“Hey, stay behind me!” I tell her firmly. Nova has managed to corner the second vampire, who might be strong, but isn’t a match for the raw power of Nova’s bear form. The first vampire is crawling out from the DJ booth, his legs crooked and broken. But he’ll heal quickly enough.
I hope he hasn’t drank any blood recently.
“O Hecate,” I whisper under my breath. “If we need you, do what’s right. Stay close by and help me fight…”
“What was that?” Hallie asks.
“Just saying a prayer!” I reply. It’s not a lie.
A smooth voice makes my heart flutter. “Your prayers are answered.”
Relief washes over me as Celine steps out between us and the vampires. The dance floor is almost completely empty except for the six of us. All of the customers, both living and vampire, have flooded the elevator and the emergency staircase. The vampire who was thrown into the DJ booth gets to his feet, one arm still twisted grotesquely. There’s a horrible squelching sound as it heals.
Celine reaches down and takes her dagger from its sheath at her ankle. She holds it in one fist, pointed toward the vampire.
“I would have thought Lazarus didn’t want to lose any more progeny,” she says to him, her long canine fangs jutting out of her mouth, lit by the red neon lights. She looks formidable, her unnatural eyes glaring across the dance floor.
“You stake his progeny, he stakes Tudor’s,” snarls the vampire.
“He’ll lose another if you don’t leave immediately,” Celine responds.
There’s a clicking sound behind us. Renata joins her sister on the dance floor, a matching dagger in her left hand.
“Get out,” she adds, her canines protruding from her lips just like Celine’s. “I hate to ruin a nice pantsuit, but I will.”
The vampire’s eyes flash red, malevolent and horrible. Hallie, so quiet behind me, takes my hand and squeezes it anxiously. Her skin is cold, and my first instinct is to pull away, but I squeeze it back.
“It’ll be ok,” I whisper, keeping my eyes on the vampire. “Celine has him on the ropes.”
Celine’s lip twitches, almost imperceptibly. My voice was quiet, could she have heard me?
“Fine,” says the vampire, his voice a low growl. Celine signals to Nova, who shifts back into their human form, so small in comparison to the massive bear they were a moment ago. Nova keeps their sharp eyes on the vampire, and doesn’t change back into their uniform, just in case they need to shift again quickly.
The two vampires walk toward the elevator, and Hallie’s grip on my hand relaxes. I allow myself to exhale, glad I didn’t have to reveal myself tonight.
I’m fantasizing about a nice, warm bath, when suddenly, there’s an impossibly quick movement beside me and the first vampire knocks me aside. I fall painfully onto the hard, sticky club floor. He grabs Hallie by the front of her shirt, holding up her up in the air. She struggles, but she’s still young and nowhere near as strong as he is.
“No!” I screech, as my hands glow with gold.
But I don’t need to worry. Just as quickly, there’s another blur of supernatural movement. Celine pushes between the vampire and Hallie and drives her dagger deep into his chest. Blood comes pouring out, all over Celine and her younger sister.
There’s a shout from the second vampire, but Renata already has him pinned up against the wall, the point of her gold dagger piercing his shirt.
“What do you think?” she sighs to Celine.
“Do it,” her sister hisses.
“Ireallyliked this suit,” Renata growls, as she de-animates the second vampire, gallons of blood pouring over her. She tosses the limp corpse aside.
The dance floor is absolutely soaked. It’s a lot, even for my stomach to handle. Celine steps over to me, and offers her unbloodied hand.She’s a formidable sight, covered head to toe in blood, her dagger still in the other fist. My heart thumps as I take her hand. It’s cold, but not unpleasant. She pulls me up easily and looks me over.
“Are you all right?” she asks.
“I’m fine,” I reply, surprised at the weakness in my knees.
“Who were they?” Hallie asks nervously.
“A rival vampire gang,” Renata answers curtly, as she pulls a rose-embroidered handkerchief from her pocket to clean her dagger.
