Dave lay on the ground, his face paler than ever, while a woman I’d never seen before was stabbing a dagger into his chest.
No! We needed answers only Dave would know.Raffe, please tell me we aren’t too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
My blood and emotions heightened straight into a hum as blood trickled from the corner of Dave’s mouth.
A sign of impending death.
A death that would rob me of answers about why he’d drugged me and who had asked him to do it.
Stay here,Raffe snarled as he pulled ahead, racing toward the blonde-haired woman leaning over Dave’s body, holding the hilt of the dagger lodged into his chest. Raffe’s fear and uncertainty swirled through our bond, adding to mine, and I struggled to take a deep breath.
The power ravaging my blood poured from my feet and into the ground, causing it to quake as Josie howled mournfully.
The woman jerked her head toward me, her dark-brown eyes widening. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Get away from him!” Raffe growled. His six-foot-five frame towered over the shorter woman, and the muscles in his back were so tense I could see the outlines through his polo shirt.
She lifted her hands, the dagger remaining in Dave’s chest. She’d made it stick.
Acid burned my throat. We couldn’t lose him … not when he could provide us with answers.We need to keep him alive long enough to talk.
The ground shook harder, moving toward Raffe, and a lump lodged in my throat.
If I let my power increase, the ground might crack, and Raffe could get hurt.
As if something inside me understood, my power eased, though my emotions were getting more volatile.
Strange. That had never happened before, but it had to be due to our mate bond.
“Listen, if you don’t get the dagger out of his heart, there’s no chance he’ll recover.” The woman’s hands were coated in blood … Dave’s blood. “Not that he’ll survive necessarily, but getting it out will allow his supernatural side to attempt to heal him.” Her attention homed back in on me.
Raffe laughed jadedly. “Like we’ll believe you have good intentions. If you keep looking at her, I’ll kill you without a second thought.”
She averted her gaze and wrapped her arms around her body. “I’m not a threat.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Raffe’s anger boiled hot between us.
We’re here,Adam linked as two dark-brown wolves rushed from between two firs behind the woman.
From their musky scents, I knew they were male: Adam and Keith. But their eyes were the easiest way to tell them apart; the one farthest from me had milk-brown irises, which meant that it was Keith, and Adam’s honey-brown eyes were on the woman.
Keep an eye on her,Raffe commanded as he pushed the woman back several feet, and the two wolves circled her.
With the threat handled and my blood under control, I ran the remaining distance to Dave and dropped to my knees beside him.
Dave’s hazel eyes fluttered open, and his gaze landed on me as his teeth extended. A low hiss came as he tried to sit up, desperate to taste me.
My damn blood. I’d thought that since I’d become a wolf shifter, vampires wouldn’t find my blood as alluring because it could kill them, but this proved me wrong.
“Dammit, Sky,” Raffe groaned as he appeared across from me and shoved the vampire’s shoulders against the ground. His frustration slammed into me as he asked, “Do you want him to bite you before he dies?” His crystal eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at me. Did he think his stern look would force me to walk away from this?
That wasn’t happening.
Deciding no answer was best, I focused on Dave. His eyes were closing as the blood from the corner of his mouth thickened. He was fading fast.
I scanned him, confirming what the woman had said. She was right—as long as the dagger remained lodged in his heart, he would die, and removing it was the best way to give him a chance to survive.