Warrior Fae Trapped (Warrior Fae #1)(84)

“God, you’re creepy.” Charity stepped backward, dragging Samantha with her. She didn’t dare show her back to Vlad. Just in case.

She felt Samantha straighten up. Charity said, “Let’s go inside and wait for Devon.”

“Devon. I would love to get my hands on him,” Sam said in a silky voice. “He was always out of my reach. Not anymore.”

Charity’s small hairs stood on end.

Samantha stood poised and elegant. A sly smile drifted up her face as Charity’s insides erupted in false desire.

Oh no!

“But you crossed the line! Vampires shouldn’t be able to cross the line,” Charity exclaimed, backing toward the house.

“You’re losing her,” Vlad warned. “Don’t let her throw her magic. You are not strong enough to survive it.”

Samantha ran to Charity’s side, only slightly faster than a human, and pulled Charity into a painful bear hug.

“You see,” Vlad said pleasantly, “you circumvented the ward by pulling Samantha in of your own free will. I’ve done my homework. Your little puppy is so young—he forgets that not everyone is privy to these small details. I am endlessly delighted.”

“But…”

Samantha started walking toward Vlad, dragging Charity with her.

“No…”

“Careful, Samantha. Her kind tend to become more powerful when agitated,” Vlad said.

He had that right.

Charity bucked and twisted, freeing herself from Samantha’s arms. Fire exploded through her body as she punched Sam’s middle, and then a silent explosion tossed Sam backward. Samantha hit the ground and rolled, stopping just shy of the ward.

“After her,” Vlad yelled. Power crackled along the ward, sparks and electricity lighting up a huge dome crouching over the house and yard. Vlad was trying to claw through, and for all she knew, he could do it. He’d clearly had the ward tested, after all.

Charity was already running back to the house. She needed weapons.





Chapter Thirty-Eight





Charity slammed the door shut behind her and clicked the lock into place. Maybe Samantha didn’t know the lock trick yet. If she had to bust through the window, it would give Charity time.

She sprinted to the office where she’d been studying and scooped the gun off the desk.

The window shattered. Glass tinkled against the hardwood floors.

Charity reached the foyer as Samantha wedged herself into the window. Her pretty face shifted into her other form—a hideous, swampy thing. The creature’s head lifted.

Charity bit back a sob and took aim.

“You’re going to shoot me, Charity?” Samantha garbled through a mouth full of fangs. “After I begged my parents to let you live with me? I couldn’t abandon you to the dorms, and you’d repay me by shooting me?”

“But…you’re not you anymore,” Charity begged, knowing she had to pull the trigger. Willing herself to do so.

Somewhere outside, a snarl tore at the silence.

Charity started and stood on her tiptoes to look out, terrified it was Devon.

Samantha leapt back out of the window, leaving a clump of matted black hair dangling from a shard of glass. Charity stepped closer, gun hand shaking.

A gray wolf, smaller and leaner than Devon, lunged for the elder vampire.

The vamp went blurry, attacking the furry body at a ridiculous speed. Claws extended from its fingers and fangs erupted from its mouth. It dodged left then scraped its claws along the wolf’s flank. The animal yelped in pain. Vlad, faster than thought, sliced the other side of the wolf before bodily picking it up and throwing.

Heart in her throat, hoping to all hell Devon hadn’t sent one of his pack to check on her, she watched as the elder descended on the wolf and ripped at its body, shredding.

Samantha rushed to the border, only for Vlad to yell, “No! Do not cross that line. This mongrel is nothing. Get the Arcana!”

Arcana?

Samantha turned slowly, eyeing Charity through the broken window. Vlad flicked his hand.

Click.

Charity darted over and manually threw the lock back. When she stepped back to the window, ready to shoot, Samantha caught her by surprise. She was already at the window, her monster face only two inches away.

A hand burst through and grabbed Charity’s throat, cutting off her air supply and pulling. Her shoulders hit the window frame. A fierce snarl in the distance cut off in a wet whine.

Dread pierced Charity. She pushed Sam with her palms and then her power, the concussion of air forcing out the rest of the glass in the window and the frame with it. Plaster and paint ripped away with the vamp, though its claws scraped Charity’s neck.

Charity got a glimpse of a bloodied wolf lying in a heap. Vlad stared at her from across the invisible divide, his face a terrifying mask of violence.

Without thinking, she fled, sprinting to Devon’s bedroom in the back of the house. She slammed the door, locked it, then paused, not sure what to do next. She didn’t have long to decide. A moment later, the door thudded. And again. As if a heavy body were slamming into it.

With a loud crack and the splintering of wood, the door burst inward. Samantha stood in the frame, nude and in her human form. Rage marred her beautiful features. “My master is counting on me. Come quietly so I don’t have to hurt you.”