21. Oradea

"Get behind me, back-to-back,"I tell Natalia who does as I ask as though she's been fighting warriors all her life. I feel her fear, but I also feel her brave heart and soul, fighting for her life, one that was snuffed out because of her relationship with me, and her brothers' loyalty to me. No matter which one, they both lead back to me. My fault she finds herself in this position. The shifters jump, and one after another they come, leaping and bounding across the forest floor, running at top speed. I hold my ground, willing Natalia to stay calm in the face of the terrifying foes.

"Now!" I yell, drawing my sword, as hundreds of my brothers swoop from the skies, diving like stealth bats in the night onto the battlefield, running the shifters down with long swords and daggers, and assailing them with pointed stars that sail through the air and spill their blood across the land. The few shifters that remain are not deterred; they are rabid and evildoers of Lucas and the rogues. Their thirst for blood and vengeance is a driving force that will not be squashed by seeing their brothers on the ground. No, it will take more than that; it will take ending their miserable lives right along with the others before their efforts are thwarted, and I intend to do just that.

I send one of my daggers into the chest of the shifter as he leaves the ground, but his brothers pounce fast, leaving me with three more to deal with face to face, while the vampires rid us of the others. I ready my long sword, letting them come forward, keeping Natalia tucked safely behind me as I wait for them to get nearby. Let them come, inch by inch; the closer they get, the better chance I have of sweeping two at one time with the heaviness of my blade.

Shots fire in rapid succession, though, right into the foreheads of all three shifters, one after another as though targets on a fence. I do not hesitate to end them with my sword, even as Lucas screeches from the perch high above us in the tree. "This will not be the end! The rogues and I will see every one of you in hell." My brothers swoop, knowing he's about ready to disappear, but the higher elevation is his only saving grace, and without a word he is gone, and with it our only chance to end the nightmare that has tormented us and our land for far too long.

I turn to Natalia, who is still holding the gun in her hand. Her eyes blaze a deep blood red as I take her choice of weapon, peeling her shaking fingers from around the trigger. She looks up at me with wide eyes swirling with exhausted emotion. "I'm so sorry for what I've caused. He lured me out of the estate with your voice. I thought you were hurt, that you were calling me for help." She swallows, looking down. "If there's some vampires' rule I didn't know about not taking their life as a newbie, or as a human or a witch—whatever I am—I'm sorry. They were too close to hurting you, of taking what now belongs to me."

I cannot believe how brave my enchantress is and just how close I came to losing her both from my own stupidity and the very real threat of our foe. I draw her into my arms, crushing her with the need to feel the beating of her heart, the racing of my own blood that flows within her veins, but while it should be moving swiftly it barely beats at all. "You do not worry about this. I will personally see to it that Lucas does not harm you or anyone else again."

I hold her away from me, my chest tightening with apprehension, running my hands down her neck, her arms, waist, and legs to check for injury but find none. I gather her in my arms, just as her head falls back, her lips barely moving at all, trying to say something that I can only hear in the dark recesses of my mind saved only for her. I love you, Oradea.

The transport back to my estate is fast, but still leaves me with precious moments to fill my love with nourishment to her soul. The blood drips fast from the opening I've slit in my wrist, but still not fast enough for my anxiety-ridden mind. I hold her tight, cursing the fact that I ever let her out of my sight, ever spent time talking to Embry while Natalia was here being drawn into a trap.

My jaw tightens and my chest pumps with unprecedented rage. Embry… All the time I was talking to her gave Lucas the time he needed to lure Natalia out of the safety of the estate. The little traitor will pay for her part in drawing me away from my love and putting her life in danger, and she will pay dearly at the end of my sword. Natalia squeezes my arm, and I lean down and kiss her lips, mesmerized by the way she melts against me, taking in all that I have to give. I fold her in my arms, cradling her against me. "I love you, Natalia. I don't know what I would have done if I would have lost you. I don't care if you are a witch, a vampire, or human; you are my heart. The part of my soul that I cannot live without, do not want to live without, and want to have next to me for all of eternity. Forgive me, enchantress?"

She smiles, and it curls her lips and lights her eyes with a love that I plan to nourish along with her soul for a lifetime of eternities. "Rest now, love. I have things to attend to." Her eyes flutter between half open and half closed.

"Vampire things?"

I kiss her lips gently, quieting her worry, because there is no reason for her to know where I need to go or just what I now need to do…