Page 56 of Wicked Fate

I removed one gun from my hip and held the young girl close to my side. I wasn’t sure what the hell we were walking into, but we had tried our best.

Ryker placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Once we leave, all witches should disburse and get away from here as best you can. The rest of us will fight off the vampires as we all escape.”

Several witches nodded, the stench of all of them huddled together somehow worse than when they’d been in cages.

“Everyone else, get your guns ready. We need to move fast and hard,” Ryker continued, commanding us all.

Sun and Bruce readied their weapons as requested, and we glanced at one another. We were ready to fight like hell.

“Let’s move,” Bruce added from the end.

Cassi opened the door, and when the sunlight burst through, I couldn’t see.

My eyes burned, stung, and watered as the sunlight hit. After the darkness of the prison, it was like someone had stabbed glass into my pupils.

I squinted hard, shielding the girl’s face with my arm as she clung to my side. Ryker moved in front of us, blocking us from whatever threat might be ahead.

Shapes blurred into focus. At least fifteen vampires stood in front of us uncloaked. They had guns at their sides and wore the black vampire-guard uniforms. One picked up a mic and said, “They’ve let all the witches out.”

Our group launched into action without hesitating. Sun and Bruce began firing as Xander leapt at the closest guard to us.

We managed to kill five vampires in the first minute because the vampires hadn’t been prepared, not knowing exactly when we’d emerge.

Several vampires returned fire, but some of the witches charged right at them.

I glanced in the direction of the vampire mansion and saw dozens more barreling toward us, cloaked in shadows, like a wave of ink smearing across the tree line.

“More are coming,” I rasped. “And they’re cloaked.”

Get Cassi and the witch who spelled me to the vehicle now,Ryker linked to Xander, Gage, Kendric, and me.Take Ember with you so she can watch for shadows.

My blood heated.I’m not leaving you alone to die when a horde of shadows are heading this way.A shadow separated from the woods, and I fired and saw it fall to the ground.The shadows are here, and I’m the only one who can see them.

Another shadow tore from the tree line. I fired again.

It crumpled mid-step. Ryker exhaled, his displeasure and fear swirling into me, but he didn’t argue. He knew it was pointless—my ass would remain here.

Sun unloaded several shots into the chest of a guard trying to drag a fleeing witch back.

Just stay close to me, please,Ryker linked, firing at another guard. The witches created more chaos, adding an advantage to our side. All fifteen vampires died, and Bruce yelled, “Let’s move. Follow the two wolves carrying the injured.”

Our group moved, and I saw that one of the witches who’d been crawling away lay dead.

Tears burned my eyes, knowing that I was partly responsible for that loss of life. However, letting them stay caged like animals didn’t seem any better.

I glanced behind us. The cloaked vampires were getting close. I wanted to scream in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” the little girl asked, tugging on my hand. “You seem extra upset.”

I bent and picked her up, knowing we needed to move as quickly as possible. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and her gaze never left my face.

She expected an answer. Our group moved, but we were a lot slower with the newly freed witches. They stumbled along with us as best they could, but the cloaked vampires would be on us in seconds, and I didn’t want the little girl to be afraid.

Ryker stayed at my side. We started in the middle of the group, but each time I glanced back to gauge distance between us and the cloaked vampires, I moved closer to the back.

Xander was protecting the rear and would be one of the first they targeted, and I couldn’t lose another person.

“Fire,” the girl whispered. “You’re Fire. Are you scared?”

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