Page 16 of Hellfire to Come
The trees exploded around us.
Shadows peeled themselves off trunks and the ground, condensing into shapes with glowing eyes and rotted mouths. Blackened armor cracked and groaned as if it hadn’t been moved in centuries.
“Witches,” I hissed, already moving. “They’re summoning ghouls.”
The ghouls came fast. Unnatural. Silent. Weapons like bone scythes and shadow-tipped spears raised high. Their first target—my mate.
My heart shriveled in my chest as the first weapon was aimed at her.
I should’ve known better.
Brooklyn ducked the first strike with fluid grace, sliding beneath a curved blade and driving her elbow into one ghoul’s side. He didn’t grunt. Didn’t react. Just reeled back and swung again with robotic violence.
I didn’t wait anymore.
My bones snapped and reformed mid-step. Pain lanced through me from shifting twice in such a short time, but I welcomed it. It was real, grounding. My body stretched, fur tore through skin, and my animal took shape around my thoughts.
I dropped to all fours in a rush of heat and teeth.
The world sharpened.
Smells became knives. Sounds exploded like firecrackers. Every flicker of movement came with intention.
But my mind was still mine.
Alice. Protect Brooklyn. Kill anything that stands in the way.
I lunged at the nearest ghoul, jaws wide. My fangs sank deep into its thigh as it swung toward Brooklyn. The crunch of bone filled my ears, but it didn’t scream. Just tried to pivot toward me with mechanical precision.
Blindly, I ripped at it, tearing it limb from limb.
It fell.
More came.
Brooklyn moved beside me like fury personified, kicking, slashing, calling on something old and mean that lived in her bones. We fought back-to-back, the way we always did when things got ugly.
A ghoul got too close. I spun and slammed into its side with my shoulder, throwing the weight of my feline body into it. We crashed into a tree. I felt ribs crack, his, not mine.
They were stalling.
The realization hit me like a brick. They weren’t trying to kill us.
They were trying to keep us occupied.
Which meant…
“They know we’re here!” Brooklyn panted, hurling a ghoul into a patch of dead ivy. “They’re buying time for someone to move Alice or until the Council gets to us!”
I roared, tail lashing, claws finding the next threat. “We go now! No more waiting!” I thought to my mate.
“Echo and Chester…” She shook her head as if reprimanding herself. “They’ll catch up or they won’t.”
I growled my agreement, swiping through another ghoul’s chest. It fell in pieces while two others took its place.
Brooklyn didn’t wait for more encouragement. We broke toward the breach in the mansion, the wolf taking the rear.
Two Guardians blocked the path the moment we pushed through the brush, standing shoulder to shoulder like two boulders preventing our way in. I didn’t slow. I launched. Before my mate could reach them, my body collided with them both, claws slashing, teeth tearing, and for one heartbeat, it felt like they had no weight at all. Just air and ash wrapped in skin too thin for my claws.
