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I swore, caught my balance, and then ran, with every ounce of strength I had left, at the writhing mass that was now running at Nuri. But I didn't attack it—I leaped over it. Claws grabbed at me, tore at me, and I hit the ground in a stumbling run and somehow made it to Nuri. I stepped into the circle of her light, and straddled her back as she hunched over the pole still embedded in her gut, her body shaking and the stain of her life pouring from the wound to the metal floor of the wall, growing ever wider.
I drew the broken knife from my belt and slashed left and right, cutting limbs and faces and bodies. It made no difference. No matter how many I killed, they just kept on coming, an endless tide from which there was no escape and no respite.
Many of the ghosts had now faded completely. Just as many still fought on, but there were ever-increasing gaps along the line, and the vampires obviously sensed that the firewall preventing them from entering the city was close to collapse, because they were throwing themselves at it with growing intensity.
And every hit, every blow, reverberated through Nuri’s body and tugged ever more strongly at her fading strength.
I kept on fighting. But my arms were aching, my body bruised and bleeding, and my vision was beginning to fade in and out. If they didn’t get the damn UVs on soon, all this would have been for naught.
On and on and on it went.
Nuri was shuddering, her breathing so harsh it filled the air with her pain. Inevitably, the first earth firewall fractured, its brightness fading as it floated away in long, wispy lengths.
The wall at our back—the one that protected Central—was close to doing the same.
As was her halo light. It was pulsing and losing strength.
“Hang on, Nuri,” I shouted. “You have to hang—”
A vampire reached through the fading circle of light, hooked its claws into my arm, and yanked me sideways, away from her, away from the light. I was flung like meat into the air, and vampires leaped after me, desperately slashing at my body. I hit the ground on my back but somehow thrust upright, only to be sent sprawling again as a vampire threw himself at me. I somehow shoved the shattered knife between us and impaled him. With a huge whoosh, his body erupted into flames, setting my clothes alight in the process. I screamed, tossed him aside, and reached desperately for the vampire half of my soul.
But even as the change started, something whistled through the air and light exploded around us. The vampires screamed and died. Then a hand grabbed mine, hauled me upright, and ripped the burning clothes from my body.
Jonas.
And he hadn’t come alone.
There were men everywhere. Men and light.
Because even as more bombs went off, the lights in the city came back online, one street after another, until the darkness was banished. The UV towers lining the walls began to glow, but their light was not so instant.
It didn't matter.
The vampires were running.
Reaction set in, and I began shaking so badly I could barely stand. Jonas took off his coat and carefully wrapped it around my shoulders. I hugged it closer, licked my lips, and somehow said, “Nuri—”
“I know.” He kissed me quickly—fiercely—and then released me and ran over to her.
I didn't move. I couldn’t. All I could do was cry as I watched Jonas kneel down beside her, and touch her shoulder with a gentleness that spoke of how much he cared.
Light began to rise from her body, a light that reminded me of shields that had protected the city.
But it wasn’t earth energy.
It was her soul.
I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.
For several seconds, neither did she.
Then she smiled, and it was as if the sun had just come out from behind the clouds. Do not grieve for me, Tiger. It was my time, and there was nothing you could have done to alter my fate.
I don’t agree—
Because you have never believed in giving up—and that is the reason I can leave without regret, because Central now has you to look after her. She hesitated, and glanced down at the man still holding her body. As has he.
And with that, she moved on.
