The only problem was, she didn’t have much choice.
She would have fought her way through five or six of them, but twenty? She couldn’t fight off twenty… No, make that twenty-three.
If she tried to fight them, they would catch her. And maybe they would do her the favor of killing her outright, but she doubted it. She wasn’t going to give up, but to have any chance of survival, she had to take the chance of breaking every bone in her body.
She edged back until her heels hung over the edge. She could do this. Bungee jumping and sky diving had never appealed to her, but she could still do this. And on the bright side, she would learn what it was like to fly before she splatted.
Motion in the trees caught her attention, and her eyes met a pair so pure a gray, they were nearly silver. For a second, everything stopped. She didn’t see the Savages, didn’t hear the roar of the waterfall, and didn’t feel the icy spray as everything inside her focused on him.
Declan,the word was a breathless, hopeful whisper in her head.
She had to be dreaming again. But the chill of the water felt so real, and goose bumps covered her flesh. However, she could have sworn she felt the heat of that Savage’s breath against her in the tree too.
But this was impossible; he couldn’t be here. He was in Mexico. He left months ago! And how had he found her?
When someone stepped forward to stand beside him, Willow was finally able to tear her gaze away from his. She’d thought her heart was racing before, but it was nothing compared to what it did when Vicky started to step toward her. Declan gripped her arm and pulled her back.
She wanted to run to her sister, fling her arms around her neck, and hug her so bad that her knees trembled with the impulse, but she couldn’t let the Savages know her sister was here. What was Vicky doing here? She should be at home, safe with her son, not in these woods with these foul-smelling, soulless creatures.
Willow was so focused on the two of them that it took her a minute to spot Asher, Saber, and Logan. Where was Nathan?
She kept waiting for her brother-in-law to appear, but no one else emerged from the woods. It was only them versus these monsters.
Chapter Twelve
“Willow,”Vicky breathed from beside him.
Declan grabbed her arm when she stepped forward and held her in place. The Savages didn’t know they were here yet, but that would change soon. Until then, they needed to figure out the best way to handle this.
He studied the Savages surrounding Willow and the waterfall at her back. Before they arrived, her only option was to go over the falls. Torn in places, her filthy clothes hung limply off her slender frame. Dirt and sap stuck to her skin, and a pine needle clung to her forehead.
She’d been through a lot these past three days, but she clutched her stake and glared at the Savages like she was begging them to attack. Though she looked ready for battle, her terror slithered beneath his skin, crept into his bones, and pounded through his veins until her emotions became a part of him.
Untilshebecame a part of him. This was one of those times when his ability took on a life of its own, but instead of fighting the loss of control over his body, he welcomed the way it invigorated him.
He’d kill every one of them if that was what it took to get her away from here.
The hair on his nape rose as he sensed a new presence in the woods. When Willow’s eyes darted past him and her mouth parted, he realized more Savages were coming up behind them.
Willow’s heart sank when more shadowy figures emerged from the woods behind Declan and the others. There were only five more of them, but twenty-eight against six weren’t the best odds. Still, they were better than the odds she’d faced only minutes ago. And she didn’t care what it took; she would make sure Vicky returned to her son.Shemight strangle her first, but Wyatt would get his mom back.
When she looked to Declan again, a surge of hope shot through her when she saw the fiery determination in his reddened eyes. The chances of them finding her in this forest were slim to none, but here they were, so that had to mean they would make it out of here alive. She’d never really considered fate much before, but she was now, and she hoped it was on their side.
Willow smiled when Declan gave her a brief nod, and then she sprinted away from the cliff. She swung her stake out, not intending to kill something, but to use it as a distraction.
It worked as the Savage ducked. She lifted her knee and drove it into the vamp’s face. Before she could take satisfaction in its scream, she pushed it away to take on the next Savage coming at her.
The Savage charged at her from a hunched-over position like he was going to tackle her around the waist. Lifting her arms over her head, she prepared to drive her stake through its back, but before she could, a hand seized her wrist and yanked it down.
She didn’t hesitate before driving the heel of her palm into the Savage’s nose. As it released her and staggered back, Willow grasped a handful of the woman’s hair and yanked it to the side as the other Savage tackled her. Dragging the woman to the ground with her, Willow buried her stake into the neck of the vamp who tackled her and yanked it out.
The hot blood spraying out of the creature caused her mouth to water as her fangs pricked. She was so famished, this thing’s putrid blood looked good, but she restrained herself from drinking it as she locked her legs around its waist. Releasing the woman’s hair, she flipped the bloody Savage over.
Its fingers scrabbled at her while it tried to stifle the flow of its blood. She settled herself on its chest, lifted the stake over her head, and plunged the weapon through its heart as something hit her from behind.
Unwilling to waste time on the Savages behind him, Declan charged through the trees and toward the Savages going after Willow. They remained unaware of his presence until he grasped the jacket of a vamp and yanked it backward.
Before the Savage could react, Declan twisted its head to the side and tore it off. Palming the skull, he threw it at another Savage. The head hit the vamp so hard in the chest it knocked him back a few feet before he staggered to the side and went over the cliff.
