He must have been going in the right direction because Vinya followed. Antonio shrugged and went next. For my part, I took to the air and flew up above the canopy, intent on catching up to Vaughn. The Habermanns took him away after we rescued Antonio, and that had been horrible. Then, he’d almost died. No way I would get separated from him again.
My wings whirred as I pushed forward. It was noon, and the sun beat relentlessly on my back. I flew against a hot breeze, squinting against the bright sunshine. Soon, I caught sight of the sparkling ocean ahead of us. I glanced down and, through the canopy, saw that Vaughn had almost reached the end of the trees and would soon enter the beach.
I flew higher, my eyes scanning the open space as the trees fell back. To the left, I spotted movement, the guards running away from us. Spurring my wings, I got ahead of my group, and when Vaughn broke out of the trees, I silently pointed him in the correct direction. Without hesitation, he veered left and, when he spotted the group, he threw down his backpack and belt, and shifted midstride. He exploded into his magnificent werewolf shape in midair, his front paws hitting with a spray of sand.
He ran, eating up the distance between him and the guards at a mind-boggling speed, and it was all I could do to keep up with him. The muscles in my back hurt from strain, but I stayed on his tail, flying a few feet above him. I threw a glance backward, looking for Vinya and Antonio. I saw no sign of them. Vinya needed to stay hidden. Her spells provided the only way out of here, and we couldn’t risk her getting hurt. Still, couldn’t she help from the shadows?
With a loud snarl, Vaughn announced our presence. The half dozen guards stopped and whirled to face us.
“We got this. You keep going and get that bitch,” a squat man as thick as a tree stump said as he aimed his gun.
As half of his group peeled off and kept running, a blur appeared out of the nearby trees. The dark shape hit the man from the side, sending him sprawling to the shore with a splash.
Antonio had arrived.
I blinked as the vamp rolled off the man. He must have taken a different path to get here. With preternatural speed, he pulled out a gun and shot. The guard, who had been trying to stand, dropped back as the bullet hit him in the chest.
The other guards discharged their weapons, aiming them at Vaughn. He zigzagged, avoiding the bullets, crashed into another guard, and knocked him off his feet. The guard fell and hit his head on a rock and didn’t move again.
As Antonio and Vaughn prepared another attack on the last remaining guard, I decided to keep flying, intent on reaching my aunt. She was still ahead of the other group of three guards, though the considerable distance she’d had on them was quickly shrinking.
I pressed forward, catching up to them. Abruptly, one of the three whirled and aimed at me with his gun. Instinctively, I dodged and went invisible. A bullet whizzed by, missing me by a mere inch. I dipped close to the sand and kept going, zigzagging the way Vaughn had done in case the guard had enhanced senses and could hear my whirring wings.
Disoriented by my disappearing act, the man let loose a few more shots toward the sky, way off his mark. It seemed he was only a Regular and heard nothing of my approach. When I came upon him, I unsheathed my sword and sliced it across his legs. He fell, screaming in surprise and painting the white sand crimson.
I flew after the two remaining guards, my wings beating at their max. The men glanced back, their eyes going wild as they noticed their partner twisting in the sand and no apparent attacker in sight.
You’re next, assholes!
I flew closer as they kept their pursuit of my aunt. I was about to cut one of them at the knees when he suddenly stopped, reached out, and took hold of my arm. Surprised, I didn’t have time to react as he pulled, throwing me off balance.
I hit the ground at full speed, and my momentum carried me forward. I tumbled head over heels, sprays of sand shooting in every direction, filling my mouth and stinging my eyes. The sword flew out of my hand. I slid to a stop in the dirt.
Before I could rise, the guard jumped on top of me, pinning me down, crushing my wings with his weight. I frantically blinked sand out of my eyes. My attacker was a blur above me, but I saw the moment he reached for his gun.
Panicked, I went for my knife, and, as he took aim, I stabbed him in the gut.
He jerked, and the shot went wild, hitting the ground a few feet away from my head.
I twisted the knife. The guard groaned and fell limp on top of me.
I pushed him off me and dizzily got to my feet. I swayed in place, trying to get my bearings. My hands flickered on and off as I struggled to remain invisible. That was when the remaining guard noticed me and aimed his gun straight at my head.
Chapter Ten
I stared at the gun barrel, my heart pounding. Once again, a trigger-happy guard was ready to end my life. He stood twenty feet away, close enough to take my head off with his large, metal pistol, and from the menacing look on his face, it seemed he’d decided on murder.
He wanted me dead, that was clear.
I held out a hand, hoping to stall. The others were close. If I bought them time, they could help me. “Don’t shoot—”
He sneered and pulled the trigger.
I heard the sound of the gun going off, saw the explosion of fire in the tube aimed right at me. The bullet sped out, ready to take my life.
I dove aside far too late. As I sailed in the air, I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the punch of the bullet, a feeling I’d experienced just the day before and didn’t want to replicate. I waited for the thud of metal to burn through my body.
But it didn’t come.
Instead, a muffled yip sounded as I sensed something large dive in front of me.
Flinging my eyelids open, I spotted the large, brown shape that had appeared between me and the guard.
Vaughn.
He ran, pouncing just before he got to the guard. The surprised man tried to squeeze off another round, but he was too slow. Vaughn’s huge paws planted on either of the guard’s shoulders and took him down. A thump and a crunch were followed by a garbled moan. Then, Vaughn pulled away and circled toward me.
“I’m fine,” I said, waving the wolf off until I noticed blood trailing down his massive shoulder. “You’re shot!”
He’d taken a bullet for me. Of course, he did. My panic blotted out all thought as I started toward him.
The wolf shook his head as if telling me to leave it alone. I stopped. He could heal from a non-magical bullet. Still, all the blood... I bit my lip, having a hard time not rushing to his aid.
“Tally, Vaughn!” Antonio waved at us from the tree line. Beside him stood Vinya and Kiana.
“They’ve got her,” I said, feeling both relief and anxiety about speaking to my aunt for the first time since everything that had transpired. I’d betrayed her. She’d betrayed all of us. There was a lot to deal with.
I didn’t have much time to mull over what I might say because the thundering sound of tires rumbled down the beach. We’d taken out the guards here, half a dozen of them, but the Habermanns had sent reinforcements. Likely more than those we’d scattered around the beach. Lots more.
We had to go. Now.
“Hurry,” Vinya said, making a circling motion with her hands.
With a glance at Vaughn, we both took off in their direction.
As I flew beside the galloping wolf, I kept glancing at the bullet wound. It already looked better. Less blood oozed out, and the hole seemed smaller, but it was little consolation to the fact that Vaughn could have been killed trying to save me. If that bullet had hit his heart…