27. Montana

The cry of the battle flooded over us and we turned toward the end of the alleyway. “Is everyone okay?”

Callie nodded. “The last time I saw them they were. Let’s go finish these bloodsuckers.”

My face fixed with determination as we ran together, sprinting out of the dark into the raging fight between the biters and our friends. A thick mist was swirling over one area of the battle, hiding the far side of the town square.

My throat tightened as the scent of blood filled my nose. Callie’s own wounds held the same mouth-watering tang, so I was certain it belonged to a slayer.

“This way!” I yelled and Callie ran at my side as we pushed through the mass of bodies.

The biters grew frenzied as my sister neared them, diving forward to try and sink their teeth into her. I slashed out at a female, throwing her away from Callie, and my sister tackled another one to her left.

I locked my hand around the blonde female and she scratched her nails down my arms. I growled my anger, pushing her back and bringing up Nightmare. Her eyes glinted as the blade’s golden hue reflected in them. She retreated in fear and I tried to take chase, but she sped away into the surging battle, disappearing into the masses.

I turned to find Callie scrambling upright from a pile of ash and she sprang to her feet, tossing the fallen biter’s clothes away from her.

I hunted for the scent of slayer blood again and finally, I found the source. The mist lifted, evaporating and revealing a raging fight beyond it. Julius and Clarice stood back to back, fighting the monsters who came at them. Beside them, Fabian and a beautiful blonde Elite were bringing a muscular male to the ground, working together to end him.

Julius’s neck was torn and blood coated his shirt. My heart squeezed as I took off toward him, hearing Callie following as we tried to reach them. The flow of biters was easing, many of them dead, their remains scattered to the wind. I hunted for Erik amongst the last of them but couldn’t see him anywhere.

Fear sped through me as I cut down another biter with Nightmare and jumped to Clarice’s side.

“Where’s Erik?” I demanded, tearing a vampire from her arm. Clarice slammed a deadly punch into his chest and the man dissolved with a wail.

She wiped a smear of dust from her cheek, frowning in fear as she looked at me. “They put him in a truck.”

“What truck?” I gasped, my heart tugging sharply.

“It went that way.” Clarice pointed, kicking another biter to the ground and diving onto her.

I had no more time to ask questions as Callie stumbled into me and I spotted four biters coming for her.

I screamed my challenge, making a stand at her side as we fought them together. My mind spun with worry for Erik, but I couldn’t do anything except try to stop the biters before I searched for him.

Callie slammed Fury into one of them, but the biter caught her by the waist, uprooting her.

I slashed at his side and he dropped her, clasping the wound with a hiss.

Callie hit the ground, rolling and kicking out his legs from under him. With a fierce blow from Fury, she finished him off.

I punched and kicked two males as they tried to get hold of me, but they overwhelmed me in seconds, yanking my arms behind my back. I screamed bloody murder as they pulled one of my arms so hard that my muscles ripped. I knew what was going to happen and I couldn’t stop it. I struggled desperately, a panicked cry escaping my throat.

With a horrifying wrench, my arm tore clean off.

I screamed so hard that my throat was rubbed raw. The wound throbbed, the sensation like serrated knives driving into my shoulder. I was immobilised by the shock of it. It was pain in its purest form, my nerve endings alight with hellfire.

I hit the ground, rolling in a filthy puddle as blood spilled out around me.

The two biters laughed and I blinked up at them through blurry eyes, realising they were twins. Males, dark, huge and splattered with my blood. One of them placed their foot on my chest, taking hold of my other arm and pulling with all his might.

I groaned and tears of agony rolled down my cheeks as I tried to get free. The other twin grabbed hold of my left leg and fear swallowed me as I realised they were going to pull my limbs off like wings from a fly.

I released a choked noise, kicking out as I tried to keep them back. But they were Elite. Fierce and well-trained. And I feared I was seconds away from joining the other dead vampires, carried away on the wind as nothing but ash.

“Argh!” Julius crashed into the one holding my arm and I gasped my relief as he was forced to release me.

I curled my hand into a fist as I fought to free myself beneath the pressure of the other biter’s boot.

Julius threw punches into the other twin’s face, but the biter reacted as if he were made of stone. With a rumbling laugh, he slammed a punch into Julius’s gut and he cursed through his teeth.

I kicked out with my free leg, a newfound strength filling me as I fought to keep the other twin from disabling me further. My foot connected with his groin and he stumbled back with a curse, giving me a moment to right myself at last. I spotted Callie in a fierce battle with Fabian at her side, the two of them raining down hell on the biters who surrounded them.

I scooped up Nightmare, dazed from the pain I was in as the huge male stomped toward me. He bared his fangs and I bared mine right back at him.

“Princess” he hissed, cracking his neck. “Shame there’s no human blood left in your veins to suck out.”

“Get fucked.” I slashed at him with Nightmare, but he dodged the attack, darting toward my injured side and slamming his knuckles into the wound.

I bit down on another scream, jerking backwards to evade a second blow. I spotted my severed arm in a puddle of blood and anger cascaded through my chest. I let the animal part of myself take over and lunged forward to meet my opponent with a feral growl. His fist collided with my head, knocking me off balance, but I managed to slice Nightmare across his abdomen. He clutched the wound with a look of dawning comprehension.

I didn’t hesitate to finish him, forcing Nightmare into his solid chest with as much strength as I could muster. The tip pierced his heart and he turned to dust which tumbled through the air. The rain swept him away like he’d never even existed and satisfaction dripped through my veins.

I gritted my teeth against the agony in my shoulder, scrambling toward my severed arm and picking it up with a grimace. I’d seen others heal from this before so I knew what to do. I placed the torn edges of flesh against the wound and my skin started to bind together. I sighed in relief as the pain dulled a fraction and a cool sensation ran through my shoulder, moving down the limp arm. My fingers tingled and slowly, my bones and then nervous system reconnected to the limb. I flexed my hand, but my wrist bone was shattered and a new wave of pain found me as it started to heal.

Julius shouted his victory and I looked up just as he plunged Menace into the other twin’s chest. As the biter disintegrated into nothing but dust, I noticed the end of Julius’s blade was jagged and broken.

I hurried to meet him, squeezing his arm. “What happened to it?”

“The gods,” Julius snarled, his eyes glinting with emotion.

“They’re here?” I asked in horror.

“They’re helping Valentina,” he confirmed and my throat thickened at that knowledge.

Anger coursed through my chest. That bitch had Erik somewhere and I was damn-well going to find him. I didn’t care if every god in the heavens was helping Valentina, no one, not even the immortal deities could keep me from my husband.