Amidst another blast of pain and crunching sounds that I never wanted to hear again, I caught a glimpse of Spade winding up for a second blow. I ducked, his pale hand smashing through the wall behind me instead, but then twin sledgehammers connected with my sides. Bones had recovered from my nutcracker kick and was back on the offensive.
I couldn’t block an attack from above and below. Not without lethal means, and those weren’t an option. I couldn’t scramble away, either. The wall blocked me from behind and three pissed off vampires blocked my front. All I could do was hope to God they were too busy attacking me to stop and run for a silver knife. After a few moments of duck, twist, punch, repeat, I realized something strange: Bones and Spade weren’t fighting like their usual, deadly selves. Their skills seemed to have diminished to the same level as Annette’s. Otherwise, I couldn’t have held them off as well as I was doing.
A boom sounded and Spade flew across the room, a large, smoking hole now in his midsection. Bones whirled to assess this new threat, but I hauled him back as Ian jumped through the ruins of the front window. About time.
“Hallo, all!” Ian announced. With a savage grin, he tossed aside the still-smoking bazooka and leapt at Annette.
More backup would’ve meant less risk, but aside from one trusted vampire who wasn’t answering his phone, all my strongest and closest allies were the people I was fighting against. Denise couldn’t afford to blow her cover by coming to our defense, so she helped the only way she could—by staying out of the way.
When Ian reached Annette, he threw her across the room with enough force to send her smashing through my china cabinet. Amidst the sounds of yet more glass shattering, I heard his shout.
“What are you waiting for? Get Crispin out of here!”
Did Ian think I’d stopped to do my nails? I was busy trying to fend off another attempt to separate my head from the rest of my body. But I ducked under Bones’s latest overhand swipe and grabbed him in a bear hug, wincing as the close contact meant his body punches landed with even more devastating effect. He might not be fighting with his usual skill, but he hit just as hard. Then I mustered my power and blasted us through the empty windows, Ian’s roar to Spade filling my ears.
“No you don’t! You’re staying right here!”
More sounds of violence ensued before the wind and my velocity snatched them away. Annette couldn’t fly, so Spade was the only vampire left with the ability to chase us, and it was up to Ian to stop him. Even if Annette and Spade didn’t overpower him, Mencheres would wake up any minute. If that happened before Ian got away, he wouldn’t live long enough to scream before he’d be missing his head. I didn’t care how proud he was of his sins; for this, I did take back every derogatory thing I’d ever said about Ian.
Bones fought to break my grip on him, but I didn’t let go no matter that my entire torso felt like it had been run over by a truck. I couldn’t defend against his barrage of blows and stop him from flying back to Wraith at the same time. It was hard enough to concentrate over the pain to keep propelling us upward. We were miles from the cabin now, but we needed to be even farther away. Too far for Mencheres or anyone else to pick up our trail and follow.
When Bones abruptly stopped his assault, I felt a second of relief that changed at once to alarm. He’d never give up this easily. That was made clear when his hands, no longer curled into punishing fists, slid over me with ruthless, seeking efficiency.
And pulled out one of the silver knives I’d tucked inside my coat.
Our faces were almost level, so I locked eyes with him as that blade came toward my chest. His gaze was still flashing green, his aura cracking with lethal intent, but I couldn’t defend myself without letting go of him. If I did, he’d return to Wraith, and I’d be condemning him to death just as surely as if I twisted a knife into his heart.
If these were my last moments on earth, I’d spend them fighting to save him with everything I had. If our roles were reversed, I knew he’d do the same.
The blade broke my skin, sliding into my chest with the sensation of fire made into metal. My body’s response to silver grazing my heart was instant. All my power seemed to abandon me, causing my velocity to evaporate. Bones and I began to drop out of the sky, but instead of pushing him away to save myself, I used the last of my strength to tighten my arms around him.
“I love you,” I managed to get out amidst the overwhelming pain. As last words went, there weren’t any I’d rather say.
Something flickered in his gaze. That blazing emerald glare became flecked with dark brown and his aura fragmented, like an invisible force had struck it with enough force to shatter it. Instead of twisting the knife and ending my life, he pulled it out of my chest—and rammed it into his own.