“Rodney,” he roared, seeking help.
Rodney didn’t move. Or maybe he didn’t have time to move. Neither did Kenneth or Janice, but they wouldn’t move until Rodney gave the command. Why didn’t he?
My heart jumped to my throat as Michael rushed forward. A vampire punched out a massive fist. Michael ducked, his body going vertical as he slid along the floor. I caught a flash of silver. Heard the vampire grunt as Michael sliced a blade through his Achilles. The vampire’s legs shot forward, and his ruined leg gave way and he stumbled. Ethan leapt, his hands grasping both sides of the vampire’s face. He twisted. A crack shot through the room. The vampire fell flat on his face. Michael thrust his blade through his back, into his heart.
The fight raged around us.
A flock of dark hair streaked through the room, trailing with blood like a flaming comet. It thudded against the brick wall above Georgie, blood showering onto her head like a crimson waterfall. The head dropped and bounced.Knock, knock, knockon the floor, coming to rest next to Georgie’s feet.
Georgie looked down. Blinking through red-coated lashes, she screamed.
Pixie stared up at Georgie, her eyes as wide as saucers, brimming with horror. Her mouth moved, it fucking moved, as if she tried to speak, but no words came out. Tears slid down her face.
“Don’t look,” Josh cried, using his body to block Georgie’s view. “Don’t look,” he whispered. “Oh God, Pixie, I’m sorry.” His voice cracked. “I’m sorry.”
Pixie’s mouth opened again as she desperately tried to speak, more tears slipping down her cheeks. I watched, struck by horror, as the life in her eyes emptied and her mouth froze.
Across the room, Challis lifted his head, his horrified gaze coming to rest on Pixie. “Pixie, no!” he screamed, a sound of pain and rage. A vampire took the chance and flew at him. A knife drove into his back. Challis arched and fell, and I lost him amongst the whirl of bodies.
“Monique, no,” Ethan roared, snapping my attention back.
Monique flew through the air, the bone-ash knife gripped tightly in her hand. She raised the blade and slammed it down, ready to end all this. At the last moment, Sarah twisted away, and the blade slashed her arm. Sarah shrieked, clutching at the wound. Blood gushed as black began to weave up her arm like there were tiny black spiders crawling under her skin.
Her eyes glittered with hatred. “You are going to pay for that,” she growled, flashing through the room faster than the bodyless head.
Monique leapt over the top of her, twisted mid-air, and landed on her feet. But Sarah was already there. Monique was skilled, fast, but she was no match for Sarah.
My heart stopped beating and all I could hear was a ringing in my head as Sarah shot out her clawed hand. If she reefed out Monique’s heart?—
Monique who hated me but took us to the bar to get us away from Rodney, and who defended me when I needed her most. She couldn’t die. She was like a sister to Karson, Ethan, and Michael. Amongst the screaming and fighting, I heard Karson cry out her name.
Kenneth looked to Rodney and back, his eyes filled with panic, as if seeking permission to help. Rodney didn’t react, didn’t nod, he seemed impassive.
Kenneth didn’t care. He dived, driving his massive shoulder into Sarah’s side, knocking her to the ground. The force sent them both skidding uncontrollably across the concrete floor. Her body was half curled over his. He didn’t struggle, he didn’t try to fight. His eyes were not on Sarah, they were on Monique, and they were filled with love. As if he knew from the angle he was in, Sarah was going to tear his head off, and the last thing he wanted to see was Monique.
“Sarah, no,” Rodney roared, panic in his voice.
Sarah reached out, placed both hands on either side of Kenneth’s head and snapped his neck.
Rodney swore as Kenneth’s body slumped into a heap. Janice’s eyes were filled with fear as she looked from Kenneth to Rodney. This time Rodney nodded, and Janice leapt beside Kenneth to protect her fallen friend. Swords in both hands, she twisted and moved with the speed and skill of a lethal dancer. She removed the heads and limbs of anyone who was a threat. And no one else.
Monique cried out in fury and launched at Sarah again.
Michael charged into her, sending her flying against the wall and pinning her by the arms.
Monique struggled against his hold. “Let me go.”
“Stop,” he said through gritted teeth. “She will kill you.”
He was right. Sarah charged at them both.
As if a flood had parted, the sea of vampires shifted, and I got a clear view of Sarah as she ran toward Monique and Michael. My sword clattered to the floor as my hands shot up. Wind burst from my fingertips, exploding through the room, causing the roof above to rattle and shudder like an enraged beast. Sarah’s body lifted, her back slapping into the side wall as her head flewback. She hit so hard, bricks cracked and red dust stormed all around her.
I didn’t have a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. The moment I threw her, streaks of blue and black turned to face me, coming at me like raining bullets.
Rodney grunted his annoyance. Yanking out a sword, he stepped to the left and swung it like a baseball bat. A vampire stopped abruptly, his mouth open in a silent scream, his eyes wide with shock as he staggered. The top half of his body collapsed to the left, while the bottom half fell right. Blood spewed out like a broken dam.
Georgie cried out again.
