It made me sick to think of it.
The owl hooted and took flight, drawing the younger male’s gaze—to me. I gulped. We locked eyes. A warning ripped through me, a tingle sliding down my spine. Vampire. Vampire. Vampire.
He screamed, that horrible high-pitched sound. “Assassin!”
A silver blade, covered in blood, suddenly protruded out from the center of his chest. Vander stood behind him, holding the other end. The blade pulled free, and the vampire slowly turned gray. Falcon or Ghost, I couldn’t tell in the dark, quickly took down the other male, and the woman bolted.
“Get her,” Vander commanded.
Scout was on her heels. “Assassins!” she screamed. “Assassins!”
An arrow cut through the air and hit her in the back. She dropped onto her face, and Scout shoved his sword through her heart. Each one of their bodies turned to stone in a matter of seconds.
“There are more close by for her to call out like that!” Scout shouted.
I spotted shadows moving between trees in several directions. At least three more. I lost track of the trainers. They vanished like wisps of smoke on the air. With a sweaty palm, I gripped my knife tighter. They wouldn’t... leave us?
“Should we help them?” Pyro shifted in the branch above.
“No, Viper said to stay.”
Celine had an arrow knocked back and let one fly. I followed it until it struck a vampire in the chest with a sickening thud. The male had made it to within a couple feet of our trees.
“Damn, you hit it, Smoke.” Taewyn sounded impressed. The vampire slowly turned gray and hardened to stone with hands outstretched, and a grotesque wide-open mouth, fangs bared. “Through the heart even.”
“I’ve been shooting arrows since I was three, Rebel.”
“Yes, but this is a fast-moving target,” I said, impressed myself. I needed to talk to Vander about taking up the bow.
“Another one! Get her!” Pyro pointed with a shaky hand. I wasn’t sure if she trembled from fear or the rush of the fight.
This vampire ran as fast as I did when chasing the last of the sunlight. Celine shot at her and missed. I tensed as she reached the base of my tree. She was only ten feet below me and began to climb.Shit. I stood and pulled myself onto a higher branch, then another. Pyro did, too. I moved as quickly as I could, but we were about to run out of branches to flee to.
“She’s gaining on them!” Taewyn wailed. “Shoot her, Smoke!”
“I can’t get her through those branches!”
I stopped and peered down, heart hammering like the hooves of running wild horses. She was three feet from me, two. I stomped on her hand as she reached for the branch at my feet.
Her wide, fanged mouth opened and she hissed. “I’ve never seen scared assassins. You must be babies.”
I crushed the fingers of her other hand, then swiped my knife at her wrist. It still unnerved me that they talked and looked human even if they were far from it. She hissed again and managed to grab hold of my ankle. “Let go!”
“Baby assassins must taste sweeter.”
Gritting my teeth, I kicked at her face. The toe of my boot smashed into her jaw. She shrieked and lost balance, releasing me. I grabbed the branch in front of my face and swung down. Both feet slammed into her gut and she fell back, bouncing off tree limbs on her way down until she hit the ground in an odd, crumpled position.
“Is she dead?” Pyro asked.
“No. Her heart must be destroyed.” I lightly bit my lower lip, watching her for movement. I knew what I had to do, and fast. Taking a deep breath, I hurried down and dropped from the lowest branch, pulling my knife. I never imagined I’d be the one to get out of the tree to kill a vampire, but someone had to and no one else moved.
“Aesira,” Celine hissed. “Get back in the tree. I can get her.”
“You can’t or you would have already. Just keep an eye out for more so they don’t sneak up on me.” The vampire had fallen on the opposite side of where Celine and Taewyn could see. I hovered above her, knife poised in both hands. The vampire’s eyes fluttered and her broken, bent leg snapped back into position.
I dropped my weight and drove the knife into her heart. The sickening crunch was something I’d have to get used to. It made me want to vomit again.
I swore I heard a slow clap and whipped around. Vander melted out from the cover of the trees with the other trainers flanking him. I pulled my blade free and stood, brows pinched. “Was this a... test?” I balked. Branches and leaves shuttered and shifted as the other apprentices descended.
