Page 67 of Investigation of a Quest

“She doesn’t care about humans at the moment,” Reese said. “She’s too focused on the fight brewing between Eamon, Ewan, and Ethan to bother paying attention to the mortals coming in the back door.”

“Ethan?” Bel echoed. “Our Ethan? The wolf.”

“The werewolf,” Griffin confirmed. “The three of them are waiting with a witch. They just need you clear of the building.”

“So Eamon can annihilate this witch,” Olivia said with something akin to love woven through her tone.

“Annihilate whom?” A voice dripping with venom asked, and the foursome skidded to a halt as Dorothy surged out of nowhere to block their path. “I should’ve known you would try something like this. You, sheriff, are a little too attached to this detective. You should’ve left her where she was because now I’m going to sacrifice you all. There are three alphas out in those woods. Detective Emerson’s death wasn’t enough to bind all three, but you just delivered yourselves to me on a silver platter. I should start with you, Detective Gold. Something about your scent tells me the bear loves⁠—”

Griffin raised his gun with practiced ease and punched a bullet through Dorothy’s heart without so much as blinking. “Run!”

Reese bolted, carrying Bel as if she were weightless past the stumbling witch. Olivia and Griffin tried to follow, but Dorothy regained her footing as if she’d merely been shoved and not shot in the chest.

“Fools.” Her hand flashed out, magic pulsing from her fingertips, and Olivia flew backward until she hung suspended in midair. “Bullets cannot stop me.”

“Olivia!” Bel reached over her father’s shoulder toward her trapped friend. She’d felt that inescapable power before. Alcina’s magic had held her captive above the forest floor as it pulled her heart from her chest. She knew there was no escaping it. No surviving it, and she screamed at her father to stop. To go back. To save her partner.

“Don’t stop!” Griffin roared as he aimed again, but Dorothy raised her free hand and threw magic at the sheriff. The man flew through the air and slammed into the wall like a rag doll. His unconscious body hit the ground, and despite their screams, he didn’t get up.

“Dad, we have to go back!” Bel tried to crawl out of his arms as Olivia screamed in agony. “Put me down! We have to go back.”

“No!” Reese grunted, the torture of his decision haunting his voice. “I’m not losing you. I’m not letting her use you to end the world.”

“Dad!” Bel reached over his shoulders as if she possessed the power to stop her partner’s pain with her mind. “Olivia! No, please! Daddy, stop!”

“I can’t,” he sobbed as he ran. “I can’t, baby girl. You have to live. That’s my job as your father. You have to live.”

“We can’t leave her to die!” Bel begged. “We can’t⁠—”

A violent roar shook the building a second before a monstrous bear burst into the hallway and collided with Olivia’s suspended body. She screamed at the force of the impact, but the shifter’s power ripped her from the witch’s hold and slammed her to the ground. Ignoring her pain, Ewan settled his mass over hers, his fangs bared for the fight, and a second later, Eamon charged into the fray, his hulking form flinging Dorothy across the room.

“Get them out of here!” he growled.

“What is he doing?” Reese tripped as he tried to control Bel’s thrashing. “You’re still inside. He was supposed to wait.”

“Get the humans out!” Eamon repeated.

“Eamon!” Bel shrieked. “Behind⁠—”

But she was too slow. Dorothy threw magic at the back of his head, and blood exploded from his mouth as he stumbled. Blood. He was spitting blood. The witch had made the son of Dracula spit blood, and Bel screamed.

“Go!” Eamon garbled through the thick crimson as he lurched forward. “Get away!”

“No!” Bel reached for him, her screams so loud that she thought she would pass out. “Eamon, no!”

“I love you,” he said as Dorothy slammed him with another bout of magic. More blood spewed from his mouth, but he whirled around and punched her in the face. She went down hard, giving Ewan and Olivia the chance to bypass them. The bear scooped the unconscious Griffin off the ground, and together the mortals bolted out into the open air.

“We have to go back!” Bel screamed.

“No,” Ewan’s distorted voice sounded through his snout. “You can’t die. None of you can. That’s how she wins.”

“I don’t care! I won’t leave him.”

“If he dies, you mourn,” Ewan said. “If you die, the world burns. That was the promise he made us all swear. Whoever reached you first got you out. We run, and we don’t stop.”

“Eamon!” Bel clawed at her father. “Eamon, fight!”

But it wasn’t the dhampir who emerged into the sunlight. Dorothy limped out into the open and twisted her hands in a spell. “His lover, her father, her boss, her best friend, and the bear all together! You’ve made this kill too easy!” the witch screamed triumphant, and then she threw a bolt of death magic at their fleeing backs.