We were done for.
I was going to die with two fabulous women who somehow had come to my aid and who I wished I had a lot more time to get to know.
I wasn"t ever going to see elan dressed for her first gale.
I wasn"t going to see Christophe become a soldier.
I was never going to feel Apollo"s hands on me again. His mouth. See his smile. Take in all the beauty that was him.
I was going to die in the cold and snow of a parallel universe having tasted a beautiful life I knew I"d grown to love but had not allowed myself to trust. Tasted it for a brief s.n.a.t.c.h of time and then it was going to be whisked away.
"You guys are the freaking greatest!" I shouted, grunting as I lunged forward and got one in the gut.
He fell back.
Another took his place.
"I die with you in my heart, Miss Maddie and Meeta," Loretta yelled, Meeta"s name ending in a pained yelp and I knew one clipped her.
"We do not die tonight!" Meeta screeched, her voice so shrill, it was like she was trying to make that be by putting everything she was into her words.
I admired her grit.
But she was heartbreakingly wrong.
One of the things did an overhead slice and I caught it with my short blade sideways, but the strength of the slice took me down to my knee. My arms over my head, struggling to hold my attacker"s blade, the rest of me was ripe for the pickin"s.
But if I let go, he"d slice me in half.
I let out an ear-piercing scream of frustration, terror and heartache and his sword disappeared.
He didn"t. He stood before me but he was looking over his shoulder.
I shot to standing and noted both Loretta and Meeta pressing to my back but I heard no grunts of exertion nor did I feel movement.
This was because all of the creatures were looking back.
I was about to start jabbing at random to create a hole in what looked like a six or seven creature-thick wall around us when all h.e.l.l broke loose.
And by that I mean I heard barking, growling, yapping, snarling and suddenly a line of sight cleared and I couldn"t believe my eyes.
Wolves.
All around.
Dozens of them.
No.
More.
Maybe hundreds.
All of them attacking the things.
"Oh my G.o.d," I whispered. "What"s going-?"
I didn"t finish.
This was because, behind the wolves, more of the creatures formed out of nowhere just as a line of wolves ran, scampered or crawled on their bellies through the snow and the now battling-with-wolves bird-men toward Meeta, Loretta and me.
We pressed back to back.
Great.
Bird-men and now wolves.
If certain death already wasn"t bad enough.
I lifted my dagger but didn"t use it.
This was because I was staring in shock as the wolves formed a circle around us, snarling, growling, snapping and biting at the bird-men who were pressing in.
Holy cow.
They were protecting us.
More wolves shot to the circle to keep the bird-men back.
Holy cow!
The wolves were totally protecting us!
How cool!
I reached out and grabbed Loretta"s hand. "You okay?"
"Flesh wound, shoulder," Meeta answered for her. "It"s deep and bleeding profusely, Miss Maddie. We must get her aid. She pales."
There was my Spock. Logical, for of course Loretta needed aid.
I just couldn"t get it for her when we were surrounded by bedlam.
"Stick with us, honey," I said on a squeeze of Loretta"s hand. "You with us?"
"Yes, Miss Maddie," she whispered, her voice trembling.
At the exhaustion, pain and fear in Loretta"s voice, I decided that next time Spock and I went on an adventure, we were leaving the honor roll cheerleader behind.
Not that I had a choice this time.
"We"ll get you taken care of as soon as this calms down," I a.s.sured her, hoping I wasn"t lying.
"Right," she replied, holding my hand tight, her voice holding no hope.
But keeping an eye on the activity, although our ring of wolf protectors was prevailing, and although I could see in the distance the shadowy shape of more wolves heading our way, the bird-men were popping up everywhere.
And as if to prove that true, two popped into the circle close to the girls and me.
They didn"t even get turned toward us before five wolves jumped them and viciously ripped them to shreds.
Blue sparks flew everywhere and the bird-men disappeared.
Wild.
Scary.
And totally f.u.c.ked up.
The wolves didn"t hesitate to close ranks and continue snarling and snapping at the pressing bird-men.
And blue sparks were flying everywhere.
Yelps of wounded wolves came fast and thick. I even saw some unmoving wolf bodies on the forest floor.
More bird-men formed.
Lots more.
I squeezed Loretta"s hand.
The wolves around us backed in tighter, their tails brushing our skirts.
This was not good.
The wolves were losing.
s.h.i.t!
Then it happened.
Suddenly and with little warning, bedlam turned into Armageddon.
It started with wolves in the forest suddenly turning tail and running.
That did not give me a good feeling.
It continued with the wolf circle around us falling to their bellies and pushing snout first through the snow.
This definitely didn"t give me a good feeling.
But it ended with Meeta shouting, "Down! Now!"
I hit the deck mostly because Meeta shoved me there, on top of Loretta, Meeta coming down on top of me.
Then a fiery blast of heat seared over us as the forest all around us burst into flame.
I just had the chance to peek up from under Meeta"s arm that was wrapped around my head and, I kid you not, no joke, no fooling, flapping their webby wings terrifying overhead, breathing fire all around was not one...not two...but three gigantic dragons.
I stared in shock and awe, my mouth hanging open as they stopped breathing fire. Only one was in sight and I watched it flap down and settle his a.s.s to the scorched earth, forked tongue out and snaking around, eyes intelligent and aimed in the distance.
Meeta got up and pulled me up. I pulled Loretta up.
And we stood there, staring around us.
This was because everything but a five foot diameter of now-melting snow around our feet was totally incinerated. Charred. Leveled. Still smoldering but there was nothing left.
Nothing but three big dragons with thin, lolling tongues and a circle of wolves who were now sitting around us, some cleaning themselves disinterestedly, some just panting, one was scratching behind his ear.
Meeta pressed close and Loretta made a noise of fear.
I looked into the smoldering shadows.
Through midnight and smoke, a man and woman appeared.
The man was tall, built and seriously hot.
The woman had fabulous white blonde hair.
They came to a stop ten feet away and he opened his mouth to speak.
But I beat him to it.
"I take it you"re Finnie and Frey."
He closed his mouth but used it to smile.
Yep, hot.
She grinned.
And she was cute.
Right. With dragons in the mix, I had a feeling everything was going to be okay.
So I smiled back.