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A beautiful, vampiric creature stood before her, the hallway so dark Shay could hardly see her.
Like the others, this thing had no aura. And she smelled like…death.
How very sweet you are, the monster purred, her vast wings beating.
Shay paled.
It could talk.
Chlorine burned Loren’s nose and throat as she fought to disentangle her limbs from the monster’s bony ones. She heard shouting going on above the surface, heard the crack of breaking bones and the crunch of exploding skulls. Heard Darien shouting—calling her name.
She had to get to him.
Claws ripped into her bathing suit, gouging the flesh on her hip.
She cried out, bubbles exploding out of her mouth. Red clouded the water, and the thing immediately scented it, tearing toward her through the pool like a shark, eyes feverish with intensity.
Loren fought to get away, every sweep of her legs sending more blood through the water.
When she blinked, she found herself in a memory.
The pool at Angelthene Academy, a male student pushing down on her head, trying to drown her. In the memory, clear blue stretched all around her, just like it did now. And the pool vibrated with a thud, just like it did now, magic blasting through the water in many colors that looked like spilled paint.
Loren opened her eyes to see the same thing happening in the present—clouds of sparkling magic tinting the pool, the shades so vibrant that to look upon them felt like staring at the sun.
The monster that had attacked her was no longer moving, its blank eyes bolted open in death. It floated in the colored water, wisps of black blood streaming out of its gaping jaws.
Loren swam, gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her hip, until she broke the surface with a gasp.
Darien had dove into the pool. He was only a couple feet away from her now, swimming straight for her as more demons crept toward the broken windows of the house. There appeared to be less of them now, the fog finally thinning. Darien’s back and arm were bleeding badly, a pool of red clouding around him.
“Are you okay?” Darien’s panicked voice echoed sharply, his eyes wide with alarm. “You okay?” He wrapped an arm around her waist.
“I’m fine,” she said, clinging to his shoulder. “I’m okay.”
“I got you,” he said, holding her close. “I got you, you’re going to be okay—I promise.”
“Are you okay?” she asked him around chattering teeth.
“Don’t worry about me.”
He pulled her toward the ladder at the deep end of the pool and helped her up, his hands gripping her waist and lifting her onto the ladder.
She caught sight of her reflection in the chrome handrails. Her eyes were wholly white, no irises or pupils visible.
The sight startled Loren so badly, her hands slipped on the rails, Darien’s grip on her waist the only thing that kept her from falling.
“You okay?” he called, supporting her weight as she stepped up to the last rung.
“My eyes are white.”
“It’s normal.”
“It is?”
“Baby, you’re bleeding.” Darien’s voice echoed even louder now as she pulled herself onto solid ground.
“I’m fine.” It wasn’t deep enough to need stitches, but it was terribly painful, and the chlorine made the sting worse.
