Page 35 of Awakened Light

“Just stay back, Catrain,” I whispered to her as I prepared for the fight I knew was coming.

Movement in the window above caught my eye, and Aiden’s head flashed toward it. “Leith and Leeya! Third floor!” he said.

“Go for Annella!” Lothaire roared. “They’ll kill her!”

Aiden, Emilia, and Grizella bolted inside, leaving Lothaire, Mark, Catrain, and me to face off with the four vampires still standing on the street.

Lothaire moved first, launching at Brodric with a roar. They disappeared into a blur of movement as I attacked the man in front of me who’d tried to touch Catrain. He went down with my third blow, and I gripped his head and tore it from his body before it even hit the ground. It felt primal and good to annihilate the man who’d dared try to touch my Catrain.

As I spun to my feet to make sure she was still safe, I saw Mark was on the ground with his fangs sunk into the throat of the third vampire. Since an original vampire had turned Mark, he’d inherited almost all our strength and held his own quite well.

Though we’d told him how to fight and taught him that vampires could only die from the loss of their head, this was his very first battle. I remembered well from my first battle how quickly your training could fly out of your head in the heat of the fight.

“Get the head!” I reminded him.

“Look out!” Catrain shouted, and I spun to see the fourth brute of a vampire lunging at me.

I braced for impact, prepared to counter-attack the minute he collided with me, but a bright blue burst of sparks landed square in his chest and sent him flying backward. The minute his body hit the ground, I was on him, and his head rolled down the sidewalk a second later.

After a quick look back and a nod of thanks to Catrain, I spun to see Lothaire landing a final blow into Brodric’s face. With a rumbling growl, he tore off his head and rose. Blood dripped from his hands as he spit on the corpse. “Fucking prick.”

“I got one! Did you see me? My first vamp fight, and I was like a vampire ninja!” Mark shouted proudly, then stopped his air chopping and pulled a face. “Ugh. I got his blood in my mouth. Vampire blood tastes like shit.”

He spit it out on the sidewalk and wiped the remnants from his face.

“Everyone okay?” I asked as I took a quick survey. “Catrain? Are you hurt?”

“No. I’m okay,” she said, though the ashen color of her face said her body may be okay, but her mind may need some time to process.

Lothaire took no time to regroup. “Annella. We need to go in and help—”

Movement at the front of the building caught our eye, and we spun to see Leith, Leeya, and a huge Scottish vampire with shaggy red hair emerge. They froze for a second when they saw us, but then bolted away in a blur.

“Should I go after them?” I asked, prepared to run and annihilate the fuckers who’d taken Annella.

“No. We’ll deal with them later. We need to find Annella.” Lothaire barely finished his sentence before he shot inside the building.

Mark stood stunned, staring at the place Leith, Leeya, and the other vampire had been before rushing after Lothaire.

“I’m staying with you,” I said to Catrain, though I desperately wanted to help my family. There was no way I would leave her unprotected with Leith and Leeya nearby. I pulled her against my chest and wrapped a protective arm over her shoulder as I listened closely inside the building, hoping I didn’t hear any sounds of battle.

“I found her!” Emilia shouted.

I held my breath, waiting to hear if Annella was okay.

“She’s alive! I’ve got her!” Emilia called.

“Thank God,” I breathed into Catrain’s hair as I pulled her in tighter. “You did it. You saved her.”

“I just showed you where she was. You guys saved her.”

“You did more than that. Your little lightning bolt sure helped out.” I looked down at her and arched an eyebrow. “Just don’t ever use that on me.”

The visibly shaken look on her face softened as she smiled. “Then don’t give me a reason to.”

I pulled her tighter against me as I laughed. “I’ll try not to piss you off.”

Lothaire appeared in the doorway holding Annella in his arms. She looked so tiny and fragile against his massive chest... a far cry from the fearless warrior we’d always known her to be.