The room detonated. I saw Shane leap, his fangs clamping around the neck of one of the vampires. At the same time, two vampires fell on Caitlin. She flung them from her body with a gale force gust of wind, but before she could recast, they sprang on her once more.
I rushed toward her but was yanked back by strong hands, fangs simultaneously sinking into the back of my neck.
Screaming, I tried to lunge toward Caitlin again, but more claws and fangs tore into me, the weight of the vampires taking me to my knees. I didn’t feel my attackers; I only saw the blood that blossomed from where Caitlin had fallen.
Finn yelled Schwint’s name, followed by a flash of light from his general direction.
And then the tumult ended.
For a moment, every body was frozen in place, the monsters still latched onto my flesh but sinking in no deeper.
I cried out in pain as their fangs were ripped from my skin. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw my five assailants. They hovered, statue-like, a few inches off the ground, their faces twisted in pain.
Looking past them, I realized every vampire was in an identical state. Each of us stared dumbly at one another. Finn met my eyes as he rose up from the ground, three vampires immobile beside him. Though bloodied, he seemed mostly unharmed.
It had only been seconds, but we’d been losing. Every one of us would have died. We’d been a mere moment of irritation to the vampires. No more. All the searching, all the planning, and it would have come to nothing. I wasn’t sure what was happening to the vampires, and I didn’t have to know the reason. We just needed to act before things went back to normal.
I glanced over toward the king. He too was frozen in place, though he seemed to be regaining partial control of his body, at least his head was craning this way and that, trying to break free. At his feet, Sonia’s body remained lifeless on the floor, the pool of blood surrounding her continuing to grow.
The only one not in the midst of the fray was a solitary vampire on the other side of a long silver table. She stared past me, her eyes wide with terror. She was a small waif of a woman, a living Victorian cameo. She was protected from the sun under a swath of tapestries. Impossibly, my fury increased as I looked at the fragile vampire. She was the one this whole slaughter was for. The one who’d captured the young mers. Though not stationary like the rest, she was trapped under the protection of the shade.
Finn’s voice brought me back to the present, and I pulled my attention away from the vampire.
Forty-Six
FINN DE MORISCO
I foundSchwint. He and Newton were both injured. One of Newton’s wings was broken, and huge gashes were across Schwint’s throat and chest. Considering Gwala was immobile less than a foot from them, the fact that they were alive was miraculous.
Brett was okay, despite the hoard of vampires around him. It wasn’t until he looked toward Charity that I found Caitlin, still crumpled on the ground, the vampires raised above her.
I rushed toward her, calling her name.
At my voice, Caitlin shifted, managing to push herself up into a nearly seated position. She was covered in blood, which still ran down from impossibly deep wounds under her jaw. She wasn’t looking at me, though. I paused, a foot or so from reaching her, and followed her line of sight.
Cynthia stood in the doorway, arms outstretched, her body glowing. Her long hair and gown billowed around her like she floated under water.
Following the path of her extended hands, I realized she held the vampires captive. For a moment, an irrational surge of fear flooded through me at the sight of her. She was more foreign to me than any of the monsters that surrounded us. I’d never seen power of the like. A witch couldn’t hold one vampire—let alone an entire roomful.
The sconces on the wall flared, shooting ten or more feet in the air. A motion to my left drew my attention away from the flames. Brett walked slowly toward her.
Shane was between them, and he padded out of the way, the upper lip of his muzzle curling back, revealing his massive fangs as he drew closer to one of the frozen vampires.
Brett stopped directly in front of Cynthia. Both his shorts and hair fluttered in the proximity of her power.
It was obvious they were communicating, though I doubted any words were exchanged.
Fire blossomed in the palms of Brett’s hands, and he reached toward Cynthia.
Below me, Caitlin gasped. I couldn’t tell if it was in fear or wonder. Probably both.
Mimicking Cynthia’s gesture to him when he’d freed her, Brett placed his burning hands on either side of Cynthia’s face. Upon contact, the flames vanished, only to reappear in the palms of Cynthia’s outstretched hands.
The screaming was deafening.
Flinching at the sound, I raised my arms to cover my face, expecting a blow. When none came, I peered out from the crook of my elbow, then lowered my arms entirely.
Heat swathed my back.
