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“Coming,” Caitlin and Jasmine said.
Arman knew they were all fighting. He could hear the sword fighting going on around the perimeter of the estate. But he also knew they needed more help here to protect Fiona. She was the real target.
“Regina’s here,” Arman said as she went straight for Fiona.
Fiona had been resting, holding her injured arm, in obvious pain. She wasn’t healing as fast as he thought she should. But then Caitlin and Jasmine showed up and both took Regina on while he continued to fight Tobias. The next thing he knew, Clarissa, the Egyptian girl came out of nowhere and headed for Fiona.
* * *
“You don’t want to mess with me,” Fiona told Clarissa, her voice threatening. She swung her sword at Clarissa, but to swing well, Fiona needed the strength of both arms, but her injury was making her swing much weaker than when she’d practiced. She hated coming to the fight that she had to win, injured before she had barely begun.
“Or else, what? All I need to do is turn you and then you’re mine,” Clarissa said.
She was going to be in for a surprise when she realized Fiona was already a vampire. Fiona saw Arman glance in her direction, and she knew his worried look meant he feared for her when she wanted him to concentrate on the fight between him and Tobias. He couldn’t safely risk watching her fight while battling Tobias.
Just like right now, she needed to watch out for Clarissa’s powerful swing and not concern herself with how Arman was faring as much as she did worry about it. Clarissa purposely struck Fiona’s sword with such power, Fiona lost her sword, and she swore under her breath.
Fiona disappeared—to her surprise and from the look on Clarissa’s slack-jawed expression, Clarissa’s too—and then reappeared where her sword had landed. Fiona grabbed it up, but Clarissa was attacking her with a vengeance, probably pissed off that someone from Fiona’s court had turned her and Clarissa now didn’t have the chance.
Fiona feared she wouldn’t win this fight against the powerful teen vamp as hard as Clarissa was striking her sword and Fiona could only defend herself. She tried to control Clarissa’s thoughts like it seemed she’d done with Shelly and Michail, but like she’d tried with Tobias, she wasn’t able to. Maybe later, when she had better control of it. But not when she had a lot of distraction—like trying to keep herself alive while in a sword fight and she was newly trained at it.
She heard her brother shout off in the distance and she prayed he was alright. She worried about her mother, that Tobias might try to influence her to show up here too and force Fiona to fight her own mom. She wouldn’t be able to do it.
Fiona thought about being a dragon, breathing fire, to wedge that fear into Clarissa’s thoughts but only for a split second as Clarissa’s thrusts were taking way too much of Fiona’s focus. Her arm was hurting something fierce, a burning sensation growing. Blood dripping down her arm made her realize just how much she could smell blood now, and she noticed how Clarissa had glanced that way several times, as if she wanted a taste…or to drain her. More likely the latter.
But then Clarissa slammed her sword with such ferocity against Fiona’s again, the impact sent her sword flying through the air. Before Fiona could vanish, Clarissa lunged and grabbed for Fiona’s throat.
* * *
Arman was still fighting Tobias, both slicing at each other, both trying to keep from being fatally cut. He couldn’t help but glance in Fiona’s direction though, worried for her. For the second time, she’d lost her sword as Clarissa had struck it so hard.
Arman wanted to destroy Tobias and go to Fiona’s aid, but Caitlin suddenly left Jasmine to fight Regina on her own, and targeted Clarissa. Caitlin screened Fiona in fog, allowing her to escape Clarissa’s wrath. Then Fiona could move from where she was last standing to a new location. Caitlin waved her hands in her witch’s way and threw Clarissa over an ancient stone retaining wall and the vampire fell into the rosebushes.
Arman was glad for her witch’s skills, which had improved with every passing day. Tobias struck again, and Arman countered the attack, but then Tobias vanished. Instantly, Arman was afraid Tobias had gone after Fiona! “Where are you, Fiona?” Arman called to her telepathically.
“In the greenhouse. I’m starting to heal. I can help fight again. I retrieved my sword.”
“Tobias is coming for you.” Arman joined her in the greenhouse, but she was alone, for now. “Drink my blood. It’ll help heal you faster.”
Before he could bite into his wrist to offer his blood, Fiona screamed, “Behind you, Arman!”
Arman whipped around and cut Tobias across the cheek. He roared with pain and frustration, falling back, his eyes filled with hatred.
Fiona slipped around Tobias, slashed at him, and managed to slice his arm like he had done to her.
Tobias again cried out. “If you don’t come willingly with me, I will have everyone here killed, including your brother and your parents,” Tobias said to Fiona, his brown eyes darkened to black. He was still advancing on Arman, who was trying to get a good fatal strike in at the vampire.
Fiona was holding her sword up, stalking around Tobias, but he was listening to her movements and Arman knew if she tried to strike him, he would whip around and cut her again. He knew if Tobias couldn’t use her powers, she would be useless to him, and he would prefer killing her so no one else could use them.
Outside the greenhouse, Jasmine and Caitlin were still fighting Regina and Clarissa when Arman heard Levka join the women. “You want to side with Tobias? You have made a fatal mistake.”
“As if you can win,” Clarissa said.
But in the next instant, Clarissa cried out, and Levka shouted, “Regina, you’re next.”
Arman knew he was calling out for Tobias to hear because Regina and Clarissa had been friends of his. Arman knew Levka did it to help rattle Tobias. But the vampire didn’t seem to care. He wanted Fiona’s ability and that’s all that mattered to him.
Fiona was standing off to the side, plotting maybe when to make another strike at Tobias, while Arman was continually deflecting Tobias’s slashes and thrusts, unable to switch to the offensive and knock him off kilter again. It reminded him of the trouble Fiona had been having with Clarissa, always defending, never being able to advance.
