Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
Sloan
Sloan brought her blade to the right side of Leah’s smiling lips, stopping just short of taking the queen’s head off. Still, Leah smiled.
A feeling in the pit of her stomach told Sloan something was terribly wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
The voice came from Harrison. Sloan had to turn slightly to get him into view. Babs was a bloody mess on the ground, struggling to regain her feet. Harrison was on his knees, with a smiling Dominic Drencher behind him.
Dominic leaned down behind Harrison, both of his own hands pressed against either side of Harrison’s head. The explosive white energy that heralded the deadly power Dominic could conjure glowed in his palms.
Harrison was only looking at Sloan. The bridge of his nose had been cut open, and the left side of his face was swelling at the same time his vampire DNA worked to heal him.
Leah began to chuckle. It was the single most annoying sound Sloan had ever heard. The witch took a few steps back, folding her arms over her chest.
“Charlotte, Charlotte, Charlotte … I hear you hate being called by your first name.” Leah shrugged as if she couldn’t care less one way or the other. “We all hate things about ourselves. Learn to live with it and move on, child.”
“Let him go,” Sloan said, nodding toward Harrison. “You want me anyway. Take me.”
“Oh, you are so wrong.” Leah clucked her tongue like a teacher would at a small child who just couldn’t grasp the day’s lesson. “I want you all dead. You will all die, but not yet. You, Charlotte, still serve a purpose.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“You need to fall in front of everyone on a very large battlefield. Your death will take the fight out of the Azra army. You’re no good to me unless you die in a very open and public place. What fun is it if no one here witnesses you fall?”
Sweat from the fight and now her panic began to pour down the back of her neck. She needed to act quickly if she was going to save Harrison’s life. She was fast, but not fast enough to travel a few dozen yards and pull Dominic off Harrison before he detonated his attack.
“Tell your vampire minions to stand down or else his brain is going to splatter all over the ground.” Dominic motioned over his shoulder as he continued in a singsong voice, “Good vampires, easy vampires.”
Sloan turned to see Pia and Babs back on their feet. Doyle was still crumpled on the ground where he had been knocked out by Leah’s blindside attack.
“Wait!” Sloan looked at Babs and Pia. There was only one chance at getting Harrison out of this alive, and it would be through words, not action.
Babs and Pia remained still, their red eyes darting back and forth from Sloan to Dominic. Both were pictures of fear and anger.
Leah swirled her purple-tipped wand in a large circle in front of her and a doorway opened. Sloan could see thousands of black clad figures running across the landscape toward Azra.
“Oh, I know what you’re thinking.” Leah stepped through the portal and looked back at Sloan.
“Why not just create a portal into Azra and have my troops attack the city from within? Well, seems my younger sister is cleverer than I thought. She’s created wards to keep me from doing so.
Plus, holding a portal open for more than a few seconds at a time is draining. Dominic, shall we?”
Sloan had seen that look in Leah’s eyes before. When a predator was just about to send a killing strike at its victim, a glare of pure malevolence would widen its eyes. Leah had that look now.
“No!” Sloan whipped her sword through the air, sending a prayer with her actions.
The mage sword flew like a javelin in a perfect line toward Dominic, but it was too late. Dominic detonated both of the explosives he held in each of his hands against either side of Harrison’s head.
White hot light seared Sloan’s eyes as the explosion went off, and instinct brought an arm up over her face. Her heart moved her feet forward, despite the cost. She had to get to Harrison as fast as she could.
Sloan sprinted toward him, her vision dancing with white spots. When she was finally able to get a view of what had happened, her heart tore.
Dominic was screaming in pain even as he limped his way to Leah on the other side of the portal. Sloan’s mage sword stuck out of his right shoulder like a flower springing up from rich soil. Thick red lines dampened his blue suit.
In one motion, he ripped out the blade and threw it to the ground. Dominic peppered the air with groans of pain and promises of retribution.
“You’ll pay for this!” He stepped through the portal. “I’ll see you dead!
SNAP!
The portal closed behind Leah and Dominic, leaving Sloan and her squad in the wake of the destruction. Sloan slid to a stop beside Harrison’s body. Both sides of his head were a mess of blood and skin, and his white skull was visible. Underneath cracked bone showed brain matter.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he kept mumbling, seeing without really seeing as he stared at Sloan. “I’m better than that, I’m sorry.”
Babs and Pia joined Sloan who cradled Harrison’s frame like a child. On her knees, she looked down at the man who had been her enemy before being her friend. In a strange way, this made his passing harder.
“Shhh…” Sloan bottled her feelings by telling herself Harrison needed her to be strong. She could be strong for him. “You did great. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Pia and Babs cried softly, both laying their hands on Harrison to comfort him in his last moments of life.
For a second, Sloan held out hope that their vampire DNA would save Harrison, but it seemed even that paranormal ability had its limits.
“Go easy,” Pia whispered to her friend. “We’ll see you one day soon.”
“Rest now.” Babs lowered her head as if saying a prayer. “Your fight is over now.”
“You win this.” Harrison finally closed his eyes, his last words so faint, they were barely audible despite the quiet. “You win this for me, for each other.”
His final breath escaped his lips. Already anger was building in Sloan’s heart. How many friends would she have to lose before this was all over?
She understood then what she needed to do.
“I’ll carry Harrison back to Azra.” Sloan stood, lifting Harrison’s body with her. “You two see to Doyle. If you can’t wake him up, then carry him back, as well. It’s time we took this fight to Leah. She thinks she’s safe behind her army and her magic? Let’s show her she will never be safe again.”