Chapter 49

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

FRANKIE

The second I wrapped my hand around that medallion, everything went dark. The warm, salty breeze was gone. The sound of the lapping waves faded away. Everything was just silent. My body jerked for a split second, and suddenly I was surrounded by a damp forest, and the deep, earthy scent of dirt and trees invaded my senses. Fog crept over the ground toward us and the shadows almost seemed to move around me.

Alarms went off in my mind. I needed to move. I felt this intrinsic panic to run for my life. But my body was frozen in place. I wasn't even sure if the others were here with me because they weren't in my peripheral vision— wait. What's that? Slowly, as if their magic was slow to kick in, I felt their auras click into place and tingle against my spine. Relief washed through me. I wasn't here alone. I'd never been afraid of the forest, day or night, but something about this place was wrong.

Around us, pine trees towered into the night sky. Each of their trunks and branches were solid black shadows against the light of the moon shining through. The air was a foggy, faint blue—almost silvery. It glittered in the distance just beyond our reach. I looked straight up, but there was no end in sight for the trees.

A cold chill slid down my spine, like fingertips tracing my skin. I shivered. "Where the hell are we?"

"The Land of the Lore," Bentley said softly behind me.

Silence.

WAIT. "BENTLEY?" I spun around and gasped.

"NO!" Easton threw his hands up in the air, then tugged his short hair. His blue eyes were wide. "No, no, no, no! You shouldn't be here!"

Lily whipped her head back and forth like she was looking for the exit sign. "How the hell did you get here?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Fear gripped my soul. This part of the quest was supposed to be crazy dangerous. That was the whole point of being tested for Lucifer's medallions. We weren't all supposed to go. Only eight of us had been selected. I glanced around. Only eight of us held the round, gold discs in our hands. Me, Lily, Easton, Chutney, Kessler, Willow, Royce, and Thiago.

But standing in front of us were Bentley, Bettina, Deacon, Savannah, and Cooper.

My breath left me in a rush.

Kessler's face was pale as he reached out and gripped both Bentley and Cooper's shirts. "Tell me right now, did you touch the medallions?"

"No," they said at the same time.

Savannah squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her waist as she rocked back and forth. "I don't wanna be here again. I don't wanna do this again."

Bettina's eyes were wide as she stared at the forest behind me. " So, this is it. "

"This is where half The Coven almost died." Royce reached out and grabbed Thiago's shirt. "Stay close to me."

Thiago swallowed nervously, his dark eyes bouncing around. "The darkness is thick here. We should not linger."

"They should not be here," Easton basically cried. "How are we getting them out? We only have eight medallions."

"By now Tegan and my brother have realized that I am not there. They'll be working on a plan already." Bettina pulled her sword out, the golden hilt sparkling in the moonlight. "But we aren't safe now ? — "

"No, we're not. We have to move. Those of you new to this place, you need to stay on the damn trail. Do not leave it. Stay together. Keep an eye on each other?—"

"And know this forest is going to try and kill you. It's the land of the forest sirens." Deacon twirled his wrists and red magic flashed in his hands. "Trust nothing but us standing on the trail with you . . . or you will die."

Bentley sighed and pointed ahead, forcing us all to turn and look ahead of us. "These blue flames will lead us to the archway. Everyone stay on the trail. I cannot stress this enough."

"Just do what Bentley says, whatever he says." Willow bounced on the balls of her feet. "Don't fight him."

Deacon cursed under his breath. "Lead the way, Bentley, again, before we're picked off for lunch right here."

Bentley nodded and waved for us to follow him. We moved as a unit, each of our steps hitting the ground in perfect unison like we'd rehearsed for it.

" Do not slow down," Bentley said as we approached the first flame. "Or stop. And if we say run, you run."

"Where do we run to? "

"There's an archway. You won't miss it." Lily pointed ahead with her dagger, but her violet eyes glanced left and right as we walked. "Follow the flames and get to the arch."

"But do not go through the arch." Bentley cursed. "Nod if you understand that."

We all nodded.

Up ahead, the air shimmered blue around the flame, casting us all in a silvery-blue haze. My magic burned to come out and fight, like it knew the danger we were in more than I did. Dirt as black as shadows flew up all around my body. The air pulsed like a shockwave, moving away from us and into the forest. My pulse skipped.

Deacon's violet eyes bounced around the forest. "I can feel it again?—"

" Faster. Move ," Bentley said with a growl. He rolled his wrists, and his skin turned black from the elbows down. Those orange lightning bolts streaked through the charred black parts and into his palms. Flames flickered between his fingers and then two fire-covered swords appeared in his hands. " We cannot stop ? —"

I gasped. Ice-cold air brushed over my feet and coiled around my ankles. Fingers clawed at my legs and tugged at my jeans. With each silent plea, their hands pulled at my body. I looked down to find a thick white fog covering our feet like we stood in a creek.

"Move. Go. GO, GO, GO! " Savannah leapt forward and shoved me forward. " Go, go, go. MOVE! "

Bentley leapt around and got back in front of me with his flaming swords raised. " WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING! NO STOPPING! "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. " Easton hopped around and swung his blade. "Not again!"

Arms made of white fog reached up, swaying unnaturally as their ghostly hands tried to grab anyone in their path. The hands pulled on us, gripping our clothes and weapons and tugging.

"Faster, y'all. FASTER, DAMMIT!" Savannah hissed and shoved at us again. She kept glancing over her shoulder. " Pick ‘em up an' put ‘em down! "

In front of me, Bentley was speed-walking confidently into the night. Ahead of him, floating blue flames glistened in the distance, marking the trail. I cursed and skipped to catch up and keep pace with him. Every few steps something moved from within the trees, but I knew not to look. We weren't running but almost. I'd never walked this fast. My hips were starting to burn. Figures made of white fog danced between the trees. They twirled in big puffy skirts of smoke, spinning and skipping alongside us.

"Keep moving!" Bentley shouted over his shoulder without slowing. "Join them and you die."

Something cracked under my boots. I ignored it and kept walking, pretending the crunching of every step was twigs and branches.

"Don't look down, my dudes," Deacon said softly. "You know what's down there!"

I hadn't meant to look, but I was a sucker for temptation and Deacon's threat just made me need to. I looked down and my heart skipped beats. Skulls and bones covered the ground. They smashed under our feet, shattering like eggshells. Light flashed through the trees. Little glowing turquoise orbs floated up from the ground and into the air, rising up to the sky.

" They are coming! " a female voice shouted in my mind.

"Who said that?—"

A loud, cheerful whistle rang through the forest. It sounded like music?—

" DON'T LOOK! " Bentley shouted. " Do not look. "

I squeezed my eyes shut without hesitation.

"RUN!" Savannah screamed. "RUN!"

All at once, we sprinted forward. The whistling grew louder, like it was moving closer to us, but we were running full speed now with Bentley at the front and Savannah in the back screaming at us to run.

"HELP!" A women's shrill voice ripped through the whistling. "HELP ME!"

" DON'T LOOK! " Bentley screamed. "TRAP!"

Royce threw up vines to stretch between the trees to block us from getting off the trail. "NOW I CAN'T! RUN PEOPLE!"

A woman's broken sob echoed between the trees. "Please, PLEASE! Is someone out there?"

My stomach tightened into knots. Every single part of me wanted to run to this woman's voice.

"HELP ME! I BEG YOU! HELP!"

"RUN, RUN, RUN! DO NOT WALK! RUN!" Savannah yelled. "THIS AIN'T LIKE BEFORE. MOVE!"

One of Royce's vines whipped out and wrapped around his throat. He choked on a gasp, reaching for the vines with his hands. We screamed his name and slid to a stop, scrambling to get back to him but the vines had him lifted three feet in the air. It was like something out of an alien movie. Even with all of us hitting the vines with our blades, the grip on Royce's throat was getting tighter.

Royce's face turned blue. His sapphire eyes bugged out.

"LEAVE! NOW!" Deacon fired red mist into his face, his own voice breaking. "GO!"

Royce's hand flew up and slammed the medallion. White light flashed from within his body. The vines hissed in protest. And then he shot straight up into the clouds like a rocket.

The vines he'd summoned attacked. This place had just used Royce's own magic against him and nearly killed him.

"RUN!"

We leapt into a sprint again. I pushed my legs to move faster, praying I wasn't walking off the path because I wasn't looking down, I kept my eyes on Bentley in front of me.

"COME HERE, PLEASE! HELP ME! I'M RIGHT HERE!"

A cool gust of wind brushed over my back and swept through my hair like someone was running their fingers through it. But there was no one there. Bettina was hot on my heels, but her hand gripped my sweater, not my hair.

Ice-cold hands made of smoke grabbed me by the arms and then threw me straight up into the trees. I heard myself scream as it dragged me higher and higher. THINK, FRANKIE! It was stealing me, pulling me up into the darkness.

Thiago slid under me and threw his hands up. The shadows of the trees vanished, like he'd shined a spotlight up at us. I spotted Bettina, Willow, and Chutney floating up with me, tethered only by shadow-vines with hands. HELL NO. I threw my hands out and shot my magic. Blue and pink flames spread like a wildfire around us. Bettina roared and shot ice into the shadow-vines. There was a crack and then we dropped to the ground in a pile on top of Thiago. We scrambled to get back up.

" They are coming. "

" They are coming. "

"Who said that?" Chutney shouted. "That's not the same voice?—"

SAM . That was Sam's voice. I recognized it in an instant. That sultry southern voice of Everest's betrothed haunted me in Avolire. I turned to Bentley with wide eyes and mouthed SAM.

He cursed and we charged forward. "MOVE!"

A soft, faint humming sound whispered through the trees. It sounded like a softer version of a church's organ. I felt the rumble of the tone in my bones. My gaze locked on the blue flame in front of us. It flickered and swayed in the opposite direction, like it was urging us on, like it knew something we didn't.

"Not that noise again," Willow cried, her head whipping back and forth. "NO!"

Savannah ran in front of us and threw her arms out, black smoke shot in every direction. "RUN!"

Willow dropped to her knees, clutching her ears. Blood ran like rivers out of her ears and down the side of her neck. She screamed so loud her voice cracked.

" RUN! " Bentley flung fire from his swords into the trees. "GET HER!"

Kessler scooped Willow up and ran after him. The others were already running. I fell into step behind Kessler, wanting to watch his back. But then I heard talking. The voices were soft at first, but with every step we took, they grew stronger and louder. They were feminine and high. The voices sang but not in words, just this range of notes that seemed to move around us and tickle one ear at a time.

" Frankie, " Everest called to me.

My legs stopped short like he had some hold on my body. My heart pounded. That was Everest's voice. He always spoke to my mind, the same way Tegan did. My heart did weird flips in my chest. I hadn't seen him since he left me in the tower that night, since before my memories came back.

" Frankie, over here. "

I gasped and spun toward the sound of his voice and spotted him thirty feet away between the trees. Everest. I took a step forward, then froze. He was off the trail. They'd said not to leave the trail. Bentley had been emphatic about that. But Everest was off the trail. I stared down at the ground trying to find exactly where the trail was going.

" Frankie, come here. "

His voice was moving. I frowned and spun around to find him behind me now, but when I glanced back, he was still in the first spot. My pulse quickened. Everest was all around me, stepping out from behind trees in every direction I looked.

My eyes widened. He was everywhere. Beckoning me to come to him. I wanted to. I wanted to run to him with every fiber of my being. And then there was just one of him, standing just five feet off the trail in his pristine white suit.

He held his hand out to me and licked his lips. "Come, Frankie. You're safe with me."

I lifted my hand out toward him and took a step. Everest.

" STOP, FRANCELINA, " Everest growled in my mind. " STOP. "

I gasped and leapt backwards, my feet slipping on a tree root and sending me crashing to the ground on my back. Sharp pain shot up and down my spine. I screamed a curse.

" GET UP, FRANCELINA. NOW. GET UP, " Everest yelled in my mind.

Then it hit me. Francelina. Everest always called me Francelina. Always. Never, ever, not even once did he call me Frankie. I licked my lips and looked around. " Everest ?" I heard myself whisper out loud.

" That is NOT me, Francelina. "

My heart stopped. I licked my lips and nodded. " You don't call me Frankie. "

" Never, Francelina. Do you understand what's happening? "

I nodded again. My arms were trembling now. " Forest sirens. "

" GET UP, Francelina. NOW. "

I pushed up to my knees, then all the way to standing, but my body was sluggish. It was taking all of my energy to move. My breaths were short and tight. And then the drums started. Butterflies danced in my stomach. The hairs on my arms stood tall. Each beat sent vibrations up my legs and into my bones. The ground rumbled. Every muscle in my body tensed. The drums pounded feverishly, and my pulse mimicked.

My fingers tingled and I felt myself grow weaker.

" Come dance with me, Frankie ," Everest's voice whispered from my right.

My gaze snapped toward it, helpless to resist.

" Close your eyes, Francelina. "

I squeezed my eyes shut.

" Good girl, " he purred, and it sent heat rushing through my body. "Take a deep breath, open your eyes, THEN RUN. "

I took a deep breath, then opened my eyes and ran just like he'd said. About thirty feet up the path, I spotted my Coven-mates sprinting back to find me with panicked expressions on their faces.

" THEY'RE COMING NOW! "

The branches hanging low over the trail dropped to the ground and landed on four legs. They didn't have hands or feet. Their arms and legs were made of solid white and tapered down to points. Their backs were curved like a humpback's but had sharp spikes along the spine. These creatures had tiny round heads with big, gaping black holes where eyes should have been.

"FRANKIE!" Bettina shouted up ahead.

The creature lunged for me, but muscle memory kicked in, overriding the shock and fear. I pushed off the ground and leapt over it like it was a hurdle at the Olympics. I managed to jump over it but another one swooped down and slammed into my side. I cursed and crashed to the ground. The creature loomed over me.

Red lightning pierced its head, pulling its attention away from me. It turned and lunged forward, tackling Deacon to the ground. Red lightning flashed left and right.

"FRANKIE!"

I scrambled to my feet when another creature lunged right for me. My breath caught in my throat. Chutney dove in front of me just as the creature swung all four of its legs at me. All four pierced through her shoulders and legs. She wailed as her blood splashed all around her. The monster just stood there on top of her. I crawled over to her, but Bettina got there first. White lightning coiled around Bettina's opal-bladed sword as she swung it through the creature's limbs, severing them all off in the beat of a second.

"CHUTNEY!" I slid over, pulling her head into my lap so I could press my hands to her chest. "Breathe. Just breathe. Nothing vital was hit. Just breathe?—"

She screamed, her eyes wide and locked on something over my head. Red lightning flashed left and right in my peripheral vision. I heard my Coven-mates shouting and fighting these monsters. Bettina spun and sliced her sword through another creature.

I had to get Chutney out of here. I yanked her sweater back and dove for the gold medallion tucked under her clothes. At the last second, I remembered to grab her hands and pressed them to the metal. Her eyes widened the second her fingers grazed it—white light shined bright and then shot straight up into the sky, taking Chutney with it. I watched until the light faded. And then the oak trees above me moved.

What I thought were thick trunks were tall humanoid figures that were the same texture as trees. My eyes widened. I glanced left and right, and my stomach dropped. We were surrounded. It was an ambush, and we fell for it. These weren't the same creatures we'd just been fighting. These were taller, more human-like. They stood on two legs and had long arms with three branch-like fingers.

And they were charging right for my friends up ahead.

I cursed and leapt into a sprint.

Bentley leapt over the creatures, slicing his fiery swords through their necks and then flipping mid-air and rolling across the ground. The monsters lunged onto the trail from within the trees. One grabbed Cooper by the throat and lifted him up, but its long, weird fingers tore his shirt torn down the front and blood splattered.

"NO! COOPER!" I dug my toes into the ground, but I wasn't moving fast enough, it was like my body was moving in slow-motion.

A humanoid-tree-monster swung its long arm and collided with Kessler's back, causing him to fly forward and roll across the trail with Willow still in his arms. Another monster scooped Lily and Easton up in each hand, pulled their arms wide, and then slammed them into each other as hard as it could. They bellowed in pain as their bodies made horrible crunching sounds. Metal popped and rained to the ground in pieces.

Savannah dropped to her knees and started screaming words in a weird language. Black smoke swirled around her body. Something was wrong, very wrong. I raced for her because everyone else was thick in battle and fighting for their lives. But before I could even get to Savannah, Bettina was thrown over my head. I dove and caught her, but her body was encased in ice. I hissed and rolled her onto the ground—my heart sank.

The ice covered her entire body except for her face,

But fresh, red blood was filling her little sarcophagus and drowning her. She coughed and spit up the blood, but it was too much. I pressed my hands to the ice and pushed my magic out, but the blue and pink flames just danced along the ice's edge. I rolled her onto her side so the blood poured out and she could breathe.

"BENTLEY!"

He slid in a split-second later and pressed his fiery, lava-covered hands to her ice-covered chest. It melted away—and Bentley was gone. She was bleeding but I didn't know where from. Only her face and chest were free of the ice.

"FRANKS!"

I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Kessler's medallion flying toward me. I reached out to grab it when a creature sliced it in half. Kessler screamed. Bettina coughed and my body went cold. Her skin was losing color. I cursed and yanked my own medallion off and slid it into her mouth. She closed her mismatched eyes and then bright white light sucked her up into the sky and out of sight.

Just as I jumped up, I watched as a monster clawed Deacon from head to toe. I screamed and threw my magic into the monster before it could sink its teeth into him. I pulled my sai off my thigh and pounced. Adrenaline had me killing the beast and turning for Deacon before I even registered what I'd just done. Deacon was groaning and trying to get up. My eyes stung. His soulmate glyph was shining bright-red, and I knew it wasn't from Emersyn.

There was so much blood. I yanked my sweater off and ripped it into long strips. "MEDALLION!" I screamed as loud as I could without looking away from our Devil.

"I've had worse," Deacon groaned through clenched teeth, but then I tied a tourniquet around his arms and he hissed.

I pushed the rest of my sweater into the main wound on his chest, then ripped his belt off his hips. Somehow, I managed to slide it under his waist, then tightened it around his stomach, pinning my sweater in place to hopefully stop the bleeding.

Kessler ran by me, dropping a medallion onto Deacon's chest. I pressed it to his bare skin, then forced his hand to touch it. I sent a prayer to Valathame as that white light stole him right out from under me.

Savannah screeched and lifted off the ground. Smoke was shooting out of her body like it was coming from her pores. She screamed and threw black magic out of her palms. With one swish of her hand, she drew a symbol in the air. But then her eyes rolled backwards, and weird noises left her mouth.

Cooper gasped and reached for her, but two monsters leapt in front of him. "SAVANNAH!"

Her eyes cleared. She looked right at him. "Run," she said in a calm, stone-cold voice.

"SAVANNAH!" Cooper's voice broke. "NO!"

We couldn't get to her. We were surrounded. Each of us was fighting off at least two monsters. I wasn't even watching what I was doing, my gaze kept shooting around looking for injured people.

Savannah lunged for the broken medallions on the trail. Words left her lips in a weird whisper. She drew that symbol in the air over the medallion, then light flashed around her. Those big blue eyes of hers locked on my soulmate and she whispered, " Please run ."

Then she was gone.

" MOM? " Bentley's voice cracked.

We all gasped and froze.

A woman who looked scarily like Tegan was on her knees between two trees. Her entire body trembled. Her head jerked left and right, up and down, making her dark hair swish around. She mumbled a stream of words, but they weren't coherent. Her eyes rolled in different directions. She gasped and her back arched. Her whole body convulsed and twitched. She collapsed and flopped on her back like a fish out of water. Her arms and legs thrashed. She swung her head back and forth. Even from here I heard her teeth rattling against each other.

"Just like before," Bentley whispered. He swayed and staggered. "That's what she was doing last time!"

"Devon?" Kessler stumbled toward her.

That's Devon?

"No, no, Mom is NOT here." Cooper grabbed his uncle's shirt and yanked him backwards so hard they both crashed to the ground.

"Then why is she HERE?" Bentley's voice was breaking.

I turned toward him just as a monster lunged from behind a tree. "MOVE!"

But it was too late. Those three-pronged finger things burst through his skin on his shoulder. I threw my sai and it impaled the monster's face at the same time Cooper's sword slammed into its gut. Kessler got to his nephew first, scooping him up off the ground.

"GET HIM GONE!" a woman yelled.

I looked toward the unknown voice and gasped. It was Devon. She stood just behind us with a sword gripped tight in her hand. "Devon? H-how?"

"Never mind that. Get him gone, Kessler!"

Kessler paled and blinked up at her.

Cooper looked around in a panic. "Mom, we need a medallion."

"Who has one? There should be one left!" I shouted, but another round of monsters were seconds away.

A dozen Devons appeared behind her. It was like someone hit copy and paste over and over. Her entire body shimmered and sparkled. Then it clicked. Astral projection was her gift. She wasn't really here at all.

"I HAVE IT! COMING!" Thiago shouted.

One of the Devon forms in the back sprinted over to Thiago and took the medallion he held and flew over to him, dropping to her knees. Bentley began convulsing. His arms turned jet-black and those orange lightning bolts streaked across his skin. Cooper cursed and pressed the medallion into his brother's chest, using Bentley's non-injured hand.

Bright light flashed and took Bentley with it.

"LOOK!" Lily shouted. "THERE IT IS!"

"You need to go," Devon yelled. Another dozen copies of her filled in the space so it was just a wall of her. "I can hold them. Get to the circle?—"

"Mom—" Cooper's voice broke.

"I'm not dead. Not yet," one of her bodies said while three others used their swords to point at the arch. "GO. NOW!"

Kessler and Cooper spun on their toes, grabbing my arm and dragging me into a sprint. Thiago had his arm around Willow's waist. They were running with us. Lily and Easton were limping and bleeding from somewhere, but they were booking it.

And then I saw it.

The archway.

It wasn't at all what I was expecting. My steps faltered. It wasn't just an archway. It was half of a wall made of old gray stones. It looked like maybe there was once a full structure there. Or part of a wall. The stones were broken off on one side of the archway, but on the other it stretched out to even include a little window. Who's looking through that and why? Because it was not an accident.

The forest was full of towering pine trees rowed up one after another, yet in this ring around the stone archway, all of the trees were oaks. Massive oaks with branches thicker than my body. The trees' branches stretched out at angles, some of them hanging low over the trail that led to the archway—like they were protecting it. Moss and flowered-vines clung to the stones and hung down through the opening of the archway. The air was lighter in this ring of trees. It was a pale blue-green color and seemed to carry a bit of a haze in it.

"We did it," I breathed as my legs burned and begged to stop running. I pointed at it like they could've somehow missed it. "There it is!"

" I remember the spell for Seelie, get inside the circle! " Lily whispered. " We can get out that way !"

Together we leapt over the stone circle and sprinted for the archway.

" Within their tricks the cipher blends," I quoted the prophecy. "It's gonna be hidden right in front of us somewhere."

Cooper crouched beside me. "Use your stones."

I lifted my wrist and pressed my fingers to the stones. They lit up, glowing blue instantly. Please guide me to the cipher we're here to find.

" What the hell is THAT? " Thiago backed into the archway with a grunt. He pointed straight behind me. "WHAT IS THAT?"

"I don't see anything," Cooper cursed.

" Oh meu Deus ," Thiago whispered.

The glowing pink arrow lifted off my stones and pointed for me to go around the other side. I hurried over, then froze. A wall of darkness was moving toward us. A cold chill slid down my spine.

Queen Sweyn stepped out from behind the trees and darkness. She was every bit as awful and beautiful as I remembered. I hid behind the stone wall of the archway but peeked around as Sweyn lunged for Easton. There was a crunch and a scream—and Lily collapsed ten feet away from them. Sweyn's eyes lit up.

Thiago jumped in front of her to shield Easton, but Sweyn just licked her lips. "Another Hanged Man, my favorite snack."

She threw Easton aside, caught Thiago by the shoulders, then sank her fangs into his tanned skin. Thiago's back arched as he gasped. Black lines covered his mouth—Cooper tackled Sweyn like it was Superbowl Sunday, but she got right back on her feet. She reached down and threw Cooper into a tree.

" Frankie," Willow whispered beside me.

I cursed and looked back down to my arrow. It was pointing to a narrow spot between two stones. Willow and I began digging for it, but we were both watching the fight.

Kessler pulled a tree out of the ground, then threw it like a javelin right into Sweyn's chest. She flew back into the forest with a growl that made the trees vibrate. Cooper was already on his feet and racing back toward us, so Kessler hurried over to Easton and Lily, who hadn't yet moved. With a quick whip of his wrist, they flew like baseballs into the circle. Thiago coughed and tried to crawl, but Kessler made quick work of scooping him up and carrying him into the circle with us. Thiago's bite wound was still bleeding, so Kessler held his hand over it.

Willow threw her hands up and a shimmery wall of iridescent blue surrounded us. "Find the damn cipher. That won't last."

I was barely paying attention to the arrow. My soulmate was out there alone, but I couldn't help him if I didn't find what we were here for. Willow and I discovered the object must have been between two massive boulders. I pried one of the stones on the edge loose, dirt caking under my fingernails.

"COOPER!" Kessler shouted. "RETREAT!"

"There it is!"

But I didn't look. My eyes landed on Queen Sweyn, Everest, and the wall of vampires emerging from the tree line without a worry in the world. Those red eyes glowed in the dark and made my stomach roll.

" Kessler, grab that stone!" Willow whisper-shouted.

I was frozen in place, watching in horror as five vampire sentinels dressed in their white trench coats lunged from the trees and attacked Cooper. NO! I pulled both of my sais out and charged for them. Cooper was holding them off with expert moves, but I knew they were just toying with him. I'd seen their speed firsthand.

I really didn't know what my plan was, but over my dead body was I going to sit back and watch these vampires kill my soulmate. I didn't let myself look at Everest. I couldn't afford even a moment's distraction. Two of the Sentinels saw me coming and abandoned their attack on Cooper. But they underestimated me. This was the single moment where a decade of martial arts training paid off. Despite their hyper-speed, I took them by surprise by dropping into a slide through their legs and then flipping over. I didn't actually know what my body was doing. I just knew I was doing it.

Both Sentinels flew into the air and crashed in a heap at Sweyn's feet. I jumped up and ran for Cooper as the vampires charged for us again.

Sweyn gasped. Her red eyes widened. She shouted something in a weird language and the vampires all froze in place. Her jaw dropped. She pointed to Cooper. "He's your soulmate."

I arched one eyebrow.

She shouted in that language, and the vampires pulled back. I saw the fear in her eyes. It wasn't a look she wore often. But as she looked from me, to Cooper, to Kessler behind us, I saw the math adding up. She was afraid. I didn't understand why, but she'd called off the Sentinels when she saw Cooper was my soulmate.

And then I made the mistake of looking to Everest. His white and blue eyes were glowing with rage—and narrowed on Cooper. He snarled and his upper lip curled up to reveal two sets of fangs. He balled his hands into fists at his sides as his body trembled.

Sweyn's eyes widened.

A pale arm shot into my peripheral vision, gripped me around the waist, and dragged me into a sea of darkness.