Chapter 48
Jade
I felt him hit the ground before I saw it. There were countless bodies between my mate and me but I knew he was in trouble. I turned my back on my opponent and ran for the man I never got to actually love. Everything that we had been through flashed right before my eyes as my mate was set on fire. Rafe’s body jerked and spasmed as it rolled down the hill. The fire still didn’t let up. I tripped over the bloody appendages laying around to get to him. When I finally skidded to a stop in the grass, the rain had slacked up to a drizzle. His back wasn’t on fire anymore but the burns on his back weren’t good. His shirt was gone from the flames and charred to his skin. Mav was by my side in seconds.
“We need to get him to Carden,” Mav lifted his body easily. “Cover me.”
I nodded and Nalia got ready to survey the area from my mind. The witches and wolves had stopped circling. All they did was watch us as we retreated to my best friend and the man I had once almost dated. Lucas was covered in blood but Carden was still pristine. He was here to heal our people but from the looks of it, mostly everyone was dead. I couldn’t count who were ours and who were theirs. There was too much blood and ichor.
Carden laid his hands on Rafe’s back and they started healing faster than the wolf genes could. Rafe’s breathing was rapid but at least his back was whole.
Damian watched us with his head cocked. “Oh, the things you discover in the thick of battle.”
That’s why they had let us go and stopped fighting. They wanted to see what we had here. The witches we had acquired.
Damian grinned at all of his comrades. “I think I recognize that one. He was sent in to kill Jade Rivers. Isn’t it funny how this has happened? We didn’t even know he was a witch.”
Rafe stood up a bit wobbly but when he grinned at me my blood went cold. That was a grin I didn’t trust. It was a grin that would change how everything played out. “I need you to go to the children.” His whisper barely made it to my ears.
“I took a page from your book,” he announced for everyone to hear before he transformed quickly and effortlessly. There was no pause for his bones to pop or crack into place. One minute he was the Rafe I knew and lo- cared for… and the next he was the wolf Nalia was infatuated with.
Damian sneered down at us while Mav completely transformed next. Lucas put his hand on my shoulder. “I have never gone to battle. I have never been a full wolf in a fight, but I have to be there for them. You go find the children. You help them, get them out, whatever. It doesn’t matter. You make sure as many survive from this as possible.”
I grabbed his hand. “Why not fight in your human form?”
Carden squared his shoulders. He was going to shift too. “Because our pelts are thicker. The fur will absorb the magic better. Injuries won’t be as likely to happen. For whatever reason, his wolves are fighting in their human form. We have to best them.”
Before I knew it, both of my friends were running into the bloody fray once again. I set my jaw and ran as quickly as I could through the property. I prayed to whatever was out in the universe that there would be children left. When I rounded the corner in front of the tractor shed, I came to a stop. The massacre here was worse than the one on the hill with Damian. He was trying to prove a point. Blood was splattered on the trees and the ground was sticky. The rain was coming down in a heavier pour and I could hardly see through it. As I got closer and the smell of death got thicker, my stomach clenched with nausea. Where were Alice and Granny? My best friend, Tracey? Had they made it out? I could barely hear crying over the rain and thunder. I followed the sound to the back of the bar. Bodies were littered everywhere. I leaned over and lost all of the contents inside of my stomach.
The bodies behind the barn were those of the children. There were only a few but enough to tell me how things had gone here. Fortunately, there were more bodies of witches and wolves than the kids. That meant they hadn’t gone down without a fight. That was something at least. Through the rain, I could barely make out something behind the trees about ten feet away.
Nalia used our senses but we couldn’t get a good read on who it was through all the water. As we came around to face them the fear inside of me amplified. Laying on the ground was Granny. Granny’s body was covered in water and dried blood. Judging by the looks of all of it, they had been there for a while. Tracey had her arms wrapped around her shoulders and was crying hysterically. Her head was thrown back against the tree and her mouth was wide open in silent sobs.
“Tracey,” my voice broke as I spoke. I knelt down beside her and Granny. I pressed my fingers against the old witch’s neck and looked for a pulse. There was none. Tracey didn’t open her eyes as her body shook with her emotions. “Tracey.” I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and held on like my life depended on it. Everything hurt. Why did this have to happen? My tears mixed with the rain coming down. My chest felt like it was going to burst but I couldn’t stay here with her. I couldn’t wallow in my grief here. There were others in the line of fire. We weren’t out of the woods yet. I grasped her shoulders and shook her gently. She peeled her eyes open and let out the worst grief-ridden sound.
“Where are the children?” It was the only thing I could think of. It was the only thing that would keep me going for now.
Tracey’s chest constricted with another sob. “Most of them got away with Alice and I think Knox. Granny and I were left to fight off the others. It was looking so good and then it all turned bad really fast.”
“Which direction did they go?” My voice sounded like it was on auto. It didn’t sound like me.
She pointed. I hugged her neck one last time before I stood up. “I love you and I am so sorry but there is a lot more fighting going on. It doesn’t look good.”
“My parents?” She spoke between her sobs.
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen them.”
“Lucas?”
“He just went into the fight with Rafe, it isn’t looking good.”
She nodded her head and I ran. I swiped away the tears and the rain from my face as I went. My feet slid in the mud and I face-planted. My hands were sore and worn when I tried to push myself up. Pine needles and pine cones had broken my fall. I ignored the pain and kept going. I pushed through the rain and the fog until I heard yelling.
Nalia growled.It’s the children.
Hell no. I ran with everything inside of me. Somehow I managed to evade all of the mud this time. Valentina was facing off against three witches. Alice was fighting against wolves and Ford had all the children huddled up against the manor. When he saw me, his eyes lit up. Alice screamed and everything seemed to come to a stop. I watched in slow motion as wolf claws were ripped from her chest and she crumbled to the ground. Ford’s face fell but he didn’t move from the spot with the children. Valentina screamed as she flung her arms and her magic around her. I wasted no time, Nalia ripped from my body and I was running after the man that was attacking my bonus mother.
Nalia wrapped her teeth around his throat and blood sprayed our face. We didn’t blink as we continued to tear through the rest of the wolves quicker than anyone could blink. When I shifted back into my human form, my body collapsed onto the pavement. Valentina was the first one to drape a jacket over my body. It had a big unicorn stamped on the back of it. I rested my head against the dirt.
“Did you see Granny?” Valentina’s voice was small. She shouldn’t have had to fight like this. None of these children should have had to experience any of this.
I nodded my head against the ground. “She’s gone.”
The wail she let out was enough to take down the entire forest. “I am done playing in that madman’s games. He took my mother and now he’s taken Granny. This ends now.”
She marched away like a woman. There was no longer a child in her place. She had seemed to age in seconds. She swiped her hands left and right. The trees in front of her parted. I tried to stand but my body wouldn’t let me. Whatever Nalia had done to destroy so many had taken its toll on me. Ford cupped my cheek. “We will be fine in the manor. Valentina reinforced it for us with new magic. Blood magic.”
None of that was comforting but it was better than nothing. “Your mother?”
“She will be fine, her body is already healing. I’m bringing her into the manor to rest. Bring my brother back to us safely please.”
