“Follow me,” my tone dipped, suddenly aware that vampires might be behind many of these doors, taking their fill of human blood or pleasure.
Diana didn’t even argue. As silently as possible, we walked ahead, past four more doors.
When we reached the fifth on our right, I spotted light coming out from the crack at the bottom of the door. I dropped to my knees and put my ear to it. Immediately, I caught the sounds of creaking metal and soft whimpers, as if someone’s cries were being muffled by a cloth.
I stood. “There’s one in there. You still have that stake handy?”
Diana held it up.
“Good. I’ll bust down the door, and you rush in and stab. Sound good?”
Diana’s eyes narrowed. “So I’m the one that has to get close to the fangs? Are you trying to get me killed, Legacy?”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. “No. It’s just that you’re faster. If you want to trade, give me the stake. Or conjure me one, too.”
I hated to ask, but despite my growing powers, I was still behind in Conjuring, which required a great deal of control. It would take me too long to make a stake of the same quality as the one that Diana had in her hand, and time was not on our side. If we didn’t reappear in the bar after a reasonable amount of time, someone would come looking for us.
A smirk bloomed on Diana’s face. “No, you’re right. I am faster. Plus, like they say, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
I inhaled and pushed thoughts of slugging her from my mind. “Fine. As soon as the door opens, rush in, and I’ll distract the vamp.”
She nodded, and I moved off to the side and held my hands out, right over the lock.
The old me wouldn’t have been able to break the lock, but now I had the utmost confidence in myself. Despite the fact that my hands began to shake only seconds after my power attacked the metal, I kept my cool. My magic was strong, and while I might not have the best control over it, in this situation, destruction was what I wanted.
A little more.
I pushed harder, and an intense burst of fuchsia exploded from my palms.
There was acrack, and I kicked my leg out, shattering the mechanism and throwing open the door.
Diana rushed inside, and I was hot on her heels. Magic continued to flow from me, coloring the entire room fuchsia. I shot a beam straight at the vampire, a big, ugly brute who had already turned around, but he couldn’t move properly because his pants were caught down near his ankles.
Fuchsia beams slammed into him, hard, and he wobbled, disoriented.
“Now, Diana!” I said as loud as I dared, and my partner hurtled through the air, stake extended, and slammed it into the vampire’s heart.
Gray ash mixed with shimmering fuchsia energy as the vampire exploded. A muffled sob from the woman he’d been enjoying met my ear, and I rushed forward. She lay stomach-down on the mattress, her face buried in the pillow. Surprisingly, she was still clothed, although three fresh bite marks decorated her neck. The bed beneath her was filthy, black from dirt and red from blood, and the general state of the room wasn’t any better. Apparently, the clientele of Fangs and Fetishes didn’t expect cleanliness.
I was almost at her side when the woman seemed to snap out of her stupor. Her head shot up, and at the sight of me, she opened her mouth to scream.
I held up my hand. “Shh! It’s okay. We’re here to help you. Don’t yell. If there are more, they’ll hear you.”
The woman’s mouth snapped shut.
Diana joined me. “Can you walk?” she asked the captive, her tone terse.
“Dude, Diana! A little empathy?” I said.
“We don’t have time, Legacy. This woman needs to get up and take us to the others. I’m assuming there are many people being kept down here, right? Do you know where they’re located?”
Diana’s eyes bored through the woman, who still looked too terrified to speak, but she nodded.
“Good,” Diana said, holding her hand out to the captive. “We’ll get you all out of here.”
The woman didn’t say a word, but she managed to lead us to another door. Diana and I worked together, burning off the lock in record time, and swinging the door open.
I scanned the room, and a mixture of emotion welled up, threatening to overwhelm me, before I pushed it down. I would deal with emotions later, but right now, the scene before me needed all my attention.
