Underwood’s fingers stretch out for me, his sharp fangs descending in slow motion. I pivot and bring the branch down into the second coffin, decimating its inhabitant in a burst of old, dead, powder.
I slip and lose my footing, falling into the coffin. As I fall back, I drop the branch and splash into the pool of warm blood. My head cracks against the edge of the stone box and for a moment, my concentration is lost. My shield evaporates, freeing Underwood from the thick barrier.
“What have you done?” He lunges at me, faster than anything I’ve ever seen. I clench my body instinctively, drawing my arms and legs in front of me as I try to protect myself. This is going to hurt.
Roll to your left!
Tobias’s command comes in a flash and I move without thinking, without hesitation. As I roll on to my side, I see the branch I dropped when I fell. I wrap my hands around it and feel the surge of power rise inside me as I lift it up, using the back of the box for leverage.
Damon Underwood throws himself on top of me as I angle the branch at him. He sees the branch but he can’t stop his forward momentum. The vampire grabs hold of the branch as his body keeps moving, impaling himself on the wooden branch. His mouth opens in an ‘O’ of surprise. The last thing I see are his pointy fangs as he disappears in a puff of dust. It takes a moment for my brain to catch up with reality. One second I am bracing for the vampire’s attack and the next I am covered in vampire powder.
Underwood is gone.
Chapter Seventeen
JOELY
I crawl out of the coffin and hurry to my men.
“I’m here. I’m here, Marco. Can you hear me? Angus? Van?” None of them moves as I approach.
Marco is the one closest to me. I check for his pulse, glad to feel his heart beating strong and consistent. He whines and writhes when I touch him, which makes me burst into tears. He’s alive. Thank the gods. Thank you Tobias. Thank you ravens.
I undo the slip knots around his front paws, which sets his body swinging. The collar around his neck vibrates with magic. The lock on the back isn’t fully latched, so I open it easily and toss it on the floor. Marco shifts into his human form and falls into my arms. He’s bloody and he’s cut from head to toe but he’s alive.
“What can I do? What do I do?” I ask, blinking through my tears.
Marco looks up at me and licks his lips. “Help them.” The wound at Marco’s neck is already beginning to heal. I touch the line where the vampire had sliced him open and feel the skin knitting together, microscopic magical healing taking place right before my eyes.
I lay Marco’s head gently on the stone floor and release Angus and Van from the horrific device.
I kiss Angus’s forehead as he opens his eyes, and check to make sure he’s healing. He smiles up at me and grabs my hand, exhausted but happy and on the mend.
Van’s still in his wolf form. His white fur is almost completely red from all the blood. Underwood must have started working on Van first, or else he’d spent more time punishing the man who pretended to work for him for over a year.
“Van! Wake up!” I grab hold of his limp wolf shoulders and shake him, willing him to open his eyes. He doesn’t move. “Van! You can’t die. Not now! Not now.”
Tobias flashes in my head. The wolf is watching me from the trees.
Feel their blood. Draw on the power. Take it in. Become.
A sense of calm washes over me like a warm shower. I feel the tension leave my body and as it does, it brings with it a clarity so sharp, I know exactly what to do.
Wolf blood is healing blood. But my wolves drank from vampires and took on perpetual healing. I need their blood.
I recall the sensations I felt each time I took hold of that branch and try to conjure that openness again. I close my eyes and picture Van’s beating heart. His pulse is weak and his heartbeat is slow, but it’s there, he’s still with me. I lay my hand in the trough, sinking it to my wrist in the wolf blood. My wolves’ blood. I command it to me, drawing on the healing power and bringing it through me to my wolf.
I run a hand over Van’s wounds, moving my fingers through his fur so I can see his bare skin. My fingers glow with the power of healing. His power, coming through me since he can’t call it on his own.
Van’s eyes open and the wolf blinks once and then he shifts and becomes Van again. I realize he isn’t wearing his totem but the others are. Maybe that’s why he was so badly wounded? He opens his eyes and looks up at me.
I rub his hair off his face and pull back when I realize I am just spreading more blood on him. “You came back to me,” I whisper, letting the tears fall from my cheeks and into his hair. I cradle his head in my lap and just look at him.
“Joely.” He’s so weak my name comes out like a breath.
“I’m here. You’re safe. You’re going to be all right. You need to heal.”
Van holds my gaze for a moment before his eyes flutter closed and he passes out.
Thank you Tobias. Thank you magic. Thank you birds. I could spend the rest of my life thanking everything under the sun and it still wouldn’t come close to the level of my gratitude.
Outside the window, the raven takes flight.
Chapter Eighteen
JOELY
I stand at the door of Marco’s bedroom and watch him sleep. He and Angus were able
