Page 84 of Wicked Fate

Kendric couldn't even stand. Blood pooled beneath him as Briar tried to haul him up.

"We can't outrun them like this," Gage panted, back pressed against the SUV, gaze darting around wildly. "How many are there?”

Xander held Adara's limp form, his face twisted with desperation. "Which way do we run?"

There wasn’t a good answer. These fuckers were everywhere.

"They've surrounded us," I gasped, turning in a slow circle as the cold pressed in from all sides. My lungs burned, each breath harder than the last. "Ryker, there are at least twenty."

The shadows moved in perfect synchronization, tightening their circle with predatory patience. They knew we were trapped.

Kendric collapsed against the SUV, and Briar screamed, pressing her hands over the wound in his side.

“He needs stitchesnow.” My sister's voice cracked, and something inside me shattered.

We weren't all going to make it out of this. The vampire queen would win after all.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

Kendric’s breathing hitched, and Briar pressed both palms to his side. Gage opened the trunk, searching for something. Xander placed Adara back in the trunk and stood in front of it to protect her… not that it would make a difference at this point. Cassi stood up, arms lifted, but her magic didn’t work. She’d used up her supply when we ran from the house.

The circle of cold squeezed tighter.

“They’reeverywhere.” I inhaled shakily, watching them slowly close in on us. They knew this was over… that they would win.

Lil rebel,Ryker linked, taking my hand and tugging me toward him. He placed his forehead to mine, and our bond cracked open, flooding me with every ounce of his love, his terror, his rage.If this is it—

Not without a fight,I answered, blinking back unshed tears.

He kissed me hard to the point we both tasted blood.

As I pulled back, a shadow slammed into me. I fell on my back as Ryker snarled and kicked the spot above me. The shadow jerked to the side, but four more tackled Ryker.

“No,” I shouted as fear and turmoil exploded within me.

A pressure wave rolled across my body as sharp as broken ice. It slammed into my chest, shoving air from my lungs as a shadow launched at me with its hand extended like it was going to claw me.

Briar screamed, and my blood turned ice cold.

All of a sudden, the shadows staggered, hissed, and looked up.

Wind howled out of nowhere, sending dust and dead leaves spiraling into the air. The ground trembled like a pulse, as if it might open up at any second.

I sat up, ready to continue the fight even if it was pointless. I twisted around to see what the vampires were all glaring at.

My heart stopped.

The little girl we’d saved from the vampire prison stepped from the woods, the woman with the swollen eye to her right and the tall woman with the scarred cheek to her left. More bodies filled in behind them.

Dizzy, I tried to not fall over. I blinked again, wondering if this was some sort of death dream, because all the witches we’d freed were now standing in front of me. The very ones who’d sworn neutrality not even eight hours ago.

The little girl raised her hands, and white magic poured from them, striking the shadows between us. The cloaking peeled from the vampires’ bodies like skin. One second, they were smears of nothing, the next, they were solid flesh, fangs, and wide, terrified eyes.

Cassi gasped. “I canseethem!”

That was all any of us needed.

The tall witch with the scarred cheek thrust both palms outward. A slab of packed earth bucked up beneath the nearest vampire and launched it sky-high.

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