I waited until the last woman was free of the fort before I stepped into the back of the line and followed them out. When I looked back over my shoulder, at Luka, my heart sank into my stomach. A thin rivulet of blood ran down his nose and ears, and his body shook violently.
“Luka!” I shouted, spinning away from the line of fleeing women and back to my man.
“GO!” he yelled, and that power slapped into me again. Suddenly I was running for the door against my own will.
I knew then that Luka had the power all along to use compulsion on me but he never did. By the time my feet had carried me outside of the fort, Liv was already leading the women over the hill and hopefully into the empty buss. Luka’s power suddenly fell away from me then and I turned around. A scream ripped from my throat just as Luka hit the ground and the fighting continued.
“Luka!” I wailed, running back into the fort now that the spell over me had been lifted. I pulled my katanas, mowing down fey left and right, as I beelined it for Luka.
Sawyer heard my distress and followed my gaze to see his best friend crumpled on the ground. He put his fingers between his lips, whistling loud. “Retreat!”
I reached Luka just in time for a Munai to advance on him.
“Not today, demon!” I pulled my Glock and unloaded two rounds into her head, before I sliced through her neck with ease and her head hit the ground with a thump.
I pulled Luka over my shoulder, struggling to get his dead weight onto my back.
Everyone was fleeing for the busses, when the shadow passed over my head.
I looked up and relief ran through me.
Pearl.
“Get him out of here!” Demi shouted to me, and indicated to the dragon. When I looked at the alpha, my eyebrows shot upward. She was sticking some type of explosive to the walls of the fort. They looked crudely made, but highly effective if that was C4, which it appeared to be from here.
Marmal ran along the side of the fight, weaving in and out of vampires and wolves tossing fey left and right. Had they had a second contingent show up? There were so many of them.
Pearl landed before me with a thud, shaking the ground as she shook herself. Marmal wasted no time grabbing Luka’s ankles and helping me hoist him onto Pearl’s back.
“Thanks,” I muttered, heaving him onto the dragon and climbing up myself.
“Retreat!” Sawyer called again, and gunshots rang out.
Demi had gotten hold of a shotgun and was pushing the fey into the back portion of the fort, against the wall she’d just rigged the explosives. This gave her men and Luka’s time to flood out of the fort and into the open valley.
Pearl kicked off the ground and I steadied myself, hovering over Luka’s body to pin him to her back. He wasn’t breathing, which would normally alarm the shit out of me, but he was a vampire, so I tried to relax.
‘Wake up,’I begged, shaking his shoulders and trying to use our bond to sense his consciousness. I was distracted with everything happening around me. My gaze was constantly searching the field below for Liv, my mom, Sage, Demi, and everyone. I didn’t want to leave them without help, but Luka was my main priority now. The only comfort I had in Luka’s health was that his body hadn’t turned to ash yet. That meant he was still alive.
“Luka!” I sobbed, slapping his face lightly. He was so pale, cold and unmoving. He looked dead … which, technically, he was, but he didn’t look like normal Luka, and I was starting to lose it. A sob ripped from my throat as I clutched his shirt, helpless to do anything. You couldn’t exactly give CPR to a dead person.
Marmal looked back at me, compassion pulling at her troll features, causing the tusks in her cheeks to dip downward.
She flew Pearl low to the ground so that we could help if needed, but it looked like Demi and Sawyer had everything handled. The Paladin wolves now had their bowmen shooting arrows to keep the fey and Munai inside of the fort while the last few vampires fled. Demi stood behind the line of Paladin warriors and pulled a black plastic remote out of her pocket.
Boom time.
A second after I had that thought, the C4 went off, sending an explosive mushroom cloud up into the atmosphere. A shockwave blew outward, sending dust and debris into the open field, and my eardrums shook with the force of the blow. Demi and her men retreated toward the busses.
As the cloud of smoke thinned, I saw the walls of the structure had completely collapsed. It was now just a pile of debris with no movement.
Whoa.
We did it.
We won.
I sagged forward, laying on Luka’s chest and relaxing my nerves.
