“They wanted me to keep you someplace safe.”
“What, while they fight? Outnumbered? No. I can’t stand by and do nothing.”
“Cora, this is out of your depth. You’ll get killed back there.”
“I’d rather die being helpful than live being useless.”
He put his hand on her forearm and held it there. “This isn’t a debate. You’ll die.”
“Thank you for saving me and trying to look out for me, but those two mean more to me than anything on this planet right now. If you try to keep me here, I’ll…I won’t be afraid to fight you.”
Jesus. Dorky Cora was about to throw down with Daggett. I was kind of curious to see who’d come out on top.
Daggett let out a little crooked grin. It was cute. “I’m not gonna fight you,” he said. “I just—”
WHOOSH.
Some big-ass werewolf flew by us, snatching Daggett up in the process. This thing was going so fast that all I could see was Daggett being dragged through the snow and pulled into the darkness.
“Daggett!” I screamed.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
MAX
One of the werewolves disappeared after being called to by Veronica, leaving me with only one to kill. I knew from the way it zigzagged around the property and bounced against the castle walls that it was trying to fuck with me, and that it wanted me wasting time on him instead of his master.
Master was above me, his body dark against the moon in the sky behind him as his wings flapped slowly.
Footsteps broke through the snow at a rapid pace, and I saw Melanie running toward me. She was coming to my aid, even though she told me she was going to protect Cora. But I didn’t see Cora anywhere. I didn’t see Daggett or Priscilla, either. My one hope was that she got them someplace safe and far away.
The second I realized Melanie was coming, Master did as well, and he swooped low to the ground in an effort to snatch her up like a goddamn vulture. Melanie dropped onto the snow and covered the back of her head with her hands, and he flew right over her. He missed.
This was my chance. He was no longer airborne, and the dive down to get Melanie put him at only a few feet above ground. I could grab him, and I could kill him.
I ended my efforts to fight the werewolf in front of me and dove at Master, knocking him out of the sky until he was a rolling, tumbling dark mass of wings and fur in the snow. He rose from the ground and levitated before I could get to him, but I still took a chance and lunged at him before he could get too high. My arms and legs wrapped around his body as we floated, and I bit down hard into his stomach so we’d drop back down. It worked, because we both came crashing, and landed on top of one another.
Master was enraged, coming after me with claws and fangs and tearing at me so fast and chaotically he was a blur. Every dig and scrape felt like acid being poured into my wounds and pumped through my veins. It was enough to disorient me, to make my stomach churn, to make the world tilt. It was like this guy was pure poison. Even though I was feeling like I had the flu or something, I still fought. When he swung his claws at me, I captured his arm and clamped my teeth down and sunk into his flesh several inches. His scream was like nails on a chalkboard.
Against my ribs, I felt something pinch, and when I looked down I saw his feet were pressing into me. His toes were covered in hair, with blade-like nails that were digging into me. With one flap of his wings, he pushed me forward and himself back, breaking my teeth from his arm and distancing us. He then flew toward me and wrapped his hands around my throat, choking me and then lifting me in the air before slamming me down to the ground. My lungs felt empty of air at that first impact, and I was still recovering when he lifted me back up. With one shove, he launched me fifty feet across the yard and into the castle wall. Bricks and stone shattered against my back, and as I slid lifelessly to the ground, the pieces of the structure fell around and onto me.
I was out of breath and hurt real bad, and I was being buried by the rubble.
“What a sight,” I heard Molly say. She knelt in front of me, her head cocked and her eyes vacant of any real emotion. I didn’t even know she was nearby. With Molly there in the dark, with her pale skin and purple dress both covered in dry blood, she almost didn’t even seem real. Like I was stuck in a nightmare. “You put up a better fight with me,” she added with a laugh. The laughter wasn’t joyous, it was hollow. It was put on. “Stop trying to save Melanie. She’s nothing to you. Stop acting like you care.”
I wanted to fight her, but I felt drugged. I was too weak to move, and the bricks were heavy and pinning down my limbs. I wiggled and they budged only a little. If I weren’t so woozy from the bites, I could free myself, but I was struggling.
“You should be grateful Melanie is at the top of our list. It gives your precious cupcake time to get away,” Molly hissed.
Melanie screamed. My vision was blurry, but I could make out a large figure chasing after her. It was the werewolf I left behind. Son of a bitch.
Molly glanced back at the action and then returned her gaze
