Understanding what he intended, I tried to squirm away.

Will grabbed me by the leg and forced me onto my back, pinning my body with his.

“Stop, Will. This isn’t you.” I tried to knee him in the groin, but he forced my legs down.

“You have no idea what I’m like, Bea. You never cared to find out.” His fingers wrapped around my neck, choking the life out of me. “You never gave me a chance.” He licked the side of my face, forcing my legs apart. His hands roamed my body. Tears leaked from my eyes. I wanted strength. I wanted to change, to claw the smile off his awful face.

“You’re so weak, Beatrice. Nothing but a mewing kitten.” As he spoke, he shoved a hand down my pants.

“Stop. Stop it,” I cried.

My tears only made him laugh. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of the situation. I didn’t think it was possible. “If you do this,” I said, forcing myself not to stop fighting, “I’ll kill you.”

His eyes grew wide. “You th—”

Will wasn’t able to finish because something crashed through my window and rolled onto the floor. It reminded me of a large boulder.

The boulder stood and I realized it wasn’t a boulder at all, but Cole.

“Get off her you filthy cat.” In one breath Cole stood and threw Will into my fireplace. Rock and rubble rained down around Will as he fell to the floor.

“You okay?” Cole came over and held out his hand for me to take it.

A sob ripped from my throat as relief washed over me. “Cole,” I said, sitting up. Professor Pops burst through my window in the next second.

“Stand back,” Professor Pops said, keeping his back to the window and directing Cole and me to move against the wall near my headboard.

I gave Cole a questioning look just as a massive scaly dragon rammed through my window, taking out half my wall and my window seat in the process.

I yelped, grabbing hold of Cole’s solid shoulder. “What in the—”

The dragon shook himself, his large liquid eyes gazing at me. Something about them was familiar. “I can’t believe Rocky gets all the credit for knocking this guy out.” The dragon faced Will, who was on the floor, moaning. “Make a move, pussy cat, I’m begging ya.” The dragon glanced over and winked. I realized the dragon was Troy.

I covered my mouth, completely surprised.

“He thinks he’s the shit,” Cole shouted. One look told me Cole thought Troy was the shit too.

Troy shoved one of his talon-shaped hands against Will. “Come on. I want to fry your insides before your outsides have a chance to feel it.”

I was in shock. It was a freaking-happy-to-see-them shock, but still.

Professor Pops came over. “Are you hurt, dear?”

“No,” I muttered, blown away by Professor Pops. He was dressed in all black, his scholarly sweater and reading glasses replaced with a katana across his back. His eyes glowed red, like Hell fire.

“Doesn’t Pops look awesome?” Cole said, slapping Professor Pops on the back.

The Professor grinned.

“Yes, he does,” I said, trying to smile, but only succeeding in making my lips quiver. “And Troy?” He was a very large, very wicked looking bronze dragon with silver tipped wings that were folded against either shoulder.

At the mention of his name, he turned and gave me a huge dragon smile. It took my breath away.

“I’m awesome, right?” Smoke left his nostrils as he spoke. Then he turned back to Will, heckling and prodding his limp body. I kind of felt sorry for Will. Okay, not really.

“With the three of you here, we might stand a chance.” I pushed myself out of Cole’s hold. “I’m so happy to see all of you. It’s Adam . . .”

“Where is he?” Professor Pops asked.

“In the entryway, downstairs.”

Cole went to my bedroom door and ripped it off its hinges, leaning it against a wall.

“They’re torturing him. Please.” Thinking about the look of Adam’s face brought tears to my eyes. “Hurry.”

Troy tossed Will onto his back and settled him between his shoulder blades.

“Be careful,” I said. “He can shoot balls of light from his hands.”

Cole snickered. “Balls, huh?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes.”

“Got it,” Troy said, forcing his way through the door and tearing a dragon-shaped hole in the walls. I couldn’t help but be in awe of him. “I’ll try to watch out for flying balls,” he said, hefting his large body down the hall. Either side of his body grazed the walls, causing huge gashes.

“Flying balls. Duck and cover,” Cole said, snorting. Troy laughed.

I couldn’t believe they were joking at a time like this.

As we made our way down the stairs I heard two of the three men talking. They were discussing what they would do with the wealth the King promised them for bringing Adam back and for killing me.

Professor Pops, Cole and Troy heard them as well.

Troy quit laughing. So did Cole. His hair changed from black to white and his skin pulsed with black veins. “Allow me to clean up the mess, Beatrice,” he said.

Troy followed, trying to shove past Cole on the stairs. His scales scraped against the metal railing. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “Leave some for me. Dude, you can’t always be the hero.”

If I hadn’t been so worried about Adam I would’ve laughed at the two of them.

“How many are there?” Troy asked.

“Three,” I said, “and one can bind your abilities.” That thought made me worried for them.

Cole laughed, slapping Troy’s scaled body. “No one is going to bind our abilities, right Smoky.”

“Best two out of three cleans the other’s bathroom for a month,” Troy offered.

Professor Pops chuckled. “I debated whether to bring them.”

“How did you even know where I was? What made you decide . . .”

Professor Pops patted my arm. “I have my ways, Beatrice dear.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, but how?”

“First class ride on the Boeing Troy-Seven-Seven,” Professor Pops grinned. He was a little disconcerting with his red eyes and I had to look away. “Troy can fly like nobody’s business,” Professor Pops went on.

Roars of pain interrupted our conversation. I rushed down the remaining stairs. The three Vaktare had changed into their werecat forms and were on top of the dragon and the gargoyle, snarling as they fought and trying to destroy them with their teeth and claws. The Vaktare didn’t seem to be making much headway. Rhem kept using his abilities against them and his powers did seem to slow Cole and Troy down, though not completely.

Will was on the floor surrounded by broken glass. He was coming to. Adam was still bound with ropes, but he no longer writhed in pain. I ran to him.

“I’ve just got to get you out of this rope,” I said, pulling on it to no avail.

Another roar. Professor Pops was on top of Rhem, his teeth buried in the Vaktare’s neck. The sight sickened me, and truth be told, scared the crap out of me as well. Professor Pops might look sweet when he wore his khaki pants and sweaters, but he was really, really terrifying. At the moment, he scared me even more than Rhem.

It seemed Rhem felt the same way. The Vaktare was writhing and clawing, trying to push Professor Pops off him. It wasn’t doing any good. I watched Rhem’s eyes flicker. Even Troy, Cole and the other two Vaktare stopped momentarily, watching what Professor Pops was doing. The Vaktare in Professor Pops’ grasp looked like a kitty cat next to the menacing Hunter. I guessed by the looks on Cole and Troy’s faces that it was their first time seeing Professor Pops as the Hunter too.

When Rhem’s eyes rolled back in his head, Professor Pops pushed the lifeless body away. His fangs dripped with blood. His eyes flashed bright blood red and he smacked his lips. “Vaktare are delicious,” he said, his voice deep and dark and unlike anything I’d ever heard.

I shuddered.

Adam scooted closer, pressing his front against my back. Even bound he was still trying to protect me. Since Adam was still bound and unable to speak I realized that although Rhem looked dead, he couldn’t be. Otherwise Adam would be free.