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An overwhelming and monstrous power surged out in waves from their King. Gabby’s insides froze, terror seizing her heart. A purple aura surrounded him. He glanced at them, his eyes midnight black, and a survival instinct as old as time screamed at her to seek shelter, to find light, to stay away from the primitive being beyond her understanding.
Alistair headed straight for Jiaren. Anyone else who had survived the explosion stayed out of his way. No living being, vampire or shifter, was stupid enough to face the Vampire King.
Gabby and Felix exchanged a look. The last thing she wanted was to go after Alistair, but she couldn’t let Jiaren get away.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.Let’s go.
Felix sprung into motion with her a step behind. They leaped over the broken building’s outer walls and passed the witches, who remained still as statues, glowing blue. Eyes wide open, they shone with the same cerulean. They didn’t seem to notice Gabby, Felix, or Alistair.
The inside of the Ruin, or what remained of it, showed gray granite floors, carvings on stone walls, and broken columns fallen left and right. They ran past brown wooden doors leading to other rooms. What did the rest of the rooms look like? Gabby shook her head. Stupid, to be thinking of exploring, when she needed answers out of Jiaren.
Why did he blow it up? Something no one had done in human history.
Jiaren stood in the middle of a wide hall, surrounded in rubble from the explosion. Before him was a gray pedestal, which held a glowing crystal the size of a baseball.
The Chinese vampire snatched the crystal and lunged back when Alistair appeared.
“King Alistair, what a pleasant surprise,” Jiaren said with a smirk. He looked too confident for someone facing his King.
“Return the crystal.”
Dark energy rippled out of Alistair. It took all of Gabby’s strength to not turn around and run. How did Jiaren show no hint of fear?
Have you seen him like this?she asked Felix.
No, never.
Jiaren glanced between Alistair, who stood on his right, and Gabby and Felix on his left. “Mistress Gabriella, did you enjoy the gifts I left you?”
“Gifts?”
“Yes, the vampires and the shifters.” Gabby’s heart dropped. She’d guess he was the culprit. Her blood boiled to hear him so blatantly admit to kidnapping her people. “They are beautiful, aren’t they?”
“What did you do to them?”
Jiaren shrugged. “It was an experiment. Not as successful as I’d have liked, but it served its purpose.”
Alistair blinked out of existence. Jiaren bounded away a heartbeat before Alistair reappeared. The crystal ball’s glow enveloped Jiaren, who moved faster and faster, but still not enough to avoid Alistair’s teleportation. Alistair knocked the crystal out of Jiaren’s hand and pinned Jiaren against the wall.
“Who? Who told you?” Alistair snarled, a second, deeper voice layered over his normal one. A primal voice that echoed in Gabby’s soul.
Jiaren growled, his fangs lengthening. “Your rule is coming to an end.” He snapped his fingers. Magic erupted around them. The witches had stayed for a reason. They’d cast another spell.
A glowing circle formed on the ground and surrounded Alistair, with more complicated connecting lines and circles within. He disappeared but reappeared at the same place. When he jumped back, letting go of Jiaren, the magic circle followed him until a semi-transparent blue wall rose around him and reached into the sky. Cracks of electricity danced along the barrier and zapped into the Vampire King when he slammed into the wall. Smoke billowed from where the electricity hit him but vanished in another second as he healed.
“This won’t hold me forever.” Another monstrous growl from Alistair.
Gabby fought back the terror squeezing her insides. With Jiaren distracted, she lunged for the fallen crystal. The moment she touched it, she realized her mistake.
Power lashed into her. Pure and unfathomably deep. It burned through her cells like acid ripping her apart. Her surroundings vanished in a flash of blinding white. She screamed, or she thought she did.
Get it out of me!
It hurt. It hurt so much.
A familiar, formidable presence in her mind. Felix.Let go of the crystal.
She tried, but she couldn’t feel her fingers or the rest of her body.I can’t.
