When The Grave Calls (The Veil Diaries #9) - B.L. Brunnemer Page 0,70

his neck and took a deep breath of his spicy cologne. He kissed my neck and lifted his head. “We gotta go, Lexie.”

I squeezed him tighter before I forced myself to let go. I wiped my face as I stepped back into Isaac’s arms.

He wrapped around me from behind, his own nose brushing my neck. I clung to his arms as we watched two of our own walk out the door for what we all hoped wasn’t the last time.

Standing in stunned silence as they drove away, I reached for Zeke’s hand to find him already meeting me halfway. Miles’ hand slipped into my other one, keeping my arms crossed over Isaac’s.

“Breathe,” Isaac whispered in my ear.

I took a deep, shaking breath and looked up at Zeke. His face was lined with worry as he watched the door. We needed a distraction. “Let’s make sure the stations are all stocked up.”

Everyone let go and stepped away from the door. We went about our business, making sure each cot near the door was stocked for every kind of emergency. Cuts, burns, even hypothermia. We covered all our bases, working silently, glancing at the door every few minutes.

They were only driving the ambulance. They would be okay, right?

Asher

The battle raged on. Explosions and fire lit up the woods around the ruins of Jadis’ house. Heart hammering, I ducked a fireball before hauling one of the wolves over my shoulder and running back towards the van we were using as an ambulance.

From the start, nothing had gone to plan. What we hoped would be a sneak attack turned into a battle as soon as we stepped out of the tree-line.

Their witches seemed to be getting some serious fire power despite our witches’ best efforts. An orb shot past me and hit the ground, creating a patch of ice. I leapt over it, making sure my stride never slowed. The staffs hadn’t given us the edge we thought they would, and Jadis’ people were tearing through our forces.

Ethan was already at the back, bandaging a leg wound when I laid Kayley down. Half her face was a mask of burn blisters, raw and red. “We gotta get her back!”

Ethan tied off the bandage, jerked off the gloves and climbed into the front. “Get in the back!”

Adrenaline pumping. I moved her onto a cot while Ethan put it into drive, bracing myself as he took off, the doors in the back swinging back and forth.

My wolf was with me, close to the surface as we wet down a bandage and tried to take some of the heat from the burn. “Come on, Kayley.” This wasn’t a strong wolf. Something about her laying there in the cot, burned, tore through my wolf to me. Weak, she was weaker. She shouldn’t have been here. The undeniable urge to protect rushed through me, leaving my hands shaking, an overwhelming desire to hurt, tear, and destroy whoever did this.

No, not now. I gritted my teeth as we turned a corner.

“Ash, behind us!” Ethan shouted over his shoulder.

I turned and spotted the half-wolves running after the ambulance on the dirt road. Giant and hairy, half shifted wolves were the werewolves of nightmares. They had the teeth and head of a wolf, covered in hair, but otherwise mostly human. Except for the claws. And completely feral.

My wolf leaped to the forefront, straining against my hold as my claws slipped out of my fingertips. They were going after the injured. My wolf and I were in perfect agreement. Something snapped into place. Strength surged through me. Purpose. We were suddenly gone, and it was just me in my skin. That wild part of me was with me, completely fused for the first time. There was no uncertainty in me. I would protect my pack, protect the soft and vulnerable. And I’d make them regret ever trying to prey on the weak.

The half-wolf leapt into the back of the ambulance and right into my claws.

Chapter 13

From the first arrival of injured to the batch that had just come in, we ran from cot to cot, helping where we could and screaming for Dr. Zimmer when needed. Even with all that, we lost so many. Person after person died under our hands, each one driving a blade into my chest. Eventually, I couldn’t take it. The screams of pain, the pleas for help. I just couldn’t watch another person die.

Walking out of the living room, I crossed the long hallway filled with injured fighters