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AS THE PAIN IN ANDREI’S leg abated, his heart rate slowed to a dull thud, and his vision tunneled on his brother’s grief-stricken face.
“Brother, hang on. Help is coming.” Dejan’s voice sounded strangely hollow where he knelt beside him in the snow, as if he was speaking to him in a dream.
Andrei looked down at his human body. When had he shifted back? Though he was naked, he didn’t feel the bitter sting of winter’s freeze. Odd. A huge puddle of blood had pooled around his leg, and he realized the bullet had hit an artery. Strange how his entire body felt numb. His subconscious warned him he was dying, but he didn’t feel fear. Only peace.
Constantine, still a giant protector, was beside him next, easily scooping him into his long, furry arms. “Hang on, brother.”
Andrei reached for the big, red bullseye of dried blood on Constantine’s chest, wondering what had happened. He didn’t see a wound.
“Eilea healed me,” Constantine said stoically. “I had one foot in Valhol, and she brought me back.”
“Valhol,” Andrei whispered.
“Nope,” Constantine said as he hurried across the battlefield with long strides. “You’re not going.” His voice sounded strained, even for a mighty protector. “You’re staying here with us.”
Andrei felt himself float out of his body, and he observed his brother from above. His witch stepmom was sitting in a courtyard, looking like a faery queen, robes billowing around her feet while injured wolves limped toward her. Constantine moved ahead of them and placed Andrei at her feet.
Eilea put her hands on his mangled leg, which hung by a thread, looking like a shark had tried to bite it off.
“Hurry, Eilea.” Constantine urged.
Andrei felt a pull back toward the mortal plane, like he was a wisp of smoke sucked into a vent. His eyes flew open, and he looked up at Eilea’s serene smile and his brother’s furrowed brow.
“Welcome back, Andrei,” Eilea said, placing a warm hand on his brow.
“Thanks,” he said, voice ragged.
“You both need to rest,” Eilea said to him.
“No time for that,” Constantine grumbled. “Can you shift?” he asked Andrei. “Tatiana needs us.”
Andrei didn’t need to be told twice, for he suddenly remembered her cry for help seconds before he was shot. Damn!
His wolf howled, breaking free of his mortal skin. Following Constantine’s lead, Dejan joined them as they sprinted for the trees. Andrei remembered Dimitri had gone after her, and he prayed he’d made it in time.
Where’s Dimitri? he asked Constantine.
I don’t know. Constantine’s voice was grim. I lost connection.
What? Andrei and Dejan simultaneously asked.
Brothers, Constantine said, his tone even darker than before. I fear they’ve gone into the Hoia Baciu.
Ancients save them, Andrei pleaded, for he didn’t know if he could go on living without them.
* * *
TATIANA ACHED IN SO many places, she wasn’t sure where the pain began or ended. She dragged bloody paws across the scorched earth, whimpering with each step. At times she forgot what she was doing or where she was going. She just knew to follow the big protector stumbling ahead of her, dodging petrified tree branches and growling at strange creatures that dared come too near.
Despite the gloom in the forest, they could still see far ahead because of the glare from the mist that hung over the trees like a canopy. The forest felt dark, but she thought perhaps it was her soul that was filled with shadows, as if the taint of the forest was blackening her from within.
She heard a familiar grunt ahead of her. “Dimitri,” she called after she shifted into human form only to wrap her arms around her bare knees and curl into a fetal ball, “we’ve been going in circles.”
He knelt beside her and placed a warm paw on her back. “I know.” Dirt and blood stains marred his white fur. One leg was so swollen, she suspected it was badly infected. She grimaced when something green oozed from the wound.
“We need to stop.” She reached for him. “You need rest.”
He gently hoisted her up. “I will rest when we’re free.” He gasped when he saw her bloodied hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She wiped them on her legs. “You have enough to worry about.”
“I am your protector, iubita mea.” He lifted her into his arms. “It’s my job to worry about you.” After taking a few steps, he slumped to the ground, resting against a gray tree stump that looked ready to crumble to ash. “Perhaps just a short rest.”
She curled up in his lap, and memories of their trek returned: Dimitri had gone into the haunted forest and saved her from a demon; they’d been wandering for what felt like days, trying to find their way out.
Thousands of tiny red welts covered his chest. Some had turned to bubbling blisters and were oozing blood. When she gingerly touched one, and it burst, green and red pus splattered, he let out a hiss.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said. “Dimitri, this looks bad.”
“So do yours,” he said.
She looked at her nude body, shocked by the bloody blisters covering one hand and foot. She hurt so much everywhere, she hadn’t realized she also had infected blisters. “We need help.”
He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Which is why we need to keep moving.”
As if to prove his point, they heard a strange howl from somewhere behind them. Growling, he got to his feet with her in his arms and trudged onward.
Arms looped around his neck, she looked over his shoulder to see at least a dozen sets of red eyes. Great Ancients! Even if they didn’t succumb to their injuries, the forest would eat them alive. How were they supposed to escape this nightmare?
* * *
EILEA TRIED NOT TO think about her angry mates while healing wounded shifters. Boris sat stoically nearby. He’d held her close after she’d found him, but he’d grown increasingly distant. She could hardly get him to say two words to her. Her other mates were out in the field. Marius and Geri occasionally brought her wounded wolves. They, too, were quiet and distant. Even worse, she’d yet to see Jovan. Boris had told her he was guarding the veil, but that was all the information he was willing to share. She had a sinking feeling Jovan was furious with her, and she’d soon know firsthand the wrath of a second-alpha.
She pushed aside her worries and focused on patching a hole in Luc Thunderfoot. He’d been shot in the shoulder while shielding a Romanian wolf that had stumbled into the crossfire. After she finished healing him, she checked on her babe again. He was still asleep under her robe, nestled closely to her breast.
Luc stood, looking not the least bit bashful with only a small towel wrapped around his waist. “Thanks, Dr. Lupescu.”
She gave him what she hoped was a warm smile. “You can call me Eilea. We’re family, after all.”
He flushed. “Okay.”
As he turned to go, she asked, “How is Amara?”
“Busy healing tribe members for every little thing.” Scratching the back of his head, he anxiously shifted from side to side. “I need to help find my sister.”
“Of course,” she said, feeling ten shades of selfish for keeping him.
She looked up as he shifted into a wolf and sprinted away. Though it was still bone cold, the snow wasn’t falling as fast. There’d been a break in the storm, but another one was close behind it. She’d initially tried to triage outside, but snow drifts were so high in some areas, a few wolves had fallen in them, needing protectors to dig them out. They’d had to move to the castle courtyard, which was protected by three walls and a canopy. The castle itself wasn’t stable enough for use.
She’d addressed the most seriously wounded first, trying not to think about what would’ve happened to Constantine if she hadn’t arrived in time. He’d been barely clinging to life, with a bullet wound close to his heart. His brother Andrei wasn’t much better off, suffering severe blood loss and a busted artery. After she’d healed them, both brothers had refused her orders to rest, mumbling that they were going after Dimitri and Tatiana. She’d wanted to go with them, but there were too many injured who needed her attention.
Eilea had just finished with a protector when she scented a familiar presence behind her. She craned her neck. Jovan was bearing down on her, still in protector form, teeth bared and heaving shuddering breaths.
“Where is my child?” he boomed.
She blinked, momentarily stunned into silence. He wasn’t going to hug her or at least ask if she was all right? It was expected he’d be angry with her, but he could’ve shown relief she was safe.
Opening her robe, she revealed the child, milk drunk and sleeping. “Right here.”
What he did next shook her to her core.
Holding out his arms, he fell to his knees. She put the baby in his arms, her heart twisting with guilt when tears streamed down his furry face. He scattered tiny kisses across the child’s face, then handed him back to her.
Shoulders stiff, he stood and turned away, his back like a massive wall.
“Jovan,” she whispered, “are you okay?”
He turned, eyes glowing white. “What the hell do you think, Eilea? I almost lost my mate and infant son to demons. Constantine and Andrei nearly died. Dimitri chased the demon who took Tatiana into the Hoia Baciu. Who knows if they will survive?” He pointed an accusatory finger at her. “All this could have been avoided if you hadn’t foolishly gone after demons by yourself.”
Regret swelled in her chest. “I had no idea Katarina was among them or that she’d try to kill me.”
“Katarina?” His jaw dropped. “Our dead mate was there?”
“She was with the demons. Tatiana asked me to free her, and when I did, she attacked me.”
He clenched the matted fur on his head by the roots. “Great Ancients!”
This was the first time she’d told any of her mates about Katarina. She’d been waiting for the right time, but she supposed there wouldn’t be one. Several of the protectors were going through the castle rubble, looking for survivors. It wouldn’t be long before they found her host body and recognized her scent.
Boris scowled. “Where is she?”
“I’m sorry, she’s dead. One of the demons crushed her.”
“Why would you be sorry?” Jovan looked at her as if she’d kicked his puppy. “Do you think we care about her? Do you think our love for you is an afterthought?” His deep voice rose with each word.
“I never said that.” Yet deep in her heart she was nervous about their reaction to Katarina’s second death. Her mates were wonderful and loving, but they’d been bonded to Katarina over twenty years. She was the mother of their four sons. Maybe some small part of her was afraid they still had feelings for her, especially since it was clear they were angry with her for putting them to sleep and going after the demons alone.
Jovan threw up his hands. “And yet you still risked breaking our hearts by fighting demons.”
The baby stirred, and she whispered soothing words to him. “I did it to keep you safe.” She gave him a hard stare. “I knew my powers were stronger than theirs.”
“But not your cunning,” Boris said, crossing beefy arms.
Just great. Now both her alpha mates were angry with her.
“Your foolish decision to battle them alone put many lives in danger, including our son’s,” Jovan snapped. “I wasn’t even there for his birth.”
“I’m sorry, Jovan,” she pleaded as overwhelming guilt threatened to consume her. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Turning his back on her, he strode to the courtyard entrance. “Jovan?”
He stopped, not bothering to turn around as he spoke to Boris. “I’m going back to the veil. Our sons have already gone in search of Dimitri and Tatiana.”
Boris grimly nodded. “May the Ancients guide you, brother.”
Jovan left without so much as telling her goodbye.
Eilea’s heart felt as if someone had thrown it down an elevator shaft. Forcing her tears back, she turned her attention to the shifter Marius brought her. A tree branch was impaled in his foot. How he’d managed that, she didn’t know, but she was about to recite a healing spell when she was taken aback by a powerful vision that spun in her head like a cyclone.
She saw Dimitri as a protector. Battered and bloody, he lurched through a petrified forest, carrying a human Tatiana. They both had dazed looks on their faces, as if they’d just woken from a deep slumber.
“How many days have we been wandering?” Tatiana asked him.
“Two or three,” Dimitri mumbled.
“What if we never find our way out?”
Eilea thought she saw a flash of red in Dimitri’s eyes. “We have to and soon, or we’ll die.”
Strong arms went around her, and she slumped against a hard chest. Eilea looked into Boris’s concerned eyes. Still in protector form, his heavy brow was knitted.
He ran a callused knuckle down her cheek. “Are you okay?”
She was momentarily dumbstruck. Normally she couldn’t have visions without Artem’s help.
Her mind reeled as she tried to make sense of the vision. “Dimitri and Tatiana are in trouble. I need to help them.”
* * *
TATIANA NO LONGER CARED that her paws and the tip of her tail stung from the hot earth and were covered in blisters. They’d been wandering the forest for what felt like days and they hadn’t found their way out. The fog in her brain was thick, almost as thick as the heavy air, making it difficult for her to think, so she simply followed Dimitri, whimpering whenever her tail caught on a flaming rock. Dozens of red, glowing eyes blinked at them from behind petrified trees, and she wondered if they would only stare at them or if they were planning their attack.
She was beginning to feel complacent in this forest, the black fog in her brain seeping into her mind like shadows that ever darkened. What was this place doing to her?
Dimitri roared, and she jerked fully awake, startled when a winged creature flew overhead, blowing a stream of fire. Dragon! She collapsed to the ground, ribs aching when Dimitri landed on top of her. She smelled burned flesh. Dimitri yelped, rolled over, and jumped to his feet. That’s when she noticed the dragon circled to return, and it had already burned a line of fire down Dimitri’s back.
The creature’s black wings spanned at least the length of two protectors, but it was smaller than Dimitri. With black, beady eyes and fur framing its short snout, it looked part bat. Whatever it was, she was certain it was demon.
Dimitri ripped a branch from a tree and swung at the creature when it made another pass, knocking it off course.
The dragon faltered, then catapulted into the trees. Dimitri raced after it, talons raised.
Tatiana followed, finally getting a look at the red-eyed creatures and wishing she’d held back. They were hideous, demonic rats with long snouts, dripping fangs, razor-sharp claws, and wormlike tails.
They could probably eat their flesh in a matter of seconds. Luckily, they scurried away when she got too close, but she knew without a doubt they’d be back, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
When the dragon ran into a tree, Dimitri grabbed the beast and swung, ripping off its wing. The creature howled in pain, green fluid dripping from its severed cavity as it flopped on the ground like a fish out of water.
Dimitri jumped back when the earth opened and another fleshy tunnel appeared, swallowing the demon whole.
Fuck! This place was a living nightmare, and she was beginning to worry they’d never wake.