too. But he wasn’t about to back down. “I assure you, bella, I will do whatever I need to do to keep you safe.”
Summer’s lips went mulishly stubborn. She might look like me, but that expression was pure Daniel. “I can solve everything quickly and no one else needs to die. Do you honestly think I can live with myself if I’m the reason my parents and the male I love dies?”
I had to wonder if I’d sounded like that when I was young. It was annoying. And honestly, when I thought about it, maybe she’d gotten this from Danny, too. “I don’t care about anything but you surviving this.”
Kelsey had ditched her helmet, but she had that sword she wouldn’t let go of in her hand. “Dean says he feels something. Magic. Big magic coming our way.”
I glanced over and Dean was staring at the living wall Dev had erected between us and almost certain annihilation. There was a deeply intent expression on his face that made me wonder exactly what he was feeling.
Summer frowned as she considered him. “Dean, maybe you should step back.”
Dean’s hands came up suddenly, and when he looked my way, his eyes were shining and the air around him crackled with magic. “No. She’s going to burn it all down. Get behind me. Now!”
I heard a crack and then Dev tackled me, shoving me Dean’s way. We hit the ground and rolled as the Taggarts and Adam did the same. Marcus picked up Summer and they made their way to Dean as I felt a wave of heat coming our way. It was like the air had been sucked up and replaced with fire.
“Try to give me some cover,” Kelsey yelled and I watched in horror as she ran for Daniel, who’d been left behind. He wasn’t as fast as the others. There was a good fifty feet between us.
I felt the moment Dean put up his shield. It was like I could breathe again and the heat lessened. The wall of green in front of us caught fire and began to dissolve in a wave of flame that sent billowy smoke into the air, but Dean managed to keep it off us. He couldn’t do the same for anyone not standing behind him. He had to concentrate because that fire was coming directly our way.
Dean stood, his arms in the air as he projected a shield with his magic. His whole body was tense and he was so young to be standing there, the only barrier between us and death. Yet he was firm, not hesitating to put himself in harm’s way.
He just might be the hero we needed to save our plane.
Kelsey made it to Danny, but there was no time to get back to us before that wave hit. Dev stood and raised a hand, trying to give them more cover. He was trying to use the trees and plants, but they burned, too.
I heard myself scream as the flames engulfed them both.
* * * *
Kelsey
I knew the minute Dean screamed out that we were in serious trouble. I thought the massive wall of green Dev had erected would give us time, but Dean had simply stared at it. While everyone else had been arguing about what to do now that the bikes were dead, Dean had stared and whispered under his breath as though trying to strengthen the wall. As though he knew something was coming.
So when he yelled to get behind him, I was damn happy to see Dev immediately leap for the queen. Taggart got his wife and ran for cover while Marcus picked up Summer. Adam had taken a tactical position behind Dean.
That left the king running for us. And I knew in that moment that he wouldn’t make it.
I wasn’t sure what was coming our way, but it would be bad, and he was the most fragile of us. It was odd to think of him that way because normally I’d be more than happy to hide behind his indestructible ass. And he would have offered up his strength to all of us. So I followed my instincts. I couldn’t be less than me, and that meant risking it all because I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.
I ramped up my speed and senses. I could hear something barreling our way, and the scent of smoke and ash hit my nose. Fire. Erna was sending a wave of fire our way. I had vampire blood