Page 120 of Blood Union (Dark Witch Chronicles 3)

Someone slams into me, shoving me backward away from Tarnley. “Shit, sorry,” Natalia groans as she climbs off of me. She reaches down and grips my hand, pulling me to my feet before rushing back into the fight.

All around me, an all-out war overtakes the streets of Billings. Bodies litter the ground—dead humans and supernaturals, alike.

A feline shifter sets yellow eyes on me, it’s orange and black fur slick with blood. It steps carefully, and I prepare for a fight. My magic is nearly all gone, but I still have— The cat screeches as a blade buries in its side.

The second it hits the pavement, it shifts back to its human form.

Rainey bounds in and retrieves her blade. “You’re welcome.”

I grin, so fucking happy the hunter didn’t die, and throw myself back into the fight.

Blade slick with red, I rush forward and bury it in the back of a male hunter prepared to take out Delaney, who has her back turned to me as she deals with a witch.

He falls to the ground, so I keep moving forward. I duck down, barely avoiding beheading by blade, then bring my own up into the gut of another hunter.

Blood splatters me when I rip it out, but I keep fighting—wielding magic only when necessary, given that I’ve used too much already. My vision swims slightly, exhaustion setting in, but I keep going.

I raise my hand to shield myself from an energy ball, but my shield dies before it even fully forms. I brace for impact, only to feel nothing. When I look for the witch who’d attacked, I see no one.

No one but Lauren. She winks at me and jumps down off the roof of the car she’d been standing on.

What the hell is she doing here?I rush forward and jump on top of the car. Glancing around, I recognize most of the warriors below me.

Which means we’re winning.

Rainey and Elijah fight back-to-back, and the last of Odette’s minions fall.

Cheers erupt all around us. Blades held high, our people celebrate this victory, but while I’m grateful it’s over, I see nothing but the dead. So many dead.

“We won today!” I call out from my perch atop the car. “But the cost was high.” I think of Rachel. Of Paloma. Of all the innocent humans who suffered today.

The crowd before me parts as a woman carrying a massive microphone shoves through. Behind her, a man carries a camera, and he shoves it into my face.

Fuck.

“Who are you people?” she demands. “What happened today? Why are you fighting?”

It’s only now I notice the police officers blocking our war from the hundreds of humans struggling to see inside.

The car moves, and Rainey climbs up beside me. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her badge.

“Do you always carry that?”

“I’ll die with it,” she retorts, and holds it up. “I am Detective Rainey Astor,” she calls out. “And what you witnessed today was a fight between two rival gangs. Luckily, my team got here in time.”

“We saw the magic!” someone screams.

“Some of those people were animals!” someone else yells. “Now they’re humans!”

“And they’re naked!”

“Are you superheroes?”

“What are you?”

“What happened?”

“They’re aliens!”