Echo had never heard anything like it.
Magic vibrated from him … and her mate had never looked more fae. More beautiful.
More deadly.
Echo attempted to ignore the scalding pain when she realized it was her injury that had awakened the extremes of his supernatural ability. The air snapped and crackled around him as he moved toward her. He was exactly what they needed him to be right now, and having a chunk of her shoulder ripped out wasn’t going to stop them. “We’ll heal me later. Let’s go!”
Thea soared past them in wolf form, blocking their path. She crashed at their feet with a whimper of pain. An infuriated howl ripped through the air seconds before another wolf whine was abruptly silenced.
Conall in wolf form raced around the building as Thea got to her feet, limping. He nuzzled her face, and she bussed into him in reassurance.
“Thea, you good?” Echo asked.
The wolves turned to look at them and Echo saw their eyes widen with human reaction to the sight of Elijah. Even his hair was pulling free of its elastic band like he was surrounded in static electricity. His skin glowed with the golden hum of light.
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“You look like you’re about to go nuclear,” she explained. “You’re literally glowing right now.”
“Really?” He cocked his head in a decidedly unhuman manner. “Then I guess we better find those two vamps so I can treat them to my William method.”
Echo grinned viciously, even as the blood trickled down her arm, dripping from her fingertips. His cockiness was hot. “Go blow them to hell.”
Elijah was a streak of color he moved so fast. Conall and Thea sped after him, and Echo sucked in a breath as the world tilted on its axis. “No,” she gritted between her teeth. “You pass out later once Odette is safe.”
Echo raced after her mate and their companions and as she blasted into the barn, she felt a force slick over her skin like oil. With it, the strength leached out of her.
Had the wolf poisoned her with his bite somehow?
“Echo.”
She looked up as she stumbled farther into the long barn.
Elijah.
His light had dimmed, his eyes bleeding back to their human color as he stared at her in panic. “Something … is wrong,” he gasped.
Thea and Conall were collapsed at his feet, rolled over onto their sides, panting violently.
Echo’s knees began to buckle as her heart raced. “W-what’s h-happening?”
A clanging followed by a creak drew their gazes to the end of the barn where a dividing wall with a metal gate sectioned it off from what had looked like stables from the outside.
A beautiful redhead strolled out, locking the gate behind her.
Astra.
She beamed, her magic crackling as she strode toward Elijah. “Hullo, brother.”
“I’m not your brother,” he snarled.
“Where … where are our people?” Echo spat.
Astra cut her a haughty look. “I have no use for your people other than to lure you here. So foolish.” She tutted. “Even when you know your plan is foolish, bordering on moronic, you charge in to save those you love.”
“What is this?” Elijah tried to lift an arm and failed.
“A little spell I concocted. Using pure iron. Of course, to be able to concoct and withstand it took me years and years of building my immunity. I had to ingest a tiny bit of pure iron every day for decades. Oh, it was agony. But so worth it.” She giggled like a little girl. “When Eirik stabbed me with his iron blade, I wove an illusion to make it seem like I’d died. Oh, it hurt, and I had to heal … but iron is no longer fatal to me. So, all of Niamh’s threats to stab me in the heart with iron … useless. Iron cannot wield me, but I can wield it.” She gestured around the barn. “Right now, you’re held within an iron cage of my making, and it’s draining you.” Her eyes dropped to the wolves at Elijah’s feet. “The wolves are affected by the silver dust mingled with all the dirt.”
