Jaxton drops the arm and lunges at the vampire. Just like my vision, he tears into his chest and rips the heart out with teeth. The heart isn’t like the others. It’s withered, black, and shimmers like onyx. When Jaxton crushes it, shards fall to the floor, landing and bouncing everywhere as the quietness returns after the last death rattle from the ancient vampire.
“Dead vampire,” Jaxton growls, spitting out black blood.
“Daisy are you okay?” I ask, dropping the sword and rushing to my best friend.
“I’m… I’m fine,” Daisy squeaks, shrugging her shoulders and looking around. “It tasted like what I would imagine a sewer tastes like. I only swallowed a little.”
My vision goes white for a moment, and I feel the intense warmth leave my chest. The red highlights leave my hair, my body shudders and I return to my normal size, no longer feeling the soul’s presence.
“Whoa, you glowed for a second,” Daisy says. “But you’re back to normal. No more Viking Warrior Princess. I was just kidding about you pillaging me, by the way… maybe.”
“Yeah, you’re fine,” I laugh, standing and offering her my hand. She takes it and I haul her to her feet.
“The vampires are dead, now it’s time to torch this place,” Hayden rumbles, shifting into his true Human Form.
“Oh, nice cock, handsome,” Daisy laughs.
“It’s not for you,” Hayden snaps and turns his crotch away from Daisy’s very appreciative stare.
“Not. At. All!” I reprimand my naughty friend.
“I know, I know, I can still… compliment it,” Daisy says, glancing back for a second before looking away. “I’ve got matches. Anyone bring gas?”
“Wait,” Remy growls, his ears shooting up. “I hear something. Something…”
“More vampires?” Jaxton ask, then he shakes his head. “No, I hear it too.”
I listen, not hearing anything at first. Then there’s a faint pulsing sound that gets louder and louder, turning into a rhythmic thumping. It’s distant but getting closer fast.
“Helicopters!” Hayden yells, running to a window.
“Cops?” Wyatt asks, running to a different window.
“We can outrun the cops, but that won’t help with the bodies, though,” Remy snarls. “Fuck, this will be impossible to explain. It’ll attract all kinds of attention.”
“We’ve got bigger problems than that. Much bigger,” Jaxton’s deep voice is heavy with fear. Then I can hear cars approaching too. “It’s not the fucking cops. It’s the Crimson Templars!”
“What!? No!” Hayden shouts, and I can hear the panic in his voice.
“We’ll have to fight them,” Storm says. “No choice.”
“We can’t fight them!” Hayden snaps back. “They have weapons that can kill us. And that was a long time ago. Do you really want to find out what kind of improvements they’ve made?”
“It’s true, Storm,” Jaxton growls. “As much as I want revenge, now is not the time. Especially not with Ansley and Daisy with us. You know what they do to women.”
“Not good things, right?” Daisy whimpers.
“No,” Jaxton’s sharp tone says all we need to know.
“I vote for running,” Wyatt sounds like he’s trying hard not to panic.
“Now! Now! They’re firing a missile!” Jaxton screams, then spins away.
Jaxton stops in front of me and I jump on his back, dragging Daisy up with me. Then we’re running, much faster than when we arrived. We get to the staircase, right as the top floor of the school explodes with fire, scorching my skin. Jaxton’s fur singes, and I can smell it over the rot and blood.
“Faster, faster!” Jaxton yells.
We barely touch the second floor, we’re across it so fast, paws smashing the floor to rubble beneath us where they land. Still, we barely get to the first floor in time, and stone and debris are falling on us when we get to the bottom of the stairs.
