Midnight's Captive(121)

They fell back, disoriented. It gave Dale time to get to his feet. Seeing him so unsteady had her sending another blast of magic at the three.

Dale had saved her so many times. By staying in the car, she hoped to confuse the creatures into not knowing where the magic was coming from.

But they zeroed in on her straightaway.

“Oh, damn,” she murmured.

One moment the monsters were looking at her, and the next they were gone. Aisley blinked, and suddenly they were next to the car door.

The long, slim fingers of one of the creatures reached out and grasped the door handle. Aisley locked the door and looked up into the cold, sinister black eyes of the beast.

There was a loud roar she recognized as Dale’s, and then he launched himself at the three again.

Almost in tandem, there was a blast of magic that hurled Aisley against the seat, knocking her head backwards. She opened her eyes to see Jason had done what Jason did best—look out for himself.

She sneered as she saw the large bubble of magic that surrounded him. Each time one of the monsters ran into it, it was killed instantly.

Yet, the bubble of magic did more than that. For every time they rushed the bubble, it seemed to take out more and more of Jason’s magic.

“It’s weakening him,” she mused.

Aisley looked back at Dale to find him trying repeatedly to get to his feet. Bite marks covered his neck and arms, and she was sure there were more beneath his shirt she couldn’t see.

She unlocked the door and opened it only to have him lean against it when he stood and block her exit.

“Let me help you,” she said once the thunder passed.

Dale shook his bald head. “Get away from here, Aisley.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He glanced at the creatures at his feet that were beginning to wake. “This is your chance to end Jason’s hold over you. I willna survive this. Neither will he, by the looks of it. You can.”

Aisley licked her lips. “You’ve helped me so many times. Get in, and let me help you.”

“Nay, lass. I have to do this. Now, get out of here and live the rest of your life for the both of us.”

She shook her head, but he pushed her back inside the car and shut the door before she could protest. Aisley screamed and ducked her head when one of the creatures’ fists came through her window as it reached for Dale.

“Dale!” she screamed as he was once more fighting the monsters.

Aisley realized that some of the other beasts began to notice her. They couldn’t get to Jason, the other Druids were dead, Dale was locked in battle, and she was an easy meal.

She started the car and jerked it into reverse. Aisley stomped on the accelerator and plowed into one of the monsters before she turned the wheel as she slammed on the brakes and then threw the car into drive.





CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE



Malcolm stood over two dead selmyr as he watched his brethren from the forest. There were more of the damned creatures sneaking up on his friends, but he couldn’t reach all of them.

A sudden gust of wind that had the rain falling sideways got his attention. He turned to glimpse a man running through the woods as naked as the day he was born.

Malcolm turned his attention to the man. Malcolm searched for a trace of magic, but it wasn’t Druid magic he felt. It was something else entirely. Just as Malcolm went to search for the man, the air stirred around him.

“You’re needed.”

Malcolm spun around, his teeth bared and his legs bent, ready to attack. The man merely looked at him with his long dark hair plastered to his head and a brow raised.

“There is a Warrior and a Druid coming on to our land,” the man said. “They have an infant. If the selmyr get to them—”

“Camdyn,” Malcolm said and straightened. He looked at the man in front of him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Rhys, and I’m one of those,” he said and pointed to the sky.

Malcolm lifted his eyes in time to see the sleek body of a dragon as blue as sapphires. He’d thought he saw something in the clouds earlier, but now he knew he most definitely had.

“Your friends are coming in through the main road,” Rhys said.

When Malcolm looked back at him, Rhys was running out of the trees. And promptly shifted into a yellow dragon.

There was no time for Malcolm to stare in wonder. Camdyn and Saffron would need his help. He turned and raced through the trees as fast as his god would allow.

He came to the top of a mountain and spotted the dark green Audi Q7 barrel around a tight corner in the narrow road. Malcolm didn’t bother with running down the mountain. He leaped instead.

Malcolm landed on the road, knees bent and one hand on the ground, as the lights of the Audi plowed toward him. He stood and met Camdyn’s gaze through the windshield.