“Dying now would be far better than serving you,” Leif growled at him.

“Stop!” I shouted, hanging over the balcony. The lycan already knew we were there, so it wasn’t like I was giving away our position, but Jack glared at me anyway. “He’s not the one you want!”

“You have no idea what I want,” Gunnar looked up at me. His face was that of pure evil, and a shiver ran down me.

He walked to the center aisle, and the other three lycan moved in closer to Leif, but he didn’t run. They were going to slaughter him, but he just stood his ground and held his head high.

“They’re going to kill him,” I said, looking at Ezra. “We’ve got to do something!”

He looked at me helplessly. We hadn’t yet figured out how we were going to save ourselves. Jack was looking down at Leif, and I could almost see his mind racing. He wanted to think of something, but he was taking too long.

I launched myself over the balcony and heard Jack calling my name. When I hit the ground, I expected my legs to snap, but they barely even hurt. I even landed on my feet, and if the situation weren’t so incredibly terrifying, I would’ve felt pretty damn cool for making a landing like that.

None of the lycan looked back at me, but then again, I wasn’t much of a threat. I stood up and I heard the sound of Olivia’s crossbow click back as she loaded an arrow, but I wasn’t the only one.

Dodge and Stellan cocked their heads at the balcony, but Bear kept his attention fixed on Leif. Dodge moved first, but he wasn’t as fast as Stellan, so the arrow sliced straight through his heart. He collapsed to the ground, and I thought he might burst into flames like in the movies, but he just laid there.

Stellan was standing in front of me, smiling, and in a blur, he was gone. Olivia fired an arrow at him, but it flew through the air behind him and landed in a pew. Using his speed as momentum, Stellan leapt from off the back of a pew up into the balcony. No other vampire moved as fast as he could, not even Ezra, and even with the five of them up there, they could barely hold their own against him.

In the moment of distraction, Leif took his chance to counterattack Bear, sending him crashing into the pews. Wood splintered everywhere, and I realized too late that Leif had the situation under control.

I looked back up at the balcony, feeling helpless as they struggled to keep Stellan at bay. Ezra was trying to defend Olivia so she could load her crossbow, but even when she did manage to get a shot off, Stellan was impossible to hit.

“Hello, Alice,” Gunnar whispered, and his voice was right in my ear.

I had been too busy watching Stellan that I hadn’t noticed him coming behind me. I tried to look up at him, and his hand was around my throat, one of his razor sharp nails pressing into the skin over my jugular. I fought to pull his arm free, and he started dragging me backwards, towards the altar.

I thought about screaming, but I didn’t want anybody to know. They would stop and look at me, and that’s exactly what would get them killed. Milo was crouched over Bobby, trying to protect him, and I could smell Jack and Peter’s blood from fresh wounds. Only Olivia had yet to be wounded, but she was dodging and diving almost as quickly as Stellan.

So I let Gunnar drag me away. I knew that he would probably kill me, but whatever he did to me, I had to endure it silently. That was my only chance of saving them.

Leif was still fighting Bear, but he seemed to have the upper hand. He knocked Bear back to the ground and grabbed a broken piece of the pew. It had been the back rest, but it had been snapped in half, giving it a sharp edge. Leif held it high over his head, then plummeted it down against Bear’s throat.

There was this awful gurgling sound, but I closed my eyes to keep from seeing the blood. I heard the crunch of bone, and Bear’s heart fell silent. Leif had decapitated him.

“Everyone is so busy right now,” Gunnar clicked his tongue. “It’s so boring and dull with just the two of us, don’t you think?”

“Gunnar,” Leif said, keeping his voice low. Blood stained his shirt and face, and he carefully stepped over the pews towards us. “Let her go. She’s not what you want.”

“You are quite right,” Gunnar sighed. “But she is what everyone else seems to want, and if you take a step closer, I’ll slice her throat wide open.” Leif stopped where he was, glaring at him. When Gunnar spoke again, he was shouting loudly, so everyone would hear him. “What do you think, Peter? How much blood can sweet Alice lose in one day?”

Peter and Jack froze instantly, but Stellan went for Jack. He tackled him roughly, crashing into pews, and falling below the balcony wall, so I couldn’t see him. Olivia aimed her crossbow, but I doubt she could get in a clean shot if they were rolling about together. Ezra jumped into it, trying to catch Stellan, but he moved too quickly, even with Jack in his clutches.

“No, Peter, help Jack!” I shouted. “He needs you more than I do!”

Peter stared at me, his eyes burning, and I knew that he wouldn’t save Jack.

Peter leapt off the balcony, his eyes never leaving me. He walked deliberately slow down the aisle, and I looked up at the balcony. I could hear them fighting, Jack grunting, and how fast his heart pounded, but I couldn’t see him.

Milo was just trying to keep Bobby from getting killed. I saw Ezra go flying across the balcony, landing hard against the wall, and tumbling down next to Olivia. At least Jack’s heart was still beating. At least he was still alive.

Gunnar made it closer to us than Leif had, but he stopped just below the steps leading up the altar. Gunnar had us stationed right below the cross. When I looked straight up, all I could see was the emaciated corpse of Jesus. It was rather disturbing, and it didn’t help that a vampire was about to tear open my throat.