“So now you get along with him?” I turn to Cole, a slight tilt to his lips as he watches the large wolf trying to nuzzle me again.

“You were standing in front of me just a minute ago. Thinking the big bad wolf would eat me.” At this, Jace’s wolf makes a huffing noise, and I swear the beast was laughing. By the look in his dark golden eyes, he was more than likely thinking, I already have.

Cole shocks me when a warm smile spreads across his face, his eyes flickering between Jace and me.

Just as I'm about to ask him what he’s thinking, two large beasts rush past us and toward the door that leads to the stairs. Damn it.

We turn toward them, ready to take chase, just as Ilyric swiftly passes us, blades at the ready and pursuing the fleeing beasts. He shouts over his shoulder as he leaves the room. “They’re mine!”

We don't get much time to think as a loud shriek echoes out through the room. The sound is so loud and agonizing that it stops everyone, freezing them to the spot. Even the grotesque beasts are bent over in agony.

I cover my ears from the torturous sound, the noise excruciating and bone-chilling.

A cold shiver runs through my veins as I turn toward the source of the noise.

Three of the large dark figures stand in the center of the room, cloaked in darkness and surrounded by black shadows, slowly billowing around them like mist.

These three were larger in stature than the other two. More than seven feet tall, their build covered in their dark cloaks and shadows. They looked as if they were darkened by death itself. Their dark-clawed hands and pointed, gaunt fingers were black and barbed, their faces covered in blackened veins as they stare at the corpse of one of their own. The one Ilyric and Lucien were fighting.

I search for Lucien, having already seen Ilyric in passing. I look up to the ceiling just as I feel a gentle breeze surround me. Black feathers encase me, a gentle warmth on my back as Lucien's silky voice whispers in my ear, “Looking for me, little doe?”

A small smile splits my lips as I shake my head.

A growl brings me back to the present as the three dark figures turn their attention our way, their blackened eyes gleaming as they stare toward us.

Fine…Let the battle begin.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The deathly figures suddenly begin to chant their unknown language in unison, the black mist seeping from them growing darker and murky. It billows out, flowing from them and into the Library around them. Two supes from the Library group that Jace helped earlier get caught in the mist. They begin convulsing and gasping for air. The black smoke creeps into their bodies, black veins like spider threads spreading on their faces and limbs. They gasp for air before going completely stiff, falling to the floor, their eyes frozen wide and bodies lifeless.