“A helicopter!” Vanessa informed me when it touched down.
“More like a flying house,” Isis groaned, holding her side.
The door opened, and Ralf stepped out, setting stairs for us to use.
“Go, go, go!” D ordered, swinging four creatures off him as he flew over the roof’s edge.
My frantic gaze snapped to Dante to see him shooting at several crawlers too, even Bjørn was surrounded, his twisted claws dripping with black blood. “We can’t leave them!”
“We are not!” Ralf assured, urgently holding his hand out to help us get on the machine.
Vanessa jumped on it first, turning to lift Isis from the inside while I helped her from behind. My hands lifted to her back, to push her up, but never reached her. A crawler rammed her away from us.
“Isis!” Vanessa yelled.
It took a split second for me to decide if, like the others, I was willing to become a monster for the people I loved.
The answer was yes.
Calling on Starlight for help, I lunged myself at the creature just as two more came for us. Grey wolf claws protruded from my fingers without pain, ripping into the crawler and flinging it off Isis with our joint strength, while Vanessa tackled another. Tattered muscles dangled from the one I threw over the edge of the roof, and I faced a shocked Isis, only to find the third one coming at us.
“Natasha!” Isis’ horrified shout echoed when the creature’s sharp claws sliced across my chest to my stomach.
“Aaah!” Fiery heat ignited in my core from the pain, and my partially shifted hands gripped the crawler’s face. I had no idea what drove me, but looking into its dead eyes, I growled. “Burn.”
Bright blue flames erupted from my hands, rushing through me like wildfire and engulfing the creature in seconds. The blaze took over once I let go, pulling disturbing shrieks out of the jerking crawler as it consumed it fully, leaving nothing but black ashes on the ground.
Struggling to breathe, I felt nothing but the thunderous crashing of my heart against my ribs, and I glanced down at my hands.
What the hell had I just done?
The fear Bjørn’s monster hadn’t provoked in the crawlers, the sight of the blue fire did. They froze in place.
A roar of rage and torment ripped from Dante when his eyes found me, realizing I’d been attacked while they were overwhelmed by the crawlers. A dangerous wave of powerfulTwilightexploded from him.
Jumping, Bjørn touched D’s wing,blinkingthem to our side before the lethal darkness could sweep through them, and instantly incinerate them like it did the hundreds of crawlers that had surrounded them.
Dante disappeared into the darkness, remerging before me.
Throbbing agony awoke in me when our eyes met, making me double over as he lifted me into his arms, getting me into the helicopter. My entire body trembled, blood staining the delicate white outfit, but his healing shadows surged into my chest without hesitation.
Bjørn, once more the Golden Fae, carried Isis inside too while D’s tortured eyes followed me.
He entered last, locking the door just as more crawlers invaded the helipad, running toward us and jumping on the flying machine when it lifted to the sky. We wobbled for amoment, but the blades cut clear through the creatures, sending the bleeding pieces to scatter over the roof of the building.
22
Despite what we had just endured, the ride on the helicopter was almost as soothing as Dante’s healing magic. It steadily swayed through my being, vanishing the ragged slashes that creature carved into me, though blood still stained my torn white suit. It felt like Dante just couldn’t bring himself to let go of me.
I couldn’t blame him; I didn’t want to let him go either.
My face rested on his chest, loving that he’d unbuttoned his shirt so I could feel his warm skin against my cheek. He always seemed to know exactly what I needed. We lay together in one of the sofas, and I mentioned “one of” because Isis had been right—this flying machine was as big inside as our cabin was.
The space was arranged to look like a living room, with two sofas placed in an L shape, a table, a corner bar, and two comfortable armchairs across. There was even a TV. It was on, but no one was watching.
On the sofa beside ours, Bjørn sat with Isis lying along the length of it, her head resting on his lap. She’d fallen asleep while Dante’s hand cradled her ankle, administering the healing he hadn’t been able to finish when he passed out—all at the same time.
Bjørn’s gaze never reached me. He glanced out the window instead, avoiding my gaze at all costs.
