Uriah
Things weren’t looking great in the great hall.
Kale Constantine, the band’s enigmatic drummer, tossed his drum set into the mob of a crowd as they stormed the stage. “Any bright ideas, fearless leader?”
“For starters, I’m not compelling the guy at the music shop to get you another one of those,” teased as he braced for impact.
Instead, what came next was the telepathic call of his werewolf lover. ?Riah, where is he??
?Pru? You’re here??
?Riah, please. Where??
?East ballroom. Go. Meet me there. Just gotta dodge an angry mob.?
He was surprised to hear Pruitt reply. ?Memory spells notwithstanding, I seem to recall that being a specialty of yours.?
“Indeed it is, my love,” quietly said aloud.
“?” Kale called for him again.
As he looked back at Kale, bared his sharp fangs. “Whatever you do, don’t let them bite you. Don’t kill if you can help it. Just get out safely. I’m getting Griff and then doing the same.”
Julian sent his bass guitar flying into the face of an attacking frat boy as the rest of the band watched with wide eyes. “Don’t worry,” he said with a smile, “it’s just a rental.”
“Zak,” turned to the lead guitarist of Five Fangs. “You work on finding a way out.”
“On it,” Zak replied, jumping onto the nearest wall.
put his hands on Quinn’s shoulders. “Take my trusted keyboardist, Orpheus, and get Darcy to safety.” Turning to go, the First Vampire once again grabbed for the professor. “Oh, and speaking of the last bloke—just in case you didn’t realize—looks like he’s also possessed. Again. ”
A dozen men, including Gaius, Strix, and Alo, surrounded the stage now.
“Your kind don’t belong here,” hissed Strix. “Fortunately for you, we’ve got a quick and easy cure to vampirism.”
“Oh?” Quinn asked in his best valley girl impression. “What’s that? I’m actually looking for one myself.”
“Here. Let me show you,” Strix chuckled, the seams of his shirt ripping as fur covered his smooth, muscular body. The band watched in horror as he transformed into wolf form. Gaius, Alo, and two others were quick to follow, the sounds of their bones cracking and adjusting filling the room.
“Oh! I get it. That really wasn’t that clever, but yeah. Okay.” Quinn rolled his eyes before cuffing his hands around his mouth and letting out a shout. “ Windsling !”
The wolves, possessed mob members, and fleeing partygoers alike looked up in disbelief as the lights in the room appeared to flicker.
“Huh?”
“What was that?”
Looking up, ’s jaw dropped as a familiar horde of bats began filing in from every window, hallway, nook, and cranny.
A black fog dripped from Quinn’s hands as he punched into the air. Windsling’s colony mimicked the movement, with hundreds of bats imitating fists the size of tree trunks and plunging into the crowd. The fists hammered into Strix, his unconscious wolf body quickly tossed to the side. Gaius’ wolf form shielded Darcy as the oversized fists crushed a nearby table, sending dangerous splinters of wood flying through the air.
“Huh,” said Orpheus, the long-haired and unconventionally cute keyboardist of Five Fangs. He scratched his head as he nudged . “I thought the vampire-bat connection stuff was just a Dracula thing. Does this mean we can fly, too?”
“Ugh,” sighed, rolling his eyes.
“Attack them now!” Darcy spoke, now only a mouthpiece of Luna.
Gaius dove at Quinn. The professor winced, bracing for impact, but two other werewolves tackled his attacker and knocked him down.
“No!” Darcy shouted.
“Yes!” One wolf shouted in a low, guttural tone as he shifted back into human form. A now-naked Fen tackled Darcy from behind, pinning him to the ground.
“Back off, dude,” Kale shouted, speeding forward to sink his teeth into Fen.
He was fast, but was faster. The elder vampire stopped Kale in his tracks. “Don’t bloody move.”
“Vampires,” began Fen, “we’re here to help. This is my partner Magnus here in wolf form. I recommend covering your ears!” noticed Fen sink into convulsions as he maintained his grip on Darcy, but it was the other werewolf that quickly stole his attention.
Magnus—now a heaving red werewolf—positioned himself between the band members and the attackers. Looking from the professor to the other vampires, he let out a snarl.
“Think he means it,” Quinn said, covering his ears. The other vampires did so reluctantly.
“No, no, no!” Darcy shouted.
Sensing the opportunity, Alo pounced on Kale, his saliva dripping onto the vampire’s face as he readied to bite into him.
The room shook as Magnus let out a supersonic howl, a brisk bay that caused all the balloons in the room to pop. The vocal attack crippled all those in werewolf form, instantly shifting them back to naked human bodies. It immediately ended all mind control in the room, and suddenly all was quiet except for the fluttering of bats.
“Think I like that a bit better than the little compulsion trick that got us caught,” Quinn teased , patting him on the back. The two shared an anxious look. “Now, go. Get to Griff.”