Tess. Tess had a silver necklace she wore al the time. It glinted in the moonlight. Chloe reached over, jerking it off her friend’s neck.
The wolf arched back, jaws gaping, Tess’s blood leaking from the side of her mouth, to howl her triumph at the moon. “Aaaa-oooh.”
Chloe cupped her friend’s necklace in her palm, thrust it into the she-wolf’s mouth, and lit up another firebal to force the melting silver to coat the inside of the wolf bitch’s throat.
The wolf’s jaw locked around Chloe’s wrist, and her fangs made screaming agony shoot up Chloe’s arm and directly into her brain. She stared into the female wolf’s eyes as the silver ripped into her bloodstream, kil ing her quickly and painful y. Her every breath and every heartbeat sped her demise. Her feral eyes glazed over with death in moments. The crunch and crackle of Change sounded as her body shriveled back into its human form. Chloe wrenched her injured arm out of the wolf’s mouth, whispering a few healing spel s to stop the bleeding, but Tess needed her energy far more.
Slamming her hand over Tess’s femoral artery, Chloe felt the pressure of each heartbeat pulsing blood between her fingers. She closed her mind to doing the same thing for Merek that morning. He was gone, but Tess could stil live. Even with Chloe’s ful weight pressing down on the bite, some blood escaped. She focused her magic on healing the wound. It didn’t matter if her friend had been bitten if she didn’t survive the initial injury.
Down. get down. DOWN.
The whispering echo of premonition hit Chloe so hard she swayed before she ducked. Just in time. A hulking half-shifted werewolf sailed over her head, skidding into the dark and out of sight. Smith. She heard him scrabble against the rooftop, leaping back for round two. She cast a shield so hard he ricocheted off and kept on flying to hit the railing, but he didn’t go over.
I regret that your death was always going to be necessary, but at least you were more useful than Dr.
Nemov. The wolf projected the thought as he righted himself and shook al over, like a wet dog. He stalked her slowly, his eyes looking for an opening.
“You’re ful of shit, Smith. If you real y regretted what you did, you would have stopped years ago. My only comfort is knowing that when my aunt finds out about this, she’l make sure you never use my formula to get what you want. If anyone has the power to stop you, she does.” Chloe’s energy levels were in the toilet, and she had very little magic left. This night had taken its tol . She swayed to her feet, tottering, planting her feet to keep from toppling as she watched him circle Tess and her. Easy prey. She lifted her chin and glared at him. “Just get on with it and quit playing with your food, you filthy animal. ”
Smith bayed at the ful moon and charged her. He bounced off her warding spel , and she sliced at him with red flames. Seared fur roiled and stank. Noxious fumes hit her in the face. He roared with pain and rage, letting out an unholy keen. The blood-chil ing sound froze her for a second too long. He crashed through her weakened shield, knocking her away from Tess.
They rol ed over and over until Chloe slammed hard onto her back, doubling over and gagging as her breath exploded out. His knee made hard contact with her ribs, and a few of them gave way. Hot pain tore through her torso, shooting through her in nauseating waves. He straddled her, pushing his crushing weight down on her waist, and she felt herself blacking out until he snaked out an arm and clawed her from shoulder to breast. His talons slashed through skin and muscle, making her scream, raw and high-pitched.
Thrusting the sound forward with magic, she made the shriek worthy of a banshee. Smith reared back, loosing an agonized howl, slamming his hands over his sensitive ears. She scrabbled back on the hard pavement, breaking nails and skinning palms in her effort to get out from under him.
She skidded into the corner of the rooftop. Trapped, but at the moment the railing was the only thing holding her upright. Blood spil ed, heavy and thick, from her chest. She pressed a hand over the wound, but it proved too large to cover. Her breathing hitched in torturously, every inhale and exhale a conscious effort.
She had never known real pain before this moment.
The moon went dark behind clouds, and she could barely see him in the remaining gloom. Only the reflection of his eyes showed, which looked demonic and horrifying. The night had never been more terrifying than at this moment. Her heart raced like that of the cornered prey she was. She fought to keep from blacking out, clamping her hand tighter over her shoulder.
Smith’s rancid breath blasted into her face as he closed in. She slammed her eyes shut and lit up a flare in his face. He staggered back, blinded by the light as she shot the sparks as high into the air as her waning magic could make them go. Maybe they’d bring help. Maybe Alex and Tess would be saved. She had no faith left for herself. What little energy she had went into sending up the flare.
Smith came back, of course. She knew he would. Werewolves were bigger, stronger, faster, and she had no more tricks up her sleeve. She sagged against the rail, consciousness fading in and out.
She wasn’t sure if what she saw was real or pure dream, but it made a weak smile curve her lips.
Ophelia, her suicidal escape artist familiar, came streaking through the dark. She leaped onto Smith and dug in with vicious precision, hooking claws into his eyes and sinking teeth into his left ear.
The massive wolf howled with rage, trying to buck her off. He spun and twisted like a maddened rodeo bul . She hung on, though. He backed into Chloe, tripping and crashing. Something in her knee gave way where he stepped on it. She tried to scream again, but went into a fit of hacking coughs, which increased the pain ripping across her chest. He and Ophelia flailed over the rail.
“Ophelia, ” she wheezed as loud as she could, which just made her cough harder.
“Meow,” the familiar returned, and Chloe started. Ophelia had gone over the rail. Chloe knew she had.
She’d seen her.
It was a dream. It had to be.
Because an enormous dark angel swooped from the sky and brought her Merek. He cradled her close, kissed her mouth, and she tasted honey. He said her name over and over again, but she couldn’t draw in enough air to speak.
The angel transformed into Luca, who sagged to his knees beside Tess. “Mia diletta?”
There was no response. Maybe Tess had died, too. If this was death, it hurt enough to steal Chloe’s breath away. She couldn’t see Alex. She hoped that meant he’d survived.
“No,” Luca choked out the word, then he screamed it. “No!”
A tear ran unchecked down his cheek, dripping off of his chin. He lifted Tess gently against his chest and rocked her, a deep sob racking his body as he buried his face against her long hair.
Chloe blinked slowly, aware that Merek was talking to her. Or maybe he was talking to Luca. She wasn’t sure. She was just glad she could see him. One last time.
The darkness she hated so much closed in and took her away from him.
16
The astringent smel s of a hospital assaulted Chloe’s nose. It confused her, left her disoriented. Was she back in med school? Her residency? She licked her lips, found them cracked. Her body ached, but she couldn’t remember why.
Soft light shone through her eyelids, and when she opened them, she saw an atrocious seashel night-light. With glitter. A smile curved her lips, and a snort of laughter ended on a sob. For a single moment, her heart flew.
Merek!