Sold as the Alpha King’s Breeder

Oliver walked past me and started yanking on one of the dead trees, pulling off several dried out branches before we got back in the truck and drove onto a nearby ridge. I looked down at the portal, my hands gripping the steering wheel as Oliver stepped out of the truck.

“Drive it down there a bit so they can't see it sitting on the ridge," he commanded, dropping his bundle of branches on the ground.

I did just that and had just shut the driver's side door of the truck when Oliver used his powers to ignite the first branch like a torch.

I ran up to him, taking the first branch from him as he lit another, then another, until we were both holding two.

We waited. The flames were catching on the branches, turning that initial dull glow into raging embers that made the branches burn like torches. Dusk faded into night, and through the portal, I saw the first ripple of movement.

A group of vampires, Death Walkers, as Gideon had called them, stepped through the vortex and looked around. Their expressionless faces could have been harboring shock based on the rigidness of their bodies. One of them was dressed in red robes made of fine fabric, and I slowly nudged Xander with my elbow. That Death Walker must be a commander of some kind.

Another group came through the portal, then another, until at least a hundred vampires were gathered in the clearing.

Oliver opened his mouth wide and let out a howl so shrill it made the hair on my arms stand on end. The vampires snapped their heads at us, their teeth shining in the moonlight as hissing and screeching filled the clearing. Oliver threw the first torch, and within a heartbeat the clearing erupted into flames.

Chaos ensued as the fire licked up the robes of the Death Walkers, the lot of them thrown into a panic. Another wave of them stepped out of the portal into the flames and were immediately engulfed in wave after wave of fire as Oliver and I began throwing the rest of the torches.

The entire valley was on fire now. The dry grass and blood root soaked in fuel set a black cloud of toxic smoke into the air, making it almost impossible to see what was happening below. But I knew more vampires were coming through the portal right into the fiery fray, and before they even had a chance to react, they were lost to the choking swell of the smoke, and then surrounded by flames.

An explosion rocked the valley and echoed through the surrounding landscape. Debris shot high in the air as the fuel tank we'd left in the clearing exploded, sending a shower of metal and heat down on the vampires. None of them had been able to escape the chaos, at least not yet.

My ears were ringing from all the noise. I looked at Oliver, who was panting, his eyes reflecting in the flames as he looked down at what we'd done.

Another wave of vampires came through the portal and tried to turn around, but were met by the next group of their comrades trying to come through as well. Some of them began climbing up the hill toward us. Covered in blood root, we were damn near camouflaged against the night sky behind us. We charged them as they got near, throwing them back into the flames. Their screeches of surprise had alerted a fresh group of them coming through the portal, and at least a dozen vampires were now heading in our direction.

“Get back to that truck!" I cried, stumbling as I grabbed Oliver by the shoulder and turned him away from the valley.

But then I heard them–the hybrid beasts. Their roars cut through the screeching below and ripped the sky in two.

I had enough time to look down at the clearing once more before we bolted. I saw it there, flames dancing across its outstretched wing–the hybrid who had taken Lena, then me… the hybrid we hadn't been able to kill.

“RUN!" I screamed at Oliver, damn near dragging him down the other side of the hill we'd been standing atop.

Oliver was panting, trying to find his breath in the thick, smoky air as we ran toward the truck.

I jumped in through the passenger side door and crawled to the driver's seat, fumbling with the ignition before the truck struggled to start with a cracking rumble of protest. Smoke was choking the engine. I pounded on the dash as I revved, begging it to start.

Oliver crawled in next to me and shut the door just as the winged hybrid landed mere feet away from us.

The engine started, thank the Goddess, as the hybrid situated itself right in front of the truck.

“Hit it!" Oliver cried, and I slammed my foot on the gas. The truck flew forward and slammed into the hybrid, sending it flying back. I threw the truck in reverse and sped backward, then drove the truck in a circle so we were facing Crimson Creek once again. In the rearview mirror, I saw nothing but flames as the fire crept up the valley, the fire spreading rapidly through the dry grass. Flames were lashing at the portal now, fueled by the dead and dying below.

We f*****g did it. We f*****g did–

The truck lifted off the ground by several feet and slammed back to the earth. Oliver yelped in surprise, rolling down his window and sticking his head out, looking up.

“What the f**k are you doing?" I screamed, but my voice was drowned out by his panicked protest as we sped forward.

I was pinning the gas pedal to the floor with all my weight, the truck flying over the hills and landing so violently that pieces from the undercarriage were coming loose and flying out behind us.

Talons cut through the roof of the truck, mere inches from slicing through my scalp.

Again we were lifted into the air, this time much higher. Oliver unsheathed a knife from his pocket and climbed out of the window, his legs hooked on the underside of the seat.

I turned the steering wheel back and forth, trying to swing us. Oliver was screaming in frustration as he swung his blade at the hybrid's feet. I heard a screech, and then the truck was sideways, Oliver hanging out the window.

I grabbed one of his ankles as he began to slide out.

f**k. This was really, really bad.

I grabbed his other ankle and pulled him back inside, his face reddened and eyes bulging from the blood rushing to his head.

“I cut off one leg," he smirked, and I noticed his blood-drenched sleeves.

The hybrid was flying in a circle, trying to free its talons from the roof. Oliver sliced at the talons, which only caused the beast to fly upward in its haste to get away.

“Stop!" I cried, my head spinning as the truck swung in a circle. We were twenty feet off the ground now, and my stomach was tied in knots as I caught a glimpse of the ground below.

But then we were falling, fast. I grabbed onto Oliver as the truck slammed violently onto the ground on its side.

I opened my eyes, blinking against the shower of glass from the windshield. I was on top of Oliver, who was groaning, his face covered in blood root, and now fresh blood.

I couldn't move.

Something sharp was caught in my lower back. I tried to raise my head but a surge of hot agony ripped over my body. I couldn't even scream.

Slowly, whatever was protruding from my back released itself, and I fell forward onto Oliver, who grunted painfully.

I was choked on blood, unable to form the words to ask Oliver if he was okay. I felt a shadow move over the truck, blocking the moonlight pouring through the shattered windshield. Two fiery red eyes came into view, and a gnarled, talon-tipped hand reached through the windshield and grabbed me by the throat.

Oliver screamed, but it was too late.

It was over.

Lena, I said through the bond. Tell her I love her. Tell her I love you both.

Then it went black.