Chapter 36 #2
The boots are at least two sizes too big. I’m a little worried they’ll fall off or trip me if I have to run, but the alternative is venturing out into the snow in my bare feet. I won’t last long if that happens.
The boots have laces and I pull them as tight as possible. I’m just straightening when a voice on the other side of the wall says, “Hey, over here. I think this is a door.”
Ensley casts a quick glance in my direction. One that says, Get ready.
The door to the surveillance room starts to open in front of us, and Ensley lets it, standing at the ready to blast whoever is on the other side with her faelight.
A figure steps into view and she reacts instantly. The ball of faelight flies from her hand and explodes on impact, the force flinging the vampire backward, his body slamming through the wall and into the room beyond.
He doesn’t get up.
She already has another one formed when a second vampire charges the room, but this time the vampire throws up a shield of shadows, deflecting the blast, and he barrels into her.
They collide hard and go down in a tangle of limbs and snarls.
Shouts ring out from below, boots pounding up the stairs as Ensley grapples with the vampire above her.
Reaching into myself, I take hold of my magic, thanking the Creator when my power surges to the surface and my hands light on fire. I press a fiery hand to the vampire’s face as she’s engaged with Ensley, burning and blinding her.
She screams, clawing at her eyes and releasing Ensley. Ensley doesn’t hesitate, blasting her back with a powerful stream of faelight to the chest. By then, two more vampires appear in the doorway.
Shadows snap around my throat and haul me into the air. I throw my hand out, fire bursting free in magenta and purple. One vampire screams as she burns. The other doesn’t even flinch, his shadows still locked tight around my neck.
Ensley fires a faelight ball at him. Distracted by me, he never sees it coming.
The shadows vanish from my throat and I crash to the ground, coughing as I drag air back into my lungs. Somewhere in the hallway, the vampire I set on fire is screaming. I don’t see the one Ensley hit with faelight, but that doesn’t mean he’s no longer a threat.
“Come on,” Ensley says, dragging me to my feet. “We have to get out of here.”
We rush into the hallway to find the vampire I lit on fire slumped against the wall, unmoving. Flames crawl up the wooden paneling, licking toward the ceiling. In moments, our exit will be cut off.
We turn toward the stairs. Glass explodes below. Shouts follow.
Ensley and I lock eyes.
There are more of them.
She shoves me back toward my bedroom. Inside, one of the vampires she blasted with faelight lies on the floor, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle.
“She’s got to be upstairs,” someone yells from below.
Ensley presses something into my palm. Car keys.
“Out the window,” she says quickly. “Get to the SUV if you can. If you can’t, run. Into the forest. Find cover. We’ll come for you once we’ve dealt with the rest of them.”
Before I can respond, she swipes a hand over her face. The air around her head ripples like heat over pavement. When it settles, I’m staring at my own reflection.
“I’ll distract them.”
“No—” I start, but she’s already moving.
Ensley bolts for the door, shouting, “I’m over here, you bloodsucking idiots!”
“Ensley, no!” I yell, chasing after her.
She glances back just once before plunging straight through the flames engulfing the hallway. “Go!” she shouts, and then she’s gone, swallowed by fire and smoke.
The only reason I know she makes it through is the shout that follows moments later.
“There she is! Grab her before she gets outside!”
I freeze, heart hammering, keys biting into my palm, torn between chasing after Ensley and doing exactly what she told me to do.
I can’t leave her.
I start after Ensley, and run straight into a vampire, one of the ones she hit with faelight. His shirt is charred at the shoulder, the skin beneath burned raw, glistening and red. He lunges for me, fangs bared.
Instinct takes over, but the wrong one. I duck back into my room at the last second rather than using my magic.
The vampire skids past the doorframe, but with a snarl changes course, following me.
I’m trapped.
He comes at me again, shadow magic snapping toward my throat, fangs flashing. Panic jolts through me, and then I remember.
I fire back.
Magenta and purple flames slam into his chest. He ignites instantly, screaming as fire devours him, the sound high and horrible. The sight turns my stomach, but there’s no time to dwell on it. It was him or me.
He staggers back into the hallway, still screaming, clawing at the flames.
Smoke creeps into the room, thick and choking. I don’t know if Ensley made it out, but the hallway is no longer an option.
I have to move.
I twist toward the window and fling it open. The moon hangs overhead, more than half swallowed in red.
How much time do I have before the eclipse is complete? Ten minutes? Five?
No. I can’t think about that now.
I think of Becks slipping out this same window, lowering himself to shorten the drop.
It’s a long way down, but if he managed it, so can I.
Scrambling onto my stomach, I slide through the opening, fingers digging into the sill. Cold air rushes up to meet me. My feet dangle in open space as I lower myself down, just like he did.
I glance down. The ground still looks too far away, but I don’t have a choice. The longer I hang here, the more likely I am to be discovered.
Drawing in a breath, I squeeze my eyes shut and let go.