Several of the guards had moved closer. One of them gave Amari a kick in the arm. He let out another yelp. I didn’t understand why he wasn’t standing up.
Crap, was it poisoned?
“Where’s the girl?”
I focused on her heartbeat, or at least tried to. It was nolonger there. My head snapped toward the tree despite my attempts to stop the reaction.
She had disappeared.
She was playing with the magic we knew little about. What if she landed in the middle of the street? What if she wound up in the ocean?
Fear gripped me, and I looked around frantically. Maybe she had run off, but I knew that wasn’t true. I would have heard her.
Two guards pulled Amari to his feet, his eyes filled with pain and worry. He struggled against their holds but was no match for them in his state.
My gaze dropped from his to his arm. It had turned to stone around the wound and looked like it was melting.
Fuck.
A guard pulled his sword out of the sheath. “Where is she? This is the last time we’re going to ask. Tell us, or we’ll take his arm. Good luck saving this.” He poked at the wound with the tip of his sword.
“Run,” Amari mouthed before he clenched his jaw so hard I heard bones and teeth breaking.
“I’ll have your head.” I walked forward, and several of the archers raised their bows at me. I was surrounded.
Amari shook his head.
“Little Valentino, so naive.” The guard laughed. “Hold out his arm.”
A third guard grabbed Amari’s arm and pulled it straight out as he struggled to free himself. His eyes pleaded with me.
“Last chance. We saw her. Now, where is she?” He raised his sword over his head and then slowly lowered it down to Amari’s arm, right above the elbow.
“She’s here.” My voice cracked. “Samara! Samara! It’s safe.”
I tried to buy time and come up with a plan. I could lunge for the guard with the sword, but he was a vampire.He would have Amari’s arm off faster than I could get to him.
I met Amari’s eyes again. He gave me a slight shake of the head. He knew what I was thinking.
Why wasn’t he changing into his gargoyle form? Or shifting? What the hell were they using on the arrow tips?
Red filled my vision as the vampire holding the sword laughed. “Very well.”
I lunged.
He swung.
Amari screamed.
Something pierced my chest.
CHAPTER TWENTY
SAMARA
Ilanded in the bathroom with one foot in a toilet.
My heart was beating so uncontrollably that I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t wanted to go, but Amari had mouthed for me to run and shook his head when I moved from behind the tree.
