Page 43 of Cursed Magic

“Ryker,” I murmured despite my tongue feeling like sandpaper.

There was no response. I sensed the steady breathing and heartbeat of someone behind me and inhaled, trying like hell to smell him, but the stink of blood was too overpowering.

“I can’t believe—” Raven’s voice cut through the quiet.

“She’s awake,” a deep male voice cut her off.

I turned my head slowly, the huge oak trees casting long, ominous shadows across the clearing, but none that looked like the enemy.

Where had they all gone?

My door lay ripped off and crumpled about ten feetfrom me. My arm throbbed, and I glanced at it to find deep claw marks oozing with blood. Whatever had done it had hit bone.

“Ember,” Raven whispered, and my attention landed on her.

She stood in the center of the gravel road, blood streaking her usually flawless complexion. Her violet eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, and her clothes were torn and disheveled.

She was flanked by a pair of vampires, their faces pale and drawn, their eyes luminous in the night. Each of them bore signs of battle—cuts, scratches, and torn clothing that clung to their bodies. One of the vampires was leaning against a tree, their breathing shallow and labored, while the other knelt on the ground, a deep gash in their forearm that seemed to pulse with the faintest hint of crimson.

Behind them, a third vampire lay still, her body eerily pale and unresponsive. Her neck was slashed, and blood still oozed from the wound.

“Ryker?” I rasped, feeling as if knives were stabbing the back of my throat.

“He’s alive and behind you,” Raven answered as she and the two men hurried toward me. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

I unbuckled the seat belt and snorted at the irony. My hands shook, and I clutched the side of the doorframe, trying to climb out of the vehicle. My arm throbbed all the way up to my shoulder.

“Let me help you.” One of the new vampires, a caramel-haired man, rushed to my side. He slid his arm around my waist and helped me to my feet. I leaned all my weight on him because otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to stand.

I needed to get to Ryker. I pivoted, the caramel-haired vampire not missing a beat and moving along with me. My throat tightened as my gaze landed on Ryker’s unresponsive massive frame. Still, the slow rise and fall of his chest brought me comfort, though his face and arms had been clawed. One mark cut through the scab of his earlier wound as if done on purpose. Crimson covered one eye, and when he woke up, I had no doubt that it would feel as if it were on fire.

“What…what happened?” I coughed, the dryness in my throat unbearable. The way the caramel-haired man’s hand lingered on my waist made my skin crawl. I tried to step away from him, but as soon as I placed my full weight on my feet, my knees gave out.

“Whoa.” Caramel-haired guy grunted as he caught my waist again and pulled me tighter against him. “You need to be careful.”

My wolf howled in protest from both not being able to get to Ryker and having another man’s hands on me. Unfortunately, I knew better than to shove him away as my legs were shaking from holding so much of my weight, and the ground seemed to move underneath me.

“Here.” Raven glided to my other side and placed her arm around me, allowing the caramel-haired man to release me.

As soon as he stepped away, my wolf calmed slightly, but the world kept spinning.

I’d lost too much blood, but I refused to sit down with Ryker unconscious and where the enemy could attack again at any second.

“When Queen Ambrosia learned Iskaria was missing, she called Lucinda to gather guards and follow us in case we ran into trouble.” Raven shivered. “If they hadn’t arrived…” She trailed off, at a complete loss for words, which wasn’t like her at all.

The other new vampire, a dark-haired man, smiled, but it seemed forced. “We arrived just as one dragged Raven from the car and two more were removing your and the other wolf’s doors.” His nose wrinkled a bit, but he smoothed it out. “Good thing the queen warned us. You’re lucky—if that’s what you call it.”

Caramel-haired guy glanced at me with a furrowed brow. I smelled a brief waft of sweetness from the vampires before the strong stench and taste of blood overrode my senses again.

“The three of you managed to run them off?” I knew they were the queen’s guards and probably some of the best warriors the vampires had, but there had to have been more than twenty attackers coming at us, given how they’d blended together. It could’ve been fifty or a hundred, for all I knew.

“The fiends thought they had us for sure.” Raven shook her head. “Lucinda, Bella, and Martin have taken the other thirty guards that came with them to see if they can sense anything. They brought one of the relics a witch gave us to detect magic so they’ll know if any is being used nearby. However, Foster”—she pointed at the caramel-haired man—“and David wanted to stay behind and help get you two back to safety as quickly as possible.”

Vehicles. They had vehicles. Something we gravely needed.

“Where are the cars?” I blurted, my attention returning to Ryker. Once again, he was worse off than me, and he’d lost so much blood not even twenty-four hours ago. We had to leavenow. “How far?” I scanned the area and saw aSuburban about fifty yards away with about eleven matching black SUVs parked behind it.

David removed a key fob from his pocket and dangled it from his fingers. “I’ll drive it down here. We stopped because we saw what was going on and we could reach you faster on foot.” He jogged toward the first Suburban, leaving me with Raven and Foster. I stared at Ryker, his bloodied face searing into my mind.

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