Page 42 of Blood and Hexes

He had to court her.

Mikar chuckled under his breath. He had to court her like he would have courted a girl in his time. And damn if he wasn't looking forward to it.

Surveying the area out of habit,Mikar was the first to see a problem.

There was a figure standing on the other side of the lake. The sight was peculiar because it was rare that anyone ever ventured here, so far deep in the wilderness of the highlands, away from any roads. There were the occasional campers, but that was it. The opposite shore wasn't part of the Oldcrest territory. Technically, anyone could go there. They just couldn't see through or cross over to the border leading inside Oldcrest. Still, the power of their shields had made the direct surrounding areas inhospitable to regular humans.

Even from such a distance, Mikar would have sworn that the man or woman on the cliffs was looking right at them. Which wasn’t possible. Even those who knew Oldcrest was here couldn’t see through the wards unless they’d been invited.

Mikar squinted, focusing his vision on the far distance, stretching his senses. At long last, he distinguished the man's telltale posture, and the object in his hand.

A bow.

A bow without an arrow.

His eyes caught a flash of silver, and a movement too fast for mortal eyes. Then he understood.The weapon was already flying right at them.

First, he screamed, then Mikar moved with all the speed, all the strength of his race, his feet only hitting the ground once. Screaming at everyone to get down, move, duck, protect themselves, he hit Diana with all his weight, knocking her to the ground. As soon as she was safely out of the way, he leaped back on his feet, and tried to locate Chloe.

Not even a second had passed. He saw her in Sylvan's arms. Her guard had taken her and turned her, so she faced away from the weapon, putting himself in the line of fire.

Levi was calling to the water in the lake, to stop the progression of the fast flying arrow, his potent magic roaring all around them. The weapon never changed its course, spelled to resist any element.

Sylvan moved to try to knock them both down. From his position, Mikar could see Chloe's determined expression. Her eyes weren't on Levi, or Sylvan, or even on the arrow. They were on Greer.

Greer, who, unlike them, couldn't move at vampire speed. Greer, whose life was the only thing holding the protective wards around Oldcrest. Greer, whose heart was in the exact trajectory of the arrow. Mikar could see it now that the projectile was close.

Mikar ran. Levi ran. Sylvan and Ruby ran.

None of them were as fast as Chloe Eirikrson.

She shoved Greer out of the way just as the arrow reached the intended target. The black-tipped, arm-long projectile impaled Chloe right in the middle of her chest, with such force it came out on the other side, piercing her back. Thick, iridescent purple blood oozed out of the wound.

Mikar couldn't move. He couldn't hear or think. Nothing in the world mattered except Chloe, falling to the ground with a heart-wrenching wail. Chloe. His friend. His closest friend's mate. His charge.

"No." He couldn't bring himself to take one step toward her.

Blood pooled, thick and too dark. He'd seen enough vampires die to realize what it meant. The heart had been punctured. If it had been anyone else, he would have cut off their head to end their suffering.

"No," he repeated, tuning out all the screams, all the terror.

Levi cradled her on the ground, rocking her back and forth, crying. Mikar could only stare.

Then, suddenly, he was shoved out of the way, and a shape in white linen moved past him, rushing to Chloe.

Diana.

Even in his stupor, he could recognize her.

She knelt next to Chloe, on Levi's other side, one hand on the arrow, the other on the wound. That shocked Mikar out of his numbness. Pulling the arrow out would only kill Chloe faster.

"Don't..." he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure any words managed to make it out of his throat.

His hearing was starting to work again. There was chaos all around, a cacophony of screams and cries. Above all else, there was Diana, her voice authoritative, but calm, steadying.

"...the moment I pull it out, not sooner!" she was saying to Gwen, of all people.

What was she doing, and how did it involve the witch? Mikar couldn't make any sense of it.

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