I laughed. “What’s the matter? Did getting stuck with Dragos not go as planned?”

He snarled. “He spent twenty-two years torturing us. Drinking from us and feeding us his blood, taking us to the brink of death only to bring us back again.”

I made a big show of plugging my nose. “And none of that included a shower. Yuck.”

He looked to Helen as if seeking permission to act.

She motioned to the side with her head. “Move away from her. Let the others deal with her in a minute. Right now, she’s going to call her sister here. I’ve waited a long time for this moment. I’m ridding the world of Alvin’s twins once and for all.”

Hannah dug her hand into Helen’s thigh.

Helen released her neck and bent forward.

Hannah spun and slashed out again, this time catching my aunt’s cheek.

Hissing, Helen made a move to grab for Hannah as I lunged forward, trying to get to my daughter first.

The vampires converged on me, tackling me to the ground.

There was a massive roar right before a very large, very black, and very familiar wolf came leaping out of the woods. He knocked Helen back from Hannah, and Helen lost her footing, falling into the same water Jonathan had gone into.

One of the vampires bit my leg, and another sank his teeth into my arm. I punched a vampire in the face so hard that I knocked out one of his fangs. I slashed at another, slicing open his face as I strained to see if my daughter was safe.

Growls sounded from deep in the woods. A moment later, a massive wolf I didn’t know but who had one green eye and one brown—like Hannah and Jonathan—came leaping out at the vampires who were attacking me. It knocked three of them away and caught one by the throat. It chomped down, and the vampire stopped moving.

Additional growls filled the area, and before I knew it, more wolves appeared, going at the vampires.

I broke free and got to my feet. I went to run for my daughter to protect her, only to find the black wolf was already doing as much, keeping himself between Hannah and a group of vampires who were trying to get to her.

She tried to go at a vampire only to have the black wolf grab her carefully by the back of her T-shirt and yank her back. She grumbled and glared at him. “Lucian, I can help!”

The wolf snarled.

She groaned. “Fine, I’ll just stand here then.”

The black wolf jerked its head up and down as if that was exactly what it had been going for all along. It then twisted and clamped its jaw around the leg of a vampire.

I spun and caught one of the vampires by the throat before body-slamming it to the ground. I rammed my clawed hand through its chest and wrapped my hand around its heart. I yanked its heart from its chest before casting it aside.

There was a massive roar and the sounds of water moving seconds before Jonathan came out of the water, locked in battle with Helen. He still had an arrow in his thigh, but it was now rammed nearly all the way through his leg, not that he seemed to notice or care. The other two arrows were missing, and there was no sign of injury where he’d been struck.

Helen went for his eyes, which were bright red.

I gasped.

Helen missed, and Jonathan sent her flying into a tree.

He twisted, and his upper body was instantly covered in gray fur. His red gaze landed on Hannah. He made a move to go at her, but the black wolf stood before her, holding its head high.

Jonathan stared at it and then tipped his head. “Thank you.”

One of the vampires slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. I twisted and wrapped my legs around his waist, squeezing hard as I did.

Jonathan growled and was to me in the blink of an eye. He ripped the vampire off me and proceeded to beat the hell out of him. Jonathan rammed his clawed hand through the vampire’s chest, killing it instantly.

The other wolves who had arrived were busy handling the rest of the vampires who had come with Helen and Lester.

Jonathan came for me and put his hand out, helping me up. “You’re hurt!”