Page 131 of A Trial By Blood

Demons. The echo of their excited frenzy traveled to us through the forest.

Rose.

Relic snarled beside me, and we ran full speed toward them.

I spotted them a moment later, at least six, far in the distance. They were digging, scraping at the dirt.

Rose was there, somewhere. I felt her, sensed her, but I couldn’t see her. Fuck. “She’s underground,” I roared.

Someone had buried her alive.

The demons didn’t see us, too intent on uncovering her. We were almost there. Almost. Hold on, petal. Hold on.

The demons reached down—

Planks of wood flew up, splintering, and Rose exploded out of the ground.

The demons stumbled back, and I stared in shock. She hovered above the ground, her white, glittering wings sprouting from her back, beating heavily, holding her in the air. She was completely transformed, her fangs had extended past her lower lip, and red veins were visible through her now almost translucent skin. Her ears were pointed, fingers elongated and tipped with deadly claws, and her eyes were glossy obsidian and filled with fury.

One of the demons collected himself and ran at her. Rose swiped a clawed hand, cutting open the demon’s face and throat, and he fell to the ground. She beat her wings harder, trying to get higher as another went for her. She shrieked, but not in fear, in rage. The sound wasn’t human and echoed like a warning through the forest. The demon paused, and she lashed out with those deadly claws a second time, slicing the demon’s chest wide open.

We were almost to her when another demon ran at her—

Bats burst through the trees, so many they were a moving black cloud. They flew around Rose, swooping and diving at the demon, covering it in thousands of tiny cuts from their sharp claws and fangs.

One of the demons dropped to the ground, rolling away from the bats, then jumped up and ran at her again. Rose lifted a hand and shrieked a second time. The demon didn’t make it to her, hitting an invisible barrier and flying backward.

He got back up, but instead of running back at her, the last demon spun and ran into the forest.

Then we were finally there.

Rose hovered above, surrounded by her army of vampire bats as power radiated from her.

I looked up at her, breathing hard, as she lowered herself to the ground. Her wings folded in, disappearing completely. Her ears, fingers, and claws doing the same, but her eyes were still black as night when she ran to me.

I caught her in my arms.

“I knew you’d come,” she said against my throat.

I lifted her, her legs coming around my waist, and she clung to me tighter. “I’ve got you, petal.” Though I’d done nothing, my female had saved herself.

Relic shifted back to his human form and cursed as he looked up at the bats still flying above.

Rose lifted her head, and tears filled her eyes. “I called and they came,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was doing until they were there. But now I do.” She smiled up at them. “I didn’t think I’d ever have a familiar, but that’s what they are, Ronan, all of them. I can feel them.” She made a strange sound, tiny, high-pitched noises and little shrieks. The bats responded, swooped in a wide circle above her, then flew back to wherever they came from.

“What did you say to them?”

She frowned.

I cupped her dirt-streaked face. “You made sounds, not words.”

“Fucking hell, the female speaks bat,” Relic said.

She had.

I knew she was strong and brave, but what I’d just seen—my female was fucking powerful. But then, that was something I’d already known, even without having witnessed what I had.

She released me, and I reluctantly lowered her to her feet. She swiped away her tears. “What happened to Vesa?” she asked Relic.