Page 73 of Deadly Alliances

Now that the air no longer snapped with a static charge, the forest was silent around us, save for a soft, feminine weeping. I pushed myself off the snow and turned back to the clearing. The fighting had stopped. Mangled bodies and limbs scattered the ground, blood staining the snow a haunting red.

Peters was back in his human form, limping toward us. And off to the left, Hennessee’s dragon was going to the side of a human Sakura, who crouched over something, covering her face with her hands as she cried. But where was Gibson?

Oh…

Kai and I both shifted back as we slowly approached them. Gibson’s massive bear form lay limp in front of Sakura, his upper abdomen lanced with an odd and pronounced dip.

“She got him from behind and crushed his ribs,” Sakura whimpered. “I yanked her off, but it was too late. He was already dead.”

We all stood there for a long time, paying silent respects and goodbyes to our fallen comrade.

Were there more vampires out here? Would more come? It wasn’t safe to remain here much longer.

“Hennessee, help me carry him,” I said, angling around Gibson toward his feet. “We can’t leave him here, so we’re going to take him back to camp. There we can burn his remains.”

The red dragon nodded, going to Gibson’s head and scooping his claws under the ursa’s enormous arms.

In the end, it took all five of us to carry Gibson’s body back to camp. Hennessee blew a stream of his hottest fire to incinerate it while I did my best to cover our tracks with targeted flurries of wind.

I hoped Shea figured out her plan soon because the next scouting party would be bigger, and I didn’t think we could survive another attack.

Chapter 28

Ashlyn

Lizzo blared in my headphones as I made my way across the lawn toward the newly rebuilt greenhouse in the back right corner of the Dome. My body ached from the simulation I’d been forced to run in Defense Class a couple of hours ago, my muscles begging me to go back inside and collapse into my bed. But this was more important.

A soldier, who was standing guard at the corner of the main building, pushed away from the wall and inserted himself in front of me. He looked familiar. Hell, all the soldiers looked the same to me. But this one, I distinctly recognized.

He said something to me with a stern expression, but I couldn’t make it beyond the music. I pulled my headphones down to hang around my neck.

“Sorry, what’s that exactly?” I asked in as polite a tone as I could manage.

“Exactly,” he snarled, reaching for my headphones and yanking them up over the back of my head.

“Hey, what the fu—”

“No devices are allowed outside of private quarters,” he snapped.

I balked angrily, fire flaring in my chest. “Since when?”

“Since General Dracul mandated it,” he said with a snide tone. “I’m afraid I’ll have to confiscate this. You can take it up with the general during office hours.”

Recognition caught at the sound of his voice and his arrogant tone. He was the soldier who caught Niko and me last night. I stole a glance at the name embroidered over his breast pocket.Major Cockburn.

A surprised laugh snorted out loudly through my nose.

“Something funny to you?” he quipped.

“No, nothing, sir,” I said, sucking my lips between my teeth.Just that apparently your cock burns. You know they make an ointment for that.Another snicker skittered up my throat, but I choked it off, holding my breath.

He eyed me suspiciously as he returned to his post at the corner, tucking my precious headphones behind his back. Asshole. I’d figure out a way to get them back, but for right now, I had a prior engagement to attend—though I was a little on edge knowing that douchebag was stationed so close by. We’d just have to be quiet.

I continued on my path, now musicless, and opened the door of the greenhouse. Everyone else was already here, stationed around the large rectangular shack tending to different tasks. Everyone but Niko; the general had him preoccupied with some meeting with other military leaders, and I was afraid it had something to do with the rescue mission Tobias had been sent on.

“No, no, you don’t just shove the seed in,” Mr. Sharp chided a frustrated looking Jackson. “You make a one-inch dip with your finger into the soil, drop the seed into it, and then gently cover it over. If it’s too deep, the seed won’t get enough water, and if it’s too shallow, it will flood to the surface and drown.”

Jackson rolled his eyes but did as Mr. Sharp instructed, planting the seed with embellished movements.

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