Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(70)

Move? God. The last thing in the world she intended to do was force her weary, aching body to so much as twitch.

“Did we win?”

A smile touched the truly ugly face, even as her consciousness began to fade.

“Booyah.”

The ridiculous word was the last thing she heard as a welcome void reached up to swallow her.

The Hummer was a perfect choice to race over the rough back roads of Illinois. It was spacious enough to hold four vampires, a Shalott demon, and a werewolf, and sturdy enough to survive Viper’s zealous attempts to cross the state in a new record time. Cezar, however, chafed at being confined.

He wanted to be running through the dark, using his skills to track the woman who called to him even when she wasn’t near.

Unfortunately, Styx had been right when he pointed out that his strength would only last so long. And that when he did find Anna it would be quicker to rush her back to the safety of Chicago in a car rather than having to carry her.

Wisely left undisturbed in the backseat of the Hummer, Cezar growled as Viper slowed to a crawl, allowing Darcy and Shay an opportunity to take deep breaths of air. Cezar logically understood that his friends were just trying to help, but his logic wasn’t in control at the moment.

Every futile delay was like having a silver stake thrust through him.

Grinding his teeth in an effort to hold back his frustration, Cezar suddenly stiffened. There was no scent, no sound, no tangible sign that Anna was near.

But he knew.

He knew with absolute certainty.

“Stop,” he growled, shoving open the back door. “Stop the car.”

“What is it, Cezar?” Styx demanded.

“I feel her. I feel Anna.” A shudder shook his body. “She’s been hurt.”

“Cezar…dammit.” Dante reached to halt him, but Cezar was already throwing himself out of the moving vehicle and flowing through the darkness with blinding speed.

They would be able to follow his trail, but he couldn’t wait for them. Not when his every instinct was screaming that Anna was slipping away from him.

The recently plowed ground was no impediment as he streaked through the night, the faint scent of apples only spurring him onward.

A fairy had passed this way.

Recently.

Leaping over the sagging fence, Cezar headed toward the distant barn. As he neared, the smell of apples became mixed with the scent of Anna’s blood. A cold fury washed through him.

Whoever had dared to harm Anna was about to die.

Not bothering to try to hide his rapid approach, Cezar threw out his powers to blast open the rotting door and charged into the shadows of the barn.

“Anna,” he bellowed, nearly drowning in the cold terror that filled his body.

“We’re in here,” Levet called from a distant corner.

In a blink of an eye, he was kneeling at Anna’s side, his hand gently stroking her battered face.

“Dios. Anna.” With a rapid inspection he realized that she was gravely injured. The deep wounds on her face and neck were losing far too much blood. And a rib had been shattered, puncturing her lung. Why wasn’t she healing? “What happened to her?” he rasped.

“There was a fairy.” Levet shuddered. “She looked just like Sybil and she stabbed Anna with a hexed knife.”

Cezar hissed, his fangs elongated and ready to kill. “Where did she go?”

Levet gave another shudder and glanced around the barn. “Everywhere. She…exploded. I really think we should get Anna out of here before she wakes up. She’s not going to like what she did with that beautiful bauble.”

With a frown, Cezar noted the emerald clutched in Anna’s bloody fingers.

“Where did it come from?”

“Would you believe a dream?”

“A…” Cezar gave a shake of his head. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the sight of Anna’s battered and nearly broken body. He leaned down to press his lips to her forehead. “Never mind.”

“You can fuss over her later, Cezar,” Levet said, his voice high and edged with fear. “Right now we need to get out of here.”

“She’s too weak to move.” Cezar closed his eyes and battled the rising panic. “We’re losing her.”

Levet sharply snapped his wings, his tail twitching. “Do something. Give her your blood. That should break the curse.”

Cezar hissed, his lethal glare making the gargoyle wisely stumble backwards.

Damn the annoying gargoyle. He, better than anyone, knew that his blood would save Anna. But sharing his blood with this woman wasn’t without complications.

Complications that would bind him to her for all time.

“It’s not so simple,” he muttered.

“Why?” Levet demanded, then sucked in a deep breath as realization hit. “Oh.”

Oh, indeed.

To share his blood with this woman wasn’t just an act of mercy. His entire body hummed in preparation of being mated, and the moment his blood hit her lips, he would be bound for eternity with Anna Randal.

It was a step he was willing to take.

No, a step he was eager to take.

And regardless of whether he was ever physically mated to Anna, he already knew that there would never be another for him.

She was his destined mate.