“He ain’t even a demigod!” a vampire complained. “Why are we watching this?”
“That’s nothing. I can do that!” another mobster called out.
“Oh, yeah?” Chancey lost his temper and threw the car. I cringed as the vehicle flew into the audience and hit a couple of vampires. The car hurriedly vanished— Kallie was hiding on the other side of the arena behind a platform, and she had conjured the illusion for Chancey to use.
None of the vampires had been hurt by the flying car, though a group of them looked pissed. They clambered to their feet, fists bunched and fangs clenched.
Ivy scrambled to save the situation. “Our strongman can take on multiple opponents at once! Who in the crowd would like to test their skills against him in a boxing match?”
All the vampires that had been hit by the car immediately charged at Chancey, their arms outstretched. These mobstersdefinitely wanted to give him a piece of their mind, if not outright kill him.
“You wanna fight me? Bring it on!” Chancey yelled. He grabbed the first vampire that had climbed into the area by the shirt and started laying him out. Three more vampires jumped into the arena, but Chancey’s fists went flying, and the mobsters went down.
Angels were just as strong as vampires, and Chancey’s punches were nothing to scoff at. He’d practically been raised in fight club at the prison, and this was a call back to those days. Chancey laughed as he beat the crap out of whatever vampires that came near. A few mobsters got hits on him, but for Chancey, this is what he did for fun, so despite the black eyes and bruises he got in return he always came out on top. By the end, a bunch of mobsters lay in a heap on the big top’s floor, and Chancey raised his fists in victory.
Nowthe vampires were happy. They were cheering at the violence, arms raised and calling for more blood.
One of the vampires Chancey had beaten was still conscious. He staggered to his feet and pulled a switchblade from his pocket, advancing on Chancey. Ivy gave a gasp into the microphone— they weren’t sure whether to play along or to step in to save Chancey.
A blur of color passed by, and the vampire holding the knife fell on his ass as he was knocked sideways. Danny was the next act, and he stepped in, racing by with super-speed as he snatched the knife out of the mobster’s hand. He threw the knife at a nearby target, and it embedded in the middle. The vampires, who had the attention span of a gnat, immediately swiveled their heads to watch Danny pull knives from a holster around his chest, tossing them at targets that dropped from the ceiling and rotated on a circular platform. Every time he threw a blade, it hit the bullseye.
Danny had told us he could do an act with throwing knives, but I was amazed at how skilled he really was. I wasn’t sure where he’d learned to throw them, but he was truly a master.
While Danny was tossing knives, I searched the room for Marcus. He was leaning on a pole, appearing dazed with his mouth hanging open. I could tell he was tired. Utilizing this spell on a big group of people was wearing him out.
“Marcus, you need to look busy,” I hissed into the earpiece. He jolted back to life and pretended to fiddle with some ropes hanging near the underboss box.
“Marcus, are you good?”Kallie asked, her voice coming through the earpiece. She was still hiding behind a platform, but she looked very concerned as she stared at Marcus from the other side of the arena.
“I just need to read one more guy,”Marcus replied wearily. “I’ve almost?—”
The circus fell to silence as Salvatore Bianchi rose to his feet. Every vampire in the hall quivered, and Salvatore cleared his throat to say, “As entertaining as this has all been, I’m afraid the circus must now come to a close.”
“What?!” Ivy snarled, looking up at their father. Their grip tightened on the golden cane as they spat, “We had a deal!”
“Deals can be modified, and though it’s been amusing, I tire of watching you and your circus freaks,” Salvatore said coldly. “You were always an embarrassment to me, even as a child, and the performance stops here. All of you— take the demigods into custody. And kill my son while you’re at it.”
“Aw, come on,” Danny complained. “I didn’t even get to finish my act and get fired through the cannon!”
This wasn’t good. We were counting on Salvatore letting the circus finish before he made a move to capture us. We definitely hadn’t expected him to try to killIvy.Guess Salvatore wasn’t asconcerned about the future of the mob as he was making sure Ivy didn’t continue to humiliate him. Rat bastard.
Vampires started firing their pistols. Oberi galloped to the center of the ring where Ivy was, and I immediately threw up a shield. Charlie, Kallie, Alistair, Marcus, and Chancey rushed to my side and took cover behind it. Bullets, noxite darts and otherwise, bounced off the surface of the shield and deflected, taking down the same vampires that had fired them.
The Elvish Associates had been hiding in places all around the circus, inside of boxes and props just in case something like this went wrong, and now that their prince was in danger they immediately took action. I saw Gavyn explode through a box and go flying through the crowd as he cut heads from torsos, which went rolling along the ground. Max and Eddie siphoned vampiric magic from the mobsters, which enabled them to move with super speed and rip vampires apart with incredible strength. Asa and Ares were in the stands, shooting vampires with rifles that left holes the size of my fists in the chests of our enemies. Wooden stakes whizzed from a high platform, where Elyx had been stationed with a modified crossbow. The stakes struck vampires straight in the heart, killing them instantly. The Elvish orchestra went from musicians to killers in an instant as they pulled hidden weapons from their instruments and started dropping bodies.
The Associates weren’t the only allies here. The Emperor had ordered other guards to come with us as well, and soon, the entire circus was a mess of Elves and vampires going for blood.
Salvatore Bianchi wasn’t an idiot. Vampires were falling quickly, and he knew it would be impossible to stop all the Elves here to get to us. He cast a despising sneer at Ivy before turning away, taking his head vamps with him and leaving the rest of his mobsters as target practice for the Associates.
Asa and Ares were heading our way. I opened up a spot in the shield for them to slip through, and their grips tightened on their rifles as they approached.
“We need to go, sire,” Ares said to Charlie. “Salvatore has fled for now, but if we stay in the area he’ll send more of his men in, and we’ll soon be outnumbered.”
“I’m not done yet,” Marcus said in a panic. “There’s one guy I wasn’t able to read!”
“Who is it?” Charlie asked.
“Purple shirt, scar over his left cheek,” Marcus said, pointing.
