Page 55 of Wake the Dream

Two more glanced up with a hiss seconds before they too exploded with the sound of a shotgun. Blinking, Illaria struggled to move, to crane her neck to see what had happened.

Kieran’s smile was a thing of savage, dark beauty. He’d managed to get the bag from outside, stake in one hand and a gun in the other, already prepped with a clip of silver bullets. After making short work of the vampires sucking her dry, he bent down and tried to maneuver her into a sitting position.

“Illaria, breathe. Are you okay?”

His hands slipped through the blood coating her exposed skin. Coughing, she tried to do as he requested, black dots swimming in front of her eyes.

“They—”

The word cost her more energy than it should have. She made no protest when Kieran lurched to his feet and took her with him. “We need to get you out of here. Now. Damn paperwork is going to be a mile long.”

Her head lolled on her neck as though weighted, too heavy to carry.

“Can you walk on your own? I only left one of them alive. And yes, I’m sorry, I know you wanted him for yourself but I took Daniel down too. I’m never going to hear the end of this.”

Her mind couldn’t grasp what he said. Her skin, normally pale, glowed in the sunlight when they made it to the front door. Kieran slowly let go of her and she stumbled into the door frame.

Exhaustion tugged relentlessly on her and she clutched at the wall, peering outside until Kieran returned behind her.

“Try to make it to the car. Then we’ll figure this mess out.”

The human detective and the exiled fairy departed the vampire coven’s cabin into the bright afternoon, one carrying the body of a half-dead vampire, the other a bewildered expression.

Chapter 14

Kieran

“You don’t look good. What can I do?” Kieran asked when Illaria staggered toward the car.

She’d lost a lot of blood. Too much, if the mercurial-like pool beneath her when he’d managed to break her free was any indication. He’d pushed the immediate and painful concern for her aside to do what had to be done.

Once Daniel had been taken care of—broken neck in self-defense because the guy decided to use the knife in his boot once the gun was knocked away—Kieran went for the duffel bag and made quick work of the rest of the nest. They hadn’t been expecting him, their attention completely focused on Illaria through the bloodlust.

They’d chewed her like a dog toy.

Kieran had to keep it together. Had to focus on getting her out of there, on getting the one vampire he’d left alive back to the car under the cover of the strange black storm clouds suddenly blocking the sun. He couldn’t look at her for fear of losing it entirely. His insides were knotted worse than old frayed shoelaces.

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