From somewhere in the distance a wolf howled. “Koda!” Shayna screamed.
I shoved her and Emme through one of the demolished windows. “Get to the wolves!” I urged. Shayna nodded once and took off into the darkness. I grabbed Emme’s arm before she could follow. “And find Aric.”
Emme’s eyes widened. I caught a glimpse of her smile before she ran off as fast as her little feet could carry her, trailed closely by the two clanging and sword-wielding knights. More shots fired in the distance, followed by the sounds of Misha’s vampires hissing with vengeance.
I rushed back to Misha. He slumped against the chains, his breaths shallow. He could have used Tahoe to save himself. But instead he gave Taran the power to protect us. Not bad for a master vamp.
The last chain was thinner, but knotted as if welded together, making it impossible to break through. My claws bled beneath the skin as I yanked and tugged.
Petro’s witch hollered as she vented her displeasure on Taran. Taran threw herself to the floor to avoid a deadly strike. She scrambled to her knees, sending a funnel of fire barreling into the witch’s torso with a mighty shriek. The dark magic ate the light. The witch mixed it with hers, striking Taran with a burst of flame that blasted her through the wall.
I roared in horror, thinking Taran was dead…until I caught her alarmingly “crispy” scent drawing nearer. She scrambled through what remained of the wall, resembling a giant piece of charcoal, her head bald, and her clothes in tatters. She rubbed her face, revealing perfectly healthy skin. As she ran her hands over her scorched head, her beautiful, wavy dark hair reappeared. She flicked her arms clean with a little magical brush of her fingertips.
I almost fell over with shock. Tahoe’s magic amplified her shields, saving her once more.
Taran locked her crystal eyes on her astonished foe. “My turn.”
Taran gathered her magic and launched a meteor-size blue-and-white fireball. Petro’s witch screamed once. And detonated like a car bomb. Something, maybe her kidney, hit me in the face. The explosion ignited the drapes and paintings in a wash of fire. Flames shot toward the ceiling, lighting the wood beams and pillars like rice paper. Taran’s power combined with Tahoe’s turned the mansion into an instant inferno.
Taran gawked at the flames eating away at the wood paneling. “Son of a bitch!”
“Taran, get out!” I yanked harder on Misha’s chains. “I’ll be right behind you!”
Taran took a few hesitant steps back, unsure whether to leave me. But the flaming piece of plaster that landed by her feet motivated her to listen. She reared back, clambering through the shattered windows and swearing as the broken glass sliced her legs.
Falling embers burned my back, and the growing flames heated Misha’s chains. Screw this. I gave up on freeing Misha and began to drag him across the room.
I’d just crossed the foyer when I caught a jerky movement out of the corner of my eye. Uh…oh.
Petro staggered to his mutilated feet, resembling a skinned, bloody corpse more than an evil, omnipotent master vampire. His eyes scanned the area like a stoned meth addict, disbelief twisting his raw face. He clenched his remaining fist and screamed, bulging his exposed muscles until they popped and expanded, adding bulk and lengthening his small stature. His incisors shot out past his jaw as his body morphed like a giant inflatable doll.
Terror had me yanking the last chain off in one pull. “Okay, Misha. Time to show me what you got.”
Misha collapsed on the floor like a pile of wet laundry.
Petro charged.
I cursed.
Petro leaped in the air, gunning for me. His sole hand extruded nails the length of my forearm. Drool dripped down his deadly fangs. His muscles rippled as he roared. Freaking roared like a goddamn lion.
I did what any tigress would have done in the face of such a predator.
I hauled ass and dove behind the smoking zebra couch.
The whole room shook as Petro took out the wall next to me. His new form may have been powerful, but it also made him clumsy. Flames sizzled his skin as he rose. He charged yet again. I sprinted toward the window, but he was suddenly in front of me. Then behind me. Then in front of me once more. He laughed. He may have been clumsy, but his speed trumped mine.
I jerked to my left, then quickly veered to my right, narrowly avoiding the slash of his claws. “Do you feel pity for me now?” he asked, his long fangs distorting his words. Petro continued to laugh, his mirth growing stronger with every sweep of his arms.
He stopped laughing when I rolled and kicked my heel into his mutated man parts.
Petro backhanded me with the stump of his severed hand. I slammed into one of the pillars, struggling to rise, too stunned to change. Petro lurched toward me, batting the flaming furniture from his path, his dark eyes promising more pain. I backed away, sliding across the floor of sharp debris as my hands searched blindly for weapons.