I couldn’t thank Emma enough for her research. Arguably, it had saved this entire patrol’s life. If I hadn’t known that only magic could defeat it, I would have certainly tried to kill it. As it was, all we could do was push it back and injure it so it would retreat for a bit, and we could make a plan.
Next to me, Sam had shifted as well, lunging forward and making his own attack. I snarled at him, jerking my head in an unmistakable order:go with the others; get out of here. I would stay behind and fend off the wraith on my own.
Sam growled and stayed put, refusing to leave my side. Stubborn ass.
I didn’t have time to argue. I spun back around to face the wraith. It watched me, head tilted with amusement as it spread a sinister grin.
It lunged toward me, hands outstretched. Not hands—claws. I dodged out of the way, but barely, stinging sand hitting my fur.
I jumped forward, driving it back as the rest of my men made their retreat. Sam moved in tandem, lunging the second I had finished my own attack, over and over again, pushing it further into the desert.
By the time I knew my men were out of harm’s way, Sam and I had managed to do serious damage—gouges in the wraith’s shoulders, arms, and side. We had done our job. We couldn’t do more without magic. With a nod at Sam, I signaled for us to fall back.
The second I was distracted, the wraith made a final parting move. With a furious snarl, it swiped out again. This time, I didn’t move fast enough as its claws raked against my flesh.
Pain erupted in my side, more agonizing than anything I had experienced before. A howl of pain pierced the air, and it took me a minute to realize that it was coming from me.
I stumbled, staggering to the side before collapsing, panting heavily. I watched through half-lidded eyes as the wraith stalked forward, that grin growing as it leered down at me.
Another loud, furious snarl echoed through the air, and Sam barreled into the wraith, knocking it to the side. The wraith hissed, slipping to the side as Sam’s claws lashed out, missing those but not his snapping teeth as they lunged forward. Sam clamped down on the wraith’s arm. It hissed in pain and rage as it shook its hand, dislodging it from Sam’s jaws. It rounded back on me as I tried to stagger to my feet, its glowing eyes leering down at me.
Sam blocked his path once more, snarling and bristling as it put itself between me and the wraith. The wraith paused, looking curiously at Sam, then past him to look back at me. It bared its teeth as it gave something that might have been a gravelly laugh.
“I would tend to your alpha instead of worrying about me,” it hissed. Then, without another word, it spun on its heels and sped off, vanishing into the desert.
The instant the wraith was out of sight, Sam shifted back to human, crouching back down to look at me.
“Elias? You all right? I need you to shift so I can get a better look at this.”
I barely heard as his voice flickered in and out, but I did shift back to human. I heard a sharp intake of breath from overhead. When I angled my head to look at Sam, I saw him look as pale as a sheet.
“Is he all right?” I heard a voice ask. One of my men. Oz, I thought, but I wasn’t sure. Everything spun.
“He’s alive, but he’s hurt bad,” Sam said.
“What do we do?”
“We need to take him to the oasis,” Sam muttered.
I felt them haul me to my feet and shuffle me toward the idling SUV. They laid me down in the back seat. The edges of my vision went blurry as I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness. One moment, I was in the back of the car. Next, the car had screeched to a halt, and several hands were gingerly lifting me out, carrying me somewhere, then laying me down in water. The sound of familiar rushing water pounded against my eardrums. Of course. They had taken me back to town. To the oasis.
“Oh my God, Elias?” A high-pitched, panicked voice filtered through the pain.
“Emma,” I muttered, barely realizing I was saying it.
“No, it’s Rachel.” My sister’s worried face filled my vision as she stared down at me.
“He’s been asking for Emma the entire way back,” Sam said. “Can you get her? Maybe it will calm him down a bit.”
I had been asking for her? I hadn’t realized it.
Rachel hesitated, looking at me, then away, biting her lip. She didn’t want to leave me. After a moment, she gave a reluctant nod.
“You look after him,” she ordered Sam with surprising sternness.
Sam blinked in surprise, but gave his own brief jerk of his head. Satisfied, Rachel turned back to me, her eyes—looking just like Mom’s—filled with worry. Her hand went to my good shoulder and squeezed gently.
“I’ll be right back,” she mumbled. “Don’t you dare go dying while I’m gone.”
