Page 20 of Pain

Zandren released my lips, but pressed his forehead to mine. “Don’t be the hero, Little One. Just stay safe. I can’t lose you.”

I nodded. “You too.”

“We hesitate any longer and they’re going to think we know something’s up,” Drak said from the backseat. “We need to move.”

Zandren’s rumbly growl made the nervous butterflies in my belly flutter. Even when we were gearing up for war, the man’s gruffness was a turn on.

We parted and stepped out of the SUV. Maxar was already out, grabbing our bags from the hatch of the vehicle.

I slung Moloch’s Sacrifice in its scabbard over my back like a cross-body purse, letting it land at my hip. It was so long though, it nearly hit my calf. Drak met me in front of the grill where we watched Zandren shed his clothes, drop to all fours, and shift. I gathered up his clothes and stashed them into one of the bagsMaxar had. “Give me one of those,” I said, trying to take a backpack from him. “You literally had your entrails dragging on the floor not twenty-four hours ago. Let someone else do the heavy lifting.”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but when I stared him down, he finally acquiesced. “Only because I know how fucking tough you are, My Queen.” His cheeky wink was a mild balm for the shakiness that entered my limbs and voice.

“Let’s go,” Drak said, leading the way and holding out his phone. “The coordinates are not too far. Just remember that when you pass through the portal, you can’t let your thoughts wander.”

Zandren made a noise of confusion and glanced up at him as he lumbered along.

“If your thoughts wander, they may not reorganize themselves properly on the other side,” Maxar added. “You can lose memories, have memories of things that never happened. It can be a fucking mess. So you need to keep your thoughts on the present only. On getting through the portal and reassembling on the other side. That’s it.”

I stroked between Zandren’s ears, earning a happy little purr from my mate. “You hear that, Pooh Bear? No thinking of donuts or pizza. Just think of keeping your cock. Focus on that.” I was trying to be chipper and humorous so that it seemed to whoever might be watching us that we were carefree and entirely unaware of impending danger as we strolled through the cacti and stubby shrubs toward the portal. Completely unsuspecting.

But surely whoever was near had to know I was faking it. My voice quavered like I was in an ice bath, and I had a bejeweled crown of sweat beads lining my forehead.

Zandren grunted, then swung his big furry head forward again, pausing to sniff the air. The hair on the back of my neck lifted and my knees locked. All I wanted to do at that moment was reach for my sword, but would that seem like we were too prepared? Would they know we suspected an ambush?

Maxar’s hand swept out in front of me for protection. At the same time Zandren grunted, then growled, rearing up onto his hind legs and standing over me just as four impeccably dressed figures all in black suits with pale faces, darkhair, and blue eyes came leaping out of the shrubbery. Two went for Zandren’s throat immediately, while two more went for Drak.

I dropped the backpack to the ground and reached for the sword in its scabbard, just as two more leaped out from behind me, only to get shot backward, thudding hard against a big boulder from green flames. I glanced behind me at Maxar, who grinned like a sexy psycho. “Got your back, babe.” He spun around just in time to catch two more who leaped forward, fangs out and ready to strike, hitting them with green flames that made both men scream out in pain.

Chaos was in full swing as more and more vampires seemed to pour out of the forest, white fangs glistening in the sun as they went after my mates.

I swung the sword around like an idiot who didn’t know how to sword fight—because I was. But I stopped when I realized that none of them really seemed to be coming after me. Drak was currently fighting off at least three vampires on his own, dodging fangs and landing punches, while Zandren was slashing open bellies, necks, and gouging out eyes like they were no more than salmon in the river.

Why wasn’t anybody trying to get me?

Something seemed off.

Unless their plan was to take out my mates so that I was helpless?

Or they were told to take me alive.

Either way, I had to do something. I couldn’t just stand there like a defenseless damsel holding a sword I had no idea how to use. Just because I was a queen didn’t mean I wasn’t prepared to fight.

The one who had it the worst at the moment seemed to be Drak, he was fighting five vampires now, and the more I watched, the more it seemed they were beginning to overpower him. I caught his eye for a moment, and the sheer panic and pain on his face was enough to shred my soul.

I focused on the five demons surrounding him. Rage filled every corner of my body, mixing with the pain and loneliness. The helplessness I felt in regard to Gemma. The frustration from all the secrets, and the unbridled hate so much of this new world had toward me simply because of who my parents were.

I was an abomination.

A mutt.

I channeled all of that into one overwhelming red ball of energy until my mind couldn’t contain it anymore and it grew in my spreading palms, hot and charged, and just when one of the bigger vampires managed to get Drak’s neck exposed and prepared to go in for the fang plunge, I released that red ball, throwing it forward.

Like yesterday, thunder clapped hard and booming overhead, rattling all of us and sending everyone but me to the ground.

The ringing in my ears was intense, and I couldn’t see for a moment through the thick dancing spots in my line of vision. The world spun and for a second, I thought I might vomit. Warm hands gripped my elbow and the sound of Maxar’s voice off in the distance pulled me away from that vortex of queasiness.

“Omaera!” he shouted, though it sounded like he was screaming at me and we were both underwater. “Omaera!”

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