Free Crave the Night by Sharon Ashwood, Michele Hauf, Patti O'Shea, Lori Devoti Page B

of
here.”
    She could already feel the fey gathering,
alarmed by the sudden drop in the field of magical power. If the
humans had a technical instrument to measure such things, the
needle would have been dropping to the red zone.
    “ I have Pack members asleep
downstairs.” Rafe’s voice was hard as granite. “What about
them?”
    She could feel her sisters in the
room, feel their questions crowding in on her. The vow that bound
them was fading, too.
Take the wolves to
safety. Get the others to help you. Then go home. You’ve done
enough, and I’ve failed.
    Do you not need us any
longer?
Rosemund asked.
    Can we do nothing for
you?
Arabelle chimed in.
    Lila hesitated, wanting their comfort
but knowing they could afford to give no more. They had families
waiting in the woods who needed their protection and comfort. Their
homes were under siege.
No. Go
now.
    Her ending would be different.
    A rush of wings told her they had
gone. She felt tears slip down her cheeks.
I’m sorry I couldn’t make this
work
.
    She cleared her throat, fighting against a
lump of pain. When words came out, her voice sounded thick and odd.
“My sisters will see your wolves to safety. They will wake as soon
as they are outside.”
    The house began to shudder. Pain speared
through her, lancing white-hot from jaw to tailbone. Lila cried
out, groping for the chair before she fell. The huge glass windows
cracked then shattered, glass raining from the frames.
    “ Go!” she cried, scraping together the
last of the failing magic and thrusting it toward Rafe. “I release
you from any and all vows. Get out of here! Save
yourself!”
    Her vision cleared just enough to see him
glaring down at her, hands on his hips. His eyes had flared
wolf-yellow, startling beneath the fall of curling dark hair. Was
he going to murder her on the way out? It would be a waste of time.
She was finished.
    “ Yeah, right,” he said. She could
barely hear the words through the sounds of collapse.
    Cracks spidered up the wall, mirroring the
agony scampering along her nerves. Lila hissed air through her
teeth, digging her fingers into the slick leather of the chair. She
didn’t want Rafe looking at her. Not like this. “Get. Shoo.”
    Instead, he picked her up as if she were no
more than a toddler. The motion hurt, and she couldn’t stifle a
cry.
    “ Hush.” Rafe turned to the window, his
expression falling as he examined the steep drop down the cliff.
“Can you fly?”
    “ No.”
    “ Then stairs it is.”
    “ We’ll never make it out.”
    “ Well, aren’t you a ray of
sunshine.”
    “ Promise me you’ll leave me and
go.”
    “ Lady, I’m not promising you squat.
That seems to backfire around you fey.” He was already out of the
office and onto the landing.
    “ But—”
    “ Busy now. Talk less.”
    The stairs gave a heave, throwing them
against the wall. Lila’s head bumped against something solid, but
the knock barely registered. She already felt like goblins were
using her for origami. Being carried was doing nothing for her
lurching stomach.
    Rafe stumbled, catching his footing at the
last second.
    “ Put me down!” she wiggled out of his
grasp.
    “ Can you run?”
    “ If you will.”
    “ Okay.” He grabbed her hand, dragging
her out of the way as the top landing sheared away, spraying
drywall and wood shards into the air. The overhead light crashed to
the floor at the base of the stairs. Rafe leaped over it, swinging
her past the explosion of crystal and sparks.
    “ This way!” Rafe shouted. They made a
dead run for the front door. Jumping out a main floor window would
have been faster but, with so much glass flying through the air,
the door was the safest route. Somewhere deep in the house, a
support beam whined as it torqued and splintered. The roof buckled
to the chorus of more breaking windows.
    The front hall had a cathedral ceiling, and
it was raining debris. Lila felt something slam into her shoulder,
sending her staggering forward.