Luca hopped in with Jaxon, who peeled out of the driveway seconds after the passenger door closed. Rylee ran to the barn, barely keeping up with Niko. She forced a breath past the fist-sized lump in her throat. If anything happened to Bonnie, she’d never forgive herself for bringing that monster to their doorsteps.
The truck roared to life, and within seconds, they were bouncing down the road leading back to town. The headlights bobbed up and down with every rut and hole they hit, but Niko didn’t slow down.
“She’ll be fine,” Niko said, his voice rougher than she’d ever heard it. “We won’t let Bonnie or Emmet down.”
Seventeen
The tires screeched as they turned the last corner. Rylee had spotted the steeple a few blocks away, and angry butterflies threatened to slice through her stomach with the wicked beats of their wings. Niko hadn’t said a word since they’d bounced off the dirt road and onto the pavement. Had she been anyone else, she might have been frightened at the speed with which he drove, but all she wanted to do was urge him to go faster. They had to get to the church before it was too late.
All the way there, Rylee had pictured Bonnie in the clutches of a mad vampire, her throat torn out, her eyes cold—lifeless. She’d had to swallow her sobs more than once. It was one thing for her to be in the line of danger—she took that risk on with every job she agreed to do—but Bonnie hadn’t asked for this. None of them had. She had to get those monsters away from the town. She sniffled before she could stop it, then stiffened. Maybe Niko hadn’t caught it.
“Stop,” Niko said. The firm tone in his voice yanked her from her thoughts. “It’s not your fault, and you’re not running. You promised me tomorrow,” he reminded, proving just how well he read her already.
“Bonnie—”
“Bonnie is going to be okay. She’s a lot tougher than you think. Almost as tough as you,” he said as he reached over and squeezed the hand she hadn’t realized she’d clenched into a fist on her thigh. Right then, she didn’t feel strong. Not at all. She wanted to close her eyes and make it all go away.
He brought the truck to a stop right in front of the church under a streetlight and tossed her the keys. From where she sat, she could see a scuffle happening at the far end of the yard, but the shadows kept her from seeing anything more than fast-moving bodies slamming into one another. “You lock the doors, and don’t open them for anyone but me. If things go wrong, you leave,” Niko ordered. Before she could say a word, he jumped out of the truck and was running full-out toward the battle.
Rylee couldn’t hear a thing past the thundering of her heart in her ears. The air in the cab grew thick and warm, refusing to fill her lungs. Every muscle in her body clenched as she tried to see what was happening, but the shadows swallowed Niko along with the others.
Air. She needed air. Rolling her window down a few inches, she closed her eyes and listened. The deep rumble of voices—harsh and angry—cut the silence.
She spotted a huge wolf racing along the shadows. Right on his heels, a slightly smaller one that had her breath catching in her throat kept pace. With Niko’s identical coloring, it had to be Luca. That meant the bigger one had to be Jaxon. Neither of them glanced in her direction as they crept toward the garden hiding her mate.
Jaxon’s wolf froze halfway there. The hair on his scruff stood on end, and a wicked growl rumbled from him. Luca moved with him, flanking him. Snarls erupted from both beasts as they snapped their teeth at an unseen enemy.
A tall, lanky figure stepped out of the bushes, dragging a slumped body behind him. When he lifted his free hand and swiped it across his lips, it came back red. Blood. Oh, God. He was wiping Bonnie’s blood from his mouth. That blond hair still clamped in his fist was hers.
Rylee’s scream echoed in her mind. She watched in horror as the vampire yanked her friend up so that she wobbled on her feet. She was alive. She wasn’t strong, but she wasn’t dead.
“Give me the cougar, and she’ll live,” the vampire grated out, his booming voice sending shivers along Rylee’s spine.
The demand was met with more growls, but rather than be undeterred, the creature turned its head and looked straight at her. He puckered his pale lips and narrowed his eyes, assessing her from where he stood.
Fear froze her insides. Weren’t vampires supposed to be super quick? What if that thing broke free and came after her?
The wolf she knew to be Jaxon lunged, but the vampire was too fast. One second it was there, the next, it was ten feet away with Bonnie still clutched to him like a live shield. At least it hadn’t gotten closer.
Think, Rylee. How do you kill a vampire?
Silver bullets. That might work if she had a gun…or silver bullets. Her gaze darted around the church. There had to be something they could use. The fence was made of wrought iron. The only cross she could see on the building was at least four feet tall and secured to the wall. Even as scared as she was, she wasn’t chancing her safety on her ability to pull that thing off, much less use it as a weapon.
A flickering streetlight down the road drew her gaze for half a second, but it was long enough to see what she hoped was her solution. Slipping over the seat to the driver’s door, she opened it and closed it
