Page 92 of Mated Exile

"Hurry, Delilah," Lance warns in a low, urgent voice. "Two—no, three—of the rotting corpses are headed our way."

A moment later he shifts, his white furry form streaking through the darkness. I hear the crunch of bones and the tearing of flesh as he takes down his first enemy.

In the same moment I feel the creek warm and respond to my touch.

"I've got it," I tell Finn triumphantly. "Now to aim it in the right direction..."

"Wait. I'm not losing you again." Finn wades into the stream and inches close to me, reaching out to gently place his hand on my arm. "There. If the waters take you, I want to go with."

I shoot him an impish grin. "I think I've figured it out enough this time. I won't be going anywhere."

"Just making sure."

It's sweet of him, so I reach out to take his hand on mine. Then I ripple my awareness out to the distant fighting. We're holding our own against the vamps, but barely. Our wolves are wounded and desperately outnumbered. Some defense from the land is just what they need.

So I grab hold of the creek's spirit, aim it firmly in the direction of the battle, andthrowit with all my might.

The water at my feet rushes upward. It floats like a ribbon in the air, the urgency of my magic moving north and south, taking the length of the creek from miles away and displacing its water. Seaweed flops against my bare toes, and little fish, disrupted in their migration, stare from the water's depths with distinctly unhappy faces.

Then itwhipstowards the battle like a living thing. Coalescing into a wall nearly fifty feet high and several feet deep, it turns into a battering ram of water. The full weight of it in all its glory surges out against the battlefield and sweeps the vampires away, drawing them north, across our borders.

Like before, it leaves the wolves behind. And me this time. I throw Finn a triumphant smile, my heart singing with relief.

Lance returns to us for a moment, shifts into human form, and lets us know, "We're going to chase them to just outside the borders and make sure they don't return. Everything good here?"

"Perfect."

"I'm glad." He drops a kiss on my lips and exchanges a nod with Finn, who stays by my side, before shifting back to his wolf form and running off again.

I take a deep breath and tilt my chin up, enjoying the sigh of wind through the trees.

Finn murmurs, "Everything is right again—almost."

"Almost," I agree. "We just have to elect Roarke during the Summit tomorrow, raise Elder Vivia, and hope that there's a way to lift the curse."

"There has to be. You'll figure it out."

I feel on top of the world.

Until the moment a voice calls out behind me, low and purring with satisfaction. "You see, Demetri? I told you it was her. She's more than just a meal for the Old Ones. This is themagkoswho can build us our own kingdoms."

Thirty-Eight

Delilah

Ambrosia, Demetri, and their lackeys Marcellus and Helene are here. I turn towards them, Finn at my side, his chest reverberating with growls that echo in the air around us.

They're not all, though. I can senses multiple dark presences deep in the woods. The vampires who attacked the Mating Circle were clearly just a fraction of the forces coming for us. While only the four lead vampires have shown themselves, I have no doubt they've come with backup. And I'm all out of creeks to empty.

I send a mental pulse out, telling Roarke,hurry.The response I get is a swift,we're coming.He and the other wolves have followed the stream of vampires towards the border to beat them back, but now half of them peel off and run through the woods towards us, including Roarke, Kieran, and Lance.

Meanwhile, I'm considering starting the violence party right here, right now. I'm not the only one.

"Touch Delilah and I'll rip you into a thousand pieces," Finn promises. "She won't be goinganywherewith your rotting zombie ass."

"Down, boy," Demetri says, narrowing his eyes in our direction. "As much as we'd love to flambé a little mutt this evening, there's no reason for things to get complicated. Especially when both of our interests align."

I scowl in his direction. "What are you talking about? None of our interests are in alignment. You want to take me and feed me to your crazy old batshit leaders."

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