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I didn’t get the chance to reply; something crashed into me and sent me flying. I hit the ground with a grunt and, just for a second, the halo light shimmered and died. Vampires piled on top of me, smothering me, biting and tearing at my skin with claws and teeth. The long knives were useless for close work, and I screamed in fury, bucking and kicking in an effort to be free of them. Then the halo light came back online, and the weight that had been pinning me down evaporated into ash. I took a shuddery breath and scrambled upright. Pain twinged down my side, and there was a multitude of cuts on my arms and legs—some deep, some not. The blood pouring from them stung the air and stirred the vampires into a deeper frenzy.
I battled my way back to Nuri, and swung the knives around in fast, circular motions, trying to discourage the vampires who were continuing to fling themselves at her. The stench of ash and burning flesh was so thick—so caustic—that my stomach churned, and a layer of ankle-deep cindered flesh now smothered the wall’s metal base.
And still they came at us.
Many of the ghosts were now beginning fade—even though they kept forcing the vampires back through the first firewall, vampires were getting past them now and flinging themselves at the secondary wall. It torched them as easily and as thoroughly as the halo lights and the UVs, but they didn’t seem to care.
And with every hit, the pulsing in the earth fire became more evident—more desperate—and it was a desperation that echoed through Nuri.
Like the ghosts, her strength was fading.
One of my knives hit something solid and stopped dead, and the shock of it reverberated up my arm. Half the blade sheared off and went spinning into the night. I swore, slipped the broken half onto my belt, unslung another, and kept on fighting.
But something glittered near my feet—something that oddly looked like metal. I risked a look. It was metal—some sort of pole that had been torn from Rhea only knew where.
The vampires were starting to arm themselves.
Air whistled, and I ducked instinctively. A metal rod swept over my head, missing by inches. I lunged forward, stabbing the vampire through the heart and then spun around to cut off the head of another.
And in that moment, saw Nuri fall.
“No!” I screamed, and ran toward her. Vampires threw themselves between us, piling on top of the other, desperately trying to impede my progress while others tried to smother the protective halo of light. Their ash spun around me, thick and cloying, filling every breath with their foulness. I cut and stabbed and slashed my way through them all, and then knelt in front of Nuri. She lay on her side, her face white and etched with pain, one hand clutching the bar now buried in her stomach. Blood poured from the wound, staining her skirts with a swiftness that spoke of death.
“Get me upright,” she panted, eyes still blazing with fury and determination. “I need to be upright.”
“No, you need to remain still, and we need to stop that bleeding.”
Both our halo shields shuddered under the sheer mass of vampires hitting us, and the rain of ash was now so thick the air was almost unbreathable.
“If you don’t get me up, this city falls,” she bit back. “So fucking do it, soldier, and now!”
I swore but did as she asked and hauled her upright as carefully as I could. She hissed and cursed, and cried out in agony, but there was determination there too, and it was as strong as the blood now pulsing over her fingertips.
“I’ll be all right,” she said. “Just make sure they don’t hit me like that again.”
“Nuri—”
“I can use the earth magic to halt the flow of blood,” she said. “So get up and fight the bastards, before their ash suffocates us both.”
“And you call me stubborn,” I growled.
“I’ll call you a whole lot more if you don’t do what you’re damn well told.”
I couldn’t help grinning, despite the situation. “You sound just like a mom scolding her child.”
“If I’d had a child, I’d like to think she would have been as fierce and as strong as you.” She touched a bloody hand to my face, and I knew that despite everything she might have threatened, she, at least, had never seen me as a monster. “Now go.”
I turned away and kept on fighting. I kept close, though, trying to protect her as much as I could. But it wasn’t just vampires I was battling now, but a range of missiles from rocks to metal and Rhea only knew what else. The halo light might protect me from the vampires, but it was no help against projectiles, and as many as I batted away, more got through.
Then a large rock appeared out of nowhere. I dropped my knives and thrust out my hands, although I wasn’t entirely sure whether I intended to catch it or simply push it aside. Such was the speed at which it was traveling that something snapped in my left wrist and pain bloomed like fire. I nevertheless deflected the rock, not just enough to miss me, but also Nuri. It bounced two feet
to her left, continued through the earth fire, and dropped down into Central.
It was only then I realized the earth fire was beginning to fade.
I half spun, only to get hit side-on by something thick and solid. I reeled away, gasping in pain as ribs buckled and cracked. Breathing was suddenly hard and my head spun. I blinked away sweat and tears, and saw a black mass coming straight at me—a mass that was a tumbling, screaming clump of claws, teeth, and fury. I raised my weapons—only to remember I no longer held them. I swore and reached back for my last long knife, but the mass hit me and sent me stumbling backward again.
A heartbeat later, the halo light went out.
