“He’s dying.”
“He’s a reaper. How can he—”
“He’s also half human. And all the fae blades are poisoned. You have to help him.”
Donna shook her head. “I don’t know how.”
“Yes, you do. Turn him. It’s the only way to save him.”
Donna just stared at her. She’d never turned anyone. She had no idea how to do that. “I don’t know how.”
“The same way it was done to you. Please, you have to try.”
Her turning hadn’t been exactly textbook. She’d been bitten. And just as she’d felt like she was going to die, Claudette had showed up and revived her with blood from her wrist. Donna supposed she could do that much.
She leaned down. “Will, I’m going to turn you. Don’t fight it.”
The flickering of his eyelids was his only response.
With time running out, she lifted Will’s wrist to her mouth and bit down. The flow was weak and sludgy with the murkiness of impending death. She drank sparingly. An image flashed in her head. Will, much younger, with a beautiful young woman in a white dress. The image vanished a second later, and she knew there was nothing left to take from him.
She bit her own wrist and held it to his mouth, praying there was no residual fae magic in her blood that might harm him. “Come on, Will. Drink.”
Daisy held on to his arm. “Drink, Daddy, please.”
Still no response. Donna’s wrist had begun to heal over. She punctured her own flesh again, this time making a fist to squeeze blood out.
Nothing again. Then Will coughed. A second later, he latched on. Barely, but it was better than nothing.
Donna leaned in. “That’s it.” A few seconds later, she started to feel woozy. She didn’t know how much blood he needed, but with what she’d already lost, she’d pass out if he took much more.
She reclaimed her wrist and looked at Daisy. “That’s all I can do. Get him somewhere safe. Somewhere he can rest. He’s going to need to sleep for a while.” If she’d been successful. If not…she didn’t want to think about that.
“I will. Thank you. We owe you.”
“You owe me nothing.” She got to her feet with real effort and took a good look around.
She spotted Temo and Kace a few yards from the bridge. They were looking up. So was most of the crowd around them, fae and supernatural alike. She tipped her head back to see what was drawing everyone’s attention as she joined them.
About twenty feet up, Ishalan and Dredward had taken their fight to the sky. The two were engaged in a full-on battle, wings out, blades drawn, and it was something to behold. Even the witches, who were still patrolling the atmosphere, were keeping their distance from the battle. Neo’s drone hovered about the same space away.
It was interesting, but Donna had other things to worry about. She nudged Temo. “Where’s Artemis?”
“Not sure. She chased after a fae who tried to bite her. They both disappeared into the northside of the woods.” He nudged her back, handing her the jacket she’d discarded earlier. “Better put this back on.”
“Thanks.” Donna tugged her jacket on as she glanced toward the northside in time to see a bloodied Artemis emerge from the trees, gold sword in hand. The blood covering her was purple, so Donna had a pretty good idea of how things had gone.
The queen was clad all in white leather. Perhaps thinking it would be good camouflage in the snow? Donna wasn’t sure about that, but the getup was fierce.
Very much the Vampire Queen Goes to War.
But Artemis didn’t look so much victorious as she did…feral. Her eyes glowed, and her fangs were on full display, but more than that, she had the look of a woman who’d been let loose. Had she really wanted to come after the fae that badly?
Artemis strode toward them, sheathing her sword as she did. It wasn’t her only weapon. She was covered with them—a sash of small knives across her chest, throwing stars tucked here and there, a dagger strapped to each thigh, the sword at her hip and something else secured to her back.
Artemis turned to look up at the battle overhead, slowing her walk as she moved backward. “That’s Dredward.”
“Yes,” Donna answered. “He’s fighting with Ishalan, his—”
“Brother,” Artemis finished. A curse slipped from her lips. At least it sounded like a curse. Donna didn’t recognize the language. “This is the chance I’ve been waiting for.”
She took a few steps away from them and reached