Page 77 of Winter Unleashed

She shook her head and sneered at me. “Do you think you can best me? You’ll never win. I will kill you, but first, I’m going to make you suffer while I destroy everything you ever cared about.”

Wisps of the gray mist surrounding her lashed out at us. Realizing we couldn’t fight off a magical fog, I tapped my wolf. There was no response. I tried feeling around for anything that would signal my Vinura power had decided to show itself. Still nothing.

I spun to find Liam. He was a few feet away from me staring at the cabin. Green blood dripped from the tips of the knives in his hands. “Can you access your power?”

“No,” he replied without looking at me as more goblins emerged.

I screamed when a tendril of the mist hit my back. The armor may as well have been made of marshmallow for all it did to stop the acid-like burn of the magic. The tendril wrapped itself around my right arm and shoulder with a sharp sting that coursed through me.

The pain was so terrible I couldn’t move, which allowed a goblin to sink his teeth into my arm where the armor had dissolved. “Fuck! Do these bastards have venom too?” I called out.

“No. They’re just unsanitary,” Astrid responded as she sliced a goblin in two.

“Great,” I muttered thanking Artemis for giving us shifters healing power. Though, I didn’t know if that would work in a stinking hellhole like Alfurgrund. “Hey Isaac, a little help?”

He was the only one not fighting off goblins at the moment. The tendril had let go of me, but the goblin and the incredible pain had stayed. Goblins may be little, but they weighed about as much as the stone monsters they resembled, and I stumbled under its weight as it gnawed on my arm as though I were a chew toy.

“Get ready,” Isaac said, and I braced to be covered in stinky, green goo.

“Errgh,” I groaned as the warm slime coated me in its stench. “Fuck, this is disgusting. Give me vamps any day over these little shits.”

I heard Isaac groan and then a wet thump. When I turned around, I found him on the ground covered in the mist. It was eating its way through his armor, leaving gaping divots in his flesh.

“NO! I need help over here! Please,” I yelled. I hugged my injured arm as I used the other to hack at the mist with my little sword. “Please help me. Isaac is down.”

Ciara’s anguished cries rose over the sounds of battle. The mist formed a ring around her, preventing her from making it to her mate. I looked around to see the mist was everywhere now. If we took a step in any direction, we’d walk right into it.

Liam tried to come to me but hissed when the fog covered his arm. He groaned as it burned his skin the way it had with Isaac who had stopped moving as it continued to eat away at his back. Dread filled me as Liam fought against the same enemy. Tears trailed down my face as I realized I could lose them both.

“Astrid, isn’t there anything you can do?” I begged.

A strange wriggling sensation started in my gut. Assuming I was about to be sick, I pressed a hand to my stomach as I watched Astrid create a magical barrier to surround herself. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to allow her to make her way over to me.

“My power is stunted here. Celeste has a buffer up.”

“Fucking great. Does anything work? The armor is a joke. The all-powerful fairy is useless. No wonder that bitch hid here.”

My tears kept flowing as I looked at Isaac then Liam. The mist still had him by the arm. The pain he felt showed on his face. His eyes met mine and what I saw in his had my gut clenching. I took a step toward him, but the mist rose in front of me to block my path. I reached out, but it singed my hand, covering it in tiny blisters.

“No! There must be something we can do,” I said. The tone of my voice reflected the hopelessness that filled me. For the first time in years, I felt weak and powerless. The last time I’d felt so low was back when I was a kid while looking up at my father’s angry, hate-filled face while he beat me.

The despair took over, or I gave myself over to it… I don’t know which. If Isaac died, the grief would be overwhelming, but if I lost Liam, it would be too much to handle. My heart would break into a million pieces, and I’d no longer be able to live.

“Please, Astrid, there must be more we can do. They can’t die here. They just can’t. Please. There has to be something.”

Liam was still standing. He was in pain, but otherwise okay, so for the time being, I focused on Isaac. My sword slipped from my hand as I fell to the ground. Blood covered his body, but I could see bone through the gore that was once Isaac’s back.

“Please don’t die,” I begged him. “Please. Isaac, please don’t die. Please don’t go. Stay with me.” I reached out to touch his face but pulled it back with a hiss when the mist lashed out at me.

Despair turned into frustration which naturally led to anger, and I looked up at Celeste. She smiled and made a motion with her hands. Liam growled when the mist tugged at him. He fought but was defenseless against it as it dragged him toward the depraved fairy.

“No,” I growled when she took a step backward. I pinned Celeste with a look I can only imagine was full of hate and malice. Her mouth opened slightly telling me I was right in my assumption, but it didn’t stop her from letting the mist pull Liam into her house.

Before I knew what was happening another tendril of the mist lashed out at Astrid. It wrapped around her neck then yanked her forward. She stumbled but stayed upright as it pulled her toward the house.

A familiar and earsplitting cracking sound echoed over the horrible terrain and Belial appeared beside me.

“Celeste, you cow, did you really think this sorry excuse for magic would stop the Vinura?” Belial swiped his hand through the mist then pulled it back unharmed. He stepped forward and instead of the fog clinging to him, it parted, creating a tunnel and allowing me to follow him.

---