Awakening

Something wrapped around the collar of Sophie’s jacket and lifted her easily into the air.

Cairo held her and Lilli up, one in each hand, as if they were a sack of feathers. Her unblinking stare settled on Sophie. “You’re so powerful. How does a human become this way?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Morgan struggle to pick Katie up. When she realized that wouldn’t work, Morgan dragged her out of the way.

Sophie balled up her hand and swung.

Cairo dodged it effortlessly. Her musical laugh grated on Sophie’s nerves. “You can’t possibly think it’d be that easy?” Cairo tilted her head to the side and watched the brightness of color surrounding Sophie. No longer in control over her actions, she released Lilli to concentrate fully on the light. “You have such an aura. So much light. I miss that, you know. I may keep you for myself.”

Tristan moved from Augustus to two of Cairo’s entourage.

A sudden waft of heat slammed into them. Cairo cried out.

Sophie hit the dirt and rolled. The air pushed out of her lungs, and she coughed. When she turned on her back and lifted herself on her elbows, she gasped.

Flames covered Cairo. Her glowing skin blistered.

Aidan forced more heat into the fire that engulfed her.

Demetri shoved one of the guards into the back draft of Aidan’s flames. With practiced movements, he swung his machete and severed the head.

Aidan turned to the last two remaining guards.

Cairo pulled her severely burnt form toward Sophie. The vampire’s eyes were no longer a cerulean blue but a deep red that stood out sharply against charred flesh.

“Aura. So bright.” When Cairo spoke, the flesh on her throat flapped in and out. The whistling sound it made shot goose bumps up Sophie’s arms.

Sophie couldn’t make her legs work. She could hear the sounds of the battle around her, but she couldn’t move. She watched helplessly while Cairo came closer, venom dripping from her fangs.

Over Cairo’s shoulder, Sophie watched Morgan and Lilli tend to Katie. Lilli’s hands gently ran over Katie’s body, searching for Katie’s most lethal injuries.

Ruth ran past her line of eyesight to protect the girls.

Someone yanked Sophie up by the arm. She started to resist.

“Stop.”

That clear command in Demetri’s harsh voice stilled her.

His entire body tensed when he pointed his machete at Cairo. “You won’t get away from me this time. You will pay for what you did.”

His voice broke, and tears sprang to Sophie’s eyes. What was he talking about?

Before she could ask, something twisted in her hair and jerked backward. She landed in the heated straw. Smoke rose fast, and the flames became too much for Jackson and Aidan to handle.

Her vision suddenly filled with one angry vampire.

“She was my wife! You destroyed her beautiful face!” Even fuming, he enthralled Sophie with his beauty. Not a section of his body was marred by wrinkles or blemishes.

His weight settled over her. He leaned down and sniffed her neck. Blond hair tickled her cheek.

Sophie struggled against him.

He chuckled. “Keep doing that. I like it.”

She froze at the sound of husky desire in his voice. Her mind raced with her heart. She needed to get away.

“So beautiful. So bright.” He trailed a sharp fingernail down the side of her face. His gaze traveled the length of her body.

She arched her back in pain and her throat closed on a sob. His fingernail left a burning wake on her face.

“I could use you to replace her.”

When he nuzzled her neck, she felt his sharp teeth trail her skin.

She had to find some way to get out from under him, some way to escape—

With a whoosh, the vampire’s head fell from his shoulders and bounced off her chest. His body collapsed on hers, the weight sudden.

Sophie panicked. She thrashed, trying to push his body off hers. The smell of old blood and decayed skin choked her.

The eyes in the head stared up at her accusingly as she shoved it off.

As she scrambled backward, she managed to wriggle out from under him. She glanced up to see Demetri standing behind the body. His face was devoid of expression, but his stance was aggressive. The dark red blood on the edge of his machete caught her eye.

Sophie was mesmerized by the slow drip, drip as the red spots bounced onto the ground. She tore her gaze from it to look up at him. “Cairo?” She forced herself to stand. Around her the fire swelled in the dry hay and wooden walls. The smoke thickened and wrapped around them.

“Her remaining lackey took her and ran.” Demetri wiped the machete clean on the leg of his pants. Sophie couldn’t tell if that admission bothered him.

“Guys, I can’t hold this much longer!” Aidan yelled over the increasing roar of the flames. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he grit his teeth. His hands faced out and far away from his chest, and he pushed the fire back.

Jackson lost his patience and focused on the wall where Ruth, Katie, Morgan, and Lilli hunkered down. He reached out his arm, hands facing outward, and flexed his fingers.

The wall blasted outward and skyrocketed a couple hundred feet.

Oxygen rushed in, feeding the fire more.

“Get out of here!” Aidan stumbled backward, and the fire expanded.

Jackson knelt and lifted Katie into his arms. Lilli and Morgan ran after him. Tristan nudged at Sophie with his mane, urging her to make it fast. Beams groaned and splintered as they passed under them.

Ruth and Demetri rushed out, Aidan close on their heels.

The first thing Sophie did was suck in a lungful of crisp, night air. Her heart beat painfully in her chest.

The barn groaned, and she turned in time to see it collapse. Heat and smoke billowed out and engulfed her and her friends.

Exhaustion set in while she stared at the barn-turned-bonfire. Had they really just fought a whole coven of vampires?

And made it out alive?

Her gaze followed the smoke rising into the starry sky. Was it possible all this happened on such a peaceful-looking night?

Tristan joined her in his natural form. Scrapes and bruises shone in the firelight, his body covered in soot.

His gray eyes focused on her. Her stomach flipped.

“Morgan? Morgan!” Aidan’s hoarse voice called out for her.

She shimmered into view next to him. “I’m here.” Her normally perfect visage was covered in ash, dirt, and a little bit of blood. Her hair hung in a matted mess that she absently pushed away from her face.

Jackson held Katie’s limp form in his arms, but he leaned near Lilli and spoke softly to her.

Her face didn’t seem pale to Sophie after he was done. Maybe it was the soot. Maybe it was Jackson. Either way, Sophie was glad her friend felt a little better.

They stood in that line, weary and a little battle hardened, making sure nothing crawled out of the embers. No one spoke. They were afraid if they did, something would waken.

Only when they heard the sirens did they make their way back to the SUV. Demetri cast a long look back at the smoldering ruins when they passed it. Sophie wondered if he replayed his meeting with Cairo. Ruth settled a hand on his arm and kissed his cheek. Demetri patted her hand softly.

Sophie turned away, not wanting to intrude, and followed Tristan and the others across the meadow and over the fence.

Police cars and a fire truck raced past, and the group used the shadows to hide their trek to the SUV.

Demetri and Ruth climbed into the front, Jackson laid Katie out on the second row, and Sophie, Lilli, and Morgan climbed into the third.

Aidan, Jackson, and Tristan scrambled into the very back and pulled the hatch shut behind them.

Once they were safely back on the road to town, Sophie asked, “Why were some of the vampires beautiful and the others looked like they suffered from the plague?”

Lilli leaned her head on Sophie’s shoulder.

Ruth looked back. “Some of the humans, when turned, aren’t genetically matched enough to their parent vampire. It causes their bodies to partially reject the turn. They are more like hybrids, still immortal and craving blood, but crippled in other ways. The tissues and joints that rejected the turn age much like a normal human’s would, but the blood they drink keeps the rest alive.”

“That’s gross.” Aidan shook his head. “That was unreal.”

Sophie felt Lilli shaking next to her. Morgan stared out the window, eyes unfocused. She reached for both their hands and refused to give Morgan the chance to let go.

Morgan squeezed Sophie’s hand, but didn’t try to release it.

It seems we’re more traumatized than we’d like to admit, Sophie thought. Her eyelids drifted shut.

She shot them open a second later.

When she closed her eyes, all she could see was Cairo’s blackened body crawling toward her.