Authors: penelope fletcher
Blood mixed with rainwater trickled into an oily puddle. The rank smell of decay filled my nostrils. Deranged screams in the distance set my teeth on edge.
I tottered away, my hand slapping the brick wall to steady myself as I retched. Hearing footsteps, I straightened and peered around the corner. My hand slipped around to my back, gripping the dagger hilt, ready to swing again if needs be.
Satisfied I did not need to attack, I slumped against the wall. Pushing my fingertips into my eye sockets, I rubbed them roughly then pushed the hair from my face.
Breandan and Daphne rounded the corner a moment later. Stunned, at the scene, they both stopped, wary. Questioning eyes roved over me. Seeing I was unhurt, Daphne sniffed, and wandered over to the body in the corner.
My fogginess cleared. The adrenaline from the attack had jolted me back to my senses. I sheathed Breandan s dagger back at his hip as he swiped blood from my cheek.
Are you hurt,
he asked quietly, his hands brushing over me even as he asked.
I shook my head, and leaned my forehead against his chest. I limply placed my hands on his warm sides.
Go,
Daphne urged.
Now. The scent of blood is too strong.
As she rushed past us, I spied a bundle of dark rags clasped under her arm.
Ignoring my noise of protest, Breandan scooped me up as we left the hiding place and started at speed. I wiggled in the clutch of his arms, feeling increasingly restless. The blood drained from my face as I glanced over his shoulder.
Vampires lumbered after us, faces carved in violence. They would not let us leave this city alive.
Had they loved Tomas? Did they chase us so zealously because beneath the madness, they felt as deeply for him as the fairy people did for the last Priestess, my mother, or were they simply driven by the need to eat, an irresistible desire to feed.
Breandan was exhausted.
Daphne struggled as the night grew older, her body preparing for the dead sleep of her night.
With a sense of resignation, I pulled myself fully from the pit of misery I d thrown myself into when Breandan had detached Tomas head from his body. I didn t want to hurt anybody, but what I wanted, and what was needed were two different things. Breandan and Daphne were only running because they wanted to get me to safety.
The shock of the last few hours waned, the crushing pain dispelling and leaving my fingertips and toes in cold waves of relief.
I was back. And I was pissed.
Twisting from Breandan s arms, I landed crouched. Off-kilter, I stumbled, my knee hitting the ground, palm flat in the dirt. I was back up in a moment, legs braced, and mind focused. My wings sprung out, and the wet street shimmered with golden light.
Daphne grabbed my arm, standing close enough that I could see her freckles, light brown splotches across her nose and cheeks.
Rae,
she warned, concerned.
I shrugged her off.
Enough. The sun will rise, and you will burn. Breandan is running on empty. Do the both of you see this run and hide scenario ending well?
Turning away from her stunned face, I lifted my chin.
We can win this. Afterwards, we rest for the day.
Daphne cursed the gods under her breath and released me.
The vampires drew closer, tapering off into an arrow.
Breandan looked ready to burst a blood vessel. In his eyes, I saw the arguments he wanted to voice, and watched with satisfaction as he dismissed them. He d gotten better at reading my moods.
The three of us took up stance, Daphne and Breandan managing to position themselves a step ahead of me. As the vampires ran toward me there was no sense of fear, and I could not bring myself to be concerned about that. I calmly tracked their movement with my eyes.
Turning to Daphne, I jerked my head to the dilapidated building beside her.
Go inside, away from the windows.
She kept her attention on the advancing vampires.
Rae. &
Ignoring the caution in her voice, I drew deeply on the Source. The amount of energy that gathered was small, too small. I pulled deeper. Light flickered across my palm, crackled between my fingertips. I grunted, struggling to draw the magic. It was there, I was just too tired to channel it, to manifest it into the weapon I needed.
Breandan clasped my hand, held it tightly as he gave me his own failing strength.
Inhaling on a gasp, I raised my palm and a blade of light sliced through the air. The vampires shrieked as it passed through them, burning them with sunlight. Two stumbled and one simply keeled over. The rest shook it off and ran on. Unwavering, I conjured a stronger slash of light. The vampires dropped and crawled forward, but one was too slow, and took the blade of light to the neck.
Spheres of blue flame raced beside the blades of light I conjured, and smashed into the necks of those in the centre. Breandan had another energy sphere in his hand, hovering steadily as he picked his next target.
I summoned my own, and it appeared as a rough ball of flames.
We picked off another two, disintegrating them into ash, but still the Nest charged. There were no more than twenty left, but how many had Breandan and Daphne killed already? Would they never stop coming?
Magic flooded me, but I wasn t channeling enough. The pressure built in my temples, at the base of my spine, and burned my fingertips. Untapped power bubbled in my gut, and made my knees weak. Sensing I needed to release it, or it would burn me from the inside, I fixed my attention on the coming attack. I grabbed all the power and threw it towards them with everything I had left.
The world exploded in ripples of dazzling light. Breandan was wrenched away from me, and Daphne screamed. A lash of searing heat licked the walls and set the air on fire. The inferno swept over everything until the rain soaked street hissed, and the smell of burning flesh clogged the air.
The fire collapsed leaving smoke and a faint crackling.
In the middle of the charred street, I stood alone. Wide-eyed and breathing hard, a cold sweat breaking out on my brow. The ground moved beneath me. Oh, okay, not the ground, my legs were wobbling. I gasped, and my legs buckled as I tried to take a step forward. I fell into a heap, my palms slapping the concrete loudly as I used them to break my fall.
Ugh. Dizzy, nauseous, and cold.
I ran my tongue over my teeth and tasted bitterness. Clumps of hair clung to my skin and hung over my face like scraggly ropes. I tried to slow my racing heart by breathing in a long, jagged breath, and exhaling slowly.
Breandan was suddenly there, scooping me up from the floor. He hooked one arms under my legs the other across the middle of my back. He curled me into his chest and nudged at my face with his nose until I looked him fully in the face. His silver-blue eyes traced over my features, lingering over my eyes, making was sure I was still lucid. He nodded and peered around us curiously.
I rested my forehead against his chest. My brows pulled together sluggishly his skin was hot, too hot, I needed to be more careful.
Daphne hovered nearby, wary. The corners of her eyes were pinched in pain and her body stiff. I grimaced, my stomach lurching at the sight of her.
Half of her face was blackened and burnt, as was the side of her neck, and the back of one freckly hand. The melted skin went from blistered raw flesh, to a pink rash then became smooth alabaster skin as she healed.
Breandan turned to walk away, and over his shoulder, I caught sight of the scorched vampire bodies. Tossed by the wind the blackened husks tumbled across the road and broke into smoldering ash.
I felt nothing but misery for the crispy remains. Why couldn t they just let us go, give up?
Daphne patted her healed face, her eyes fixed grimly on the lightening horizon.
I m sorry about the burns,
I mumbled.
I did ask you to hide.
She delivered me a lethal look and rubbed flaky skin off her peeling neck. She pulled her lips back revealing her fangs had retracted and a wide gap between her front two teeth. It was a smile or grimace; I wasn t entirely sure which.
Next time, I ll listen if you will.
Say-so.
I grunted, and stubbornly glowered at her.
Then I blacked out.
Gasping for air, and bolting up before I d fully woken, I flung a hand out in front of me to ward off a blow. Sensing no actual threat, I cracked my eyes open and peered over the overgrown shrubs hiding me.
It s okay,
a voice soothed. Daphne.
You re safe. You re in the forest.
Still somewhat addled my nature flared and screamed Vampire! but when the last day or so came into focus, I disregarded the urge, remembering this vampire was not a threat to me. Well, at least not an immediate threat.
I sought out Breandan through the bond, and slumped in relief when I sensed he wasn t far. Knowing he was close and could return in moments if I let out a goodly scream or spike of panic down the bond reassured me like nothing else, and the knowledge boosted my confidence to deal with Daphne, somebody who I still wasn t too sure about.
I can see that,
I replied tartly, a tad embarrassed by my panicked awakening.
I leaned up to rest on my elbows. In truth, I felt better than I had in a while. My exhaustion had been so complete I d been claimed by a deadening sleep. I wiggled my toes in my boots and arched my back off the floor, letting my head drop back.
Inhaling deeply, I let the familiar nutty scent of the trees calm me. The air was crisp, and the breeze rustling the leaves was pleasant, lulling.
So & we d made it then. Gods. That last punch of magic had knocked me out cold. After Breandan s confrontation with Tomas and my downward spiral into grief, it had been near hopeless a number of times during our escape. I d slowed Breandan and Daphne down, but despite everything, they d gotten us out of there alive, and we had the grimoire too.
I slept all day,
I murmured, feeling rather than seeing the night was young. The sky was indigo towards the horizon, glimpsed through slim openings in the dense canopy.
When I woke up Breandan was leaving to find food,
Daphne explained.
He s worried about you. If I m honest, so am I. First, you fall into some kind of sleepwalking bereavement that the fairy assures me will pass once you d worked your way through it. Then the brutal way you killed that vampire was & interesting if somewhat disturbing for me. And then the sunlight. The burning sunlight in the middle of the night.
Wincing at thae visual of Daphne s burnt and blistered face, I moved to sit up fully. The popping of joints sounded worse than it felt, but the sound stopped me nonetheless. My body had taken a battering and would take time to ease out. Slowly, I extended my wing pinions, relieved when they were whole and painless. My tail flicked out behind me restlessly, so much a part of me now I often forgot it was there.
Brushing the hair from my eyes, I rested back, deciding I was not ready to get up after all.
You don t know me, Daphne. You d never met me before yesterday so what do you have to be worried about?
I sent a frosted look her way, beginning to remember I was angry with her for being part of Tomas stupid plan to hide me at the Nest.
Or is there something else I should know? Have you somehow been spying on me too?
The words were bitter.
We must have been safe from capture by the Nest to risk a fire. Daphne looked disinterested in its upkeep, and I suspected Breandan had made her tend it for me.
I have no ulterior motives, and I do genuinely care,
she said.
I watched you sleep. I saw how Tomas cared for you.
Stop,
I said flatly.
Stop what?
Don t say his name and don t talk about him.
Uncomfortable in my own skin, I sat up, shifted about as heat crept up my neck and spilled out on my cheeks. I glued my eyes on the ground as memories of Tomas betrayal flashed before my eyes, his heartfelt apology. I pushed it all away.
It s too soon.
She snorted.
I ll say whatever I like. I will honor his memory as is required. He was my mentor for many years, I need to remember him.
My gaze snapped to hers.
You think he deserves honor?
She calmly placed the stick down and crossed her arms. She sat cross-legged as well and looked like a child she was so small in frame, smaller than me.
You don t?
He kidnapped me. He fed on me.
He saved your life. He protected you from the Vampire Queen and kept your presence secret from one of the most powerful beings on this earth.
I breathed out hard.
I wouldn t be close to Cael s stronghold if he hadn t used his compulsion and tricked me into bringing us here.
Daphne uncrossed her arms and let them fall to her lap. Her expression was incredulous.
Always so quick to blame others, aren t you? Why don t you start accepting responsibility for mistakes you ve made. I think you ll find you ll harbor less guilt over things that are not your fault and not under your control.
Stunned, I stared at her.
I don t
She held up her palm, and I scrambled for words.