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Megan shook the motionless girl in her lap as smoke swirled through the room. Flames were licking up one wall, and Ash was surprised the mother and daughter hadn’t yet collapsed.
“We have to get out right now,” Ash insisted.
“I can’t wake Alyssa. She’s hurt,” Megan replied.
Severe burns covered nearly half the girl’s body, and the blankets on the bed were scorched. Alyssa barely had a heartbeat, and her shallow breathing was raspy. Without her help, she didn’t think the girl would make it outside. Ash willed her fangs to descend and bit her wrist. Forcing Alyssa’s lips apart, she thrust the wound against her mouth.
“What the hell are you doing?” Megan shouted, coughing violently as she tried to pull Ash away.
Ash caught the other woman with her gaze, and her eyes glowed crimson as she exerted her will over the human. “The blood will keep her alive and heal the wounds. Where are Jenna and Dale?”
As if she were in a dream, Megan answered. “Dale went to get Jenna. I haven’t seen them.”
Ash heard Alyssa’s heartbeat speed up and level out, but Megan’s was getting weaker. Grateful that the compulsion meant she didn’t have to waste time on explanations, she bit her wrist again to reopen the wound and pressed it against Megan’s mouth.
She held it there long enough for the woman to get a mouthful, then pulled back. As Alyssa stirred, thunderous sounds rattled the windows and shook the walls. Ash’s eyes widened in horror. “No, no, no!”
The battered house couldn’t take much more. The stressed joists whined, and the burning beams were breaking. Fear gripped her as she tried to decide how to get the family out before the house caved in.
Then Ash’s world shifted. Her vision faded to black. She couldn’t see anything, and the crackling of the fire, as well as the heat of the flames, faded. It was as if her body was unconscious while her mind remained alert.
“Ash?” a familiar voice asked.
Ash saw a friend emerge from the darkness, and confusion overwhelmed her. “Eiko? What the shit? I can’t be here! I’m in a burning building.”
The witch smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about that. This is a place outside of time, and it is of your creation, not mine.”
“I didn’t think vampires could link minds without eye contact.”
Eiko grinned. “They can’t, but witches can.”
Ash shook her head. “I’m not a witch.”
“Aren’t you?” Eiko asked, raising an eyebrow. “I suspected it when you told us about the visions, but I wasn’t certain. This confirms it.”
“I don’t have time to process this right now.”
Eiko nodded. “I can see beyond this place to the danger you face.”
“I thought I’d have enough time to get them outside, but the dragonfire is destroying the house much faster than I expected. It’s going to cave in at any moment. What do I do?”
Eiko was silent for what felt like an eternity. “You should create a portal.”
“I don’t know how to use magic, and you want me to make a damned portal?”
Eiko smiled patiently. “You’re upset, which I understand, but you must listen to me now, Ash. You have the power within you. It’s just been locked away. I see it growing each time we meet. We need to see each other soon since I’m on the verge of a breakthrough, but until then, just follow my lead.”
Ash nodded. “I have complete faith in you, and if you believe I can do this, I will. Tell me what to do.”
“You don’t have much time before the house collapses, and the lower floor is fully engulfed now. When I shove you back through the door you created, only a second will have passed. I can keep the link open, and I will guide you through the words and movements.”
“Got it. Let’s save these peo—” Before Ash could finish her sentence, Eiko thrust her back into the burning house.
In her dual vision, Ash saw Eiko as she opened a portal and mimicked the other woman’s words and movements without understanding. That would come later.
Ash’s body tingled as the unfamiliar magic suffused her. When she moved her right hand in a wide circle, green and black sparks flickered around her fingertips. Purple and blue streaks followed, and a swirling black spot emerged and grew to fill the boundaries, pulling the colors inward.
Megan gasped in astonishment, but Ash couldn’t spare a moment to address her confusion. When the beams gave way, sending embers raining down, Ash grabbed Megan and Alyssa and threw them through the portal, then followed. They tumbled onto the floor in the master bathroom. Dale and Jenna had huddled there in terror, covered with wet towels.
