swirls of blinding white snow. Nausea nearly overpowering her, she closed her eyes and clung to the demon’s neck. She thought she heard Eilea screaming, but she was too terrified to look down.
The demon flew through the storm over the sounds of protectors roaring, wolves howling, and guns firing.
The shifters and demons were at war!
BLOWING SNOW BLURRING his vision, Constantine faced down his opponent with a fanged grin. The guard had gotten lucky and fired off one shot into his shoulder, but Constantine easily swept the weapon out of his hands before grabbing the man by the throat and hoisting him into the air. Did these foolish humans think they were a match for the might of the Amaroki? Even a winter storm couldn’t stop these powerful shifters.
“You will pay for crossing us,” he growled, icy wind slapping his face. Good thing he wore a coat of thick fur.
The man lost control of his bladder, then went limp. Constantine tossed him aside, grabbed a heavy tree limb, and swept the battlefield, soldiers falling like dominoes.
Tatiana’s terrified screams resounded in Constantine’s head. A large black shadow passed overhead, and he looked up. Tatiana struggled in the arms of a giant, winged beast.
“Tatiana!” he yelled and projected an urgent message to his brothers. A winged demon took Tatiana!
I’m on it, Dimitri answered.
Constantine lurched backward when a soldier shot him in the chest. He hurled a heavy tree limb at the turret, where a line of soldiers stood. It flew through the air like a missile. Three soldiers fell, screaming, hitting the ground hard. The remaining soldiers abandoned their post as the turret began to crumble.
Constantine nearly tripped over his furry feet as he stumbled forward. His chest ached, and he looked at the crimson bullseye that was spreading across his white fur. Damn. That guard had gotten a lucky shot. His legs felt encrusted in concrete as he tried to move, but his knees gave way. Heartbeat slowing to a dull thud, he heard Andrei call that he’d been hit, too.
He sent a silent prayer to the Ancients, not for his life but for Tatiana’s.
Chapter Twelve
DIMITRI THREW THE GUARD to the ground and stomped on his head. He didn’t want to kill him, but the man had shot Andrei in the leg. His brother, still in wolf form, howled and limped while Dejan sniffed his wound. Picking up Andrei, Dimitri laid him down in a ditch, alarmed when he saw the blood flowing from him. The guard must have hit an artery.
He blinked at the hazy sky when a big black shadow flew overhead. The sound of Tatiana’s screams from on high made him crazy.
A winged demon took Tatiana! Constantine’s thought ricocheted through his mind.
Dimitri looked at his brothers.
Go, Dejan said, nuzzling Andrei’s leg. I’ve got him.
I’m on it. Without giving them a second glance, Dimitri jumped from the ditch and ran into the forest. He shifted into wolf form, heedless of rocks and branches that chafed his paws or the icy wind that pelted his face as he chased after the shadow.
His heart pumped overtime as he followed it to the heart of the forest. They were heading for Hoia Baciu! If they crossed over into the veil, Tatiana would be badly burned, not to mention the demonic forest turned shifters into undead monsters. He had to stop them.
He ran as fast as he could, but the winged demon flew faster. His heart hammered so hard, he feared it would burst, and a strange brain fog and depression settled over him.
They were almost to the veil of mist that separated the living from his childhood nightmares.
Tatiana begged for help as they neared the white mist. Moments later the winged demon dove into the veil, and her screams were muted. His fated mate couldn’t be lost to him, but if he went in after her, he risked losing his mind and bringing on a curse that turned him into an unholy monster.
He spied his second alpha father, Jovan, in protector form, out of the corner of his eye, guarding the front of the veil no more than thirty yards away. Jovan roared for him to stop. He had no choice. Tatiana’s life came first.
He shifted back into a protector and leaped into the mist, wailing in anguish when it burned his skin. His entire body itched so badly, it felt as if he’d run through a swarm of hornets. He fought the urge to scratch his flesh to shreds. He had to