Witches and warlocks moved to the center of the room, and all joined hands as they took up Sanderson’s chant. I spotted Moira’s venom-green head and sighed in relief.
“Don’t worry,” Noah said, squeezing my hand. “The demons won’t be able to pass the wards. We’ll be safe in here.”
Callie sobbed at Noah’s feet where she’d fallen. That he was ignoring her made me happy in a way that proved just how petty I was.
A large, warm palm slid around my waist before tugging me away from Noah and Caleb. Kingston stared down at me, his jaw clenched, eyes hard with unease. “You need to get out of here. This doesn’t feel right.”
“This is the safest place for her,” Caleb contradicted.
“What the hell do you know, Priest?”
He cocked a brow, his expression pure condescension. “About demons? More than most, I assure you.”
“Something is off. Can’t you feel it?” Kingston asked, not releasing his hold on me.
“I agree. There’s not a whiff of brimstone in the air.” Some of the anxiety in my chest eased at the sound of Alek’s deep rumble. He strode across the room, looking like a fucking god as he joined our little band of fighters.
“You’re right,” Noah said. He growled low in his chest and trained his focus on Callie. “Demons? Are you certain?”
She blinked her fake eyelashes rapidly. “Noah, you don’t think I’d lie to you, do you?”
He took her face in his hands, squeezing tight as he lifted her up on the tips of her toes, snarling, “You will show me what you know.” His voice pulsed with power, so there was no mistaking the order for anything but the compulsion that it was.
Callie’s doe-eyes went hazy as she obeyed.
Noah hissed, shoving her back. “Hunters. You little bitch.”
There was no time to react to Noah’s warning. Glass shattered, shards raining from above as something was tossed down from the massive hole where the beautiful dome had once been.
Eyes wild, Callie tugged something free from beneath her skirt. Silver glinted dangerously as she lunged forward, stabbing Noah straight in the heart. “This all could have been avoided if you’d just done what you were told.”
I screamed Noah’s name just as someone else shouted, “Take cover!”
Before I could get to Noah, both Kingston and Alek shoved me to the ground as an explosion rocked the room. My ears rang, and terror washed over me in a cold wave. I couldn’t lose them, none of them. But both Kingston and Alek climbed off me, helping me to my feet, taking protective stances.
“Are you all right?” Kingston asked.
I did a quick mental check. Other than feeling a little tender where my knees and palms collided with the ground, I felt fine. Shaken, but fine. “Yes. What happened?”
“The cowards threw a bomb into the witches’ circle.”
My gut clenched. “Moira?”
Alek offered a wary gaze in the direction of the blackened circle of downed figures. “I don’t know.”
Noah let out a pain-filled groan. “Sunday,” he gasped.
My head shot to the side just in time to see him fall to his knees, blood pouring down his chest. “Noah!” I ran to him, but not before he hit the ground right beside Callie’s headless body.
Caleb knelt beside me, his eyes locking with mine. “He’s been run through by a silver dagger. He needs your blood if he has any chance,a stor.”
I nodded, tearing my sleeve up my arm and holding my wrist to Noah’s lips. His skin was gray and dull, eyes closed, and he wasn’t breathing. He was a vampire. He’d be okay. He had to.
“Here, let me.” Caleb carefully took my arm and pressed a tender kiss to my wrist before biting into my skin. His groan of pleasure sent a bolt of fear through me that he wouldn’t stop now that he’d started.
“Let her go,” Kingston growled, his voice more beast than man.
Caleb ripped his mouth away, lips stained red with my blood, pupils dilated with a hunger that had nothing to do with what happened between us earlier. I took a shuddering breath and laid my bleeding arm against Noah’s cold mouth.