‘WHAT! I’m wearing a bracelet with a spell on it!?’I seethed.
‘I knew you wouldn’t if I told you. Do it, quickly.’
With a growl and great effort, I moved my left arm over to my right wrist and fiddled with the charms.
“Hang on, Liv!” I cried out blindly. Maz was a badass when she was a human. As a Munai I wasn’t sure how long my best friend would last against her. The second I felt the round hump of the Beetle charm between my fingers, relief surged through me. Fumbling, I ran my fingers along the bottom and felt for a tiny nub that must have been a button. Pressing the nub, I flipped the bottom of the Beetle charm cap open and prayed for a miracle. A fine dust filled the air in front of me and chased the black smoke away instantly.
Praise God!
With my limbs suddenly free and sight fully restored, I leapt up from the ground. My injured arm was at half capacity, but I was able to quickly insert a new clip into my Glock. Taking in the scene before me, I strode forward with a cry on my lips to where Maz was about to take off Liv’s head with her sword. Aiming the gun at the side of Maz’s head in an awkward angle that wouldn’t shoot Liv, who was knelt in front of the Munai, I pulled the trigger. The explosion rang out and Maz dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Liv dove out of the way and I gave her my hand to pull her up.
“Holycrap, that was bad,” Liv huffed. “You got shot!”
She was panting, and we both turned to look down at Maz, who was a lifeless heap on the ground.
We’d done it.
Ruby wouldn’t be too happy I’d taken down the kingpin of the operation before we could find all the other players, but I’d done what I needed to survive.
‘You better be alive, woman! And on your way to me,’Luka roared in my head.
“Come on.” I pulled Liv away from where Maz’s dead body lay. “I need to see a doctor.”
Concern crossed Liv’s face and she nodded, picking up our weapons and running after me.
‘I’m alive,’I told Luka, leaving out the injured part for now. I wanted to get in the car before anyone saw us or Maz’s dead body.
“I’ll drive!” Liv held out her hands and I tossed her the key, walking faster with each step. My shoulder burned like hell and I was losing feeling in my fingers, which I knew wasn’t good. The second we got into the car, I collapsed against the passenger seat and a deep throb started to pulse down my entire back.
“Hey, do we have painkillers? I—” The words died in my throat when a blur in front of the car caught my attention.
Maz … was alive. She’d risen up like a freaking zombie and now ran full speed at our car.
Lord have mercy.
“Go!” I pointed to Maz, and Liv followed my gaze, her eyelids peeling open in shock. Throwing the car into gear, Liv tore out of the lot just as Maz streaked across the cemetery like a zombie on steroids.
“She’s alive!” I screeched.
“She’s alive.” Liv’s voice held defeat, horror, fear.
Liv put the pedal to the metal, her gaze flicking to the rearview mirror as my mind chewed over what had just happened.
“That was insane,” I breathed.
“Way insane,” Liv added.
Maz was a heartless fey who clearly didn’t care about God or her “children.” She cared about money and power, and I was going to wipe her from the face of this Earth if it was the last thing I did.
But first I needed some medical attention.
Luka’s voice came through our bond:‘I’m at the border of Magic City. Tell me where you are. Do you need a doctor? Dammit, you should have taken my security detail. I’m never listening to you again!’Luka was seething mad and I didn’t blame him. I almost got killed.
‘We are inbound … I got shot in the arm. But … it doesn’t look too bad.’I winced and prepared for the mental reaming.
It never came. Instead I was met with dead silence.
‘Luka?’His silence was actually more powerful than him screaming at me.
