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Niah glared at her. “You know I’m not going to leave you, and I know I’m going to regret this,” she seethed. With another heavy sigh, she turned to the forest and looked back at Gwen over her shoulder. “If I tell you to run, you run. Got it?”
Gwen nodded. She wanted to hug her, but Niah was already on the move. The vampire cursed as she stalked into the woods. “Stay low,” she ordered Gwen. “And watch for my signals. This place is crawling with fucking paladins.”
Niah was fast and focused. She led them through the woods and around the paladins without drawing them into a fight. Fighting would take time. They didn’t have time.
Something moved in the sky, and Gwen looked up. The sight of Barith ablaze, with his wings spread against the snowy night sky, stole her breath. The winged paladin he’d been fighting landed with a crunch in the thicket only a few yards away, and Barith shot forward out of sight.
“He’s useful when he’s mad,” Niah observed, a tinge impressed.
A spray of violet magick filled the air. “Levian and Barith are holding the line,” Niah explained as she went over to the fallen paladin. By the look on her face, Gwen assumed he was dead. Her stomach heaved, and she swallowed to force her nerves back down. “Rath is dealing with the few who were unlucky enough to have made it into the castle. They think we’ve hidden you inside.”
Gwen shivered. She didn’t want to think about what Rath was capable of in battle. She preferred to think of him knitting by the fire or chopping carrots in the kitchen.
“Where’s Sirus?” she asked desperately.
Niah didn’t answer at first. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “He went toward the west wood. To cut off a group of paladins coming from the back. He didn’t return.” For as much as Niah had insisted Sirus could take care of himself, Gwen could hear the concern in her voice.
Gwen could feel him. It was the only thing keeping her sane, giving her hope. The moment she’d arrived back in the woods, she could feel he was somewhere near. That he was alive. As she and Niah continued their way deeper into the forest, she could sense something else. Something powerful.
They passed the old, dilapidated stone dovecote Sirus had shown her on one of their walks and headed toward a small clearing. Niah snatched Gwen’s arm, stopping her as they approached the edge of the thicket of trees. The vampire nodded toward something, and Gwen followed her line of sight. Through the thickness of evergreens and snow, she could see someone ahead in the clearing. A dark shape. There was a flash of silver.
Niah pulled Gwen back. “This was a mistake,” the vampire hissed with raw regret. “We have to go.”
A surge of panic jolted through Gwen when a loud grunt of pain cut across the clearing. Sirus. She tried to move, but Niah held firm, pulling her further back in the direction they’d come.
“No,” Gwen declared in a loud whisper as she planted her feet and tried to tug herself free. “We can’t just leave him here alone.”
Niah looked down at Gwen with a strained expression. Her black eyes darted back to the clearing. The vampire pushed her hard back toward the dovecote, and Gwen stumbled, surprised by the force.
“Go,” Niah ordered her. “I’ll help Sirus. You find the others.” Niah pulled two daggers from her harness and stared her down.
Gwen could barely breathe as she tried to absorb everything that was happening. Tried to think through the panic that had overtaken her brain. There was another snarl in the distance, and she gasped.
“Go, Gwen,” Niah repeated harshly. “Now. Run!”
Niah was waiting, Gwen realized. Waiting until she was gone to help him. Gwen didn’t want to leave him. She had to do something. But fear and doubt took root deep inside her. Niah was an immortal warrior. Gwen was…nothing. She turned and ran into the forest. Barith wasn’t far. Maybe she could get to him and flag him down from the sky. He could help.
Gwen only made it back to the dovecote before she heard Sirus yell out, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Instinct took over, and Gwen sprinted back toward the vampires. There wasn’t time to find the others, she knew it. Niah had sent her away to keep her away. Sirus was in trouble, and now, because of her, so was Niah.
The winds stirred as she approached. Gwen felt the forest’s warning. She ignored it. A blood-curdling scream filled the clearing when she reached its edge. In horror, Gwen watched as Niah seized only feet in front of her, her back unnaturally rigid. The knives in her hands fell to the ground. She slumped forward and tumbled into the snow, motionless. Sirus roared in fury, lunging at the woman who was shrouded in shadow near him.
The priestess released a ball of dark fire that morphed into a black-winged, gargoyle-looking monster the size of a tiger. Sirus sliced at the creature, severing one of its wings. With a shrill shriek, the beast took hold of him in its giant talons and threw him back.
Everything began to slow as Gwen watched Sirus fight in the distance. She felt strangely out of body.
The beast tried to claw at Sirus on the ground but soon reeled back with a snarl of pain. Sirus plunged his sword through the vile thing’s chest, and with a few final squirms it evaporated into shadow.
You are of flesh and power. Bone and magick. Iathana’s words echoed in her mind. Gwen knew Sirus would have wanted her safe and far from here, just like Niah had said, but as she watched Sirus stumble up onto his feet, she knew what she had to do. He was coated in blood. His clothes singed, his eyes dark. It was so much like her dream. Her heart thrummed, with fear and love. She loved him, and she knew he would die to protect her. Iathana had been wrong. There may have been many paths she could have taken, but deep down Gwen knew this was the path she would always choose. The path to him.
She stepped out of the trees and rushed over to Niah. The vampire was breathing and not visibly injured, but she was twitching, and her eyes rolled strangely in her head. Gwen could feel the dark power radiating off of her and knew she was in pain.
She looked up, and Sirus met her eyes. The horrified look on his face nearly broke her heart.
“I was wondering when you would show yourself,” the High Priestess cooed as she took notice of Gwen too.
Gwen stood slowly, glaring at the woman with complete and utter hatred. The High Priestess replied with a soft smile. She was pale and tall, with long white hair. A black haze shifted around her slim body like a gown of darkness. Black wings of shadow spread at her back. The silver diadem she wore was set with blue stones that shimmered in the remaining moonlight and coming dawn. Her eyes were black, like Sirus’s, her veins dark and ominous against her fair skin. Everything about her felt vile.
This was the woman who had been hunting her. This was the person who had caused all this suffering. All to get to her.
