Page 63 of The Wolf

He looks at her with a flicker of inappropriate humor in his eyes. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“Shut it, Stoneface!” Meg retorts with a huff.

The gargoyle lifts Tabatha’s lifeless body in his arms, and with a single powerful movement, he soars into the air. He flies a few feet to where the hole is waiting and lowers her into the ground with a surprising gentleness.

I can’t watch it anymore.

I turn on my heel and sprint back toward the castle, full-on hysteria activated. The thundering of wings behind me fadesinto the background. I know the gargoyle is following me, but I don’t stop. I want to curl up and cry. I want to be alone. More than anything, I want Alex back home.

Alex?

Nothing.

Alex? Baby, please talk to me… Alex!

I keep trying to reach him but to no avail. There’s only silence. I don’tfeelhim. I don’t feelanything.

21.

King

The rage that follows is blinding. I’m on him a split second later, my bloodthirst unleashed to its full extreme. Every swing of my claws, every savage bite, is for Katia. The hybrid’s shrieks are drowned out by the pounding in my ears. I don’t stop. I can’t stop.

“Give this fucking son of a bitch to me!” Penny hisses, her voice sharp and unforgiving, as she leaps into the fray.

I hold the hybrid down by the nape, my claws digging into his flesh. He thrashes under me, but it’s useless. Penny grabs his head with both hands, her grip like a vice. Magic pours from her palms, crackling with furious sparks of light. The smell of ozone and burnt flesh fills the air as her power fries his brain into absolute mush. Then, without hesitation, she twists his head clean off, the sharp crack reverberating in the chaos.

My sister is such a fierce vampire that sometimes I forget just how remarkable her witch powers are.

She doesn’t waste a second. Without a word, not even a glance in my direction, she sprints to retrieve Katia’s severedhead, and in a flash, she’s already kneeling beside her lifeless body.

Her eyes dart to Farah, wild and desperate. “Bring her back! Bring her back! Bring her back!” she repeats hysterically.

Vampires don’t experience emotions the way humans do, but we don’t need tears or gasping breaths to understand the depth of her anguish.

Farah meets my gaze, her eyes questioning. I give her a barely detectable nod. The resurrection requires an immense amount of energy, which will drain her entirely with her already fragile strength. And Satan is too preoccupied with his own thing to help. But it’s not even up for debate.

Farah steps forward, approaching them, and kneels on the opposite side of Katia’s broken body. “You need to lend me some of your powers. I’m too weak.”

“Just bring her back to me!” Penny grits but her voice falters.

The rest of us shift instinctively, forming a protective circle around them. In the distance, the minotaur rampages in fury, tearing through the attackers like a force of nature. How many years has he been kept captive to hold such a deadly malice? The collar meant to subdue him is worthless now, a mere ornament against his raw, uncontainable power.

Penny and Farah clasp hands, their voices rising in a haunting invocation. The air between them ripples, charged with energy. Farah’s hands begin to glow, casting a golden light over Katia. She glides them from her chest over her neck, pulling the spilled blood back into her veins. The torn sinews and severed tendons knit themselves together, piece by piece, as Katia’s head reattaches, the skin fusing seamlessly, her veins pulsing faintly once more.

Then her eyes snap open, bright and piercing. She looks right at Penny, her voice raspy but full of attitude. “Ugh, it’syouagain.”

Penny lets out a sound that’s half a sob, half a growl. “Don’t you ever do that to me again!” And before Katia can respond, Penny crushes their lips together in a frenzied, almost feral kiss.

Disgusting, I think to myself, smiling.

“Alright, you need to move,” I bark, my worried voice cutting through the moment. Enough time has been wasted. “Penny, take Farah and Katia out of here.”

Farah is barely staying conscious, her head drooping with exhaustion. Katia’s body is still fragile, and it will take a while for her energy to return. Penny, though standing, looks like she’s on the verge of collapse as the adrenaline is wearing off.

I look at my brother, who’s not healing fast enough, and his wounded sons. “Edwin, take your boys, and get out of here too.”

“Alex, you can’t fight all of them alone,” Penny says, her voice tight with concern.

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