My back hit something hard. I’d reached the stone fireplace.
I was out of space. Out of time. Out of options.
But not out of hope.
Glass exploded in a screech as a large gray wolf soared through a side window, tackling Petro across the length of the room.
Aric.
His presence beckoned me to my feet. I stumbled forward, crashing onto my knees as he and Petro tore into each other like monstrous pit bulls.
I crawled to Misha while fragments of ceiling fell like flaming coals. Snarls and hisses rose over the deafening sound of crackling fire.
“Misha. Misha, wake up!” Misha didn’t respond to my hard shakes. He remained limp and barely breathing. I reached beneath his arms to drag him out, but Aric’s pained howl jerked me away.
Petro had slashed his claws across Aric’s face. Aric reeled back. Petro had only grazed him, but his nails were sharp enough to slice through Aric’s fur. Blood ran into Aric’s eyes, blinding and enraging his beast. Aric’s jaws snapped Petro’s remaining hand like rotting bark and spit it at his feet. He aimed for Petro’s throat, but Petro’s fangs found Aric first.
Petro’s long incisors pierced Aric’s chest. Aric refused to let him feast. His mammoth paws dug into Petro’s overcooked flesh, sending chunks of Petro’s muscles to sizzle on the hot floor. Petro released Aric with a powerful shove. Aric rebounded back, launching himself at Petro.
The only thing that saved Petro was his speed. He caught Aric in midair and threw him. Aric rocketed past me and into a pillar. Half the ceiling tumbled down, creating a flaming barrier between me and him.
And trapping me with Petro.
Aric’s snarls penetrated the booms of the collapsing house. I could hear the thundering of his powerful legs racing back and forth as he tried to find a way to me, but I didn’t dare shift my gaze from the grilled psycho vamp coming at me.
I grabbed the discarded gold chain as Petro rushed me, flinging it against his shins with all my might. The cursed gold seared his raw skin, sending the poison into his bones. His haunting cries amplified as he tugged them with his mutilated arms, thrashing in agony.
I scrambled away from him, taking Misha with me. Through the thick black smoke, Aric’s human voice called to me: “Celia! Get to the front of the house!”
My eyes darted around frantically. The room resembled a virtual hell storm, the walls seconds from caving in. I didn’t know where the front was, but I knew I needed to move, fast. I lugged Misha into a fireman’s carry and bolted to where Aric’s voice beckoned me.
We swept through a narrow, flame-ridden hall and into the grand foyer, where I caught a glimpse of the front doors through the haze. There was our way out. But the loud crunch of wood halted my steps. Beams crackling with fire fell across our only exit.
Shit.
I backed away from the flames, momentarily stunned. Except the sound of Petro’s roars and chains being tossed motivated me to race up the steps.
Fire boiled the sweat on my skin. Tears ran hot down my face. My heart pumped with fear. Death by fire was not how I wanted to go.
And neither was death by a second-rate asshole master vampire.
The pounding steps behind me urged me down the hall. I kicked open the last door, dropping Misha as Petro dove on top of us. I fell with a hard thud against the blistering floor before Petro kicked me across the room and into an antique bureau.
The mirror shattered, slicing at my breasts. Blood soaked my shirt, but I barely felt the pain. Funny how hatred could run so deep it numbed. In the cracked glass I watched Petro trudge toward me.
I also watched my guardian angel rise behind him.
Petro advanced slowly, his dismembered face contorting with hatred. “You’re going to hell, Celia. You just don’t know it yet.”
This unholy bastard had used me to fuel this nightmare. But you know what? I was done being nice. “You first.”
I grasped his arm when he tried to strike and dug my fangs into the seared muscle, using my unique ability to return his soul. The glow from his body burned as bright as a star. Petro’s crazed, horrified eyes stared at his illuminating form. “No. Noooooo!”
I kicked Petro into Misha, using his shock to our advantage. Misha wasted no time. He dragged Petro against him and dug his claws into Petro’s heart while his serrated fangs ate through his neck like acid.
Flames chewed on the room. Misha fell to his side, covered in Petro’s remains, his words mere pants. “We need…to get out.”
“Yup.”
I hauled Misha up by the shoulders and threw him out the window. Loud grunts and angry swearing in Russian accompanied his landing. Good thing master vamps were immune to fire. Bad thing? The walls collapsed after him and the ceiling came down, blocking my exit with a barricade of flames. I stumbled back and fell, my lungs burning, my head spinning. From somewhere outside, my sisters screamed my name.