I could sense Isabella’s heartbeat, so I dismissed her for the moment. No one else moved, and I let out a faint sigh. “I didn’t sense any of them,” I said out loud, letting my friends know that they needed to remain alert for more enemies.
They nodded, scanning the eerily silent restaurant and the dozens of bodies. At a sudden realization, I walked back to the woman I had used as a steppingstone and grabbed a fistful of her hair to lift her head from the bowl of soup.
I belted out a laugh when I confirmed that it was the horrible woman from earlier—the one with the mink coat who had been so rude to Victoria. They had finally been given a table. Her lapdog husband, Harold, was sprawled out on the floor, but his face was buried deep into the buxom cleavage of a young woman who had been sitting at a neighboring table. She had been wearing a dress that did not allow a bra, and it also did not allow proper protection from sudden falls, leaving her breasts fully exposed. But Harold was doing his part to protect her modesty—by shielding her nudity with his face and hands. She had to be a third of his age, and I was already considering waking his wicked wife up prematurely just to behold the look on her face when she saw Harold’s good fortune.
Not wanting to embarrass the young woman, I abandoned my idea and turned to Victoria instead. “Heh,” I said, pointing the old hag’s face towards Victoria like it was a lantern.
My vampire hunter smirked, nodding with an approving sniff. Her smile turned into outright laughter as she noticed Harold sleeping like a babe at the teat—quite literally. “Dirty old man,” she cheered. “Get her a mink coat!”
I chuckled as I let go of the hag’s hair, letting her face splash back into the remainder of her soup. Then I wiped off the vampire’s blood from my hand into her fancy mink coat. I stared down at her for another moment before swiftly picking her up by the shoulders and setting her down beside the heartless vampire, making sure to get the victim’s blood on her hand.
“There. Now she’s a suspected murderer.”
Victoria was smiling, but also shaking her head in disapproval as she motioned for me to join her in leading the way out of the restaurant. “I take care of my whores,” I told her, leaning close.
She snorted, elbowing me in the spot where the knife had cut me. I bit back a hiss so as not to alarm her. Nosh carried Isabella behind us. “Less petty vengeance, more getaway vehicle, you twisted lovebirds,” he growled, his magical tomahawk winking out of existence with a crackling pop as I led us back into the area with the hostess’ podium. The hostess was slumped over the podium, snoring loudly.
“There might be more vampires outside waiting for us. Where did you park?” I asked Nosh, hesitating at the doors leading outside.
“One block down. To the left.”
“Call Natalie,” I told Victoria as I glanced out the window, checking the street. The area was quiet, and I didn’t sense any vampires, but I hadn’t sensed any of our enemies inside the restaurant either. “We need to get Isabella somewhere safe. Make sure she’s okay.” Victoria had her phone pressed to her ear, but she gave me a meaningful glance. I sighed, understanding her silent suggestion.
I pulled out my phone and called Dr. Stein. She answered, but I immediately interrupted her. “We were attacked at the restaurant,” I said, trying to block off Victoria’s conversation with Natalie.
Dr. Stein cursed, but the connection was poor, sounding as if I was only hearing every other word or so. “Phoenix too far—” Her voice cut off and I growled, noticing Victoria’s frustrated frown. She must have a bad connection as well—meaning that it wasn’t on Dr. Stein’s end.
“Dr. Stein!” I snapped angrily, but all I heard was random snippets of partial words. “Where else can we go quickly?”
I wasn’t sure how much of my question she’d heard. My phone had worked perfectly fine when I’d been speaking to Dr. Stein at the bar. Victoria had tried to explain it to me once before, telling me that it was a common problem with our cheap burner phones since they borrowed towers or something.
I hadn’t paid much attention since each question only led to more questions. I walked closer to the door, wondering if it would work better outside. Victoria was doing the same, pacing back and forth to find a spot where the connection was stronger, but she didn’t look to be having any more success than me. If Dr. Stein had no suggestions, we would just have to head to the museum, but that was not very close, and I didn’t have anyone there who could check on Isabella to make sure she was okay. Because she still hadn’t woken up. And there was a good chance that Dracula’s vampires were trying to lead us into a trap, forcing us to head back to the museum for an ambush.
Nosh was staring at me impatiently, so I placed my hand on the door, drawing Victoria’s attention. “Maybe they will work better outside.” She nodded, joining us. “Ready?” I asked.
They nodded. I shoved open the door, ushering everyone outside as Victoria continued shouting into her phone for Natalie to come get us.
Dr. Stein’s voice suddenly came through my phone, but it was still choppy. “You…need—” I kept my eyes out for enemies, cringing at the sound of distant sirens, wondering if they were headed our way. “Off…streets—” I took another step towards the street, hoping for Dr. Stein to give me something useful. “Danger…hide!”
“Where?” I shouted, taking another step.
A bottle of glass flew through the air, shattering on the ground in a roar of sudden green flames at least ten-feet-tall, separating me from the others. I fumbled my phone into the fire and watched it instantly vaporize. Two women stepped out from behind a lone car parked on the street, cackling creepily as they stared at me.
Witches.
8
They had to be witches, judging by the glass vial of flame. But they must have been masking their powers for me not to sense their magic. Had they been working with Dracula’s vampires? Was that why I hadn’t sensed either?
I watched my foes from a wary crouch, assessing their level of threat. I hadn’t squared off against witches since I’d awoken from my long slumber, and I wasn’t entirely sure what they were capable of—other than the green fire, obviously. I frowned as their noses suddenly began to bleed. What the hell was that all about? They cocked their heads, jerking their attention towards my friends on the other side of the roaring flames. Through the flickering inferno, I saw Nosh racing away from the restaurant in the direction of his car, carrying Isabella over his shoulder. Victoria was staring at me, torn between who to protect.
“GO!” I shouted at her. “He can’t defend himself carrying her! Phoenix!” I snapped, hoping she understood that I wanted her to take Isabella to Dr. Stein’s new secret laboratory. The museum was too far and there wasn’t any help there. Also, no one knew about Stein’s lab.
I hoped.
Victoria nodded stiffly, and I saw her sprint after Nosh—because a third woman was racing after him now, raising her hand as she hurled another glass vial at him with a malevolent laugh. Victoria began firing at her with her pistol, but the woman moved as fast as a snake, zigzagging back and forth as she darted around the corner, already wielding another potion in her hand. Victoria disappeared after her, no longer shooting as she sprinted for all she was worth, a chop-stake in each fist. She had run out of bullets and the witch was still pursuing Nosh and Isabella.
I spun to the other two witches, snarling as I bared my fangs. They were both brunettes and looked no different than any other middle-aged woman I’d seen—nothing to signify that they were more than human. “What the hell is this?” I demanded, drawing their attention from my fleeing friends. “You’re working with Dracula’s vampires?”
They narrowed their eyes, but the taller one answered in a scratchy voice. “Never! Had we known they were here, we would have brought more of our sisters! We thought you had killed them all when you took over. We came for the vile shaman.”
I stared at them in confusion. What were the odds that both groups wanted to murder Nosh on the same night a
t the same place? And sending four witches after Nosh seemed rather excessive. What had he done to offend them?
“Tell us where the tomahawks are and we will let you live,” one of them said.
“No. You won’t,” I said dryly, not swayed by their obvious lie. I kept the surprise from my face upon hearing them mention the tomahawks. They had to be referring to the ones Nosh and I had hidden with Redford, but hadn’t Nosh already retrieved them? At least I now knew why they wanted him dead. But how had they even known about them?
The lead witch licked the blood dripping down from her nose. “You’re right. We won’t. But if you don’t have them, your friends must, because we sensed the cursed blades inside,” she said pointing in the direction of Nosh and Victoria.
Wait a minute…
Were they talking about the magic tomahawk Nosh had called up a few moments ago? Did the witches think that was one of the tomahawks we’d taken from his parents’ penthouse the night of their murder?
A chilling idea suddenly came to mind. Were Nosh’s elemental tomahawks not actually shaman magic like I’d thought? What if they were the very weapons we’d taken from the penthouse? The ones we had entrusted to Redford, to keep safe. I’d seen Nosh use them at the auction shortly after we’d turned over the box, and I had assumed the glowing blades were formed from his shaman magic, not that they were the actual tomahawks we had given to Redford for safekeeping. Had we given him an empty box?
Had Nosh lied to me? Again? And if so, why? It had been my idea to grab them in the first place after I’d seen them on the wall and sensed their inner power.
The witch grunted, reading the look on my face. “Aww, the poor dearie didn’t know!” she cackled, glancing at her fellow witch as she pointed a wicked dagger at me. “No worries. Our sister will pry them from their cold, dead, fingers. Unfortunately, you won’t be around long enough to—”
I closed the distance between us, swinging wildly with my claws, but it was like attacking silk ribbons, their bodies bending unnaturally to evade my strikes. And the moment I focused on one, the other was attacking me from behind, harrowing me. I instantly changed tactics, knowing that I didn’t have a lot of blood left in my system for a prolonged fight. Because using my speed and strength also burned away my blood reserves.
I feigned lunging at one, only to pivot at the last second. They both dove forward with their daggers aimed at the spot they had anticipated me to land, almost killing each other and solving my problem for me. It was a near miss, but they did manage to trip each other up. I reared back and kicked one in the spine, laughing as I heard her bones splinter at the overpowered blow, sending her flying out into the street where she landed on all fours like a cat, her body bent strangely where I had broken her spine.
But she didn’t seem to register the pain or injury, straightening awkwardly to glare at me.
Her compatriot spun to check on her friend with the shattered spine. She was just in time to see a luxury car slam into the wounded witch at full speed, casting up a spray of gore before the car ran over her with a pair of sickening thumps. Natalie was behind the wheel, grinning like a maniac. She slammed on the brakes and the car began to spin wildly before slamming into a light pole, shattering the light and casting the street into darkness as a white balloon exploded out from the steering wheel and struck Natalie in the face, seeming to swallow her.
I winced, using the distraction to decapitate the distracted witch as the sound of many, many approaching sirens filled the streets, much louder than before. They were alarmingly close, and coming from both directions, preventing me from chasing down Nosh, Victoria, and Isabella.
Not with me covered in blood and with a dazed werewolf in tow—because Natalie had destroyed our car. I ran over to her, pouring on the speed as the crumpled hood caught fire. Natalie was struggling with the white balloon, tearing into it with her claws, and her forehead was bleeding steadily. But she was awake and angry, at least. I yanked the entire door from the frame, hurling it behind me. Then I scooped Natalie up from under the shoulders and dragged her away, not wanting to stand beside the car a moment longer than necessary in case it exploded.
Natalie stumbled, regaining her feet in a clumsy shuffle as she shoved me away from the street, pointing to a narrow drive leading back behind the restaurant. Other than the restaurant, the rest of the street consisted of homes, and it looked like Natalie’s plan was our only chance to get out of sight. We began jogging down the darkened drive, aiming for the backyards of the houses on the next street. We could hop a few fences to get out of the immediate area, putting some distance between us and the police.
The car exploded behind us and I grunted, increasing my speed. That would draw the police here faster. I wasn’t entirely sure that I had the energy to enthrall more than a pair or two of police officers after the fiasco I’d just survived. “Nice driving, Natalie,” I said, urging her onward. “You okay?” I asked, concerned by the amount of blood painting her face. I knew werewolves healed fast, but head wounds were dangerous.
Despite my obvious concern, a very strong part of me wanted to grab Natalie by the shoulders and taste some of that hot blood. I was feeling weak after the recent fighting, and she was walking around covered with the one thing that would make me stronger and happier. I gritted my teeth, fighting down my impulses with a shiver of shame.
She nodded, waving off my concern. “Airbag was a bitch, but I’m fine. Please tell me I didn’t just kill an innocent old grandmother,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.
9
I grinned, shaking my head. “Witch. I think.”
“A witch?” Natalie grunted, sounding surprised. “Victoria said vampires—which already didn’t make any sense because all Dracula’s vampires died.”
I grunted. “Looks like he’s been sneaking in reinforcements.”
Natalie pursed her lips with a growl. “Since when are witches trying to assassinate you?”
I shrugged, hopping over a rickety fence and landing in an ankle-deep inflatable pool. I cursed angrily, especially when Natalie hopped over it as nimble as a deer, despite her injuries from the crash. “Apparently, they coincidentally both tried to assassinate me on the same night,” I muttered. “The witches seemed just as surprised about it as me. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say the witches tried to kill Nosh the same night that the vampires tried to kill me. Luckily for them, we decided to hang out together tonight.”
Natalie frowned, wiping some of the blood out of her eyes. “I didn’t smell any witches,” she said warily, “but I’ve definitely never heard of them working with vampires. They hate your kind. They hate everyone but fellow witches,” she added. “Where is Victoria?” she asked as we hopped over another fence and into a yard with a vicious guard dog.
I didn’t want to kill the creature, not when he was just protecting his family’s yard, but he instantly began barking at me in a furious snarl, snapping his teeth at my ankles.
Natalie snarled back at him and the dog yelped, cowering down onto his back and lifting his paws in the air with a submissive whine. “Who’s the bitch now?” Natalie snapped, grinning at me. The scarlet blood on her cheeks made my mouth water, but I managed to force down my desires once again to return a smile.
I hopped over the fence and slowed down as we came upon the next street. It was peacefully quiet, but it looked like we had left the residential area for a more commercial one. At least it seemed that way, judging by the metal shutters barring the doors and windows, and the signs hanging overhead.
“What happened, and where are we going?” Natalie asked, scanning the street for threats.
“Isabella’s nose started to bleed, and she passed out right after the first witch tried to kill us inside,” I told her, slowing to a less conspicuous pace down the sidewalk. “Then the vampires attacked us. Nosh was carrying Isabella to their car and I told Victoria to watch his back since he had his hands full. I was pinned down by a bunch of green fire from one of their gl
ass vials,” I muttered.
Detailing the events of the night helped to curb my hunger, and I scanned her face again to make sure her injuries weren’t too serious. She was a werewolf, so her healing factor would take care of anything that wasn’t immediately life-threatening. That didn’t mean she would be up for a fight any time soon, but it did mean I wouldn’t have to carry her.
She was staring at me, her face pale. “Isabella’s nose started bleeding?” she asked uneasily.
I nodded, frowning. “Yeah. The witches had sudden nosebleeds too,” I said slowly, only just now connecting the dots. Natalie grimaced. “What does that mean?”
She stared at me for a few moments, as if debating whether to answer. “I can’t say for certain, but I’ve heard witches get nosebleeds when they encounter witches from other groups or clans or whatever they call themselves.”
I skidded to a halt, snatching her wrist. “Other covens? Are you saying Isabella is a witch?” I demanded. “She’s a Sister of Mercy. The Nuns with Guns.”
Natalie stared back at me. “Maybe she’s both, or…”
“Or she isn’t really a Sister of Mercy,” I said, finishing her thought. I glanced back towards the restaurant and the chorus of sirens, hoping they’d made it out okay. I growled. “Fuck. I lost my phone in the fire.”
Natalie checked her own pockets and grunted. “I must have dropped mine in the crash.”
I scanned our surroundings, not familiar enough with the city to know exactly where we were or which way to go. But I did have some cash in my pocket. “We need to find one of those yellow coaches. Dr. Stein said the streets aren’t safe.”
Natalie smirked. “A cab, not a yellow coach. Did Dr. Stein say anything else?”
I shrugged. “She kept cutting out on me, but I think she said her lab is too far away, or maybe she was trying to tell me the lab was in danger,” I growled, running a hand through my hair. “All I heard before I lost my phone was danger…go hide!”
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