Lucinda’s injured eye squirted a tarlike fluid that stank of venom. I bored the knife deeper into her skull. Although I hurt her, I kept waving the massive blade dangerously close to my face. I narrowly missed getting gouged in the cheek when I flipped her onto her back. That’s when I used my 110 pounds to hold her down and pummel her with my knees. We both hollered, Lucinda from pain and me with ferocity.

“Matare tu bebe, puta!”

I don’t how the crazy witch knew I was pregnant, but for her to threaten to kill my baby gave me one last burst of strength. I rammed her with an elbow, flipped the knife, and drove it deep into her chest.

A loud blast deafened me before an eerie silence crept across the land. My body dripped with sweat and I could barely catch my breath. Below me, Lucinda lay perfectly still, her hands clenching the long white handle of the knife.

The blade creeped me out. It had been fashioned from a large bone, with images of skulls etched into the hilt. Old evil magic seeped from it, so thick I could taste it. I scrambled away, disgusted by all the malice and suffering it had caused.

The black film veiling Lucinda’s eyes faded in time with the torrential winds. Her head lolled in my direction and she stared at me with unblinking eyes. Dark blood pooled in her mouth, leaking past her lips and settling into the deep wrinkles of her face.

Everyone watched me as they slowly advanced. Liz casually brushed off the skeleton still clinging to her shoulders. It landed like broken glass against the muddy ground. I stood on weak legs and stumbled toward Aric’s outstretched hands. “Come on, sweetness,” he whispered. “I’m taking you home.”

He gathered me tightly in his arms. I looked up to smile at him, only to catch his eyes sparking with fear. Aric spun me in a rapid blur, once more shielding me with his body. A bolt of lightning struck his back as we fell, followed by another that made his body shudder.

Aric slumped above me. From where I lay, I saw Lucinda. She sat with the knife still embedded in her sternum and smiled, before evaporating in a cloud of smoke. Tye wrenched Aric off me and hurled him in the direction of the demolished barn. Misha fastened his arms around my waist and hauled me away.

“No. Stop. What are you doing? Aric needs me!”

Tye rushed us, but instead of breaking Misha’s hold, he grabbed my legs and helped drag me toward the awaiting SUVs. I kicked and fought them, confused by their actions and ready to shift them underground when Aric lifted his head. My body sagged with relief when he rose to his knees. But my joy was short-lived.

He changed into a wolf and locked his gaze on mine. Except his eyes weren’t the soft brown of my love. They flashed bright green—the eyes of a cursed wolf.

Chapter Twenty-four

“No!”

Aric thundered toward us, tackling Tye. The vampires hit him with a storm of darts and still he secured a chunk of Tye’s throat. Michael kicked him off. Aric landed about thirty feet away and staggered to his feet, rearing to attack. His massive paws pounded the earth until his powerful form buckled and surrendered to the sedatives.

Tye wheezed and thrashed in pain as he covered the enormous hole in his neck. Blood squirted from his carotid artery like a geyser, beguiling the thirst of the injured vampires. They gathered around him, breathing heavily and gazing at him with primal hunger. I couldn’t move to help him. Terror left me paralyzed where I stood.

“Kill the wolf,” Misha ordered. He clasped my arm and hauled me away. I didn’t fight him. It was only when he tried to lift me into the SUV that I gathered my senses.

My voice shook hysterically. “You can’t kill him, Misha.”

“He is cursed with moon sickness. It must be done.”

“No,” I sobbed.

“Celia—”

I clutched his arms with all my strength. “I’m pregnant.” He stared back at me, bewildered by my words. “It’s Aric’s, Misha. I’m carrying Aric’s child.”

The betrayal in Misha’s face forced me to loosen my grip. His entire demeanor crumbled in unfathomable misery, yet his devastation was quickly replaced with unimaginable fury. He yanked himself away from me only to seize me painfully by the shoulders and glower. His breath came out in threatening bursts. I thought he was going to strike me. But Misha’s blows never came. He dropped me and stormed back toward Aric. I struggled to regain my balance and sprinted after him.

Although he said nothing, the vamps who carried Aric’s limp form quickly released him.

“But, Master,” Tim said.

Tim averted his gaze, then he and the remaining vampires discarded their guns and shuffled toward the vehicles. They were all in bad shape; most were missing portions of their bodies or entire limbs. I clutched Misha’s hand when he tried to follow. “Thank you, Misha. I—”

Misha tore himself from my grasp, his irises reflecting back in that dreadful green. Every part of him was poised to attack. But instead he closed his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, they were gray, cold, and ominous.

He spoke with guttural rage. “My debt to you is repaid. I owe you nothing. You are no longer allowed in my presence. Do not even dare to speak my name.”

Misha stalked away. He didn’t look back. He said nothing more…and he didn’t have to. Our friendship was over, but I didn’t have time to mourn its loss.

I lifted the tranquilizer gun near my feet, shoved it into the waistband of my shorts, then tore a section of fabric from my tank top. Tye’s artery had sealed and his trachea had begun to reform, except chunks of flesh remained exposed. He needed help. I wrapped the stretchy fabric of my shirt around his neck and tied it tightly.

He watched my careful movement and swiped at his pale, clammy skin. “I have to kill him.”

My tigress eyes replaced my own. “You’ll have to kill me first.”

Tye clenched his teeth and glared. “You’re a fool, Celia.”

I stilled. “Maybe I am. But I won’t allow Aric to die.”

“Damnit, Celia. You don’t get it. He’s not Aric anymore. The moon sickness has claimed him!”

Tye became a blur as my tears blinded me. I blinked, allowing the large drops to streak down my face. “Don’t ever tell me what he is or he isn’t. You don’t know him and you have no idea what he’s capable of.”

We veered toward the sound of approaching footsteps. Michael limped to us. His right calf muscle had been stripped from the bone, exposing his tibia to the hungry flies gathering to feast. His grimace expressed his obvious pain. He bent and with his only arm gathered the remaining guns. “I’m going to help you,” he told me before I could ask.