Page 112 of Wrath

I poked my head around the corner of the nearest building, finally setting eyes on the battlefield. A huge bear I knew to be Lupe threw himself at the nearest guard, clawing at his face. Bash lazily shot out bursts of green magic. Dozens and dozens of our men and women fought alongside them. The enemy forces were rapidly receding.

Yes!I resisted the urge to do a happy dance or even fist pump the air. This was working.

Now all I needed to do was find the humans and sneak them out?—

Gunfire ricocheted from the side of me, and I ducked, thinking I was under attack. But no, it wasn’t me getting shot at.

It was my army.

A human soldier fell to the ground, a bullet wound in the center of her forehead.

More and more gunfire.

More and more soldiers fell.

Terror wrapped its fingers around my throat as enemy soldiers materialized from around corners, hurrying out doors, jumping off roofs—way more soldiers than we’d counted when we did recon. There must’ve been at least three hundred more than we planned for. Were they just hiding away? Or had someone tipped them off that we’d be attacking?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Bash and Lupe still fought with the others, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough, not against an army three times our size. Our numbers were falling rapidly, bodies strewn left and right. I didn’t see any of the human slaves yet. I wondered if that was purposeful, if the enemy had moved them.

I didn’t know why my eyes flicked to the right when they did. Maybe it was an innate sense or a little voice in the back of my head screaming,TRAITOR!

Because there stood Turner, stone-faced, standing beside a shifter nearly twice his size, with greasy red hair and a general’s patch sewn to his uniform. The two weren’t talking, but they stood close enough to send chills careening up and down my spine.

I was right. We had been betrayed.

The enemy knew we were coming.

I wanted to scream at Turner, demand to know what he was thinking, but now wasn’t the time. I needed to warn my brothers that this was a battle we couldn’t win. That we needed to get away and regroup. That we needed to?—

Something hit me over the back of the head.

All I saw after was darkness.

THIRTY-SEVEN

Z

“Aaliyah!” I screamed as I barreled through the forest, pushing branches away in an attempt to clear a path. “Come out and face me, you coward.”

All I could hear were the sounds of battle raging in the distance.

“Aaliyah!” I pivoted on my heel, spinning in a slow circle, searching the forest for any sign of my sister. “Aaliy?—”

“Looking for me, dear sister?”

I spun, holding my sword at the ready, and Aaliyah grinned from where she sat perched on a boulder.

She didn’t look like she had come to battle. Instead of armor or leathers, she wore a flowing black dress decorated in elaborate ruffles. Her red hair was plaited away from her face in an elaborate updo that made her features look almost delicate. But I knew there was not a dainty bone in her body.

“You look surprised to see me.” Aaliyah began to kick her legs as she talked. Those penetrating green eyes locked on me, hardening. “I told you I would come.”

“Stop this.” I took a step closer, my sword still raised, searching for an opening. “Now.”

“Stop what?” She tilted her head and smiled at me.

It was a sharp smile. Dangerous. Capable of cutting you where you stood and making you bleed.

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