled the night began to taper off. Vampires retreated into the woods. Bodies—vampire, shifter, and witch—littered the ground, and the acrid scent of gunpowder and the stench of copper from blood hung in the air.

"They're pulling back," Reid called out, removing an empty magazine and reaching for another, only to find his pocket empty.

Sun’s gun clicked uselessly as she tried to fire at a fleeing vampire.

Several of the Blackwood pack members checked their weapons, shaking their heads. We'd spent everything we had, and by some miracle, it had been enough to turn the tide.

But not completely.

The vampire stalking the little girl wasn’t deterred.

The little girl stood still as the vampire approached, his lips curled in a feral grin. Everyone else was either reloading or tending to the wounded. No one was watching her except me.

I moved before Ryker could stop me.

His hand grabbed for my wrist. Ember, don't—

But I twisted free and darted forward, keeping low. The little girl's eyes met mine across the clearing. She didn't look afraid, just... resigned.

The vampire's back was to me as he advanced on her. Twenty feet separated us.

Fifteen.

Ten.

I snatched a fallen branch from the ground just as the little girl shouted, “Fire, no!”

The vampire smirked... then turned and slammed a knife into my chest. He chuckled. "I knew you wouldn’t let me hurt her.”