RJ nudges me aside. Together, she and Aimee work one final spell, their ticket into this awful place and ours out.
Heavy iron bars melt away. I tumble from the lip of the tunnel and land on my back several feet below, the air knocked from my lungs.
Before I have a chance to draw a deep breath, the kind designed to reach into the pit where my wolf waits, RJ scrambles to her feet and holds out her hand.
“Come on, they’ll be hunting us.”
“They’re going to be too busy with the damage you caused in the cells to worry.” Aimee jogs ahead, her lantern bobbing.
“Want to bet?” RJ tosses back. “Vamps are greedy. They won’t like losing their prisoner.”
I’m not the betting kind of person and I’ve taken enough risks in the last few months to last the rest of my life. The adrenaline urges me upright, my clammy palm slapped against RJ’s for a second longer before we take off into the waiting forest.
Limbs jostle overhead as the breeze picks up. And through the crushing relief comes the unmistakable thud of?—
“You owe me for this!”
RJ picks up speed when the blur of two vampire sentinels round on either side of us. They hold weapons ready to spear through our guts.
I knew going in this life wasn’t easy. I understand it better now than ever before. The vampires caught me on a rescue mission gone right, for the intended targets. But my friends hadn’t abandoned me.
They’d come through.
I stumble but come alive. “I’m not letting you fight alone.”
Muscles go lax and trembling even as the trees part for us and welcome us deeper into their embrace. The forest breathes around us like the vampires aren’t unnatural but another cog in the wheel.
RJ gathers her power. “No need.”
She sends a ball arcing through the air, the hit knocking off both vampire’s skulls like pinballs in a machine.
Aimee urges us on with a wave of her hands.
Exposed roots shrink, boulders jump to clear the path, and my nerves gnaw a line across my collarbones. But there’s warmth too.
I pump my arms for speed, soon outdistancing RJ and Aimee when they slow to deal with another round of guards.
This is where I come alive.
The vampires have no real hold overthisterritory. They might think they own the forest but nature bows to no one. It’s something the wolves have gotten correct.
It’s easier to exist here and, eventually, the vampires stall in their pursuit.
Once the forest thickens, once the trees press closer together, it’s safe to stop.
I slow and bend at the waist like my body has finally remembered its limits. “This is far enough from the castle, right? Please tell me it is.”
I’m breathing hard but it’s nothing compared to RJ and Aimee. One of them gags, leaning hard on the other, worn out from the escape and the use of magic it took to get us here.
“This is worse than PE,” Aimee grumbles. “This body isn’t made for running. It’s made for spells and kicking ass.”
My lower lip trembles and I turn to hide the reaction. “Thank you for saving me. I never would have gotten out without you.”
RJ straightens, sucking greedy gulps of air into her overworked lungs. “You wouldn’t have been there in the first place if it weren’t for us.”
“I’m weak.” I shake my head. “I wanted to help but I knew better. You should have gone in without me.”
“You’re not weak. Shut up.” Aimee rounds on me.