Page 47 of Deadly Alliances

Covertly, I reached up to respond, clicking the mic on and off in a Morse code response to tell her that I was all right, as well as my location.

“Why would I tell you?” the melted girl asked.

“Because you’re probably going to die soon?” I said, feeling a little triumphant. “Because my sergeant will be here soon, and we plan to finish you off anyway before continuing our destruction?”

Since I had been studiously keeping my gaze away from the ruined face of the cotton candy girl, I nearly missed her eyes darting over my shoulder before a stifled sob sounded behind me.

I whipped around and, huddled on the far side of the large bed, saw the unmistakable streak of blue in a curtain of black hair.

“Arya?” I whispered, my heart suddenly stamping out an irregular beat.

And when her eyes sparked with recognition as they met mine, victory and gratitude sung in my chest. I found her. I actually found my mate, and she was in one beautiful piece.

“T-Tobias?” she whispered, as if in shock.

In the next instant, Char flew in through the open wall and landed beside me, shifting to human form.

“C’mon,” she said. “Tekashi, Gibson, Hennessey and Peters are out.”

“Wait, why the hell is Peters out?” I growled.

“He was forced to flee,” she explained with urgency and exasperation. “Let’s find this girl and go.”

“I already found her.” I motioned with my eyes that Arya was only a few feet away.

Triumph spread a smile across Char’s lips. “Then let’s go!”

But when I took one hurried step toward my mate still crouched and hidden, the forgotten vampire let out a hideous laugh that seemed to echo along the entire length of the tower.

Instinct told me to shift and get out before she could call for help. But my scales wouldn’t emerge. My bones wouldn’t respond. Something that was normally effortless and second-nature for me was suddenly impossible.

I couldn’t shift.

I tried again, focusing on my skin, urging it to turn into invisible scales, willing my shoulder blades to shoot out with my wings. But nothing. I remained pitifully human.

The look on Char’s face told me that she couldn’t shift either.

Melted-cotton-candy-girl’s laughter died down a bit, but she still chuckled to herself as a figure gave her a wide berth and entered the room.

My jaw fell open as I sawSheaslowly stepping forward, muttering some sort of spell under her breath. Her arms reached out as she chanted.

“Shea?” I whispered.

“Shea!” Arya shouted louder, finally getting to her feet.

Shea gave a sad smile to both of us but didn’t stop her chanting.

“What are you doing?” I asked, hearing the note of betrayal in my voice.

Char remained silent at my side, but she reached out for my hand. I wanted to jerk away so Arya wouldn’t see, but I couldn’t deny my friend that tiny bit of comfort. Char guessed before I did exactly what was happening.

“Instruct them to come this way,” Hadrian’s voice called from the shadows of the hallway.

Refusing the urge to grab Arya and jump out the gap in the wall was a Herculean task. But I knew such a move would be suicide. Without my dragon wings, we’d plummet who knew how many feet, and the landing would surely kill us both. And I couldn’t abandon Char.

It was over. We’d been caught. And Shea was helping.

Why was she helping?

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