by Sofia Daniel
Rapid bursts of wind rushed past, making my heart jump into my throat. I clapped my hands to my chest and flinched.
“What was that?” I whispered.
“First years,” Raphael replied.
“What?” Gates stepped through to the stairwell.
I placed a hand on his bicep. “When the hunters stormed the dining room, all the younger students left the battle before it started. Now they’ve separated into smaller groups to avoid being captured.”
“Clever little things,” muttered Gates.
We continued down another flight of stairs and through a hallway filled with the sound of human moans. Ventilation holes wafted in the smell of feces and body odor.
I pulled the wool of my borrowed cardigan over my mouth and nose. “What’s through there?”
“Pigs,” replied Raphael. “The academy breeds more than it needs for blood. Every few months, the knockers pack up several piglets to send out to other vampire institutions.”
A shudder ran down my spine, and I pushed away thoughts of those peculiar pigs to focus on the battle ahead. “Right.”
Gates sniffed the air. “What’s so special about those—”
BOOM!
The explosion reverberated through the ground, into my bones, and penetrated the cavity of my chest. My heart spasmed in a series of rapid palpitations, and I stared from one boy to the other in the dark. It had sounded like a canon, but who on earth used such old-fashioned weapons these days?
“That was an oscillator,” Nero said with a shudder.
“What?” I asked.
“Captain Tanar mentioned it once in Hunters 101,” said Raphael. “It’s a weapon that shoots out sound waves to disturb the energy of hunters.”
My brows furrowed. Something like that probably wouldn’t affect Radu.
Dante scooped me up in his arms. “We’d better hurry.”
“Need a lift?” Raphael said to Gates.
Gates grunted his agreement, and Raphael slung the werewolf over his shoulder. As we sped through the secret passageways to the source of the explosion, my stomach lurched with the rapid movement. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to become nauseous or dizzy, and focused on the battle ahead.
The sound of gunfire filled the air, but the intervals between the shots made me picture marksmen pausing to refill their muskets. Machine guns probably didn’t work against Radites. Those creatures bled magic, and their wounds knitted as fast as an opponent could inflict them.
Moments later, Dante set me on my feet. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.” Blinking away the giddiness, I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s position ourselves close to Radu.”
Raphael arrived. “There’s a ventilation shaft up ahead.” He let Gates slide off his shoulder. “It ends close to the loading bay, which is where I suspect the hunters are battling Dracula’s forces.”
The ventilation shaft turned out to be a sideways chimney and not a metal chute as I’d initially imagined. A four-foot sized grate stood at its end, giving us a view of a dozen low-level hunters crowding around the double doors of the academy’s back entrance.
“Where’s Radu?” I asked.
“That big bastard outside?” asked Gates. “He’s directing the battle like a conductor.”
“We should kill his reinforcements,” said Nero.
“It would even the odds,” added Dante.
I stared at the hunters’ backs. During the battle of the dining room, they’d just stood at the doors watching the Radites decimate the vampires. Even though these hunters were strategically useless for the battle, they provided Radu with essential support.
“Alright,” I whispered. “But I can’t make it look like it’s coming from us.” My gaze fell on the female friend of the red-haired woman who had been bad-mouthing me at the entrance.
“What will you do?” asked Nero.
“Watch this.” Grabbing his and Gates’ hand, I snaked out several tendrils of magic and wove them through the woman’s legs.
Nero chuckled. “Mischief-maker.”
I hooked my magic through the root chakras of the other hunters. They turned around, looking for the source of the attack. But before they could react, I pulled hard, and lights exploded around the woman’s body. Each hunter fell to the ground, white and dead.
“Wha—” The woman clapped her hand over her mouth and glanced from side to side.
Out from the battlefield, Renée rushed at the woman and raised her off the ground with thick streams of magic. “What is the meaning of this?”
“I don’t know,” the woman shrieked.
“You tried to absorb your comrades while they were distracted,” Renée snarled.
“Never mind her!” Radu shouted from several feet away. He and six powerful Radites stood within a sphere of gold, their vast chakras filling the entire space.
BOOM!
The golden barrier splintered, and a harpoon slammed into his chest, releasing an explosion of multicolored light.
With an anguished roar, Radu pulled the weapon out of his body and threw it aside. More harpoons flew through the air. Two of the Radites broke formation and ran out of range, while the other four joined hands and erected golden shields thick enough to catch the harpoon’s hooks.
I sucked in a deep breath, sending Dracula’s troops a silent word of thanks.
CLACK, CLACK, CLACK!
The tips of the harpoons exploded, embedding black shrapnel into the Radites.
“What the fuck is that?” whispered Gates.
“If I had to guess, I’d say those were scorpion ants from the Kingdom of Lilin,” said Nero.
“I think you’re right.” Dante turned to me. “They’re magical creatures Lord Lilin developed for rebellious livestock. These ants live among the humans and drain enough of their life-force to keep them subdued.”
“It’s going to take more than a few ants to subdue this lot,” said Gates.
“What effect will it have on the frumosi students?” I asked.
“If Dracula uses children as decoys, I doubt he will care about a bunch of captives he’s never met,” said Nero.
Raphael rubbed my back.
“My Lord!” Renée rushed back into the battlefield, grabbed her master’s hand, and strengthened his golden barrier.
“How many lives do you think Radu has stolen?” Nero asked, his voice flat.
“Countless,” I muttered. “That little explosion released more chakras than all those hunters put together.”
Another female hunter ran into the battlefield. “Renée,” she shouted. “My Lord! You’ve got to come—”
BOOM!
A blast from the compost truck reduced her to a cloud of multicolored dust and sparkles. To her right, the golden bubble formed deep cracks.
Triumph thrummed in my veins. Dracula didn’t mess around. The old vampire meant to destroy every single hunter in existence.
“Bloody hell,” muttered Gates.
“Ditto,” said Raphael.
I turned my gaze to Radu and Renée, who repaired the cracks on their golden shield. The hunters behind them formed an iridescent barrier of protection behind theirs.
“The vampires are winning,” Dante whispered.
“For now,” I whispered back. “Until the hunters find a way to damage the oscillators.”
Several small blasts peppered out of the compost truck, creating dents in Radu’s golden shield. They picked up speed, now sounding like machine guns. I held my breath. Maybe the vampires were leveling up to keep Radu away.
Holes appeared in the barrier faster than the Radites could repair them. Tiny clouds of multicolored magic exploded from the surface of Radu’s body, but the monster continued toward the truck.
“Enough!” Radu roared above the sound of gunfire. He gripped Renée’s hand, grabbed the wrist of the nearest male Radite and charged at the compost truck.
Another explosion filled the air, shattering their golden shield. A
Radite at the back exploded into a cloud of fireworks. Keeping his head dipped, Radu picked up speed and charged like a golden bull.
“Oh, shit,” said Gates. “Kamikaze!”
“What’s that?” asked Raphael.
I held my breath as Gates gave him a garbled explanation of World War II suicide attacks. Bullets rained on the quartet of Radites, releasing tiny explosions of multicolored energy, but their vast stores of stolen life-force made immediate repairs.
Radu stayed low, weaving from side to side as he sprinted forward, ducking one blast after another. He reached the compost truck and ripped off its metal facade, revealing an armored tank, surrounded by vampires in body armor.
My mouth dropped open.
“Come out and face me, you coward!” Radu barreled through the vampires, knocking them and their machine guns aside.
Dodging the barrel of the tank, he scaled the armored vehicle and reached its top. Thick streams of magic snaked from his fingertips and tried to penetrate the metal.
From where we hid behind the grate, I couldn’t see if the tank had a hatch, but multicolored streams of Radu’s magic corkscrewed into the armored vehicle.
“He’s unscrewing it like a fucking thermos flask,” said Gates.
“Oh, shit,” muttered Nero. “Dracula had better know of another way to counter Radu at close combat.”
I swallowed hard. From everything I’d gathered about the old vampire, he seemed a bit of a coward who preferred to hide behind others.
With a mighty roar of triumph, Radu flung the hatch of the tank like a frisbee. As it crashed against the castle’s wall, the monster leaped feet-first into the vehicle.
My stomach dropped. “If Dracula’s hiding in that tank, Radu’s about to become a lot more powerful.”
“This is a disaster,” Dante whispered.
A dark figure shot out of the tank into the air, but Radu’s magic wrapped around his waist and smashed him onto the ground with a bone-crunching thud. Clouds of dust rose from the impact. They cleared, revealing a large man lying face-down dressed in black leather. Long, dark ringlets fanned out across the gravel in the same corkscrew style as Dracula.
Radu climbed out from the hatch, his face covered in blood. Each tooth had lengthened into fangs twice the size of any other hunter.
Renée jogged across the battlefield. “Well done, My Lord.”
Dracula surged up. In the blink of an eye, he ripped her blonde head off her shoulders. Renée’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and blue magic surged from her fallen body.
“No!” Radu howled.
The old vampire withdrew a katana and sliced a sword through Radu’s middle, spilling out yellow light. With rapid, acrobatic movements, Dracula rushed around his younger brother, a blur of black making devastating slashes faster than my vision could process.
“Keep going,” Nero growled.
“Should we go out and help the vampires?” asked Raphael.
“After spending days in a sun cell?” Bitterness laced Dante’s voice. “We’ll stick with Alicia’s plan and attack when they have exhausted themselves.”
Infrared lights lit up the entire backyard, and Dracula let out a blood-curdling shriek. Shielding my eyes from the glare, I watched his empty soul-star chakra fall to the ground.
“Excellent work!” Radu rasped. “Somebody fetch me some restraints.”
A pair of former knockers rushed outside and handed Radu a metal collar. While Radu fastened the collar around Dracula’s neck, the others slapped metal cuffs on the old vampire’s wrists and ankles.
“Lights off,” Radu croaked.
As the hunters dragged a screaming Dracula into the castle, I stared out into the courtyard, not quite believing what I had seen. The light streaming from Radu’s wounds closed, and the monster stood strong and proud in his tattered, burgundy leather. How many lives had he absorbed to have survived so much damage? Hundreds, maybe even a thousand.
“Congratulations, My Lord!” said the sycophants.
Radu glanced around at the whitened bodies of his dead Radites. Behind him, a headless Renée continued to thrash on the ground.
“Has anyone seen Justine?” he asked, sadness dulling his voice.
“No, My Lord,” the others chorused.
“Carry Renée’s remains and gather all the frumosi to the ballroom. Have preparations ready within the hour. It is time to make a new round of promotions.”
My heart thudded, and I clapped both hands over my mouth. I had to act. Now.
“What did he mean?” Gates whispered.
Nero turned to me. “Is it as gruesome as it sounds?”
I swallowed down the bile surging to the back of my throat. “Whoever getting promoted will absorb Renée’s life-force, but I think they’re also going to do the same with all the students.”
“We can’t let him kill the frumosi,” whispered Raphael.
My eyes fluttered shut, and I sucked in a deep breath. There was one more way to destroy Radu, but I needed to get close enough to the monster to enact this plan. “I have an idea.”
Chapter 21
It took several minutes to convince the boys that I knew what I was doing and wouldn’t get absorbed, but they insisted on getting into place in case I needed help. Dante and Nero wanted us to leave the academy with our lives intact, but we had to strike.
Regardless of his victory, Radu was at his weakest, and leaving now to give him time to replenish his power would only cause us problems in the future.
I walked through the hallway and stopped outside one of the suites. Two men in ill-fitting burgundy armor stood at the door. I wondered if they were former knockers who had stripped dead hunters of their uniforms. Ignoring that, I focussed on my task.
“Good evening.” I brushed my mahogany hair off my face.
“Lord Radu is not to be disturbed,” said the guard.
“He called for me.” I straightened my dress. “Lord Radu wanted to celebrate.”
“Bugger off,” the guard snarled. “Our lord is resting from the battle.”
The door opened, revealing Radu. His blond ringlets tumbled over his shoulders and down to an over-muscled chest. “Alicia may enter.”
“But sir—”
Radu raised a massive palm. “Push back the promotion ceremony to the morning.”
The guard paused for a few seconds longer than appropriate and stepped aside to let me pass.
All the butterflies in my stomach stopped flapping their wings and huddled together into a writhing mass. I couldn’t blame them. Radu hadn’t cleaned off any of the blood caking the lower half of his face. He placed a hand in the center of my back and swept me into the reception area of his lair.
“I thought about you throughout the battle.” He stood at my back, placing both hands on my shoulders.
Suppressing a shudder of disgust, I squeaked, “Me, My Lord?”
“I wish to elevate you to my lieutenant.”
“How?”
“You will absorb Renée.”
“Why?” I spun around and widened my eyes. Radu thought I had been in the boys’ suite feeding on Dante’s blood. I wasn’t supposed to know Renée had lost her head in battle. “What’s she done to offend you?”
Radu shook his head. “She was a beloved and loyal granddaughter, but her injuries are too severe. You must put an end to her suffering.”
“Is she dead?” I asked.
“Our kind do not die so easily.” He cradled me in his arms. “Will you accept your place by my side?”
I dipped my head and stared into the valley between his gigantic pectoral muscles. This had to be a joke. I’d only just met the guy and spent every hour I could working against him. Was Radu so blinded by vanity that he would overlook my potential treachery?
“It seems so cruel to let her die,” I whispered.
“Even with her extensive injuries, Renée’s life force eclipses yours at least a hundred-fold. By absorbing her, you will gain her powers and abi
lities.”
“Oh.” Now everything made sense. I’d become one-part me and ninety-nine-parts Renée. Or worse. He wasn’t offering me power. He was offering Renée a new, heterosexual body. Forcing my eyes to light up, I tilted my head to make eye contact. “When can I absorb her?”
He chuckled. “In the morning.”
I placed a palm on his chest and gave him a coy smile. “What will we do in the meantime?”
Radu’s face stretched into a grin of oversized, white teeth. “Celebrate.”
Inhaling a huge breath, I widened my features into a grin. “Ever since you described feeding play, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
His smile faltered. Probably because he had lost so much life-force during the battle. “You will glut yourself on Renée in the morning.”
“But it’s you I want to taste,” I said, trying not to grimace.
Radu grabbed my hand and pressed it into his crotch. An erection thicker than my arm bulged beneath my fingers.
A shiver of fear and disgust ran down my spine, and it took every ounce of self-control not to snatch my hand away. I loved big dicks, but that appendage was just as monstrous as its owner.
“Hmmm…” I stretched my lips into a smile, my mind making rapid-fire calculations. The plan hatching in the back of my mind was risky, but if it worked, I wouldn’t even need to call on the boys. “May I taste your spunk?”
“As much as you can swallow,” Radu growled. “Now, take off your clothes. I wish to see you naked.”
Sending a mental apology to the boys, I slipped my borrowed cardigan down my shoulders.
Radu snapped his teeth. “More.”
“I want to see you, too,” I purred.
He swept back his blond ringlets and puffed out his oversized chest. “You like?”
“Oh, Lord Radu!” I clapped my hands over my cheeks. “You have the largest muscles I’ve seen on a man!” The worst part of this exclamation was its truth. Even gorillas didn’t have such brawny bodies.
“Wait until you see my penis,” he drawled.
I dipped my head and forced a giggle. “Do you have a big one?”
“It’s larger than an elephant’s.”