RIP Dadwas written in cursive above an anatomical heart on his forearm.Alphawas written above an image of a howling wolf on his bicep.Hudsonwas in huge block letters across his abs, and then my wolf’s gaze flicked to his chest. Right over his heart was my name in a beautiful cursive script.
Demi.
A whine caught in my wolf’s throat, and Sawyer’s eyes snapped to her.
He’d always been able to see me no matter if I was invisible to others or not. He stilled, and I suddenly became aware of all the other people in the room whocouldn’tsee me: eight guards and ten scary-ass looking supernaturals. I almost yipped in joy when I saw Walsh standing behind a male vampire who was punching a speedbag. The vampire’s hair was dark black, slicked back with sweat, and holy yum I hated to admit it but he was insanely hot. All of these dudes were. They were ripped as hell, covered in tattoos and beards and sweating testosterone like it was air. My wolf shook herself to clear her thoughts and padded slowly over to Sawyer. He hadn’t moved, just stood frozen as he stared at me.
Sawyer coughed twice, really short, and it must have been some signal, because Walsh, the hot vampire dude, and some fey prisoner all started to move in unison over to Sawyer.
“Hudson! Walsh! Bennett! No congregating,” a guard called. My wolf had reached Sawyer, and when he bent down to tie his shoe, she spit the necklace onto the ground at his feet. He grabbed it with shaking fingers just as the vampire—it must be Luka, Sawyer’s roommate— started to heckle the guard.
“I pulled my back, man,” Luka said as Walsh started to inspect Luka’s back.
“Let me see,” the fey called out, moving closer as they covered the fact that Sawyer was uncuffing himself.
“I fucking missed you so much,” Sawyer whispered as he looked right into the eyes of my wolf and unclicked the remaining cuff, putting the glowing blue set, which now stood open, behind a floormat to hide them. Sawyer ran his fingers through my wolf’s fur and I whimpered again. It felt so good to be touched by him, to see him, smell him.
Back on Pearl, I instructed Marmal with a half sob of joy. “It’s time.”
Back in the room, Sawyer handed the key to Walsh next and started to inspect Luka’s back. “Oh shit, is that a bone sticking out?” Sawyer yelled loudly, looking at Luka’s perfect, muscled back, covered with tattoos and zero bones sticking out.
“He’s a vampire. He’ll heal. Break it up!” A fey guard pushed off the wall and walked over to Sawyer, gun raised.
Back on Pearl, I shook myself. Shit was going to go down and we needed to do this, now.
“Fly me as close as you can to that window and be ready to scram the second I get them out!” I yelled to Marmal, who sat in front of me.
She nodded, and directed Pearl over to the far window on the very top floor. There was a tiny ledge, maybe six inches in depth. Nothing I could stand on. The closer Pearl flew to the window, the more I could sense the magic at work in the protective shields. It was like a rainbow sheen of oil or bubbles suspended in the air.
“She can’t get any closer or her wing will hit the shield!” Marmal shouted.
Frick. I was a good ten feet away from the shimmering shield. But it was now or never. I was so close to getting Sawyer out and I still had Sage to worry about.
“When I start to fall, catch me!” I shouted. “I’m going to jump and bring down the shield.”
I held up the fey blade and Marmal’s eyes widened. She was quiet a moment, but then nodded.
I looked down, barely able to see the river as we were over eight hundred feet into the air.
Please don’t let this be how I die, I sent up a silent prayer to whomever might be listening, and then I plunged the fey blade into my palm. A slice of burning pain radiated along my hand as a thick line of crimson blood pooled into my palm and saturated the knife.
I mumbled the incantation that Star had told me, and the knife glowed with a sickly green hue.
Well, that was something at least. I was fully just going to have to trust that this spell worked, and the second I drove the blade into the protective shield … it would break.
“Old magic. I have old magic and that’s good, it’s going to work,” I ranted out loud, trying to psych myself up for this jump.
My wolf pulled on my attention and I snapped my focus to her just in time to see Luka headbutt a security guard in the face, and then Sawyer roundhouse kick another.
Oh shit.
Okay.
Here goes nothing.
“One.” I stood on Pearl’s back, teetering in the air as she flapped her wings to try to keep me steady. “Two.” I gripped the blade tighter in my fist. “Three!” I shouted.
And then I leapt. Out into the air, stabbing with my blade hand into the protective shield, sending a ripple of pain up my elbow. There was a cracking noise … and then I was falling.
