Free Fever (Blood Moon Rising, #1) by Lola Taylor Page B

the air and
stomped it beneath his boot. It screeched, writhing before lying
still. “I’ll hold them off!”
    “ No!” Danica yelled,
pulling on his arm. “You can’t do this!”
    “ I can.” He kissed her
fiercely, then shoved her backwards. “Don’t watch!” The words were
barely out of his mouth before he was jerked backwards with a
cry.
    “ Gage!” Danica screeched,
skidding as her footing slipped.
    Gage was surrounded by wraiths. He
swung at them, grunting and snapping his jaws like a beast. Through
the blur of shadows, two gold eyes burned.
    “ Get her, Nik!” Gage
shouted.
    Nik bounded back across the river,
seizing Danica. She struggled as he pulled her toward the river.
“No! I can’t leave him.”
    “ You don’t have a choice!
I’m not risking him killing me if something happens to
you.”
    Without warning, he swung her over his
shoulder and ran toward the river, Danica kicking and screaming the
whole way. Her eyes remained glued to Gage, calling his name,
praying this was all a nightmare she would wake up from any
minute.
    There was the sense of weightlessness
and the rush of cold air through her hair as Nik lifted them over
the river. The moment he set her down, she started back toward the
water, but he grabbed her in a bear hug, not letting go.
    “ Gage!” she screamed.
“Gage! Don’t you dare die on me!”
    Only the sounds of battle met her ears
as her mate fought for his life. She didn’t even know when she’d
started thinking of him as her mate. It was an unconscious
decision, something her heart decided without her common sense to
hold her back or screw things up for her.
    “ Let me go!” she
cried.
    “ No!” Nik said, sounding
anguished. “I’m sorry, love.”
    Tears streamed down her face as she
watched the golden eyes slowly vanish beneath the mass of ghostly
bodies. Rearing her head back, she screamed into the sky, sounding
like a wounded animal. Her knees gave out from under her, and Nik
sank with her to the ground, holding onto her. Tears leaked from
his eyes as he silently stared at where her mate had been seconds
ago but now only a whirling mass of wraiths swarmed.
    They were coming closer.
    “ I thought you said they
couldn’t cross moving water,” she said, starting to
stand.
    “ They can’t,” he said,
standing with her, looking puzzled. “Something’s moving with
them.”
    With a yell, Gage forced his way
through the mass of wraiths, crashing into the water.
    “ Nik!” Danica yelled, but
he was already diving into the river. She watched him swim after
Gage’s lifeless body, grabbing hold of it and pulling him back to
the shoreline. She ran to them, sinking to her knees beside Gage.
His clothing was shredded, as was his skin. It was so covered in
blood, she couldn’t tell where the cuts were.
    “ Gage!” She grasped his
face, turning it toward her. “Open your eyes!”
    An unintelligible mumble came from his
mouth as his lids slowly fluttered open. “Is she safe… please tell
me she’s safe…?”
    “ I’m right here,” Danica
said, grabbing his hand and cupping it against her cheek. “You
scared the hell out of me.”
    “ You scared the hell out of
us both,” Nik said, rocking back on his heels. He ran a hand over
his face. “You look like shit, man.”
    Gage groaned and started to sit
up.
    “ Don’t!” Danica placed both
hands at his shoulders, trying to force him back down. “You’ll hurt
yourself! We need to get you to a hospital!”
    “ There’s no need, love,”
Gage rasped with a chuckle. “I just need to lie still for a while.
My wounds will heal.”
    “ How?”
    “ Werewolves heal fast.
Other than silver, about the only thing that can really kill us is
a vampire bite.” He shuddered. “Or being torn apart by
wraiths.”
    “ Good to know.” Danica sat
back and sighed hard. Without her permission, she started crying
all over again.
    Gage frowned, starting to speak. Nik
stood and looked around, cutting him off. “We’re