He easily avoided the attack, drawing a blade of his own. His was shorter, a cross between a dagger and a short sword. Flames extended to engulf it too, and I cursed. At least if he’d been tossing fireballs at me I could have extinguished them with my magic. With his charm, I may not be able to douse the flames.
On his next lunge I tried anyway.
The fire died on his sword, but continued to rage on his hands.
That was something.
We jumped apart again, circling each other, and I was about to go on the offensive when a gunshot rang out.
It sounded distant, my body spinning around to figure out the source. Had someone shot Altair or Sky? Was this coming from outside, where Oswald and Freya were? Where the fuck was it?
Then, pain bloomed and the scent of blood overwhelmed my nostrils.
I looked down in a daze at my lower torso, finding my grey clothing stained red where the bullet had torn it apart. Among the pain, I felt the bullet inside me as my flesh tried to form around it. These were only normal bullets. I would live, but if I didn’t get it out before I healed around it… well, that would really fucking suck.
Bringing my fingers up to the wound I tried to dig in, but it was embedded too deeply.
Pain flared across my upper back next and I cursed, the injury pulling me out of my daze. The person with the gun wasn’t the only threat. I wasn’t even sure where the fuck the gun had come from or where the person holding it had gone. It was only me and this flaming vampire now.
Whipping up some wind, I pushed us away from each other, breathing heavily.
This wasn’t the worst pain I’d ever had, not by a long shot. Now that I’d gotten over the initial shock and dazedness, I could fight as normal.
I pulled a new weapon from its sheath, my sword laying useless on the floor between us. “Not going to get that bullet out?” the vampire asked tauntingly. “That’s going to heal terribly.”
Using a burst of wind and my natural speed, I dove for him. He barely had time to blink before I was spearing the dagger through his stomach, holding onto the handle and using it to maneuver myself around him. It tore at his skin at the same time, drawing a satisfying scream from him. I took a weapon from the belt around his hips, stabbing the blade into his throat.
Blood spurted onto the bookcases that lined the walls of Kylan’s office, drenching my hand and dripping down my arm. His scream cut off and became a series of gurgles, his fangs out as he tried to detach himself from my grip. I didn’t let him go, retracting the knife from his throat and plunging it down beneath his protective vest and into his heart.
He slumped, and I let him fall.
My fangs were throbbing with the need to have a drink, and I licked his blood off my hand like a cat grooming itself. It barely took the edge off.
Looking down at my gunshot wound again, I noted my body was trying in vain to push the bullet out. The wound was deep, my skin knitting itself together too fast. I cringed, reaching down to poke the wound. “This is going to be a pain in my ass,” I muttered.
I stepped over the body to peek into the living room again. There was no more destruction than there had been before. One knocked over lamp. Leaving a blood trail in my wake, I made my way over to the closed bedroom door. I felt a faint ripple of magic around the wood. Sky was hiding whatever was happening in there.
My hand was on the doorknob when a faint breeze brushed me from behind and I spun around, drawing another weapon. I was down to my daggers at this point.
Instead of another attacker, Freya, Ozzy, and Caspian stepped through a portal and into the middle of the room. They all saw the wound at the same time, looking varying levels of horrified and furious. Oswald got to me first, reaching down to grab the hem of my shirt and lift it so he could examine the wound. “Did you get the bullet out?” he asked urgently.
I shook my head.
“Fuck. We’re getting it out right now. Sit on the couch.”
“Altair and Sky are fighting in there. I think there are at least two. My wound can wait.”
Trying to turn back to the door, Freya’s hand on my chest stopped me. My breath hitched and my gaze narrowed on her throat. Such a pretty pulse. A bite sounded nice, right about now. “Sit on the fucking couch,” she ordered.
I nodded repeatedly, like a bobblehead.
Ozzy led me over to the couch and Cas tried to go with her into the room, but she sent him to me. She opened the door no more than she needed and slipped through with her wand in hand.
Groaning, I laid on the couch and let Oswald tear away the piece of shirt covering my wound. He grabbed a narrow knife from his belt, and gave me an apologetic look. “This isn’t going to be pleasant.”
“More pleasant to get it out now than later. Do it.”
“Wait!” Caspian said, grabbing my hand. “I can make it less painful. I have to compel you, though… is that OK?”
