Free Destined for Harmony by Leia Shaw Page B

thousands of needles were pricking her skin. Two vampires closed in on each side of her. She went to shift…
    Nothing happened. The vampires each took an arm and started dragging her toward a black car a short distance away. In a panic, she dug her heels in. She tried to shift again but it didn’t work. It was like something was blocking her.
    The arm band. She’d heard of enchanted devices that could inhibit magic. They were only a few yards from the car. She scratched and kicked and fought with all her might but they were stronger.
    Just before they forced her into the car, she screamed, “ Sorin!”
    A hood came over her head, blocking her sight and dulling her scream. The last thing she heard before they slammed the car door shut was a terrifying howl that chilled her to the bone. A small sense of calm creeped into her heart. She knew who that enraged noise belonged to and what it meant. Sorin was coming for her.

Chapter 9
     
    Every enemy turned to look at Sorin as his enraged howl tore through the carnage. He’d never felt so… Words couldn’t even describe it.
    A dozen or more vampires came at him as he fought his way toward the car that made off with his mate. He ripped through each one, his gaze on the billow of dust the car had left behind.
    Slash. Fucking vampires. Kill. God help them if they hurt a single hair on her head. If he’d been injured, he wasn’t aware of it. Every kill, every vampire head that fell only fueled his anger.
    By the time he cleared a path through his enemies and made it to the end of the driveway, the car was long gone. Harmo ny’s scent lingered. Dropping onto all fours, he ran down the dirt road, following her scent. Panic set in when it slowly faded. At a fork in the road, he couldn’t tell which way they’d gone.
    He let out another howl, this one a desperate plea to the gods to help him. He went left at the fork but could find n o sign of vampires or Harmony.
    Start at the beginning. There has to be a trail.
    He ran back to the dirt road where he’d last had her scent. It was gone from there too.
    Mate. Protect. Rational thought started to leave . Mate gone. Kill. He paced the road. It was hard to focus, his grief was so powerful.
    Vaguely , he registered several men crowding him. He growled at them.
    “ Sorin.”
    He recognized that voice.
    “You have to calm down. Shift so we can talk.”
    Mathias. Friend.
    “We can find Harmony.”
    He growled again. Mate. Gone. Taken.
    “Calm down. Breathe through your anger. You can save her if you shift. Think rationally.”
    Shift. Save her. The words cut through the haze and he took a deep breath. A few moments later, he was human.
    “Are any alive?” he asked Mathias.
    He shook his head.
    Stabbing pain hit him in the heart and his muscles clenched and started to morph.
    “Don’t shift, Sorin,” Mathias said calmly. “We have a lead.”
    He willed his body to calm down, to stay human. His che st heaved with the effort as he stared at Mathias. “What?”
    “Harmony’s friends.”
    Girls? The two small women she shared a cabin with? How could they know where vampires were hiding with his mate?
    Mathias must have read the disbelief on his face. “They knew the coven was prepared for us today. It’s why Harmony was here.” He held Sorin’s gaze. “I think we’ve been underestimating these girls.”

Chapter 10
    The world came into focus slowly. Harmony groaned and stretched her aching limbs. It was dark. Or maybe her mind was still hazy from the aftereffects of the drugs she’d been given in the car.
    She tried to sit up but bumped her head on something hard above her.
    “ Ow,” she mumbled, lying back down. Where was she? She couldn’t see a thing.
    Hesitantly, she felt around in the dark. First, the sides of her body then above her. Wood. She was surrounded by wood.
    As she felt around again to be sure, she started to panic. She was in a coffin!
    “No.” Palms flat on the lid above her, she pushed with all