Refuge(141)

One of the werewolves let out a ferocious growl and jumped over my head to face the dark figures moving in on us. I didn’t need to ask to know it was Roland in front of me. Behind me, Peter guarded my back while at my side, Jordan brandished her long knife. I looked down helplessly at my weaponless hands before I realized that a knife in my hand wouldn’t help our odds much anyway. The best weapon I had was me.

Roland dove at one of the approaching vampires, and I heard the sound of flesh ripping and felt a spray of hot blood across my cheek. Snarls and shouts filled the woods around me, and it became impossible to make out one flying shape from another.

A cold hand grabbed my wrist and whipped me away from my friends, the sharp claws digging into my skin. I knew immediately this was no baby vampire. Terror gripped me and memories of Eli flooded my mind. No. Never again.

Heat roared through me as I opened the barrier holding back my power. Instead of trying to pull away from my attacker, I whirled and placed my free hand on his chest. After my experience with Nate, I knew exactly where the vamhir demon lurked and how to hurt it. Before the vampire knew what was happening, white hot energy burst from my hand and pierced his chest as easily as one of Jordan’s blades.

The vampire froze and his hands went slack. I yanked my wrist from his grasp and staggered back a step. It was too dark to see his expression, but I could tell his eyes were still open and staring at me in shock. I had no idea how quickly he’d recover, and I had no weapon to finish him off. I raised both hands to blast him again, and he made a small sound like a smothered scream.

A second later, someone shouldered me aside and a blade sank into the vampire’s chest. Jordan pulled her knife free and grabbed my arm. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”

I whirled around and realized we were alone except for the dark shapes littering the ground. My stomach dropped. “Where are Roland and Peter?”

“They went after the female.” Jordan started pulling me through the trees. “We need to get back and raise the alarm. How the hell did five vampires get past our sentries?”

From deeper in the woods my friends’ snarls grew fainter as they pursued the vampire. I dug in my heels. “We can’t leave Roland and Peter. And what about Michael?”

Jordan stopped and looked back at me. “Your friends ripped two vampires to shreds; I think they can take care of themselves. And that little traitor can stay – ”

I froze, almost doubling over from the cold stabbing me in the chest. “More coming,” I croaked.

“Shit! Where?”

I shook my head because my new vampire radar wasn’t that specific. The only chance we had was to run and hope it was away from danger. This time, it was me who grabbed Jordan’s hand and plunged into the trees. After a dozen or so yards, the cold fist in my chest loosened, which told me we were heading away from the vampires, but still being pursued. That wasn’t our only problem. In the dark, everything looked the same and I had no idea where we were going. If we didn’t get out of these woods soon, our chances of escape were not good.

I came to a stop and listened to a faint gushing roar off to our right. “The river. Come on.” If we were near the river, we couldn’t be too far from home, and we only had to follow it downstream to get to safety. Adrenaline rushed through me, and I changed course and headed for the water with Jordan close at my heels.

The cold deepened in my chest again, and I ran with everything in me. My foot snagged on a tree root, I would have gone down if Jordan hadn’t caught me. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my ankle, I pushed forward. The roaring grew louder. We were so close.

We burst from the trees and teetered at the top of the steep riverbank for several seconds before we righted ourselves. Gasping for breath, we spun and ran down the narrow path that followed the river. There was barely enough moonlight to see the path, but we couldn’t afford to slow down. With every step we took, I sensed the vampires getting closer. They couldn’t know where we were or they would have grabbed us already. It was the only thing we had going for us. We’d never be able to outrun them otherwise.

Jordan let out a small scream and stopped abruptly, and I caught myself just in time to keep from plowing into her. I looked past her at the tall shape standing in a patch of moonlight at the bend in the river. My newfound gift told me all I needed to know. Vampire.

I whirled to go back the other way, only to see someone coming up the path toward us. We were trapped. If we ran for the woods, they would catch us for sure. That left only one option.

I grabbed Jordan’s arm and, as soon as she turned her head toward me, I yelled, “Jump.” She gripped my hand tightly, and we moved as one. My feet left the ground, and there was barely enough time to suck in a deep breath before I hit the river. Freezing water closed over my head. The impact pulled Jordan’s hand from mine, and I grabbed for her frantically before my bursting lungs forced me to give up. My head broke the surface, and I sucked in cold air then choked as I swallowed water.