Silver glints in the afternoon sun, arcing out from the center of a small group of vamps. Most of it is a blur, but for a brief second, I see Mathias. Swords swinging, he and three other vamps are taking out any who approach.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Marjorie go down, tackled by another vicious-looking vamp. They roll in the dirt, weapons slashing repeatedly, and I look around for anyone to help her, but everyone’s fighting for their lives.
“Gatlin, get closer,” I yell, pointing in her direction.
He moves in, and I take out my gun, point it at the vamp, and call out softly into the comms. “Marjorie, get his head up.”
She immediately shoves a hand under his chin and thrusts upward. He pops into my sight, and I pull the trigger. Dead center. It stuns him enough for her to finish him off.
A shot from below grazes my arm, and I cry out.Damn it.Gatlin’s head jerks around, and he eyes the ground for a second before arrowing straight toward the man who’s still firing. Bullets strike Gatlin, but his gryphon hide protects him, and they bounce off. The man turns to run, but Gatlin’s large talon reaches out and grabs him.
He screams for his friends, but they’re too busy fighting off other predators. Gatlin squeezes him to death, then drops his tattered body to the ground.
“Keep it steady,” I tell him, needing to bandage up my arm. Using the knife at my waist, I cut off one of my sleeves, then tear it into strips. Using my teeth, I wrap it around my arm, then tie it tightly. With the amount of magic in the air, it should heal quickly.
“Done,” I tell him, reaching forward to grip his neck again. “I haven’t seen Mathias. He’s supposed to be near the front.”
Magic explodes on our left. A ball of fire building and building between Jamison and Bennett. Boom! It explodes, sending them both flying.
Gatlin halts, wings flapping as we watch, our fear rising.
I stare at him, unmoving and still, refusing to think the worst. “Jamison, talk to me. Raise your hand. Come on.”
Six excruciatingly long seconds later, Jamison raises his arm. I exhale loudly, but Gatlin’s screech has me immediately turning to find Bennett. He’s on his feet, staggering toward Jamison.
“Get up, get up, get up! Now, damn it,” I yell into the comms. “He’s almost to you.” Bennett’s hand rises, and a ball of magic flies through the air. In horror, I watch it fly straight toward Jamison. “Shield!”
A weak, almost translucent shield appears, then disappears a second later. I continue to scream at him to get up, but I know he can’t. Gatlin’s flying as hard as he can to reach them, but I’m scared we won’t make it in time.
Suddenly, a magical baseball bat appears and connects with Bennett’s ball of magic, sending it flying into a group of nearby vampires, incinerating them on the spot.
An opaque shield appears around Jamison. Charlie steps up to him and hauls him to his feet. He sways. Charlie tilts his head back and forces a potion down his throat.
We come to a halt above the two of them, and I wrinkle my nose at the strong smell of sulfur in the air. I look over at Bennett, and he’s staring at me, fists clenched in anger. Gatlin puffs up, obviously not liking his response. Spears of magic streak through the air at us. In a vertical maneuver, Gatlin flaps his powerful wings, sending both the spears and Bennett tumbling backward.
We hover, waiting for him to get up.
“We’ve got this,” Jamison’s voice comes over the comms, and I breathe a sigh of relief. He and Charlie take position, and Bennett’s smile falters. He shoots me a murderous glare, then turns to face his opponents.
There are screams and roars all over the field. Casualties are stacking up. Hawthorne’s battling two vampires, brandishing staff and fire simultaneously. Daegan’s up and flying, fire pouring from his mouth as he incinerates the downed vampires to keep them from rising again. Maverick and his crew are appearing and disappearing all over the field, leaving bodies in their wake.
I search from sword to sword, trying to find Mathias. His dark hair and lean build blend with the enemy vampires, making him hard to find. Scanning the field, I skip from one blur to the next, but none turn out to be him.
Frederick. I stop. Surrounded by his own men, he’s shouting orders and pointing in front of him. I follow his finger and see horde after horde converging on three vampires in the middle of a circle. My heart stops. It’s got to be Mathias. One of the vamps goes down on one knee, still fighting, and the crowd around him yanks him into the horde. Fire erupts as they burn his body.
“Mathias is covered up. Can anyone get there? Front lines.”
Frantically, I search the field, but everyone’s already fighting two or three. “Gatlin!”
He alerts the other gryphons, and three of them swoop down and grab several of the vampires surrounding Mathias, but they’re immediately replaced with five more.
“Get closer,” I tell Gatlin, who looks back at me with his sharp eagle eye. “He’s not going to last much longer.”
Gatlin veers to the right, and I realize he’s going to set me down and go back to help Mathias. “Stop. We don’t have time.” I crane my neck to mark where Mathias is and tap Gatlin’s neck. “Set me down here.” Gatlin shakes his head, and I slip my leg off, barely holding on with my hands. “Set me down, or I’m going to let go.”
He screeches loudly, but hovers there for a second, trying to decide what to do. A vampire takes a running leap and jumps up and onto his back. I scream. He drops ten feet, and the second he gets close to the ground, I let go.
Blood and mud squish under my boots. I grab the gun from my holster and run, shooting everything that comes at me. One clip down, I quickly load another. Switching the gun to my left hand, I stop and pick up a small sword from the ground. Shoot, swing. Shoot, swing. My goal is to incapacitate them and hope someone else comes along to finish the job. I slowly make my way toward Mathias. That is…until Frederick steps in front of me.
