Kata gripped her stick, her mouth dry and her heart lodged somewhere near her tonsils.
Trapped in a sense of nightmarish disbelief, Kata watched Uriel deliberately place himself between her and the gruesome freak that had once been her sister.
“Kata, find a way out of here,” he growled.
“No.” She shook her head. “I won’t leave you.” With a low growl, Uriel turned to stab her with a savage glare, his T-shirt drenched in blood and throat still mangled from Marika’s attacks.
“Then we both die.”
She bit her bottom lip. She wasn’t stupid. She knew their only hope of survival was to somehow find the means to escape from the bubble of illusion.
But every fiber of her being rebelled at the thought of abandoning Uriel.
“What the hell is she?” she muttered.
“Invincible,” Marika taunted, her spooky laugh once again filling the glade. “Don’t be wandering too far, sister dearest. Once I’ve disposed of your lover we can start enjoying our special time together.” Uriel stroked a hand down her cheek, his expression pleading.
“Go.”
Briefly pressing his fingers to her cheek, Kata abruptly turned and charged across the glade.
She heard her sister’s screech of fury and the answering roar of Uriel, but she kept her gaze grimly trained on the low hills that swelled before her. Without her curses she had nothing that could help Uriel defeat Marika.
All she could do now was pray for a miracle. .
No, that wasn’t all she could do, she belatedly realized.
Kata slowed as she reached the foot of one low hill.
Why was she running as if she could find some magical doorway?
There was only one way out of the illusion.
Stepping behind a large rock, Kata shoved her hair out of her face with a shaking hand and sucked in a ragged breath.
“Yannah,” she called, her voice echoing eerily through the still air. “Yannah?” Distantly she could hear the sounds of Uriel’s battle with Marika and closer at hand the rustle of a squirrel scurrying through the undergrowth, but from the demon who’d trapped them here. . nothing. Nada. Jack squat.
“Yannah, dammit, where are you?”
There was no warning.
One minute she was alone, frustration boiling through her like acid, and the next Yannah was standing before her.
“No need to screech, Kata,” the tiny demon complained, smoothing her hands down her pristine white gown. “There’s nothing wrong with my hearing.” Kata clenched her hands together. It was that or wringing Yannah’s slender neck.
“Really?” she said between gritted teeth. “Then you knew we were being attacked by Marika and you just decided to leave us trapped here?” “Don’t be silly, I was busy.”
Kata stabbed a finger toward the battle that continued on the far side of the glade. “Well, I’ve been a little busy myself.” “Yes, you have.” A sly smile curved Yannah’s lips. “No need to thank me for giving you some privacy with your pretty leech.” “You expect me to thank you?” Kata’s eyes widened with furious disbelief. Oh yes, she was going to throttle the little demon. But not until she’d gotten them out of this mess. “You locked us in here with my demented sister who has become a vampire zombie.” Yannah’s brows pleated, as if she were giving serious thought to Kata’s accusation.
“Oh, I don’t think she’s technically a zombie.” Kata blinked. “Are you kidding me?”
“I never kid about zombies.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Kata counted to ten. “Then
“Is she a part of the illusion?”
“No.”
“But she’s dead?” Kata pressed. “I mean. . dead dead?” “Yes.”
Kata frowned, sensing that Yannah was hiding something from her.
“You don’t sound particularly confident.” “She shouldn’t be here.”
“No shit,” Kata snapped. “She’s supposed to be frying in the pits of hell, but obviously she’s not.” Turning her head, Kata’s heart stopped as she watched Uriel fending off the feral vampire, his powerful body covered in blood and his elegant movements becoming sluggish. “Yannah, you have to get us out of here before she kills us all.”
Chapter 10
Unlike many of his brothers, Uriel had never been arrogant enough to assume he was invincible.
Not after his painful encounter with the Jinn.
He understood that vampires might be at the top of the food chain, but there was always the danger of meeting a bigger, badder opponent who could kick his ass.
So even with his secret boost of power from the Jinn, he devoted hours to perfecting his fighting skills.
Which was the only reason he wasn’t already a pile of ash.
Still, it was taking every trick he’d learned over the centuries just to keep Marika from ripping out his throat. And while his strength was rapidly draining from his numerous wounds, his adversary was as fresh as a fucking daisy.
He could only hope that Kata had managed to find a means to escape.
Almost as if the mere thought of her had created her from thin air, he heard the sound of her voice calling from across the glade.
“Uriel.” She waved her arms over her head to gain his attention. “This way.” He swallowed a sigh of frustration.
Dammit.
Couldn’t one thing go right?
He turned, accepting that even if Kata had found a way out of the illusion she wouldn’t leave without him.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Perhaps sensing that her prey might slip from her grasp, Marika flowed to stand between him and the beckoning Kata. “We’re not done playing.” Uriel deliberately allowed his sword to dip in a weariness he didn’t have to pretend, his other hand slipping into the pocket of his jeans. He had one shot at disabling the female long enough to reach Kata. It all depended on catching her off guard.
Marika’s dark eyes flared with smug triumph.
She was confident of her impending victory.
Hell, why not?
If Uriel was a betting man he’d put his money on the insane vampire who couldn’t die.
A humorless smile twisted his lips as he deliberately stumbled over a patch of grass, seeming to lose his balance.
That was all the encouragement Marika needed.
With a cry of anticipation she launched herself forward, her hands curled into lethal claws and her fangs fully exposed.
Uriel forced himself to wait until the last possible second, then yanking his hand out of his pocket he tossed the wooden box directly at her face. The death spell activated with a tiny pop, the magic halting her in her tracks.
He didn’t hesitate. With a fierce roar, he lifted his sword and swung it in a tremendous arch.
The blade whistled through air, offering a belated warning, but Marika was too lost in her bloodlust to notice. With lips pulled into a snarl and her icy power pulsing through the glade she launched herself at Uriel, managing to
