I screamed, in part in fear, in part because brutal pain stabbed my head. Terror sparked my power to life once again. Red blew out into the night.
One of the witches stopped chanting and pointed a finger at me. Pain shot through my chest like a bolt of lightning. I gasped as my powers died suddenly, and I collapsed to my knees.
“Traitor.” Her lips curled in disgust. “Vampire’s whore.”
Karson’s growl rumbled through the room. “I’m going to kill you.”
I wanted to get up, I screamed at my body to move, but I couldn’t. My head spun wildly, black crowding the edges of my vision. I swung my head to the kitchen, gasping at fresh air. My whole body shook as I looked back. The dark-haired witch’s eyes were brown again as she staggered to her feet. She scrambled for the knife, collecting it with her left hand. “Where is he?” she shouted.
Karson squinted up through the haze. “You’re going to have to be more specific, love,” he said casually, like he wasn’t in terrible pain, like he wasn’t about to die.
“Give him back and all this will stop!” one of the witches shouted as she threw more red powder into the air.
Michael cried out afresh. Monique was on her side, curled in the fetal position, covered in blood, whimpering. Kenneth was still flat on his back, his gaze never leaving her face as he whispered to her, “It’s alright, it’s alright.”
Karson’s eyes flicked to his friends, and seeing them down sparked a fury inside. Fire blazed the rings of his eyes, red as the depths of hell.
He jerked back to the witches and snarled, “You are all going to die very slowly and very painfully.”
“No, Karson, we have control, and you will all die very slowly and very painfully, unless you give him back.” The witch raised the knife, her broken arm pressed by her side.
No!
I tried to call my powers, but it was like trying to grasp jelly. I clutched at the door and pulled myself to my feet. The room spun wildly; I blinked, trying to clear my vision. Horror ripped through me as a silver blade glinted and slammed down. Karson’s body jerked as the blade drove into his back. He grunted and collapsed to the floor. Was that a bone-ash knife?
I staggered forward, but my legs gave out. On my hands and knees, I crawled toward him.
“Tell me, Karson.” Tears streamed down the witch’s face. “Please, I don’t want to do this, I just want him back.” She raised the blade again.
His breathing was ragged and thin. He didn’t move. Why wasn’t he moving? It had almost killed him last time. If she struck him twice …
My fingers felt numb as they curled around my blade and I reared up to my knees and hurled it. It whistled through the air and slammed into the witch’s arm. She screamed and dropped the blade as she staggered back, her eyes wide with shock as she stared at the blade that had driven right through her arm. Her legs gave out and she cried out as she thumped to her ass. With both arms out of action, all she could do was shuffle back on her ass, moaning and sobbing, “I just want him back, I just want him back.”
Fear, and for the first time uncertainty, pinched the other witches’ eyes. They erupted into chanting and more red powder boiled around the room.
I raised my palms, white-hot pain knifing through my head as what was left of my magic blustered through the room.
A witch shrieked as she flew out of the door into the night in a streak of black and red like a shooting comet. There was a thump, a sharp cry, and then silence.
I blinked. I barely had enough power left to move a leaf, let alone a person. That’s when I saw Rodney standing where the witch had stood, a small towel wrapped over his nose and mouth.
I crawled to Karson. His flesh was twisted over the raw meat and pulsing gore, his arms shaking as he pushed himself to his knees.
A shaky, relieved breath shuddered from my lips.
Janice rushed in from behind Rodney, a black mask over her face.
She moved in a streak of darkness, blades whistling as she spun and removed two heads. Rodney snapped the necks of the other two witches. They collapsed to the floor, mouths open, eyes perfectly still, their necks lolling at deformed angles.
The chanting stopped abruptly. The remaining witches froze, their eyes darting between each other. The blonde-haired witch ran first, followed by the brunette. They were quick, faster than the average human, but not as fast as a vampire. Janice beat them to the door. They slid to a stop. She smirked, her dark eyes glinting with anger and a promise of revenge.
They spun back, wild-eyed with terror. Dust swirled like snowflakes, drifting slowly to the floor.
Karson’s eyes hooked with mine, before he ran them over my body from top to toe, checking for injuries. More worried about me than his own pain. His skin was healing, the blisters slowly dissolving, but they were still red and swollen.
Relief relaxed his face briefly before it tightened into a deep, animalistic growl. He launched, and before I could blink, he held the nearest witch by the neck.
“Eric,” Rodney called out, ripping the towel off his face and rushing to him. Squatting down, he placed a hand on the pulse of his throat. He dropped his head, and when he looked up, there was a glacial rage in his eyes that sent shivers over my skin.
