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But what if…
Quickly, I glance toward the door. I’m still flooded with power even though Vlad is dead. His death didn’t immediately sap me of power. So either I’m still running on the juice of what he last fed on, or… or he’s been lying to me this whole time. He was never the sole source of my power.
I call to the rest of my family, pulling on the threads of the blood bond between us I’ve never dared to fully embrace. But gods of every realm, now I yank.
All my uncles come spilling in through the door, dark suit after dark suit. They immediately begin yelling when they see Vlad dead on the floor. But I don’t let them stop there. They’re able to come into the circle like I thought they would. I had the feeling it’s the kind of spell that lets anyone in but only certain people out.
I intend to finish this here.
I tell my second-born son, now a teenager, through our blood bond, to fly in the other direction. Then I launch myself at my father-in-law, bearing him back toward the floor where all my vampire uncles wait. He looks momentarily surprised, then smiles at me in the instant before he disappears right before my reaching uncles can snatch him to the ground.
Dammit, I know exactly where he’s going. I turn around and launch myself through the air back toward where my second-born is flying near the very apex of the atrium. I can see the terror on his young teenage face as my father-in-law reaches out with a glowing halo for his neck. My new son doesn’t know much about this world, but he knows to be afraid of his grandfather. I hate that this is his introduction to life, but there’s no getting around it.
He dodges when the old man lunges for him, ducking underneath his arm and diving down. But my father-in-law grabs the tip of his wing and spins him back around. My son cries out in pain. The fury that burns through me at the sound—
I scream as I slam into my father-in-law, knocking him away from my son. He spins end over end back until he suddenly poofs. He’s disappeared again. I move so that I’m hovering in front of my son, my eyes bouncing everywhere, searching the air for where my father-in-law might appear again.
Below, I notice some bright blue light. Layden is creating more runes. I’m not sure why. His father seems invincible.
But he’s only a spirit from another realm. Just like I am. If anyone can end him, it’s going to be me. Sheer power versus power.
I grit my teeth, ready for his next attempt on my son.
But he doesn’t appear in the air with us. To my surprise, he pops up outside the circle beside my firstborn and my daughter. My heart suddenly clenches in my chest. Is he going to run away with just the two of them, leaving the rest of us bound in this circle?
Then he looks back up my way and grins, and I know that no, he would see that as defeat. He wants all three of my children and me as well so I can produce an army for him.
From seemingly nowhere, he produces a golden sword, just like the one he killed Vlad with. No natural sword could have done that. It’s why Vlad walked around fearless in this world. I can’t feel anything except glad about his death right now. He betrayed me one too many times. He thought he was indestructible. All my uncles think the same.
But now my father-in-law hands the vampire killing sword to my firstborn son, who stands at the stature of a mature, broad-shouldered teenage boy. He produces another glowing sword and gives it to my daughter, who looks of similar age. Then he bends down and whispers something in each of their ears.
I want to kill him for how he is manipulating them. It’s so like what Vlad did to me all my life; I want to skewer him and roast his heart in front of his eyes while it still beats.
I don’t allow my building rage to make me do anything rash, though. I watch the expressions on their young faces never change as they charge inside the circle with their glowing angelic swords raised. My breath hitches. Are they going to attack their father? I get ready to fly to his defense.
But they don’t attack Layden. They begin swinging and slicing at my uncles.
Son of a bitch. I meet my father-in-law’s eyes and growl. He’s figured out what I’ve only been guessing at. If Vlad alone wasn’t the source of my power, maybe it’s all of them. Or maybe the magic of who feeds me simply passed down to the next eldest vampire. Which, in that case, is Radu. Who my daughter beheads right before my eyes.
My children have shocking dexterity with the weapons. As if they are masters who trained for years, not children born half an hour ago. I zero in on my father-in-law again. He’s controlling them to such a degree they’re his puppets. I shudder. It’s even worse than what Vlad did to me.
How can I get to him? I fly at the edge of the circle, my elbows out. Maybe if I have enough will and enough speed, I can—
I bounce backward ruthlessly, my elbows busted from the effort.
My father-in-law laughs. Below me, my uncles are a mass, some fighting and others trying to flee what is quickly becoming a massacre. It turns out I’ve called them to their doom. All they have is speed and fangs on their side, none of which help in this scenario because it turns out my children are just as fast. They speed around one another so fast that I can barely clock them.
Meanwhile, the light of Layden’s runes continues to grow brighter. What is he even doing?
When I properly glance his way, I see that Sabra, of all people, beside him. When Vlad died… I guess she was freed of her blood slavery to him? But what can they do against an angel like Layden’s father?
My question is answered before I barely finish thinking it because when Layden next throws his runes toward his father, his father tries to wave a hand and brush them off like before. Except this time, they seem to be sticky. The more he bats at them, the more the blue-white runes attach to him until they’re completely surrounding his body. And once they’ve enveloped him, Layden’s able to start pulling him back inside the circle.
“Now,” I scream, and all the remaining vampires attack him as soon as his legs are within the circle. Layden runs toward them, runes still extending from his hands as our children begin to hack away at my uncles from behind. It’s cruel, but I don’t stop the vampires from what they’re doing. They ruthlessly sink their fangs into my father-in-law’s legs, hanging on like rats at a feast.
When Layden gets to them, our eldest spins, brandishing the shining sword at his own father. He’s still completely dead-eyed, with no trace of emotion on his face.
Layden doesn’t try to reason with him. With one hand connected to the runes, yanking his father further into the circle, he tosses out another hand of runes toward our son. Our son lowers his stance, ready for an attack. But the runes aren’t meant to attack. They simply yank the glowing sword out of our son’s hand and pull it toward Layden, who catches it nimbly.
