“Go,” Waverly said, and pushed Aiden forward so hard he stumbled for several steps before he caught his balance.
Just for an instant, our gazes locked.
He had no intention of leaving.
Belle—
On it.
But even as she reached for Aiden’s thoughts, Waverly made his move. There was a flick of power, and then flames erupted from the bonfire, a huge wall of heat that reached for the treetops and cut the two men from sight. Belle and I jumped back to avoid getting burned, but the fire snagged the edge of her jacket and it went up in a huge whoosh. She cursed and quickly stripped it off and threw it to the ground… and then looked at me in horror.
From the other side of the fire, there was a roar of fury. Waverley had heard her. He knew.
The wild magic poured from me, a violent wash of energy against which even fire gave way. I caught its tail, demanding restraint rather than death, but I had no idea if it was in any way paying attention to me now.
A shot rang out and I froze, my heart beating somewhere in my throat as I waited for the thump of body hitting the ground.
There was nothing to be heard other than the roar of the fire.
Nothing to see except movement to our right.
Waverley, coming at us so fast he was little more than a blur.
I shoved Belle sideways, reached for the stake behind my back, and lunged forward to meet him. He saw it at the last possible moment and threw himself sideways. The stake stabbed through his side rather than his black heart. He rolled to his feet and staggered away, the smell of burning flesh stinging the air even as he ripped the birch free and threw it on the ground.
I grabbed another one. Belle, get Aiden and get out of here.
I won’t fucking leave you here with—
It’s an order, Belle. Go.
I didn’t often give her orders—in fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had—but she had no choice in the matter when I did. Her fury and frustration hit me but I slammed my mental barriers down hard and swung the backpack off my shoulder.
At that moment, Waverley turned and raised a gun.
Without thought, I dropped the pack, threw myself at Belle, and knocked her away. The bullet aimed at her spine punched through my upper arm, and sent me spinning. I hit the ground hard, and so damn close to the fire that my clothes and hair began to singe.
Before I could move, a hand twisted around my hair and hauled me upright. I yelled in pain and fury, and lashed backward with the stake. He dodged the blow without releasing me, then caught my hand in his and ripped the birch from my grip.
Then he pulled me close, his grip viselike. I couldn’t move. I could barely even breathe. Blood was dripping from my fingertips, pain was white-hot heat pounding through me, and my vision was fading in and out.
“Using the wild magic was a clever move.” Waverley’s teeth grazed my neck as he spoke. “But it perhaps would have been wise to order it to protect you rather than the wolf and your friend.”
And with that, he tore at my neck and began to feed. I screamed and, with every ounce of metaphysical strength I had left, reached for the wild magic.
It came.
Not from the force I’d carried into the clearing, but rather from the trees and the ground and the air itself. There was no sense of sentience within it this time; there was simply power. Mind-blowing, incredible power.
&n
bsp; Waverley gave no indication that he sensed its rise, not even when energy wound around the two of us. He was too far down the path of blood rapture, just as Maelle had said.
When the wild force had totally surrounded us, it grabbed Waverley, pulled his teeth from my flesh, and then flung him across the clearing. Wisps of power touched both the bite and the wound on my shoulder, and the blood flow instantly stemmed. I was still shaking with weakness and pain, and there was an odd disconnect gathering speed in my brain, but I was alive and upright.
And I still had a vampire to kill.
I pulled the last stake from underneath my sleeve and slowly, but carefully, turned around.