Wolfborn: Hunted (Excerpt)

The Forest

Meghan found the unexpected quiet in the small clearing disturbing. Would I die next? She wondered.

Strange words caused a momentary oppression in the air, andArlene appeared beside her, seemingly out of thin air. It startled her. Lord Darren dropped to his feet on her other side with grace and power, surprising her a second time.

Devon, Lord Darren's marked werewolf lover, appeared just to the left of Arlene, her right hand slick with blood and a human heart lying at her feet.

Strange, slightly luminous runes glowed on their foreheads, and she had never been so glad to see anyone.

She was grateful—no matter what elven magic brought them here. If they arrived only a few minutes later, she would have suffered a horrible and humiliating death at the hands of the dark fae. And despite her age, she wasn't ready to die.

"Let's go find the rest of your people?" Arlene, Lord Darren's bonded elf and best friend, suggested dryly. Despite her species, she proved herself a loyal companion to King Duncan's bastard son.

It was still hard for Meghan to think of him as her half-brother, this man who would soon inherit the vampire throne.

For once, she had nothing to say.

Arlene handed the wolf a small vial, and Meghan watched High King Wolfgang Creed's rogue daughter approach. The change in Devon since they first met was noticeable.

Something of her pride of bearing had returned, and the shadows in her eyes were fewer. Rumor had it that this former princess had been through hell, and if she were honest with herself, she admired this young woman. She was a survivor, and despite being disavowed, the Creed bloodline in this wolf showed no signs of her Dragonov vampire heritage.

A blacked-out entry in an ancestry register can't alter the truth of who she is.

Devon wiped her bloodied hand on her pants and then dipped it in the paint.

"This elven magic makes us invisible," Devon explained as she applied the paint to Meghan's forehead.

The cold liquid made Meghan uneasy. Although the lycan avoided her eyes, she was damn well mocking Meghan's fear of the unknown. The elf spoke again, and the oppression returned.

"We have to find Calder," Meghan blurted out.

"That was our plan, dear sister, but we thought we'd find you first. I would not have some fae scum dishonoring my kin." He didn't wait for her to react as he flitted forward, then waited for them to follow.

Another fae crashed into the clearing. Arlene rushed him, lobbed off his head, and continued forward without even waiting for it to fall. She passed Lord Darren and kept going.

Meghan raised a brow as Devon adroitly sidestepped the spray of arterial blood arching through the air as the body collapsed.

Lord Darren used a moment of vampire speed to steal the lead back from the elf. It made Arlene glance at him with eyes that defied his competitive streak, and he grinned at her.

Calder was wrong, Meghan surmised. These three powerful beings did not much need their help to survive.

Only her vampire speed allowed her to keep track of them. She did not fancy being in this forest alone . . . not again, even if she was invisible.

Devon found being invisible both eerie and a kind of high. Their foes had ambushed them at the bridge like cowards, and now the four of them hunted those adversaries without mercy. They picked the fae off one by one without hesitation or allowing themselves a moment to rest.