She screamed as she flew backward several yards, while the troll collapsed where he stood. Zephyr wasn’t surprised, since the bonded mates often became incapacitated when the controlling wraith was injured.
He lowered his blue shield and was about to go in for the kill, when he felt a hand on his arm. “Don’t, Zeph, please. Call for someone to take them to the rehab prison. Please.”
The wraith was already rising, clearly a profound self-healer. She bared her yellow fangs and hissed. Her long, thin blond hair floated around her head, having a life of its own.
“Please, Zeph. I knew this troll before he was abducted. He had an auto parts business about two miles from here and used to eat at my diner every night. He lost his wife in the attack, but he didn’t deserve this fate, to lose his essential identity when the wraith bound him. Don’t you get that part of the equation? For every wraith-pair that you save, you’ll be bringing a realm-person back from the dead?”
He stared at her hard, willing her to understand. “But how many have they killed tonight? That’s what you’re not considering, what you never think about.”
Tears tracked her cheeks. It occurred to him suddenly that she must have other reasons, more personal reasons for feeling this strongly. But he’d seen way too many innocent people drained-to-death, or slaughtered outright, to believe it would be wise to let either of these two live.
“Zeph, I’m begging you.”
“Even if I called for help, the recovery team wouldn’t arrive for hours. I’d have to spend the better part of the morning, probably in your diner, continuing to hurt them in order to keep them locked down. And even then, surely you know the rehab rates are really low.”
But she was adamant and though it went against his principles in the war against the Invictus, he knew for her sake, he had to try.
He was about to acquiesce and make the call, when suddenly two more wraith-pairs dropped out of the night sky. In addition, the time he
’d used up arguing with Alesia, had given the wraith enough time to complete her healing.
“Oh, Shit.”
Alesia grabbed his arm. “Zeph, what are we going to do? Can you battle all three pairs and survive?”
Only if he was alone, but he didn’t tell her that. Instead, he shifted into action and without giving Alesia a warning, he whipped her into his arms, shot straight up into the night sky, then streaked north as fast as he could.
If none of the wraith-pairs were unusually fast, he’d reach his locked-down, fortress-like home and they’d be safe.
***
Chapter Two
The sudden shift to flight mode, faster than Alesia had ever experienced before, sent a wave of nausea flowing through her. But that was a small price to pay for staying alive.
The fae part of her knew extremely well that all three wraith-pairs were right on their heels.
Using telepathy, she pathed, Let me turn in your arms, Zeph. Let me see what’s going on behind us. Maybe I can help.
He released his iron grip just enough to allow her to turn so that she faced backward.
How far away is the lead pair? he asked.
A hundred yards.
Good, that should give us enough time.
Time to do what?
To get to my house.
Oh, that’s right, you live even closer to the diner than I do. The lead couple is moving fast. They’ve gained by at least a third of the distance.
Maybe without realizing he was doing it, Zephyr pathed a long string of obscenities straight into her head.
She blinked a couple of times, but didn’t say anything. Given the circumstances, he’d earned the right to let loose a little.
What about the other two? Same distance?