Chapters (42)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT PAGE
- DEDICATION PAGE
- CONTENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Struggling bodies were all around me, and I couldn’t lash out with knives or heels because I was terrified of hurting or killing one of my friends. I tried to shout for Malachi. He was fighting for his life—and mine—just a few feet away, thinking I was safe inside the vehicle. Like it was all going down in slow motion, I watched his clipped, precise, and devastating swings as he drove the Mazikin off. Jim had dropped his staff and was resorting to hand-to-hand combat, staying just outside of the deadly arc of Malachi’s staff. I was failing them. With a desperate wrench, I drew one of my knives and plunged it into Greg’s arm.
He cursed and caught my fist in midair as it descended again, stripping me of the knife with a brutal twist of my wrist. His hand stifled my shriek as the white-hot pain shot up my arm. As he dragged me farther from the rear doors of the SUV, I saw both Ian and Levi struggling with Mazikin, barely keeping the creatures’ jaws away from their faces. I was thrown onto my stomach on one of the seats, and Greg crashed down on top of me.
“She’s really strong. You’ll need more than one,” Greg called as he fought to keep me beneath him, mostly by squeezing my broken wrist, grinding the splinters of my bones together, making me fight to keep from passing out. Finally, he hoisted me up and shoved me shoulders-first out the shattered window, cutting up my side and shredding my dress. A body reeking of incense grabbed my arms and began to tug, pulling me out of the SUV. I kicked out at the last second, nailing Greg in the chest with the deadly heel of my shoe. His mouth dropped open in stupid surprise, and he fell backward into the SUV.
The Mazikin dropped me, and I landed on my hands and knees on the asphalt, and then collapsed onto my chest as my broken wrist failed me completely. Rough hands ripped my garters off, stripping me of my knives. I kicked out again and again, and then lunged under the SUV, but one of them grabbed my legs and dragged me back. Once again, I tried to call out, but all that came from my mouth were wordless cries. I didn’t know if I wanted Malachi to hear those.
Two Mazikin, a balding man who looked like he should have been behind a desk and a woman with most of her teeth missing, gripped my arms and yanked me up, while another Mazikin wrapped himself around my legs.
“We’ve got her!” the woman called to someone over her shoulder.