Page 236 of The Cruelest Undead

I can’t get to her!Jolie warned.

Kiera suddenly went out.

She stopped fighting as Marie pulled her down.

As she lay there, soil and vines covered her.

“I can’t feel her!” he shouted, pretty sure his mate was dead. “I can’t feel my woman!”

His fangs came out, and he raced into that energy, just as it exploded around them.

When he got there, Kiera was gone.

Their witch…was no longer there.

There was laughter in the air as they heard Marie Laveau talking in creole.

“She’s buried! She doesn’t have time!” Jolie shouted. “Let him go! We have to save Kiera!”

Rinnon was by her side, and with Wrath, he shoved it deep into the soil, and broke the energy.

That’s when they began digging. They had no choice since magick wasn’t working.

They used hands and claws to dig down through the dirt. Alex was fighting hard to get to his mate, as he willed her to survive.

The whole time, he was calling to her, begging her to answer him.

But she wasn’t.

There was no reply.

Death abandoned his attempt to get to Mathew. When the vampyre headed back into the trees, he knew why they’d been there.

This had been about distracting them.

The assault on them wasn’t about them, but instead about taking out their one level of protection.

Kiera.

They were all digging, trying to get past the spell that Marie had wound around the unconscious witch. The reason it worked was Kiera was…human.

She might be marked by Rinnon, and carry a piece of Aiobeheann, but she was still fallible.

Clearly.

As they dug down, and kept digging, they saw some of her hair. It peeked through the dirt.

He tried to reach her, but her fingers were already cold.

Alex roared in anger.

Fear.

Terror.

And heartbreak.

“My mate!” he whispered, digging furiously with claws to get to her.

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