“No!” Aria screamed and stopped running to release another arrow.
With her wounded shoulder, Aria’s aim was off, but Sabine didn’t have time to turn and catch this one. She threw herself to the side to avoid the arrow that plunged into the woods beyond her. Braith used the distraction to his advantage and seized Sabine by the hair to fling her away from him. She bounced across the ground before coming to a stop near one of the houses, a hundred feet closer to them. Her eyes were a fiery red, her control finally having unraveled completely as her malicious gaze landed on Aria.
William realized that if Sabine couldn’t take Braith down one way, then there was another way she could do it. A way that would make Braith pay even more. Sabine must have realized this too as she launched to her feet and charged at Aria.
***
Daniel
Daniel’s hands clenched around his stakes as he planted his feet. Xavier snarled and lunged forward. He jumped in front of Aria when Sabine came at them with the force of a rampaging bull. She lowered her shoulder, crashing into Xavier and flinging him back as if he weighed no more than a child. Xavier’s head snapped awkwardly forward as he flew through the air. Landing on the street, he bounced across the ground before coming to a stop against a house where he remained motionless.
“Aria!” Braith bellowed when Aria became exposed to the woman. He leapt to his feet and ran toward them, but with the vampires swirling forward to try to protect Sabine, he’d never reach them in time to stop Sabine from killing Aria.
Aria lifted her bow and fired off a shot, catching Sabine in the shoulder, but it wasn’t enough to stop her rush toward them. Daniel would not let everything they’d accomplished over the years be destroyed by this woman, and no one was going to hurt his sister.
“No!” Daniel shouted and jumped in front of Aria.
“Daniel, no!” Aria screamed.
She grabbed his shoulder to pull him away at the same time Sabine grasped his other arm and yanked him forward. Something in his shoulder wrenched. It felt as if blood spilled forth, and for a moment, he swore his arm had been torn from his socket. When he looked down, he saw it still hung there, and hung was the right word as it remained limp against his side, dangling at an unnatural angle.
A hand enveloped his throat, lifting him off the ground. Sabine’s nails pierced his throat.
William launched forward, slamming into Sabine at the same time Aria threw herself onto the woman, punching and kicking her.
Daniel’s feet dangled off the ground as his sibling’s weight knocked Sabine back a step. “Aria, run!” Daniel managed to choke out through the crushing grip on his windpipe.
A cruel smile curved Sabine’s mouth before she threw him away. Air rushed around him as he soared backward before crashing into a tree. Something cracked in his back, and his skull hit the tree with enough force to rattle his brain. White stars burst before his eyes. His head swayed on his shoulders as he struggled to remain conscious.
Sabine turned to try to grab Aria. His sister threw her head back and then drove it forward. Daniel smiled when blood burst from Sabine’s shattered nose before oblivion claimed him.
CHAPTER 38
Aria
“I’ll kill you!” Aria screamed as she looked to land any blow she could on the woman with her hands and feet.
The blood had already ceased flowing from Sabine’s broken nose. Her eyes were the color of rubies, but Aria barely saw her as the sight of Daniel’s limp body soaring through the air replayed in her mind and the scent of his blood hung heavily in the air.
Daniel!
At her side, William released a series of punches that would have shattered the bones of another vamp’s face, but Sabine was barely staggered by the blows. Sabine’s fingernails tore at Aria, slicing her flesh as she sought to get even with Braith for destroying Goran, but the more Sabine tore at her, the harder Aria and William fought against her.
Aria barely felt the pain or the blood spilling from the gashes in her arms. Tempest dashed to the side and swung her staff out, crashing it against the back of Sabine’s knees and knocking her legs out from under her. Max and Maeve leapt forward, beating against the woman who still refused to release her. Keegan circled around them, driving back anyone who dared to get too close.