Page 64 of Payne's Envy

Not bugs. Arrows. Payne continued shielding my face and body as more landed all around us.

“Gwendolyn!” Barron screamed. That was it, and terror set in.

I’d heard many versions of Barron’s voice over the years, but never like that. So terrified that his voice was nothing more than a shriek.

“It’s okay, Izzie. Look at me. Just a flesh wound.” Sebastian’s unnaturally calm voice spooked me.

I tapped Payne’s shoulder. He finally moved off of me. All around us, black arrows littered the ground. Dozens lay broken and bent all around him, but not a single one penetrated his flesh. I sensed Payne was stronger, but did he know he’d be okay when he shielded me from the arrows?

Payne lifted my hair and checked my shoulders for injuries before shaking me. “Joy! You must get to safety. I don’t know how I didn’t sense the enemy, but there are many!”

As he spoke, I looked behind him toward my brothers and their mates. Dozens of arrows penetrated their backs as they shielded their lovers. It hadn’t been enough. A black arrow pierced through Barron’s shoulder and straight into Gwendolyn’s forehead.

My brother’s screams haunted me. All remnants of happiness disappeared as my stomach churned.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Joy

Barron’s scream rattled my teeth. My heart twisted when I saw all the arrows in Barron’s back. How was my brother standing? By sheer will alone? He staggered, holding Gwendolyn’s slackened body against him.

Pushing Payne aside, I ran toward them. Fear clogged my throat as tears poured down Barron’s face. I sniffed and tried to calm my beating heart because when my brother saw me approaching, his face pinched together and he yelled, “Get it out, Joy, get it out!”

Beside them, Isabella shouted, “Sebastian!”

Sebastian slumped against her much tinier form. She stumbled a few steps backward before crumbling to the ground with him. As she cried, she started yanking at the arrows in his back. The gurgling popping sounds made me shudder.

My gaze darted back and forth between the two couples. My lungs wanted to cease. Every breath hurt. I couldn’t—I couldn’t… I had to help Barron. He continued to yell at me, but my limbs shook.

A bloodied hand grabbed my shoulder, and I jumped. Melinda pushed me forward, nodding her head once, and I exhaled. Right. Barron needed me to help his mate. I couldn’t lose myself like he had.

I grabbed hold of Barron’s arm at the same time she did.

“Calm yourself, Barron. She’s your mate and shares your immortality,” Melinda told him.

As Barron's red essence circled around him, his eyes became crazed.“We don’t know that. No one has ever died to know—”

Barron swayed. He was losing consciousness and would die soon from his wounds if we didn’t get the arrows out in time for his body to heal.

Tears blurred my vision, and I could barely grip the arrow because my hands were so sweaty. Barron was right. We knew our mates shared our essence and power, but we didn’t know for certain if they were immortal.

“Payne, help Isabella pull out the arrows in Sebastian’s back,” Melinda barked. “Hurry! We don’t know when their powers will disappear again.”

“What do you mean?” Payne asked. Since my mate remembered nothing, he didn’t know my family was losing its powers.

My heartbeat roared in my ears. Focus. We had to hurry!

“No, tend to her first,” Barron’s voice slurred as he pushed me away.

“What do you think I’m doing?” I asked as I went right back to him.

With clumsy fingers, I went for the arrow lodged into Gwendolyn’s head and Barron’s shoulder. I broke the piece hanging out of Barron’s back, then pulled him backward. There was a gurgling, mushy snap as it left his body. As soon as it was free, Melinda yanked the arrowhead from Gwendolyn’s forehead with a popping sound. Blood oozed from the wound. Melinda staggered as she lowered Gwendolyn to the ground.

“They’re here!” Payne growled, and I sensed the change in his voice. He would shift soon.

“My barrier is holding,” Melinda said. “But it won’t for long.”

Gritting my teeth, I yanked the arrows from Barron’s back. He hissed and fell to his knees. “Hold still,” I muttered.

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