“Your familiar?”
I blinked. “Yes.” Then I lowered my voice to a whisper, “How’d you know what I am?”
I could hear father and daughter chatting behind me as Tylen pursed his lips, pulling the scars on his face, making them whiten and flatten in a snarl against his cheek. “I have 3 powerful gifts in wizardry. Everything else I’m very weak in. My 3 are air manipulation, I can talk to and understand animals—and they can understand me on a basic level—and divining. It’s an almost extinct branch of wizardry that allows me, through touch, to sense the gifts of another being. Your gifts are very strong, so you’re easier to read than many.”
Draven murmured, “It also allows him to see small snippets of the future.”
Tylen nodded, though most of his attention was still focused on his chef and her father.
I felt so awful for him. It was easy to see with my eyes how much pain he was in, but empathically, it was so much worse. It didn’t feel like his pain, but my own. At least emotionally. There was always an emotional fallout for me from the chronic, physical pain of others.
“It’s okay,” Draven murmured, when dark storm-clouds started gathering outside. He rubbed my back and continued to murmur assurances to me as I leaned against him, letting his presence soothe and comfort me. I felt so powerless sometimes. Feeling what others felt, but not being able to help, was painful.
The front door knocker clacked loudly, and the butler let Mesmer in. “Master Leto, there’s a storm kicking up outside. We might want to head back to the villa.”
Bless his sweet gray heart. He must be worried about lightning striking the human.
It couldn’t have been Draven he was worried about, because a brief storm could do nothing but bring cool, sun-free relief to a vampire. And I don’t think it was Henri. I got the feeling Henri didn’t like Mesmer all that much, and the feeling seemed mutual.
I sighed as Draven chuckled behind me. “It’s okay, Mesmer. I just need to chill out. Give me a minute.” I closed my eyes to Mesmer’s confused expression and breathed in and out slowly. With each exhale, I tried to let go of my frustrations regarding those I couldn’t help, and with each inhale I resolved that even if I couldn’t do much for some people, I would keep trying to do what I could in my sphere of influence. Which, I cheered myself, was a lot bigger because I was part of the Leto household. The Leto household was a big name in the paranormal community.
As I continued to do my breathing, I could see the room gradually lighten behind my closed eyelids. The room went silent as the others realized what was happening. My eyes popped open.
“There. No storm.”
“My island appreciates it,” Tylen said wryly.
Suddenly, there was a loud cacophony from outside: barks, roars, men shouting, yowls and hisses. It basically sounded like a zoo was seconds away from attacking us.
I stood quickly; Mesmer stood in front of me. His gun was already out and aimed at the door; his gray arm quickly bulked up to his alternate stone form and was very steady. Henri held Reece close, and Draven and Tylen were both standing as well, though Tylen had his eyes closed in concentration.
A large cat burst through one of the front windows, shattering it into a zillion pieces. Hugs barked and growled like crazy, and I pounced on Mesmer’s arm as he moved to shoot the large feline.
“It’s Zian, Mesmer! Don’t shoot!”
Zian ran to me and herded me to the back of the room. I allowed him to, not knowing what was going on. As soon as he got me there, the front doors slammed open, and paranormals poured in through the opening.
Pandemonium broke out. Zian had backed me into the corner, and he hadn’t let me move yet. Tylen’s bodyguards and Draven’s guards arrived at the same time. Mesmer moved to stand beside Zian, and they both took down anything that came toward me. I grabbed a heavy candlestick off a side table and bashed a few heads that got too close to our little group in the corner. No way was I just standing there, letting everyone else risk their lives without doing something.
“Vampires,” Mesmer cursed after shooting one, and it did nothing. Then he dumped the bullets in his gun onto the floor, loaded gold-plated ones, and started firing again.
Draven had rounded up Reece and Henri and shoved them my way at the beginning of the attack. I could see him now. He blurred from one mercenary to the next, taking them down with precision and speed.
I trembled and the skies outside grew black with clouds again. Thunder rolled across the island, concussing the mansion with a loudboom.Lightning streaked the windows.
Tylen stood to my right, protecting Reece and her father. His walking stick was now a sword, and he ran anyone through that got too close. Then, the melee grew even more confused when animals thundered in. An elephant picked up a man with his trunk through the open door and smashed him into a marble statue. Monkeys covered people from head to toe and dragged them down to the floor. All kinds of tropical birds flew in through the broken window and harassed and pecked, their beaks drawing blood.
The men started taking out the animals, which infuriated Tylen. He roared and drew a gun, shooting the mercenaries who’d hurt them, then made a loud screeching sound, circled his hand twice in the air, and pointed outside. The animals scattered and disappeared through the door and broken window.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
A blast of thunder shook the house, almost knocking me onto my butt in surprise. I kneeled and rubbed Zian’s fur in gratefulness before I felt the prickling sense of eyes on me. I quickly glanced at the window. Someone stood there. Fury radiated off of him, and he had cold, gray eyes.
“Draven!” I shouted, pointing.
But he was gone. There was no sign of him. “The vampire from The Laughing Elf. He was there, at the window!”
