I almost fell over with shock. Tahoe’s magic amplified her shields, saving her once more.

Taran locked her crystal eyes on her astonished foe. “My turn.”

Taran gathered her magic and launched a meteor-size blue-and-white fireball. Petro’s witch screamed once. And detonated like a car bomb. Something, maybe her kidney, hit me in the face. The explosion ignited the drapes and paintings in a wash of fire. Flames shot toward the ceiling, lighting the wood beams and pillars like rice paper. Taran’s power combined with Tahoe’s turned the mansion into an instant inferno.

Taran gawked at the flames eating away at the wood paneling. “Son of a bitch!”

“Taran, get out!” I yanked harder on Misha’s chains. “I’ll be right behind you!”

Taran took a few hesitant steps back, unsure whether to leave me. But the flaming piece of plaster that landed by her feet motivated her to listen. She reared back, clambering through the shattered windows and swearing as the broken glass sliced her legs.

Falling embers burned my back, and the growing flames heated Misha’s chains. Screw this. I gave up on freeing Misha and began to drag him across the room.

I’d just crossed the foyer when I caught a jerky movement out of the corner of my eye. Uh…oh.

Petro staggered to his mutilated feet, resembling a skinned, bloody corpse more than an evil, omnipotent master vampire. His eyes scanned the area like a stoned meth addict, disbelief twisting his raw face. He clenched his remaining fist and screamed, bulging his exposed muscles until they popped and expanded, adding bulk and lengthening his small stature. His incisors shot out past his jaw as his body morphed like a giant inflatable doll.

Terror had me yanking the last chain off in one pull. “Okay, Misha. Time to show me what you got.”

Misha collapsed on the floor like a pile of wet laundry.

Petro charged.

I cursed.

Petro leaped in the air, gunning for me. His sole hand extruded nails the length of my forearm. Drool dripped down his deadly fangs. His muscles rippled as he roared. Freaking roared like a goddamn lion.

I did what any tigress would have done in the face of such a predator.

I hauled ass and dove behind the smoking zebra couch.

The whole room shook as Petro took out the wall next to me. His new form may have been powerful, but it also made him clumsy. Flames sizzled his skin as he rose. He charged yet again. I sprinted toward the window, but he was suddenly in front of me. Then behind me. Then in front of me once more. He laughed. He may have been clumsy, but his speed trumped mine.

I jerked to my left, then quickly veered to my right, narrowly avoiding the slash of his claws. “Do you feel pity for me now?” he asked, his long fangs distorting his words. Petro continued to laugh, his mirth growing stronger with every sweep of his arms.

He stopped laughing when I rolled and kicked my heel into his mutated man parts.

Petro backhanded me with the stump of his severed hand. I slammed into one of the pillars, struggling to rise, too stunned to change. Petro lurched toward me, batting the flaming furniture from his path, his dark eyes promising more pain. I backed away, sliding across the floor of sharp debris as my hands searched blindly for weapons.

My back hit something hard. I’d reached the stone fireplace.

I was out of space. Out of time. Out of options.

But not out of hope.

Glass exploded in a screech as a large gray wolf soared through a side window, tackling Petro across the length of the room.

Aric.

His presence beckoned me to my feet. I stumbled forward, crashing onto my knees as he and Petro tore into each other like monstrous pit bulls.

I crawled to Misha while fragments of ceiling fell like flaming coals. Snarls and hisses rose over the deafening sound of crackling fire.

“Misha. Misha, wake up!” Misha didn’t respond to my hard shakes. He remained limp and barely breathing. I reached beneath his arms to drag him out, but Aric’s pained howl jerked me away.

Petro had slashed his claws across Aric’s face. Aric reeled back. Petro had only grazed him, but his nails were sharp enough to slice through Aric’s fur. Blood ran into Aric’s eyes, blinding and enraging his beast. Aric’s jaws snapped Petro’s remaining hand like rotting bark and spit it at his feet. He aimed for Petro’s throat, but Petro’s fangs found Aric first.

Petro’s long incisors pierced Aric’s chest. Aric refused to let him feast. His mammoth paws dug into Petro’s overcooked flesh, sending chunks of Petro’s muscles to sizzle on the hot floor. Petro released Aric with a powerful shove. Aric rebounded back, launching himself at Petro.

The only thing that saved Petro was his speed. He caught Aric in midair and threw him. Aric rocketed past me and into a pillar. Half the ceiling tumbled down, creating a flaming barrier between me and him.

And trapping me with Petro.

Aric’s snarls penetrated the booms of the collapsing house. I could hear the thundering of his powerful legs racing back and forth as he tried to find a way to me, but I didn’t dare shift my gaze from the grilled psycho vamp coming at me.

I grabbed the discarded gold chain as Petro rushed me, flinging it against his shins with all my might. The cursed gold seared his raw skin, sending the poison into his bones. His haunting cries amplified as he tugged them with his mutilated arms, thrashing in agony.

I scrambled away from him, taking Misha with me. Through the thick black smoke, Aric’s human voice called to me: “Celia! Get to the front of the house!”

My eyes darted around frantically. The room resembled a virtual hell storm, the walls seconds from caving in. I didn’t know where the front was, but I knew I needed to move, fast. I lugged Misha into a fireman’s carry and bolted to where Aric’s voice beckoned me.

We swept through a narrow, flame-ridden hall and into the grand foyer, where I caught a glimpse of the front doors through the haze. There was our way out. But the loud crunch of wood halted my steps. Beams crackling with fire fell across our only exit.

Shit.

I backed away from the flames, momentarily stunned. Except the sound of Petro’s roars and chains being tossed motivated me to race up the steps.

Fire boiled the sweat on my skin. Tears ran hot down my face. My heart pumped with fear. Death by fire was not how I wanted to go.

And neither was death by a second-rate a**hole master vampire.

The pounding steps behind me urged me down the hall. I kicked open the last door, dropping Misha as Petro dove on top of us. I fell with a hard thud against the blistering floor before Petro kicked me across the room and into an antique bureau.

The mirror shattered, slicing at my br**sts. Blood soaked my shirt, but I barely felt the pain. Funny how hatred could run so deep it numbed. In the cracked glass I watched Petro trudge toward me.

I also watched my guardian angel rise behind him.

Petro advanced slowly, his dismembered face contorting with hatred. “You’re going to hell, Celia. You just don’t know it yet.”

This unholy bastard had used me to fuel this nightmare. But you know what? I was done being nice. “You first.”

I grasped his arm when he tried to strike and dug my fangs into the seared muscle, using my unique ability to return his soul. The glow from his body burned as bright as a star. Petro’s crazed, horrified eyes stared at his illuminating form. “No. Noooooo!”

I kicked Petro into Misha, using his shock to our advantage. Misha wasted no time. He dragged Petro against him and dug his claws into Petro’s heart while his serrated fangs ate through his neck like acid.

Flames chewed on the room. Misha fell to his side, covered in Petro’s remains, his words mere pants. “We need…to get out.”

“Yup.”

I hauled Misha up by the shoulders and threw him out the window. Loud grunts and angry swearing in Russian accompanied his landing. Good thing master vamps were immune to fire. Bad thing? The walls collapsed after him and the ceiling came down, blocking my exit with a barricade of flames. I stumbled back and fell, my lungs burning, my head spinning. From somewhere outside, my sisters screamed my name.

It was the last sound I heard before everything went black.

CHAPTER 35

Petro had it all wrong. I didn’t go to hell.

Only heaven could fill my lungs with such a sweet, wondrous aroma. Aric’s scent surrounded me. I opened my eyes to find him sleeping next to me in my bed, my body tucked protectively against his. I thought I’d dreamed my fight to the death, until fragmented bits of memories flooded my mind. The sound of the walls crashing. The feel of strong arms wrenching me from the burning floor. The cold night breeze slapping against my hot skin. And Emme’s healing light.

I raised my fingertips slowly and pushed the singed hair away from Aric’s brow.

His steamy brown eyes blinked open. “Hi, sweetness,” he whispered.

“Hi, wolf.” My smile faded. “You saved me, didn’t you?”

Aric stroked my tears away with his thumbs and gathered me to him. “I didn’t think I’d reach you in time.”

“But you did.”

“Yeah. I did.”

Worry made my insides churn. “What about my sisters?”

Aric stroked my back with his large hand. “Safe. In their rooms. With my wolves. Except for Taran. Gemini left after he brought her home. He patted her head good-bye.” Aric chuckled. “I don’t think Taran liked that very much.”

“Probably not.” Aric wore only sweatpants. I smiled against his bare chest, wondering what I looked like…and who had dressed me in my tank and shorts.

“Your sisters cleaned you up,” Aric answered, likely scenting my sudden nervousness. “I stayed to make sure you were safe. It was a hell of a fight, but we ended the bloodlust.” His hand stopped against my lower back. “Do you mind that I stayed?”

My husky voice fell lower. “No. I like you with me.”

A gentle purr rumbled against my br**sts. Aric growled—soft and sexy—beckoning me closer to him.

But something didn’t seem right.

I lifted my head and peered over his broad shoulder. He frowned. “What are you looking at?”