Page 57 of Beast

“Enjoy that, vampire.” He shoves the blade in further,twisting it.

I stumble back, the blade coming out of my gut. Blood. Somuch fucking blood. The world seems to slow down. It gets louder. Meg isscreaming. Kaja calls my name. The goblins begin to circle, sensing blood.

I need a fucking weapon.

“Kaja, run.” I hold my hand to my gut, trying to keep myselftogether. The goblins will tear me apart, but they’ll take their time. Theirbloodlust is up. They’ll ignore Kaja until they finish with me. “You have torun, baby.”

It will be all right as long as Kaja gets away. I can takethe pain. My hands shake, but I can stay alive long enough for Kaja to getaway.

The ground underneath me shifts. Fuck. Why is theground shaking?

I fall as vines burst from the ground, sending dirt flying.Kaja is suddenly kneeling beside me, her hands covering mine, trying to keep myguts on the right side of my skin.

“I told you to run,” I growl her way. Even as I rough up myvoice, something inside me calms as her scent, the touch of her skin, hernearness washes over me.

She shakes her head. “I cannot.”

“This is going to cost you a nasty spanking, Kaj.”

“Survive, Dante,” she replies, tears coursing down hercheeks. “Survive and I’ll lay over your lap.”

Her arms wrap around me. The ground seems ready to swallowus whole. Vines and roots spit from the dirt.

“Retreat!” Roan shouts, his eyes wide as he seems to catchsight of something terrifying.

“Baby.” I force myself to talk when it hurts to even move.“You have to go. Something bad’s happening.”

Kaja’s arms tighten.

Roan is suddenly in front of me. “Feed. No one likes to talkabout it, but your consort can save you. Her blood can heal you, Dellacourt. Inever meant to hurt the women. If I’ve been betrayed, then I assure you I’lltake care of it. Feed and live.”

Roan takes off, and I finally get a good look at what sentthe mercenary running.

Cian.

He strides forward, the trees and bushes bending to give himaccess. Cian Finn’s hands are stretched out as though he embraces the worldaround him and it embraces him in return.

I watch as the goblins are caught by vines. They snakeacross the field and catch their fleeing prey. The vines wrap around theirankles and pull the goblins screaming into the ground. It’s as though they’rebeing swallowed feetfirst. The goblins claw and fight, but they go downscreaming, the earth sucking them into the dirt.

“What is happening?” Kaja asks, her voice tiny andfrightened.

“Cian is happening, love. He won’t hurt you.”

My cousin is utterly transformed. The Green Man walks towardus now, and he’s pissed off.

The vampires flee, but some of them get caught by the trees.The mighty oaks lean over, and their heavy branches become wooden swords.

Kaja’s hand covers my heart as though she can stop thetrees.

Smart trees. And they have damn fine aim. A vampirescreams and explodes as a tree branch catches him straight through the heart.

Chaos reigns. Blood flows. Weariness floods my system,adrenaline fleeing as I realize we’re going to be okay. Kaja will live. Cianwill see to it. Cian will take her to my family, and my father will take careof Kaja. My father. All my anger is gone. I love my dad. And my mother. And myannoying sister.

The world is loud with the business of dying, but I stillspeak to Kaja. “Baby, tell my family I love them. Can you do that? You go tothem. They’ll take care of you.”

I see Meg run to her husband. She leaps into his arms andwraps herself around him. The goblins are gone, taken deep into the ground. Thevampires ran, and those who weren’t fast enough are puddles of blood. Ciankisses Meg. It’s a beautiful sight. The tiny pixies cling to Cian’s hair.

They went to find the Green Man. Clever pixies.