Vampires poured into the nameless city like a wave, crashing through things and ripping out throats. Summer soldiers engaged, fighting them off with swords and magic. They were definitely stronger, but the vampires far outnumbered them.
Max and I sat on the floor in the corner of the cell, Julie’s head in my lap, my hand firmly pressed over her wound. I couldn’t heal her; the injuries were too severe. She needed Oliver.
“We have to get out of here!” I yelled at Max through the chaos that ensued. Another blast took out more of the building, and we huddled together over Julie’s body.
Max flipped her head up. Her dark brown eyes were different. Something otherworldly and ancient and fierce. She scooped up Julie’s legs. “Come on. Watch my back. I’ll watch yours.”
I followed her lead and secured Julie’s shoulders in my arms as we slipped out of the cell. We hugged what was left to the wall outside, frantically watching for vampires. I fumbled a few times and cursed my own mortality, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to carry my friend at all two months ago. I tapped into every ounce of strength I had while Max led us away from the stream of vampires coming in. We darted behind a smaller building, and she stopped. Julie flattened on the grass.
“Okay, we have to get to water, right?” Max asked, panting.
I thought about the map I once saw of this area. “The river is the only one I know of,” I said. “Unless we move toward the heart of Faerie where there’s a lake. But I’m not sure which is further. I-I don’t know where we are, exactly.”
“Can you wisp us somewhere?”
I shook my head. “Not this many people, not without help.”
“I saw you do it before!” she yelled. “In the coombs!”
I shook my head, panicked. “I haven’t been able to do it since, not like that.”
Max spun in the dirt, struggling not to scream. She kicked a large rock, and it cracked in half. I tried not to look so stunned when she turned and faced me.
A vampire appeared from the alley between us and the next building. He lunged for Max, but she grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground. She pounded her fist into his ribs, and I let out a yelp as she ripped his heart right from his chest.
Footsteps echoed to my left, and I hopped to my feet, ready to protect my unconscious friend. The vamp was a smaller woman, but her face contorted with a hungry snarl as she leaped for me.
Faster than ever, a dagger of sunlight formed in my hand, and I thrust it toward the vampire. It slid through her chest like butter, and I nearly lost my grip as I felt the tip puncture the heart, like stabbing a stress ball.
Her body crumpled at my feet, and I stared at it in frozen horror. Max touched my shoulder, and I stifled the scream that burped from my chest.
“I take it you’ve never killed one before?”
I thought of the ring of ashes that surrounded me in that warehouse. It was nothing like this. Before, I hadn’t known what I did, hadn’t seen it. I didn’t even mean to do it.
But this…
Julie moaned from the ground.
“Jules!” I exclaimed and fell to her side. “Are you okay?”
She sat up, rubbing her head. The blood already beginning to clot around the wound. “Just a bit dizzy. What happened?”
“The vamps are here,” Max hissed and glanced about. “We need to get to water. How far is this place from the river?”
Julie thought a moment. “It’s not far. Maybe a couple of kilometers West of here. But we can’t leave!”
“Jules, you’re injured.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Here, help me up.” I hauled her to her feet. “If the vampires are here, they’re going for the tower. We have to stop them.”
“She’s right,” Max said. “If that tower goes down, the Therians come, and it’s game over.”
“Av’, you go, wisp to the tower, and use your sunlight to help.” Julie was focused and determined.
“By myself?”
“You won’t be alone. Kheelan’s men have to be there by now. Max and I will make our way toward you until I’m strong enough to wisp us both.”
I looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to do. I didn’t want to leave Julie when she was injured, but I did trust Max to protect her.
“Quinn, if my mother’s army gets through, we’re all fucked. And not just temporarily fucked, I mean point of no return fucked.” She shoved at my arm. “Go!”
A couple more vampires came around the corner, and Julie threw up a cloudy forcefield around us as Max spun her fingers and muttered something in another language. The vampires’ necks cracked, and their heads flopped to the sides, followed by their bodies as they crumpled to the ground.
Julie held the protective shield in place. “Go, Av’! We’ve got this! We’ll meet you there!”
I reached for the fabric of reality around me and clenched my fists, imagining the hill I saw near the river. The wind changed, and a cool breeze wove through my hair as I opened my eyes and peered down. With the river to my right, a tower erected from the ground in the distance, maybe a few kilometers away. But a sea of vampires and golden armor stood in the way.
I focused on the tower and wisped there in a blink, my breath heaving in my chest. Adrenaline coursed through my limbs, and every inch of my body was on high alert as a few dozen Summer soldiers skirted the tower with me and fended off hoards of vampires. The noise of swords and metal clashing with ripping flesh and violent screams clanged in my ears.
It was a massacre.
I tried not to look down at the blood and other bits I knew littered the ground, but I could feel it beneath my boots, slippery and threatening to take my feet out from under me.
One of the soldiers noticed me. “What are you doing here, girl?”
A tall, muscular, bald vampire lunged for him from behind, and I moved swiftly, forming a dagger of sunlight in my hand. I jumped forward and narrowly missed the soldier’s neck as I used both hands to drive it into the vampire’s heart.
“I’m here to help,” I said and backed away, steeling my nerves as the vampire hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
I took a deep breath, and the depths of my magic stirred in my belly. I flung my arms out and pushed, sending a wave of sunlight cutting the air. Dozens of vampires turned to ash, but it wasn’t enough. It barely made a dent.
But it seemed to spark some hope in the soldiers. The one I saved, his eyes went wide at what I could do, and he yelled over the chaos, “Protect the girl! Form!” Suddenly, several Summer soldiers moved and formed a barrier around me. “Can you do that again?”
“I can try,” I said. “It takes a lot of energy, and I’m…mortal.” I wigged my hand “Sort of.”
Breathily, he handed me a dagger from his side. “For when you run out of energy.”
I accepted the weapon, and we exchanged a knowing nod. Two strangers, instantly bound by duty and purpose. He turned and faced the hoards, blade in one hand, golden magic crackling over it like lightning.
In that moment, I became someone else. I had to; it was the only way I knew to get through it. I stomped down my nerves and locked away the voice in my head. My magic was already regenerating inside me, and I summoned it, forming a slew of sun daggers.
With a mighty push, I flung them outward, sending dozens of tiny sharp objects soaring toward the vampires that closed in. It took a bunch of them down, but there was no end to them in sight.
I moved with the soldiers, using them as my shield as I threw glowing spikes for what felt like hours, but I knew only minutes had passed. My heart thrummed in my chest, excited by the danger but terrified of it. I didn’t let it stop me, though. The high of winning–or at least keeping the vamps at bay–fueled my every move. The tower remained intact, and that’s all that mattered.
Two thick, beefy vampires came barreling into the side of my shield of bodies, knocking them to the ground as others came running right for me. I gasped and fumbled backward. In a blink, one of them was on top of me, his bloodied mouth baring chomping teeth that went for my neck. His teeth grazed my skin. I kicked and squirmed beneath him, my armored jacket riding up.
“Get off me, you piece of shit!”
A strange pressure pierced my stomach, and I gasped for air. With a sickening scraping sensation, he pulled a dirty knife from the flesh next to my belly button, and I cried out.
Shakily, I pressed my hand over his face and burned it with sunlight. We screamed together as his elbow dug into my wound, my power searing his immortal skin. The world threatened to go dark, but I hung on until he finally retreated, and I rolled over, desperate to catch my breath. My soldier friend appeared, speared the vamp’s chest with the tip of his blade, and then hauled me to my feet.
“Are you alright?” he yelled.
I leaned against him and shook my head. My hand slid under my jacket and clamped over the gushing hole in my side. I couldn’t speak, the edges of my vision darkened, and my legs drained of all strength.
He tucked one armored arm around my back, hooking under my armpit to stabilize me. Working quickly, he unzipped my armored coat and ripped his one metal glove off with his teeth. He placed his bare hand over my dirty, jagged wound and a pleasant warmth filled it, threading my flesh back together.
“The Stonemaker has arrived!” someone called out, alerting everyone and eliciting cries of triumph.
The soldier still held me with one arm while his other slashed away at the undead as we made our way back toward the tower. My energy came back with every step I took.
A troll, the only other one I’d seen besides Oliver, stood at the base, protected by six soldiers. With his thick arms held out, he worked magic to pull rocks from the earth and cover the tower in a protective case of stone.
Soldiers hollered and threw their arms in the air at the win. No one was getting through a wall of boulders. The vamps kept coming anyway, but now the soldiers advanced, creating a berth of space around the tower and fending off the hoards.
“You need to get out of here,” my friend told me as we stood behind a solid line of defense.
I shook my head, already feeling my strength and magic returning. “No, I can’t. My friends are here. They’re coming from the unnamed city; I need to find them!”
Undecided, he raised his head to glance over the crowd. “Okay, what is your name, girl?”
“Avery,” I replied. “Avery Quinn.”
His eyes widened. “By the gods, you’re Lady Summer’s niece!” He seethed a few curse words under his breath like someone had just handed him an unwanted baby. “My name is Gideon,” he said breathily, sweat dripping down his face beneath his helmet. “I’ll help find your friends, but then you must leave!”
“Gladly!” I said, and he yanked at my arm, insisting I stay close as we fought through the sea of vampires.
It was like cutting through impossibly thick grass. Grass that swiped and bit at you. Gideon slayed vampires to our right while I stabbed chest after chest and slit flesh as it neared. With every step, my powers grew like a battery recharging.
But I wanted to save it. My physical energy was staid, and I relished how my muscles burned with purpose and how my weapon almost searched for the next target before it was even done with the last. Sticky, wet blood coated my face and body, matting my hair and drenching my clothes.
We emerged from one hoard and stumbled right into a pond of thick mud, immediately losing our footing. But I looked up and saw a nearby hill, empty of anyone, that was high enough to give a view of the entire fight.
“There!” I pointed. “We need to get up there so I can search for my friends.”
“Come on, then!” Gideon huffed, his armor clanking as he stood and helped me to my feet.
The mud was up to our knees, but we finally crossed the massive puddle and climbed the foot hill that looked out over everything. My heart nearly stopped in my chest.
“My gods…” Gideon removed his helmet and blew out in a whisper as we gawked at the horrific sea of blood and bone and flesh littered with golden armor that glittered in the moonlight.
“There!” I pointed to a scene on the far end of the battle where vamps circled two figures; a massive black wolf and something so white it looked like fresh snow under the moon. Julie. “Those are my friends!”
Gideon saw Max and whipped his head to the tower. It was still intact. But the hoard pressed so hard that the soldiers backed up against the stone.
“She’s a good Therian, and we used magic to get her here,” I clarified and reached out to my powers. I was still too weak to wisp. “Can you wisp to them?” He looked like he might protest. “Please! I’m not strong enough to get that far yet. I’ll stay here where I’m safe. Please, Gideon!”
He wavered, seemingly weighing it all. The soldier leaned close and clasped his hands over mine that held the dagger. “Keep this ready and stay low.”
I nodded, and he slipped his helmet back on before wisping off across the battlefield. I squinted, searching for him, and saw him appear at my friends’ sides. Within seconds, the swarm of vampires pushed outward, and I finally took a breath.
I scanned the field and spotted a large cluster of soldiers and blasts of golden magic. Thick vines and roots ripped from the earth, ensnaring vampires by the neck and beheading them. Kheelan and Tess had arrived.
I watched in stunned awe as my aunt–my gentle, loving, caring landscaper of an aunt–manipulated the earthy elements to fight through the masses, working with her husband to keep the bulk of the hoard from advancing toward the tower. She wore a rose pink jacket of the same material as mine, but hers hung to her knees. An ethereal glow hummed around her and Kheelan, making them both easy for their guards to protect but also making them targets.
Footsteps crunched behind me, and I spun around just as a fist met my jaw. The ground slammed into my body.
“Well, well, well,” the female vampire taunted over me. I recognized her face. “What are the chances I’d find you here?” It was one of the vampires from the council that night when I’d accidentally reduced her people to ash.
I never took my eyes off her but discreetly hid my dagger beneath my leg, waiting for the right moment.
“Botwood will be pleased when I bring him your pretty little head.” Her blackened predator eyes deepened, the darkness spreading outward as she hovered over me and blocked out the moon. Her hair was tucked back in one long black braid. “Did you know his brother was among those you burned that night?”
“It was either him or me,” I spat, refusing to show fear even though I was flooded with it.
An evil chuckle rolled over in her chest as she sauntered a few more steps closer, her boot toeing mine. Even in shadow, her pointed teeth flashed. Paired with the dark pits for eyes, she looked like a demon, like the worst vampire myth made real.
“I’ve never tasted one with sunlight before.” She ran a pale hand over her stomach in an oddly sensual way.
She leaned closer, and my sweaty hand lost its grip on the knife under my leg. I inched away, buying time as I firmed my grasp on the wooden hilt. I’d drive the blade through her chest if she jumped on me.
Thunder boomed in the distance, and something moved in the sky, catching the vampire’s attention. A massive shadow loomed, expanding and blocking out the stars and moon. Tension built in the air like a coming storm, and she didn’t even notice as I scrambled away a few more feet.
The blanket of darkness fell to the ground, covering hundreds of vampires and instantly drowning them in nightmares. I could tell as much by how they all clawed at their own faces and screamed in horror until their bodies plunged to the ground with a sickening, wet sound.
In the middle of it stood Oden and part of his army. They began hacking through vampires like a field of grass, but Oden was as still as a statue. Clad in thin black armor with charcoal-colored details, sword in hand, he slowly turned, dragged his gaze across the battlefield, and looked right at me.
In this chaos…he knew exactly where I was?
He saw the figure next to me, and his shoulders tightened. But I couldn’t risk him wisping here and exposing my spot on the hill. If I were going to use my sunlight to stop these vampires, I needed time for my energy to replenish.
I moved, and the vampire turned her attention back to me, but she wasn’t quick enough. I rolled and slashed the back of her knees. She keeled over from the instant pain as I jumped up and drove the blade through her back with all my might until the squish of her heart pushed back. She choked as blood spewed from her mouth and finally collapsed on the ground.
Panting, I searched for Oden, but he was gone. I stood on the hill alone–my powers slowly growing and refueling–and looked out over the noise and bloody chaos that stretched to the horizon. Vampires tore into Fae; Fae swung blades and swords, limbing and dismembering vamps.
Oden was one of them.
I found him again amid the battle, hacking away at vampires with a painful grace. His weapons of choice were a long sword and a round shield made of pure moonlight. It illuminated the dark battlefield, blinding the vampires so his men could take them down. More of his dark army poured in over the foothills, taking out troves of snarling vampires in their wake.
I kept searching until I spotted the only wolf; a dark, viscous spot amongst the red carpet of earth. Max shredded through every vamp that came near. Around her, something white and ethereal bounced from place to place as it danced through the enemy, wisping and swinging a thin blade when she appeared. Oden was right. It was a great skill, one I’d only mentioned in passing to Julie.
She and I weren’t experienced fighters. We couldn’t stand off against an enemy like the rest, but we were clever and able. Still, I watched her struggling as the hoards increased, and I almost took off running for my friends, but Gideon appeared again and quickly created a space around them.
I took a steadying breath.
I could see the river from this vantage point in the far distance. A metal line glistened in the moonlight from the Seelie side, and vampires continued appearing out of thin air on this side. They were coming from Ironworld in droves, swarm after swarm.
The Fae held the line, refusing to relent as the vamps attempted to push their way into the Seelie lands. But, at the rate they crossed the border, the Fae wouldn’t be able to hold the line for much longer.
On the opposite end of the battle, a thundering sound boomed through the earth, and I watched in horror as a wave of vampires cleared out a section of Fae soldiers from the tower base. Oden shouted over the chaos and ordered his men to run there, but it wouldn’t be enough.
The tower would fall, and the Therians would arrive soon.
My chest tightened, unable to contain the sharp, rapid breaths that pounded in my lungs. I searched within myself, frantically combing for my magic, but it wasn’t ready. I needed more, I needed to wipe out as many vampires as I could with my sunlight, and if I used it now, it wouldn’t be enough and would only prolong the Therian’s arrival.
A scream pierced the air, louder than any cries of battle, and my head shot in the direction it came from. Tess screamed for help just a few yards away as a group of vampires held her down, one on each of her limbs.
“Tess!” I took off running, slicing my blade through anything in my way.
Roots and vines tore from the ground and swiped at the vamps attacking her, but another group hacked away, shredding Tess’s attempt to save herself.
“Tess!” I cried again, but I couldn’t get through the hoard.
Elbows and fists pushed me back, striking my face and knocking me down again and again. My aunt’s screams turned wet and gurgled, igniting something in me. A drive to save her, the woman who raised me–saved me–the only mother I ever knew.
I pushed to my feet, and a long whip made of pure sunlight formed in my hand. I knew the cost; this would set me back and use what little reserve of magic had been building within me. But I had to save Tess.
I cracked the whip back and forth, sunlight burning the air where it went, and sliced through the wave of vampires keeping me from my aunt. Whip, crack, whip, crack. Blood splattered my hands and face, coating me in fresh layers of sticky crimson. Heads and arms and flesh fell around me. I didn’t stop. Tess’s screams pulled me toward her, and when the sea of vamps thinned, I saw her.
Four vampires had her pinned to the ground while another crouched over her. The muscles in my arm strained as I used every ounce of strength to fling the whip from side to side, and sunlight sliced through them, leaving steaming chunks of bodies on the ground.
I ran and hauled away the dead vampire that collapsed on top of her, and words gurgled from her mouth with blood. Her neck was torn apart, flesh and arteries dangling from it. She grasped at my jacket with frantic hands, unable to voice the words she wanted to tell me. And then I realized…she wanted me to zipper the coat.
Tears streamed down my face, and my throat tingled as I grabbed her hand and placed a shaky kiss across her fingers. “No, Tess. Don’t worry about me.” I slid an arm under her back as the other futilely covered her grotesque wound. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
She was deadweight, unable to stand, and I collapsed on the ground with her. She moaned in pain. Frantic, I searched for help in the chaos, refusing to let go of her.
Another, much more profound, cry of pain cut through the noise of war, and I watched in horror as vampires held Kheelan in the air and a swarm circled them, keeping Kheelan’s men at bay. Tess grappled at me, desperately pulling at my clothes. Her beautiful eyes were full of pain, and it gutted me to even look at her.
“He…lp…him…” she managed to say in a choppy, strained whisper.
My eyes widened. What could I possibly do to help Kheelan? He was surrounded by dozens of vampires. “I-I can’t leave you!”
“P…leeease…”
Her pain was mine, and I held my aunt’s hand tight to my heaving chest as I fought with what to do. I had seconds to decide. I couldn’t save him, but I might be able to slow them down enough to create an opening for his soldiers. I kissed Tess’s hand once more and rested it on her stomach.
I pushed to my feet, ready to throw my whip, but a vampire came barreling toward me and knocked me to the ground. It was a dead body, and I shoved it off as I struggled to my feet.
Kheelan’s roar of pain filled my ears, and I had no choice but to stand there and witness the beasts of Ironworld rip his armored body in half. Metal clinked to the ground, followed by his innards, and a surge of great power cleaved the air, combing over the battlefield. The force threw me back, and I slammed into the bloodied earth, knocking the wind from my lungs.
A High Lord had been killed.