No shit.

Tye clasped my wrist when I failed to move and thundered forth, stopping only to drag an unconscious were along with us. “Come on, this is what we came for!”

We jogged toward the opening of a cave where we’d heard Misha call. Tye released me and lifted a torch from the cavern wall. “I can see in the dark without changing,” I reminded him.

“Misha is out of his mind, Celia. I’m bringing this along in case we have to set him on fire.”

If Tye was trying to somehow reassure me, it didn’t work. I didn’t want to set Misha on fire. That said, I also didn’t want to be eaten. “Master vampires are immune to fire,” I managed.

“Not when they’ve feasted on animal blood to survive,” Tye muttered.

The more we advanced, the louder Misha’s voracious growls clamored. At every corner we rounded, I expected to find Misha. But it wasn’t until I scented the decaying corpses of pigs that I knew we were almost upon him.

We found him at the cave’s end. I gasped when I saw him. Misha no longer resembled the vampire I knew. He’d grown at least six inches and his fangs had morphed to those of a snake. His bright green and bloodthirsty stare trained on me, piercing through the greasy knots of hair falling around his face. He was caged and chained by his neck, but despite his confines, he seemed ready to break free. My tigress chuffed within me, insisting we run. My stupid human side took two steps closer.

Tye yanked me back at the same moment Misha lunged for me.

“Celia.” Misha licked his lips greedily.

“Here, Misha, are you hungry?” Tye grabbed the were and threw him toward the cage.

The were’s lifeless body slumped against the bars. “Tye, Misha can’t reach him—”

In one pull, Misha wrenched the were—or what was left of him—into the cage with him. I’d always hated watching a vamp feed. This was way worse. I whipped around and covered my ears yet couldn’t muffle the slobbering, munching, and slurping as Misha feasted. Tye spun around. It was too much for him, too. We faced the wall. My growing nausea receded when Misha finished, except then Maria and Edith appeared with the next few courses. They hadn’t bothered knocking their prey unconscious, choosing instead to sever their arms so they wouldn’t be as much trouble.

The blood dripping from the weres’ empty sockets sent Misha into a salivating frenzy. Tye tucked his arm beneath mine and led me out, but not before I heard Edith’s voice echo behind us. “Open wide, Master. Here comes the choo-choo train.”

The dreadful howls from the weres made us pick up our pace. When we reached the opening of the cave, Michael and the rest of the vampires waited amid clumps of ash and mounds of dead bodies. We’d beaten the enemy to a nasty pulp and still they remained eager to continue their rampage. Tye straightened to his full height. “Celia and I are leaving,” he told them.

Hank snarled. “You can leave if you want, but she stays. Our master needs her.”

I cut off Tye’s growl with a squeeze to his arm. “Let’s all leave. I don’t want to be around when Lu—”

Tye clasped his hand over my mouth. “Don’t speak a witch’s name aloud in her domain, unless you wish to summon her.”

I nodded. That wasn’t a lesson I needed to learn the hard way.

Tye released me as the vampires advanced, their sharp gazes locked on Tye in challenge. “Stand down.” They ignored my command. My hackles rose. Now that they had Misha, it was pretty damn obvious I was no longer in charge.

The door to the fortress blasted off its hinges. My heart stopped when I saw Aric storm in, leading one of the wereoxen by a chain of gold. The were was gagged and his eyes wild in fear of Aric. I couldn’t blame him. Aric’s facial features remained immobile yet the fury permeating his aura promised to butcher anyone in his path. “Where’s Celia?”

Aric released the were when he caught sight of me and, from one breath to the next, stood before me. Thick and wretched humidity coated my skin with perspiration in defiance of the dark night sky. And yet the heat that spread between us was as gentle and welcoming as a warm bath. I inhaled his aroma just once before he snatched me into a tight embrace. My body quivered from the emotion behind his hold and my head fell against his broad chest. All I wanted to do was beg him to make the last few weeks disappear.

Aric rubbed his face against my hair and kissed my crown so softly I barely felt it. His voice held a strange mixture of ire and gentleness, like the power of thunder with the softness of a mist. “Why didn’t you tell me Anara had hurt you?”

I clung to his neck and sobbed. Throughout my entire time away from him, I’d tried to be so tough, but as usual he unleashed my vulnerability like a caged beast. The strain and burden I’d carried for so long spilled out of me like a cascade of falling timbers. Within seconds, his sweat-soaked shirt became newly drenched with my tears.

Aric pulled me closer while I rubbed my cheek against the side of his face. His skin felt like hard, crumpled paper, but his tenderness, warmth, and scent tightened my embrace. I’d missed my love so much and now he was finally here.

“Aric, now is not the time,” Tye said tightly. “We have to get Celia out of here.”

The vampires had circled us in the time it had taken Aric to reach me. Aric and Tye positioned themselves in front of and behind me, growling.

Maria’s claws protruded. “You’re not taking her anywhere. Our master needs her!”

“Do you think I give a shit what your goddamn master needs?” Aric shouted. “I came for Celia and there’s no way in hell any of you are going to stop me!”

I wiped off my face with my hands and stepped out from between Tye and Aric. “Everyone, calm down. Liz, go check on Misha and see how he’s doing. If he’s well enough we can all leave together.”

Liz didn’t like me telling her what to do. “Fine.” She hoisted the wereox by his torn collar and dragged him into the cave. He bucked and tried screaming, but Aric’s gag held.

“I don’t like this,” Aric muttered to me. He and Tye watched the vamps, their stances affirming their inner beasts would soon emerge.

I linked my arm around his. “It’s all right, love. They’re not going to hurt me.” It seemed like such an absurd thing to say, given the way the vampires lurked, ready to pounce, but I believed they wouldn’t attack me.