Page 83 of Cursed Love
“Swear to God, I’ll give you a new haircut if you finish that sentence.”
His tongued lolled to the side, and she imagined her friend was finding great amusement in her threat.
“Denial.”
Before she could reply, they crossed paths with a group of three from the pack. They joined forces with Peter’s group, creating a thicker wall of protection around them.
“A couple demons escaped out the back, and there are four cornering your pack upstairs,” Ethan said, his voice cold and matter-of-fact.
Brandy looked up and found his eyes milky once again. A blur of fur caught her attention from down the hall, and she guessed Peter had ordered them to go assist the others.
“Ryan, a woman, a scary-looking guy, and three more lycans are downstairs.”
“Aja and Volark most likely. I can smell Serena. Her group is almost to us, so let’s give it a second.”
“Serena,” Ethan called as Peter finished talking to Brandy.
Not missing the sound of relief in her brother’s voice, Brandy looked over her shoulder and spotted the witch. The dress she wore had a few new tears, and her cheek was smeared with blood. Ethan’s welcoming smile faded, and he stilled next to Brandy.
“Are you okay?”
Serena stepped in front of them, and Ethan took a hold of her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He examined her face, and his brows scrunched in concern. “You’re bleeding.”
Staring at Ethan, Serena shook her head. “Not my blood.”
“Holy tension. We ready to get Ryan, or are we going to see if these two decide to fuck?”
“Ew!” Brandy snapped and slapped the side of Peter’s wolf body.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“Nothing. Are we ready to get Rye?”
There was no way the occupants downstairs had missed the sound of destruction and fighting upstairs. Going down into the cellar would not be easy as far as the element of surprise either. They expected the stairs were only two people wide, which meant Peter would lead and Xander would continue flanking the witches, while the other wolves brought up the rear.
Brandy blew apart the door, but before Peter could take the first step down, a gush of wind pushed the wolves aside and the witches onto their butts. Before she could react, Serena pushed out her magic, lessening the hurricane winds by attempting to blow them away. Brandy scurried to her feet and followed her lead. Remembering Ryan was down there, possibly injured, she made sure to push the wind back to its owner.
“Let’s go!” Ethan commanded and they hurried forward, hoping to get down the stairs before another gust of wind slammed them into the steps.
Peter launched against a lycan mid-transformation and landed on its chest before clamping his teeth around the beast’s jugular and tugging back. A changed lycan charged at them from the right, and Brandy was forced to risk her hold on the wind to freeze him. Moving in sync, Serena pulled out a blade and slit its throat before wiping it clean along her dress.
Searching around the dimly lit and cold room, Brandy didn’t see Ryan, Aja, Volark, or the last lycan. She met Ethan’s eyes and then Peter’s, each sharing the same confusion. Serena reached around Ethan and grabbed Brandy’s hand. Brandy gasped as a vision came forward.
Against the wall in front of them stood the final lycan with his hand over Ryan’s mouth and his elongated canines inches away from his neck. Standing flat against the wall, inching herself away from the others, stood a woman she guessed to be Aja, but the final person who made her stomach revolt was the demon on the other side. She had never seen anything like him.
A blue robe covered him, pinched in the middle by a rope of some sort. No hair could be seen on his paper-thin white skin. Where his eyes should have been, she found empty black pits. His mouth was unlike another, a large vortex swirling with violent power. It was the source of the wind giving them such trouble.
He cocked his head to the side. From her peripheral, she saw the wolves stick their noses in the air, searching for Ryan and the assholes hidden in plain sight. Unable to tear her eyes from Volark’s, she realized he knew she could see them.
Serena squeezed their united hands, reminding her of their previous plan. Ignoring the others’ confusion, Brandy froze the three of them while yelling, “Duck!” to Ryan. Volark fought the freeze and was nearly released when Ryan freed himself from the lycan’s hold.
She threw a ball of fire at the lycan, not bothering to watch it go up in flame.
Volark’s mouth opened wide, and instead of blowing wind at them, he sucked it in. The pull dragged them closer to him. Ryan was the closest and scrambled in place on his hands and knees, doing what he could to avoid being sucked in. Brandy could not understand why he wasn’t using his magic.
Serena released her hand, and the shield around Volark came down.
Rye!
