can provide. Cole and I tapped into darker energies before, and I’m willing to do that again.”
“How dark are we talking here?”
Before Tristan could answer, the distant howl of a few Half Breeds drifted through the air and a lithe body separated from the shadows within the nearby trees. It bounded toward the reservoir in swift, agile steps. Judging from the shape of its head and body, along with the fact that it stopped when it caught sight of the humans, Paige guessed it wasn’t a Half Breed. The creature trotted closer, favoring one of its forepaws. When it shifted to walk on two legs, it became a naked woman who held one arm across her chest for reasons that had nothing to do with modesty.
“The remaining Half Breeds are scattered,” Quinn confirmed. “My pack is almost completely destroyed, but we should be able to get you to safety if you come along with us now.”
Tristan lowered her head and closed her eyes. “Let them come.”
“They’re stronger than we’ve ever seen,” the Mongrel said. “Perhaps they are drawing from the Breaking Moon, but the fewer there are, the worse they get.”
“Take him to shelter,” Paige said while nodding to Milosh. “He’s wounded.”
“To hell with that!” he said. “If we are to die here, then we all die.”
“Bring the wretches to us,” Tristan said, ignoring the Amriany. “They can produce the energy I need.”
“You can draw strength from Half Breeds?” Paige asked.
“A little,” Tristan replied, “but I need a pure source that only comes from humans. We take our power from your spirits, which is heightened by emotion. There is no time to collect in our normal way, so I must draw from your fear.”
Paige had heard about wicked forest sprites and beautiful witches who drained humans of their essences and souls, but hadn’t connected them to Dryads until now. “There’s one problem,” she said while driving the thorns of her weapon handles into her palms. “I’m not afraid.”
“That is not the only darkness within the human soul,” Tristan replied. “Stand your ground and don’t fight the wretches. Let them overtake you.”
“There are maybe two or three Half Breeds left,” Quinn said. “Even if they were anywhere close, we couldn’t bring them back here.” When several gargoyles shrieked in the distance, she added, “I think you see why.”
Tristan’s eyes were closed, and even in the moonlight, the subtle shading of her skin and the smooth texture of her flesh was plain to see. The fact that she was still wet from the water spray coming from the reservoir only added to her sensuality. “There’s nothing I can do for you.”
“What?”
“There’s not enough in you for me to use. I won’t be able to do this.”
“Now you tell us? What about Cole’s plan?”
The Dryad shrugged and turned her back on the Skinner and Amriany. “You’re right. It was a stupid plan. Sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Paige bellowed as the Half Breeds thundered toward her. “And now you’re leaving?” The air around her started to crackle, but Paige was too fired up to notice.
Tristan propped a hand casually on her hip and said, “Sorry, sweetie. Guess we have to leave Cole on his own. But that’s nothing new for you, is it?”
“What did you just say to me?”
Nadya and Milosh spoke to each other in clipped phrases pulled from their own language. For once they truly didn’t seem to know what to do.
“Fuck you, lady!” Paige roared. “If the world’s going to hell right now, then that’s the last thing I want to say! Fuck you!”
“There we go,” Tristan sighed as the crackling in the air turned into a spark that blinded every human eye in the vicinity.
The green glow was brighter than the other Dryad bridges she’d used, but Paige recognized the tumbling feeling that came along with it. Instead of having to step through a curtain set up at a temple to mark the spot where the mystical opening would appear, the ground simply opened up beneath her feet and she fell just over five thousand miles in the span of a few minutes.
Chapter Thirty-One
Hailuoto, Finland
A few minutes earlier
There was an explosion, after which Cole thought he fell for an eternity. He’d traveled through Dryad bridges before, but those were jumps between cities, no more impressive than stepping from one room and landing in another. The trips had been more difficult after he acquired the broken, hungry tendrils that wrapped around his insides, but only in a dizzying, disoriented way. This was beyond