Davina (The Immortal Prophecy 3)

As he held him, another wolf bounded up and pulled the wolf free. Gregory turned to reach for it again, but the rescuing wolf was there. It snarled at Gregory, but it was a soft snarl. There wasn’t enough heat behind it to warrant that it was a threat.

The two wolves backed away and then ran to their allies.

Tracey stood close to Cal and Spencer, her sword in front of her. She kept her back to them, shielding them. Gregory and Gavin did the same.

She threw over her shoulder, “We need to identify who are allies and quick.”

Gavin clipped his head in a nod. “I agree.” He was scanning the battleground. Dead wolves were all over the ground, but as quickly as they arrived, the battle on their bank was already ending. The last wolves that were alive dashed off, going around a bend, and sounds from another battle were heard. Howls. Screeches. Whimpers. Shouts. Screams. They heard all of that, but there was a low rumbling in the distance, too. It sounded like thunder from far away, but it wasn’t. As Gavin gripped his sword tighter, he took a step forward. He could feel the rumbling. It was coming from beneath them. It was in the ground, and he felt its magic.

It was strong, maybe too strong for them.

“There are vampires over there.” Tracey was moving forward. “I can feel them.”

Gavin hurried ahead, but didn’t try to draw her back. They went together, hurrying at the same pace. Cal and Spencer jogged behind and Gregory brought up the rear. Right before turning the corner, Tracey melted int

o the foliage. Gavin was right behind her. The rest fell in line.

“Where are we going?” Spencer asked the group.

None of the vampires answered. All were tense, silent, and scanning their surroundings.

Spencer glanced at Cal, who shrugged and replied, “I dunno. Looking for friends?”

“Shut up,” Tracey clipped out. “Both of you.”

They kept moving into the forest. There were vampires hidden within the forest. Gavin, Tracey, and Gregory could feel them, but they couldn’t identify if they were friend or foe. As they kept moving forward, each was waiting for an enemy to attack, but none happened until they were deep into the forest. The battle sounds lessened behind them, and each vampire started to loosen their hold on their weapons, just a bit.

Suddenly, all three whipped around until they were facing east.

Cal and Spencer were shoved behind them.

Gavin lowered his head, focusing every sense he had on who was coming. “A vampire.”

Tracey and Gregory didn’t reply. They both knew. All three were trying to identify who it was, but they were coming fast and they weren’t being cautious. Whoever it was wasn’t trying to hide their approach. Sounds of them whipping past trees, leaves, grass, leaping over logs, they all heard those tiny sounds. It was deafening to a vampire and then the assailant crashed through the last foliage.

They leapt over the entire group and kept going. They never stopped.

“Who—” Gavin’s head snapped, watching the vampire. He had two seconds to decide and he did. He yelled over his shoulder, “I’m going after him.” He sheathed his sword across his back and before anyone could argue, he was gone. The same sounds came in his wake as he sped after the vampire.

Gregory growled, “He shouldn’t have done that.”

Tracey threw him a dark look. “What do you expect? We have to find our allies. We need to find Roane.”

There was another crashing sound from the forest. It was coming from where the battle was, and both vampires turned once again. It was the same as before. A vampire was coming at them. They knew it. They couldn’t hide. They had humans with them. It would’ve been useless. Any vampire could smell a human. There was no point in hiding.

“We’re like sitting ducks.”

Tracey gave Gregory another annoyed look, but pressed her lips together. She couldn’t argue with him. All she could do was get ready and she was.

Twenty yards.

Eighteen.

Twelve.

Eight.

The vampire was moving faster than the other one.