Chapter 19
nineteen
Kit
Kit had nearly no time to respond when the first spell zipped past him, all he knew was that he’d chosen to face the more populated side first — three witches, their palms glowing from magic and giving away their positions.
Dodging spells, he flattened himself to the wall and let himself do what he did best; he sent his spells flying.
In this situation, being the most powerful witch in the room wasn’t an advantage.
Kit wasn’t particularly strong — he was fast and that worked well in the poorly lit environment.
His palms only burnt with magic for a brief millisecond before he shot at the first witch.
Then the second and third. They dropped, stunned but not dead. He could kill them later.
He whipped around, the snarls belonging to a vamp who was attacking Gentry and her father. He threw the vamp, but then had to dodge a spell rocketing his way from the last witch. He sent a retaliatory spell but missed. Then the vamp sprinted his way, its speed unnatural.
This time, the vampyre dodged his levitation attempt, its moves erratic.
Kit dove to the left, wincing when he smacked against a wall.
The move spun him to face the first three witches he’d downed.
The vamp was close, its growling letting Kit know that he was dead if he didn’t act.
Vamps never responded to magic predictably, and only beheading or a stake to the heart would end his opponent.
That left him with one choice. Kit needed a distraction.
Using a burst of magic, he picked up one of the stunned witches and threw him at the vamp. The effect was immediate as the vampyre snarled, tumbled, and then latched his fangs into his colleague’s neck in a feeding frenzy.
His muscles hardly cooperating, he rolled over onto his knees and then swayed to his feet, already scanning for his final opponent. Solid muscle smacked into him, and then Kit was wrestling a very strong, very pissed-off witch whose hands were burning with magic.
Kit let out a shout when those hands scorched his abdomen, and he instantly knew that the other man was trying to vent into his flesh — a move equivalent of a grenade going off into his stomach.
Thankfully, his own hands were pressed against the other witch’s temples. Kit acted instinctually, all the magic in his body flowing straight through his palms into the man’s skull. The effect was instant; a loud, sickening cracking sound, and then silence.
The vent had crushed his opponent’s skull. Killing him instantly. Utterly magic-less, Kit threw the corpse off him and stood, swaying from foot to foot.
Then he stumbled back to Gentry and her father’s hiding spot, passing the vamp who’d moved to feed on its second colleague. The disgustingly wet sounds of a feeding turned his stomach, but he listened intently.
They’d need to turn tail if those sounds stopped.
There was jack shit he could do if the vamp stopped feeding. Because he’d vented that bastard’s face off, his magic would be touch-and-go for the next two days. All their lives depended on the vampyre pigging out. He hurried to the corner where he’d pushed Gentry and her father.
A horror show awaited him. Kit swore when he saw the body and a crying Gentry. He focused on the small woman. Every inch of her was covered in blood, her hands white as she put pressure on the wound that must’ve killed her father. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
Gentry shook her head but didn’t look at him. “Can you heal him?” Her voice was lifeless and drowned in tears.
"Even if I could, he's already gone." Kit kept his voice soft as he knelt by the girl.
Gently, he removed her hands from her father, unclipped the flashlight from her belt, and handed it to her.
Slinging her backpack over his shoulder, he then got a grip on her blood-slicked clothes, hoisted her up, and said, "We need to leave. I'm sorry."
Gentry stayed still in his arms, but pointed the flashlight in the correct direction. "You killed them all?" she asked, her dazed gaze flickering down to her father, but she didn't protest when he turned around, choosing instead to tighten her hands on his T-shirt.
"The ones I could," he admitted. His ears were tuned in to the horrible sounds of the vampyre feeding right behind them, and he hoped the girl didn't notice.
He didn't want to tell her that if that vamp finished feeding, then they'd pretty much be screwed.
He took off into a jog, aware of the monster at their backs, his eyes trained on the ceiling as he looked for one of the ladders that would lead out of the Underground.
Thank God it was still sunlight. As long as they could get up into the sunlight, the vampyre wouldn't be able to attack them. But there was nothing stopping him from tracking them from below. A vamp’s sense of smell was that incredible when blood was involved.
If the vamp had a way of contacting the Nethertons, then it was only a matter of time before they had company again.
Thankfully, Kit spotted the rungs of a ladder. He set Gentry down onto her feet, aghast when he looked at her and saw just how much blood had gotten on his clothes and soaked her shirt to her skin.
"Your backpack," he said. "Do you have extra clothes?"
Gentry nodded and then set the flashlight down and went quickly to work, taking a single shirt and wiping their faces and their arms as best she could.
Thankfully, he was wearing black. The gray blouse Gentry had been wearing looked like something out of a bloody horror movie.
He found a T-shirt and shorts, which he then threw at the girl.
"Put them on," he said quickly, and then he turned his back to her, thankful that this section of the underground looked to be relatively uninhabited, save a woman that was rocking and singing to herself about a quarter-mile away, her voice echoing in an eerie harmony around them.
Meanwhile, Kit pointed the flashlight down the corridor, praying that he wouldn't see the same vampyre who attacked them sprinting at them once more.
“What about the bloody ones?" Gentry asked, still sounding dazed.
"Leave them here," he said, then halfway dragged her to the ladder. "Climb up." The command came out harsher than he wanted it to. Then again, her reactions were slower, more childlike, the opposite of the clever, quick woman he’d grown accustomed to. She had to be in shock.
He’d be nicer once they were safe.
Gentry went up the ladder without complaint, and Kit felt a modicum of relief when she removed the manhole cover.
Sunlight beamed down, warming his sweaty face.
They were safe for now. They wound up exiting right next to a bakery, and the scents of freshly baked bread and the eyes of nosy customers greeted them.
Gentry kept her head down as Kit stood up and kicked the manhole back over, sealing the entrance to Hell.
The stares didn’t die down as Kit was stone-faced and Gentry had tears streaming down her cheeks.
Kit grabbed Gentry's hand and dragged her to a corner, positioning her so that her beautiful, tear-stained face didn’t face the street.
Kit’s mind raced. He didn’t have magic. They were definitely being tracked. "I don't suppose you have any ideas about where we could go next?" he asked her, hoping desperately for the woman who’d taken control last night.
Gentry's grip on his hand tightened for a moment and then she shook her head, her eyes glassy.
Kit didn't need words to understand what she meant.
Her world had been flipped upside down by learning that her father hadn't betrayed her. It must’ve been devastating to have all those carefully concocted plans blown into a million pieces.
Kit unslung her backpack and gave it to her. “We need to get you somewhere,” he said, “they’ll send others.” He omitted the strong possibility of a vampyre mirroring their movements underground. The poor girl had enough to deal with. “Do you still have my phone?”
She handed him the burner and he quickly navigated to the banking app. Once again, the account balance made his mouth go dry. He should’ve believed her about being rich. But Kit paused that thought and focused on their shitty situation at hand.
They weren’t safe in Skadra any longer. At least, not until they found showers and washed every drop of blood from Gentry’s father off. You need to find Visha too, he reminded himself. She also needed him, but he knew exactly where she was.
An idea hit, albeit a physically difficult one to execute with his magic gone. He checked his mobile wallet, was pleased to see her card was hooked up.
They were going to need a vehicle, one capable of off-roading on the mountains.