More explosions went off directly below, one vibrating beneath my feet. I flashed through the halls and down the stairs, slipping when I hit the second landing. Ignoring the pain in my hip that quickly vanished, I flew down the remaining steps until I reached the ground floor.
Two Vampires guarded the front doors. They didn’t express any interest in me, only guarding that entrance. I raced behind the stairs until I reached the french doors that opened into the courtyard. A Vampire stood in the middle, but what I needed was a weapon. Conserving some of my core light, I ran to the back of the mansion and remembered one of our storage rooms. I lifted a katana off a display, then made my way down the west hall and stopped at a window without all the latticework. After breaking the glass with the blunt end of my sword, I climbed out.
My boots crunched against the snow, and I took stock of the Vampires, who were spread apart by ten feet. The glass breaking had caught the attention of two, but they held their ground. Sparrow must have ordered them to keep everyone out, not keep anyone from leaving.
I flashed at one and swung the blade. He roared when it sliced his chest and severed a finger. The Vamp seized my left arm, so I twisted my hand around and grabbed his arm to keep him from running. I raised my sword and brought it down. Unfortunately, it only went halfway through his neck due to the bad angle.
“That’s gonna leave a mark,” I said with a grimace.
He wouldn’t let go, and I panicked when I spotted the other one coming for me.
“Let go, you fanghole!” I tried to wrench free as he bled all over the snow.
Just before he reached me, the second Vampire fell against my legs like an extra in an action flick, an arrow in his back.
I swung my gaze up and spotted Blue on the roof. She aimed at another Vamp and drew back her bow.
The first Vampire was still struggling with his bleeding neck and had finally let me go. Before I could finish the job, I was fighting off another attack. This one came at me with his fangs out like an old Nosferatu movie, and I blocked him with my arm. My sword was knocked free, and I punched him in the head three times. Dizzy or not, he struck me back and then pinned me to the ground.
“You’re different,” he hissed, getting a look at my non-Vampire eyes.
My breath caught when an animal blurred across my line of vision. Fur slid against my face as the beast went for the Vampire’s throat. I scrambled to my feet while a wolf viciously tore away the Vampire’s neck. The man lay on his back, his blood soaking into the snow like raspberry syrup on a snow cone.
Wait a second. That’s not Viktor’s wolf.
I faced the grove of trees ahead, and my jaw hit the floor at the sheer number of wolves running into the fray. Brown, black, white, multicolor, silver—every color and size there was. They locked jaws on the Vampires, attempting to tear them apart.
Unnerved, I tied my dress in a knot before reclaiming my sword. As I headed toward the front of Keystone, wolves continued pouring out of the woods like a wave of fury. I kept my eye on each one, ready to strike if one so much as looked at me as if I were a snack. A big black one stalked toward me. We faced each other, my sword raised. He snarled and snapped, but after lifting his nose in the air and taking a whiff, he sprinted away.
Once I reached the front to check on my team, I came upon Wyatt and Shepherd working together. They were circling a Vampire, stakes in each hand.
The Vamp scowled at Wyatt, who was taunting him as only Wyatt could. Shepherd’s battle cry made the Vampire spin around, and when he did, Wyatt staked him in the back.
“This is my worst nightmare!” Wyatt shouted. “I’ll never get rid of them!”
Shepherd kicked snow in the Vampire’s face. “You’ll be lucky if you don’t join them.”
When Wyatt caught my surprised look at his bravado, he cockily twirled his remaining stake. “O ye of little faith. Wyatt Blessing to the rescue.”
“Wyatt Blessing blew his load,” Shepherd countered. “Wasted all our bullets.”
Wyatt threw up his arms. “They were coming at me!”
“That’s why you shoot ’em in the head. Don’t you watch zombie movies?”
Wyatt marched forward. “You know I don’t. They always get it all wrong.”
The smell of charred bodies corrupted the wintry air as I circled around a pile of black ashes. Two Vampires were leaping at the edge of the house, trying to catch Claude’s feet as he scaled the side of the building. Claude’s catlike skills were unparalleled. Once he reached the balcony, he disappeared out of sight.
Wolves attacked Sparrow’s men from all angles in a violent storm all around me. But they didn’t have the stronghold. One yelped and shifted to human form to heal moments before a Vampire crushed him with blows to the head. Niko used the wolves to locate the precise position of each Vampire. One man wailed as a wolf tore off his hand, and Niko swiftly executed him before moving on to the next.
Keystone had become a battlefield of smoke, ash, blood, and snow. I’d never seen such courage.
“Niko! On your left!” Christian shouted.
Instead of looking at Niko, I steered my attention to Christian. Each time he delivered a blow powerful enough to incapacitate a man, another Vampire descended upon him. Sparrow’s men were relentless, targeting him as the biggest threat. The wolves were only attacking Vampires, and that meant Christian wasn’t safe.
After seeing those animals in action, I tossed him my only weapon. The blade soared through the air and struck the ground next to him.
