by Susan Illene
He dug his hand in and squished around until it came free. Apparently he hadn’t performed this maneuver as many times as his master. The heart had some extra pieces hanging from it that Lucas didn’t bring out. Once Fallon set it down I took the knife from him and cut the heart open. Blood coated my hand where it held the organ, but at this point that was the least of my problems. I found the stone and set it aside.
The first slice on my finger had already stopped bleeding so I had to make a new cut. If it had been anything but vamp blood on the blade I might have been reluctant to use it on myself, but at least this way I’d heal fast. A few drops of blood came out before the wound closed. I pressed them to the stone and felt the spell break. The body turned to dust a moment later, making me choke on the fine particles before they blew away.
My shoulders sagged in relief at getting the job done—until my senses told me the demons hadn’t lost much strength. Through the miasma of supernaturals and magic flying around, I ferreted out the problem. Several other dead sups had the same power leaching spell on them, giving the demons a boost. The bodies I needed to neutralize next were either in the middle of the fighting or beyond it where the battle first started. I had to figure out a way to get to them without getting myself killed.
Chapter Twenty-seven
“There’s more,” I said, wiping my messy fingers on my jacket. “The dead sups up front have the same magic spell on them. Is there any way you can grab the bodies and bring them back here?”
Fallon looked in the direction I spoke. A howl pierced the night air before it cut off midpoint—my senses told me a werewolf had just gone down and not in a very pleasant way. Dammit, the pack wasn’t supposed to join the fight. We’d specifically told them to stay out of it until we learned how their alpha died. Not to mention they weren’t supposed to turn furry in the middle of the city.
“It won’t be easy,” he said, “but I can probably bring one back at a time.”
I gave him a weak smile. “That would help. Every guy the demons take down makes them that much harder to defeat. We’ve got to work fast.”
He stood up. “Will you be okay on your own?”
I showed him my gun. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure they don’t catch you.”
We did not need them sapping the powers off a fifteen hundred-year-old vampire.
He nodded and zoomed off. I stood and began my own round of pacing while waiting for him to get back. My senses told me when he made it to one of the bodies, but his movements had turned slow—too slow. All the guys on our side felt to be moving at a snail’s pace despite being in the middle of a battle.
I walked over to the fence and concentrated my senses once again, ignoring the ever-growing ache in my head. Too many sups and active spells clogging the area made it hard to keep track of everything. Now I had at least seventy to eighty supernaturals in my range and all kinds of magic being used on or by them. It didn’t help that the spells the demons were doing pushed harder at my psyche than I’d ever experienced before. My senses wanted to shy away from focusing on them.
Now I felt the thickness in the air around the battle. For the guys on our side, it must have been like pushing through sludge. With every sup that died, the power fueling the slowing spell increased. I had to do something fast or most of them would be dead soon and hybrids like Lucas would be too drained of energy to keep fighting.
Farther down the fence I found a gate. I went through it and ran to the restaurant parking lot. There was only one way to cut the magic off fast without having to find and neutralize each body—the same basic method sensors used to protect their home. My gaze narrowed on a spot between two rows of parked cars. There was enough space to make it a good place for a last stand. The demons had pushed our side forward to a parking area adjacent to the one where I stood. They wouldn’t have far to move once I had things ready for them.
It was painful to see the fight up close. They battled it out with overwhelming odds, considering there were even more demons than I’d realized now that I could sense them all. I saw one of the vampires go down closer to the street. He was a bloodied, mangled mess with no energy left to fight anymore. One of the demons kneeled over him and pressed a hand to his chest. The vamp’s body jerked as it was zapped, extinguishing the life force inside. Flames erupted next in the place over the heart before they disappeared inside. It might have looked like fire, but I knew it was part of the magic that created the stone inside. This had to be stopped.
I rushed over and took the knife out of my purse again. The blade shook in my hand. If someone didn’t heal me soon, I’d die, but there was no choice. A lot more lives were at stake than mine. I clenched my teeth and sliced into my wrist.
The blood flowed out much faster than the finger slices. The sight of it had my stomach doing flip flops. I took a deep breath, reminding myself this was not the time for weakness. I crouched down and put my arm closer to the ground, making sure to smear the dripping fluid with my other hand to create a solid line. My head grew light, but I forced myself to keep duck walking along. This had to be a complete circle to work.
Aniya came running out of the restaurant a few minutes later. I kept moving along, ignoring her as she looked frantically between me and the nearby fighting. The battle moved closer with every passing minute. Just a few more steps.
Her eyes widened when she finally noticed the blood. “Mel, what are you doing?”
“They’re losing, Niya,” I managed to grit out. Damn, but this hurt even more than expected. “Have to stop the demon magic.”
A few more drips and the circle closed. I slumped down beside it on the cement, gripping my wrist. She crouched next to me and bit into her arm. It didn’t take any encouragement for me to drink this time. I slurped the tangy flavor unique to Aniya, thankful she’d come along when she did.
Sharper pains than before shot through my wound as it closed, but at least they only lasted a few seconds. Relief filled me once my skin felt whole again. If only the wooziness would go away as fast. I rested my head on the ground and closed my eyes.
“Tell me how to help,” she said.
That was my best friend. Even when it looked like I was doing something crazy, she was willing to join me. You couldn’t buy loyalty like that.
“You’ve got to get our guys to move over here. The demons have a spell up that’s weakening them, but they’ll be okay if they can get inside the circle.” I jutted my chin at my creation. It was probably more of a wobbly oval than anything, but it served its purpose. My artistic skills worked better with a pencil and paper.
“Okay,” she said. “What about you?”
I forced myself to sit up. A flex of my wrist proved it worked fine again. I’d need it to be able to shoot once we got everyone over here.
“Hand me that.” I nodded at my purse. It was sitting close by where I’d left it when I started the circle.
She gave it to me and I took my Sig out. “I’ve got it covered. Don’t worry about me. I need you to get Lucas and the others to come over here, but keep your distance. That spell can grab you too if you get too close. Once they move this way, go back in the restaurant.”
“I can help fight,” she said. Determination lit her eyes.
“You’ve never fought anyone in your life and you have no weapon.” I shook my head. “We’ll work on your skills another time, but I need you to be safe so I can concentrate on helping the others.”
Her shoulders slumped. Even with turning into a vampire last year, she still wasn’t ready for something like this and she knew it. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” I squeezed her hand. “You’re doing more than enough so don’t feel bad you can’t do more. Now go!”
It didn’t take any more prodding on my part. Aniya zoomed off through the cars and stopped just short of the fighting. She didn’t have to go far. They were at the edge of the restaurant parking lot now.
I managed to stand with only a slight waver and watched
as she called to the fighters on our side, pointing them in my direction. Lucas gave me a piercing look. I gave him a defiant glare back, and then winced when a demon struck his arm with a sword. He grabbed hold of the attacker’s neck with his free hand and squeezed. The host’s face swelled and turned red, but his attempts to get free didn’t do any good. His head came off a few seconds later. Lucas shouted at everyone to head my way after tossing it to the ground.
One by one the guys on our side began backing in our direction while continuing to fight the demons surrounding them. They were covered with blood and wounds that no longer healed fast. Aniya waited a few more seconds before she turned and headed back. The fear on her face as she passed me by made my heart clench. I wished she could have gone on to be the school teacher she’d wanted to be instead of becoming a vampire.
As soon as she made it inside, I refocused my attention on the incoming enemy. A few were getting close as our side moved back. I searched for a clear target. With only two clips on me, I had to make each round count. One of the hosts took that decision out of my hands when he moved straight for me. He looked to be sixty years old if you could get past the glowing red eyes and bared teeth. I didn’t hesitate to shoot him in the head. Nothing was left of his face when he fell to the ground.
Aeson reached my circle first, dragging each foot until he crossed the line. His tuxedo no longer resembled anything close to a well-tailored garment. He had an open wound on his cheek and his arm hung by the shoulder socket with only chunks of skin left on it. I’d seen zombies in movies who looked better. Two werewolves made it in next. They had their own set of gruesome wounds, but their animal forms appeared to be healing them faster.
A female vampire who felt to be about three centuries old shuffled up. Her dress was shredded to ribbons and hanging off of her. She’d lost her weapon. Fear and frustration reflected on her face, but it turned to relief when she entered the circle. She straightened her body and spun around to face a teenage host who’d followed behind her with a sword. More demons weaved through the cars behind him. All of them had the same glowing red eyes and evil expressions on their faces as the old man had.
“Stay in the circle,” I ordered her.
With both of her hands pulverized to meaty stumps, weapon or no weapon, she couldn’t fight yet. I aimed my gun at the boy. He wasn’t close enough for a head shot, but I could get him in the body. I shot him three times in the chest. Each one ripped through him, jerking him back. When he fell to the ground, he sucked in two rattling breaths before he went still.
His face relaxed into one of youth and innocence. My eyes stung. I’d felt his soul fighting to live even as the demon left him. His death took a piece of me I’d never get back. He could have been saved if I’d had more time.
Fallon and Sayer appeared next. They had a handful of demons on them and I couldn’t get a clear shot to weed them down. It didn’t matter. Once they crossed the circle their movements sped up. They took advantage and used their swords to hack the hosts’ heads off. I didn’t look at their faces when they died. It wouldn’t help anything and my sleep would already be disturbed by the boy.
I instructed everyone to back up to the far side of the circle. If we could get the demons to come inside, they’d lose their power boost and become easier targets. Everyone moved to form a line on either side of me. We stood strong together—if a little bloody and worn.
As more hosts followed our remaining survivors, we waited for them. I finished off the first clip of bullets and had to switch to the second. I cursed myself for not expecting a bigger battle and bringing more clips. Fallon and Sayer took on as many as they could since their weapons were the most effective. Everyone else worked together to take down the rest.
About the time I ran out of bullets Lucas and Micah arrived. They had the last of the demon hosts with them, but those had been whittled down to no more than a dozen. Lucas came over and practically hovered on top of me. I grumbled, but didn’t have the energy to try and shove him away. He and the others tore apart the demons in a matter of minutes, making it a moot point. After it was over, everyone looked around searching for more. No one was quite ready to let their guard down yet.
“That’s all of them,” I said. Everyone’s shoulders relaxed. The fact they didn’t question me said a lot. I’d given away my secret in favor of saving lives, but I couldn’t dredge up any regret about it. Sometimes you had to make sacrifices for the greater good. I’d just have to deal with the fact all these people would probably hate me now too.
I surveyed the carnage around us and felt myself grow faint. So much death and destruction in one night. We’d had to defend ourselves, but that didn’t give me much comfort. It was my fault we hadn’t found a way to stop the demons before now and dozens of innocent people had died because of it. The bodies of the fallen were strewn out from our position to down the street. A horrific reminder that I’d failed to protect them.
A wave of dizziness overcame me. The adrenaline that had kept me going had worn off and the blood loss was catching up. When I started to list to one side, Lucas grabbed my arm. His gaze homed in on my bloody wrist. It gave away the less than conventional method I’d used to create my circle. He cursed and took me in his arms. In a matter of seconds we were at his car where he settled me on top of his trunk. He put an arm on either side of my body, making me feel caged.
“What were you thinking?” he asked, anger blazing in his eyes. “I told you to stay inside and instead you damn near killed yourself slicing your wrist open?”
“You guys were losing.” I scooted back. “Did you really expect me to stand there and do nothing when I could feel the energy draining from you and everyone else?”
“You could have died, Melena.”
No way was he going to make me feel bad about this. “They were killing supernaturals with the same spell they used on the alpha and his wife. It was draining the power from their bodies and giving the demons a boost. I had to find a way to stop them.”
Lucas looked out over the massacre, homing in on the nearest guy from our side who’d been skewered before his life force was taken. “They put this spell on the bodies of everyone they killed?” he asked.
“Yes, and they’re still active,” I said. “I could only remove it from one. It was easier to create the circle to protect you guys than hunt them all down.”
He grabbed my knees and pulled me closer. His hands cupped the sides of my face. “What you did was reckless and stupid. Even to save others, you will not put your life in danger like that again. Do you understand?”
What? Did he think having sex together one time gave him some kind of power over me? I wouldn’t bow to him or any man—even if he did tempt me with his overwhelming presence.
“It’s my choice, Lucas. If you don’t want me risking my life, then don’t put me in situations where I feel I have to.”
He stilled. I watched the look in his eyes as he waged some kind of internal battle with himself. If only I could read his mind. His emotions shifted from anger to guilt to regret so fast I barely caught them.
His jaw hardened and he let me go. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have brought you here knowing you have a proclivity for putting yourself in danger.”
I hugged my arms to my body, suddenly feeling the cold. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll talk about it later, including your decision to reveal your abilities.”
I suspected he had a long lecture planned for me, but I wasn’t going to regret my choices. He wasn’t going to make me give up this job either. I was too invested to walk away at this point.
“What about the other bodies?” I asked. “The power is still being leached from them and it has to be going somewhere. There could be more demons out there taking it in.” That idea did not give me warm and fuzzy feelings at all.
He rubbed his face. Exhaustion practically leaked from his pores and I could feel his power level at the lowest it had ever been. If he could flash ten feet away
, I’d have been surprised. Most of his wounds still hadn’t fully closed either, including a horrific slash across his chest. He needed rest as much as I did.
“Let the coven deal with it,” he said, taking my arm again. “I’m not letting you lose one more drop of blood tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Lucas opened the passenger door and hovered as I settled into the seat. Whatever happened to the cold and callous man who would have let me rot before lifting a finger to help me? That one had been easier to deal with. When he reached for my seatbelt, I’d had enough. I grabbed his wrist.
“I can do it,” I said.
He stared down at me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable. “Let me do this, Melena.”
What he meant was he needed to do it. I could read it in his eyes. More things lurked there, but I couldn’t make sense of them. My hand dropped. If it made him feel better to buckle a stupid seatbelt in, I’d swallow my pride this time.
He took it and leaned over me to click it into place. I sucked in a breath at getting an up-close view of his chest. Up until now I’d avoided looking at it too closely, letting myself believe the wounds would heal fast like they always did. They hadn’t. The largest slash across his chest had stopped bleeding, but it hadn’t closed up all the way. I pressed my palm to an uninjured part of him above it.
“Does it hurt?” I asked.
His face hovered inches from mine. “I’ve had worse.”
My fingers caressed his chest before I pulled them away. “Worse than this?”
“When I was young, I didn’t heal as quickly as I do now.” He frowned. “I’m more concerned about you. It will take some time for you to recover from your blood loss.”
My lips quirked. “I lost a lot more when Nik took a chunk out of my neck last year.”
Lucas scanned the nearby cars, but no one was near us. My senses told me most of them had gone inside or moved to where the fighting began down the street. The coven had begun the arduous task of ridding our fallen of the spell placed on their bodies. Fallon must have alerted them to the problem or they’d figured it out themselves. I didn’t care which at this point so long as they got the job done.