Three guys and two girls linger at the entrance. Dressed in trendy clothes, they look like half the students I go to school with. Ordinarily I’d be inclined to ignore them, but there’s something off about the way they’re standing there, especially the guy in the blue-tinted Aviators. His stance feels… predatory.
One of the guy’s in the back wearing a charcoal beanie looks at his phone then shares whatever is on the screen with the girl in a purple scarf beside him. They both look at me, sending an icy chill slithering down my spine. Charcoal Beanie then leans to the right, showing it to the other girl who’s wearing combat boots and to the guy in skinny jeans before leaning forward to whisper in the ear of the guy wearing shades, his gaze locked on me the whole time.
All the spit in my mouth evaporates. This can’t be good.
The guy at the head of their group lowers his sunglasses, revealing a pair of glowing green eyes. His mouth curls in a slow smile, while the girl in combat boots behind him twists the lock on the door into place.
Vampires.
They’re all vampires.
6
I grab a hold of Sebastian’s arm, my fingers digging into the fabric of his jacket, but he already knows they’re here. He probably knew the moment they walked through the door.
“Well, well, well, lookie what we have here. You’ve not been easy to find, Indiana. Kudos to whoever or whatever has been cloaking you.” Blue Aviators spreads out his arms, and his companions fan out beside him. “But now it seems your luck has run out. He wants you dead, and I’m here to make sure it happens by making you bleed out all over this floor.”
Just as I open my mouth, a burly man in a stained chef’s coat rounds the corner, shotgun in hand. “I don’t know who you kids are, but you will not come in here threatening my customers. I suggest you leave now before someone gets hurt.” He points the gun at the vamp in sunglasses, his finger shaking over the trigger.
“And what are you going to do, old man? Shoot me?” Blue Aviators gives a subtle nod, and the diner explodes into motion, everything happening all at once.
Charcoal Beanie and Combat Boots speed around the counter in a blur of colors, the wind in their wake blowing paper placemats onto the floor. Charcoal Beanie materializes in front of the chef, his hand clamped around the cook’s neck in a matter of nanoseconds, while Combat Boots crashes through the kitchen door.
Sebastian rushes out of the booth, pulling out a silver blade from the inside of his boot. Jack stumbles over spells, each one fizzling out in a shower of sparks as he trips over his words. Liv curls in a ball under the tabletop, her knees pulled to her chest, her hands wrapped around her head as though she’s bracing for an earthquake. And I… I’m frozen in place.
Every part of me knows I should be doing something. It’s what I’ve been training for, but the only thing I can do is sit here under the weight of Blue Aviators’ stare.
His lips move in silence, whispering things I can’t hear. My body responds anyway, caught in the thrall of his pulsating, glowing green eyes. I scoot out of the booth, my feet carrying me toward him. My inner voice screams inside my head, yelling for me to run the other way. For half a second my steps falter, but then my feet move forward once again. One side of his mouth lifts in a half-smile just as his fangs descend. “Come to me, Indiana.”
The gun goes off somewhere to my left, shattering the ceiling tile and sending it raining down onto the countertop as the startled waitress slams into the coffee machine station and knocks over a row of mugs. I drop to the floor in a crouch, my arm shielding my head from bits of debris while the waitress screams, each bellow rising higher and higher in pitch until it threatens to shatter my eardrums. But at least it’s severed whatever pull Blue Aviators had over me.
I lower my arm as a different set of blood-curdling screams tears out of the waitress. I jump back up just in time to see Charcoal Beanie sink his fangs into the side of the cook’s neck with such viciousness it rips a chunk of his flesh clean off. He throws the cook’s body onto the floor, then sets his sights on the waitress.
Everything around me sharpens into focus, allowing me to see every harsh detail. The fear coming off the waitress in nearly visible waves, the shiny red gleam to the vampire’s blood-soaked teeth, the pandemonium around me moving in chaotic circles as Sebastian fights both Skinny Jeans and Purple Scarf. Jack’s shaky voice as he works on a spell, Liv’s sobs from under the table, the screams coming from the kitchen. Every sound, every sensation, becomes a physical thing assaulting my senses. And all I want to do is make it stop.
I fling my hand out, words to a spell tumbling out of my mouth so fast I can only hope I’m saying them right. I jerk my hand to the left, waiting for Charcoal Beanie to be flung away. Nothing happens. Damn it! Aunt Claudia and her stupid lingering suppression spell.
I try again, focusing on my intent alone. I can’t let anybody else die because of me.
The waitress catches my eye, and I focus even harder, but I still don’t feel the spark. Charcoal Beanie is going to kill her just like he did the cook, and I’m not going to be able to do anything about it.
Or maybe I can.
I fumble for the knife in my pocket with a shaky hand. Pulling it free, I release the blade and throw it at the vampire now standing in front of the waitress. By some miracle it hits him blade-first in the back. His chest arches outward, a roar erupting out of his mouth. He yanks the knife out then tosses it to the side, paying me no more attention than one would an annoying gnat as he continues in pursuit of his next victim.
Charcoal Beanie is on her before she can take a single step. Before I can gather my thoughts long enough to do anything else to try to save her. He throws her up onto the counter in front of me like she’s nothing. Hand fisted over the fabric of her uniform, he crushes down her chest until I hear her bones crack. Her screams cut off as he slices his teeth over the front of her neck. Blood spurts out from her wounds, splattering against my face. The rest streams over the countertop until it spills over the edge.
Charcoal Beanie lifts his head, his glowing brown eyes locking onto mine. Blood runs down his chin, his mouth pulling back to release an inhuman laugh. My heart shoots straight up into my throat. He’s going to kill me next.
Somewhere to the right a chair hits the floor, the bang echoing throughout the diner.
Charcoal Beanie’s glowing eyes shift to the man sliding his back along the picture window, an overturned chair on the floor in front of him. His arm is outstretched over the glass, fingers reaching for the door.
He’s not nearly close enough.
Charcoal Beanie licks his lips.
He’s going to kill him unless I do something.
I take a step toward the man just as Sebastian and Purple Scarf twist out in front of me. They slam into the counter, each one struggling to get the upper hand. Somehow Sebastian manages to sink his knife into her chest where he then twists it to the side before pushing her back out onto the floor. He kicks her in the stomach with a roundhouse, sending her flying across the room. She slams into a table in the corner, rolls over the top, then crashes into a heap of tangled limbs amongst the knocked over chairs. When she doesn’t move, Sebastian yanks out another knife from the back of his waistband, and enters into a dance of death with Skinny Jeans, while somewhere behind me Jack finally gets his words right.
A glowing ball of purple energy flies across the diner, zipping past my face. It hits Charcoal Beanie dead center in the chest. He slams through the wall and into the kitchen.
“Run!” I scream at the man slowly making his way to the door. Now isn’t the time to try to be sneaky, hoping he’ll be undiscovered. He needs to move, move, move before it’s too late, and he ends up like the cook, the waitress, and whoever’s screams are dying off in the kitchen.
The man startles at my outburst, his whole body momentarily lifting off the floor before he’s once again plastered against the window.
Blue Aviators watches me, a slow smile creeping over
his face at the chaos unfolding around us.
I need my magic, but try as I might, it’s still out of reach. My emotions are too out of control, my thoughts pulled in too many directions. Torn between the man trying to escape, Sebastian wearing thin on holding his own against Skinny Jeans, and my cousins who aren’t equipped to be in this situation.
Charcoal Beanie bursts back through the hole in the wall, flinging debris out in his wake. A large chunk hits me in the shoulder, knocking me to the floor. He jumps up onto the counter in a crouch. A giant burnt hole in his shirt smokes around the edges over his chest, the flesh behind it untouched. He zeroes in on Jack, a snarl slipping past his teeth. He splays his fingers out, his nails lengthening into claws.
Jack shouts out in another language, his hands moving over a forming energy ball that’s taking too long. He spares a glance to the side where Liv is still cowering under the table. “Liv, I need your help. I can’t hold him off on my own. Liv!” He flings the energy ball out and immediately begins working on another.
Charcoal Beanie launches into the air in one quick move. Jack’s energy ball sails underneath him and hits the coffee maker. The machine splits apart, sending the pieces flying out in every direction.
“Stop! Please, just stop!” I scream out. What else can I do? They’re freaking vampires, and I’m a witch who can’t use her powers. I can’t watch my cousins and Sebastian die. I can’t.
“Why would we want to stop when we’re having so much fun?” Blue Aviators folds his sunglasses, hooking a temple down the neck of his designer shirt. He takes a seat at the counter and spreads his arms out to his sides, encompassing the crap storm raging throughout the diner. He drags his finger through the waitress’s blood, then licks it. He nods toward the man at the door. “What do you think, Indiana? Will he make it outside?”
I glance at the man. He’s almost there. All he has to do is unlock it.
A bloody knife skids across the floor with a clang and a screech.
Purple Scarf jumps out from behind the table and grabs the man by the throat, whipping him around so fast, she snaps his neck in the process. Tossing him to the ground, he comes to a stop at my feet.
“Guess not,” Blue Aviators says with a chuckle.
Wide eyes stare up at me as though the man can still see me even in death. A tear slithers from the corner of his eye. Rolling down the side of his cheek, it disappears somewhere in the thick of his hair just above his ear. The world around me quiets, and in my head, I hear him calling for me. I reach out, my fingers millimeters from his face.
“I thought you said she was a threat to our kind?” Purple Scarf’s high-pitched voice slams against my eardrum, silencing the man’s voice in my head. She glowers, sizing me up, clearly finding me lacking. “She’s nothing. Let’s stop playing around and end this already.” She takes a step toward me.
Blue Aviators snatches her by the wrist. “She’s mine.”
“Whatever. I’ll take care of the worthless witch hiding under the table then, while Damian finishes off the other one.” She pulls herself free, zipping by so fast, I haven’t even had time to process what she just said.
While Damian finishes off the other one.
Oh my God, Jack.
I whip around to find Damian—a.k.a. Charcoal Beanie—with his arm wrapped around Jack’s torso and his fangs deep in the side of his neck. Jack’s arms hang loosely at his sides, his eyes closed, mouth slightly upturned. He’s caught in the rapture.
“You heard Zara,” a voice whispers in my ear. “It’s time for your blood to spill over the floor.” Blue Aviators grabs me by the arm just as Zara yanks away Liv’s shelter by ripping the tabletop off the pole attaching it to the ground.
She grabs Liv by the hair and jerks her to her feet. Liv screams like a banshee, her arms and legs flinging out at her captor. I whip my head in Sebastian’s direction. Skinny Jeans has him pinned against the counter, his jaws snapping open and closed, inching closer and closer to Sebastian’s neck.
“I said SSTTOOOOOOOP!” I scream the last word, drawing it out until my throat is raw and the taste of blood sits on my tongue. My magic breaks free, coursing through my veins, uninhibited. I will not die here today, and neither will anyone else. Except for the vampires, that is. I’m going to make every single one of them pay for the lives they’ve already taken. The waitress, the cook, the kitchen staff, the man who never had any chance at all of escaping—they will all have justice. And I will be the one who gets it for them if it’s the last thing I ever do.
The fluorescent lights overhead intensify, becoming so bright it’s nearly blinding. The surge of electricity fills the diner with a loud buzzing until it reaches a crescendo, and every bulb explodes. Sparks fall down like rain, the smell of burnt wires saturating the air.
I turn toward Blue Aviators, dark intentions coursing through my veins. “You want blood on the floor? I’ll give you blood on the floor. Yours.”
A small amount of fear flashes in his eyes. He takes a step backward. The charm resting against my chest warms my skin as though it knows what I’m about to do. And it approves.
Familiar words tumble from my mouth in whispered tones. Blue Aviators freezes in place, and I grab a hold of his throat. The glow of his irises dull to a pale shade of green as blood pours out over his bottom lashes. Next it’s his nose, mouth, ears, and anywhere else it can come out. I know it’s wrong. I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but they’re leaving me with no choice. If I don’t cast the sanguinary spell, we’ll never make it out. They’ve already murdered too many people here today. I’ll be damned if I let them murder anyone else.
A body hits the floor somewhere behind me with a thud.
Jack. His name flashes through my mind like a sucker punch to the gut.
“He better not be dead, or things are going to get way worse for you,” I grind out between my teeth. I squeeze my hand tighter around Blue Aviators’ throat as more blood bubbles out of his mouth.
“Indi, watch out!” Liv screams.
I whip my head to the side, flinging my hand up at the same time. Damian and Zara halt in place as though they’d hit an invisible wall. “It’s getting hot in here. Don’t you think?” Both vampires burst into flame, every inch of their bodies consumed within seconds.
Skinny Jeans elbows Sebastian hard enough in the head to knock him out. Leaving him to slide to the floor, the vampire rushes at me. He too goes up in flames, his cries dying along with him.
I turn my attention back to Blue Aviators. His body weakens in my hands, the skin over his bones shrinking in. A dark crimson puddle pools over the floor, spreading out from beneath his feet. The peel of his lips over his teeth has his pleas for me to stop coming out whispered and distorted. A sick sort of glee has me smiling. I have no intention of stopping. Not until he’s good and dead dead.
And they thought me weak.
With no more blood left to exsanguinate from his body, I drop his desiccated form into the bloody mess he’s left behind. I flick my wrist in his direction with thoughts of fire whispering across my mind. Engulfed, flames lick over every inch of his bones, searing away his flesh before eating at the lake of blood surrounding him.
“Indi?”
I turn to the sound of Liv’s voice, magic still coursing through my veins. I don’t know why I ever thought the sanguinary spell was so bad. How can it be when it can rid the world of all bloodsucking fiends with a few whispered words? When it can make me feel this alive?
Blue Aviators deserved what he got, and so did his friends. The same goes for anyone else who dares come after my family or me again.
Kneeling down by her brother, Liv falls back onto her rear when she looks up at me. She scoots back like I’m some kind of monster. It’s like a slap to the face. I just saved all our lives. You’d think she’d be more grateful.
“Y-Your eyes,” she stammers.
“What about them?”
“They’re all black.”
I grab a napkin dis
penser from a nearby table, bringing it up to my face. Shiny black eyes stare back at me. The container falls from my hands, splashing the blood smeared over the floor. It’s then that I really look around at what I’ve done. Smoke curls up from four piles of charred bone and ash smoldering on the floor. The truth of the spell I cast seeps through my veins like ice water.
I used dark magic. And I let it in this time—really let it in—and if I’m completely honest, I liked it. So help me, I liked it. But I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t like it at all. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t. So I won’t. I won’t, I won’t. I’ll never, ever use dark magic again. From this moment on, I swear I won’t. I won’t, I won’t.
I fall to my knees, hoping if I say it enough times it’ll sink in, become truth, and absolve me from what I’ve done. I was under duress. I didn’t mean to go dark. I just wanted to save my cousins, to save Sebastian.
All excuses.
My gaze shifts to Sebastian. Sprawled out on the floor, a groan escapes his mouth as he begins to wake.
He’s going to hate me when he finds out what I’ve done.
He’ll see me as something to chase.
He’ll see me as a monster.
They’ll all see me as a monster.
Because I am.
I let the darkness in.
The world sways, everything moving in circles. My lungs close up shop, not letting in any air. A haze of gray outlines my vision, growing thicker and thicker as it closes in.
Sebastian catches me in his arms. A place I no longer deserve to be. “Indi,” he calls out my name, his voice so far away.
My head lolls back, giving me a glimpse of the man I couldn’t save, laying so still on the floor. Despite the shadows closing in, the ones around him seem to lighten, almost as though they’re coalescing into another shape.
A person made of light.
Sebastian adjusts his grip, pulling my head back up into the crook of his arm before I can make sense of it. “Indi. Indi, stay with me.”
Of Darkness & Light: Blood Descent Book 2 Page 6