A Hunt Among Vampires (The Angel Series) (25 page)

I pick up the insinuation and answer her question. “If we go there, I do not think we will remain undiscovered for long. We need to leave. There are too many vampires here for us to fight them all.”

She looks at the children and back at me.

“I will do everything I can to keep us and the kids safe. Do you have a cell phone on you?” I ask, whispering against Alex’s ear.

She shakes her head.

“Mine is in my room. If I go into my room to get my cell phone, I will be leaving you unprotected. We need to get out of here now.”

I think of my mother as a question pops into my mind and she appears in the hallway, shocking me. Alex gasps and I cover her mouth to dampen the sound.

I mentally project my thoughts to my mother.
“Mom, how are you…? Never mind, I will ask you later. If I shift carrying another person, what will happen to them?”

She looks thoughtful for a moment before responding telepathically.
“I am not sure. I have never tried shifting while carrying another person, only objects. I am not sure what will happen. I do not believe that a person incapable of shifting will shift, nor do I believe that the magic will cover them.”
She looks at Alex staring back at her.
“Interesting.”

“What?” I ask aloud as I look around the corner.

“She can see me. Only those that practice necromancy or psychics that can see spirits should be able to see me. She is human. Is she a medium?” Lily asks aloud.

“Can you look around some corners and tell me if the coast is clear? I would do it myself, but holding a squirming child in my arms and using a sword are not a good combination.” I bark at her.

“Now, now honey. Control your temper. I will try to guide you outside, but if a vampire comes near and your concentration on me is broken, I will disappear. Follow me.”

We follow my mother down the hall, past the bedrooms towards the family room. There are three vampires in the room stationed at the windows and door. She tells me their locations telepathically. I quietly hand Isabella to Alex and demand they stay out of the way. I pull out my sword and zip through the room at vampire speed. When the first vampire becomes aware of my presence, I have already pierced his heart and moved on to the next one. I behead the second vampire on the way to the third vampire, standing by the door. This vampire is ready for me. Our weapons clash as our fighting begins in earnest. I call out to my mother to guide Alex to safety. In the corner of my eye, I see my mother float towards one of the windows.

I am able to keep the vampire at bay, but with my attention directed towards my mother, I am unable to get the upper hand on him. We continue to match blow for blow at lightning speed when I hear other vampires moving closer to our fight. I allow my focus to steady on the fight for a moment, long enough for me to pierce the vampire’s heart before returning my focus on my mother.

I am out the window before the other vampires enter the room. I can sense the direction my mother is in and I shift into a seagull before tracking their location. I manage to get enough air under my wings to lift myself high enough off the ground to get out of the vampire’s reach. As I am about 20 feet in the air, heading towards the tree line, I can see the vampires escaping out the window in pursuit. None of the vampires pays any attention to the out of place bird flying above them. I meet up with my mother and Alex before shifting back into human form.

Lily giggles with glee. “Look at you sweetheart. I knew you would get the hang of it quickly. Although, a seagull?”

I roll my eyes at her. “That’s the only bird I have been practicing with. I did not think that now was a good time to start experimenting with another bird form.” Before she can ask any more questions, I return our conversation back to our escape. “The vampires are still chasing us. We need to move faster.”

Alex is leaning against a tree, struggling to hold the children in her arms, gasping for air. I remember then she is human and is not going to be able to outrun the vampires. The only way we will be able to escape is if I find some transportation for her and the kids. Unfortunately, all of the cars are at the house, which is crawling with vampires.

My mother suggests that I shift into a horse and carry them on my back. Thinking that might work, I am just about to shift when I hear a rustling sound in the trees around us. Unwilling to risk exposing myself, I push Alex and the kids behind me and focus on where the noise came from. My mother disappears as I take my dagger back from Alex’s waistband and pull out my other one.

Ready for the vampire’s attack, I am shocked to see Phedora walk into the small clearing. She has a murderous look on her face when she addresses me. “You!”

I tighten my hands on my daggers. “Well Phedora. Are you planning to betray your master yet again by trying to kill me?”

“You bitch! You do not deserve his loyalty. I have always been his favorite. He will forgive me for my betrayal once you are gone.” She pulls out a long straight sword.

“Forget it Phedora. There is no way he will ever forgive you if you harm me in any way, not that I will even let you. Come over here and allow me to take you to him. He may be merciful to you if you come peacefully.”

“Are you serious? You think I am going to turn myself over to you. I should have never sent that pathetic Hassan to kill you. I should have known that if I wanted you dead, I would need to do it myself.” Phedora lunges at me and I barely dodge her blade. I could feel the wind from her strike near my arm.

She backs up and returns to her stance, facing me.

“Phedora, I am not going to hold back this time. Surrender or die.” I demand as anger swells up inside of me. I drop my daggers and I pull out my katana.

“Never!” She shouts as our swords clash. The clanking metal with sparks draws the attention of the other vampires.

Fortunately, Phedora screams as they come near. “Do not touch her, she is mine!”

The vampires form a circle around us, watching with interest at the fight that a human eye could not follow. We are moving so fast that I am struggling to keep up with her moves. She is so strong that I stick to defensive moves to prevent my blood from spilling. She swings her sword near my head and I duck, but she still cuts off a few inches of my hair.

My mind quickly drifts to my unborn child and a sudden swarm of protectiveness flows over me. I feel stronger and faster than I ever thought possible. I immediately go on the offensive, backing Phedora up with constant attacks. I have managed to cut her body up quite well when she falls down to the ground. My sword is in her heart before she can move.

Phedora gasps, but does not move. Remembering that Christien wants her alive, I still my sword and pull out my spelled silver shackles I had tucked away in my back pocket when I went downstairs to get my weapons.

The other vampires begin to close in on us. “Stop where you are or she dies.”

The vampires stop moving forward and stare at us.

“As bad as I want to kill you Phedora, Kayle wants you in a bad way.” I put the silver shackles on her wrist before I remove my sword from her heart, careful not to damage her heart any further.

She is breathing hard on the ground, trying her best to heal her injuries, but the spelled silver shackles prevent her from healing quickly. “What are these? Why can’t I heal?”

I smile deviously at her. “I don’t want you to heal. Christien only asked me not to kill you. He never said that you could not be close to death. You are alive so I kept my word.”

Turning to the vampires still surrounding us, I address them in a commanding tone. “Do any of you have a cell phone? If any of you comply with my demand, I may show lenience.”

“I found Phedora. She decided that she wanted to come after us to finish what Hassan did not manage to do tonight.” I reply cheerfully.

Christien roars so loud I have to move the phone away from my ear. When he calms down enough to speak, he asks, “Is she alive?”

“For now, but you better hurry up. I don’t think her friends that came here with her are going to stick around too long. I am not as good as you are in making people do what I say. I told Phedora not to move, but she attacked me anyway. I almost killed her, but I remembered you and Kayle wanted a piece of her first.” I look down at Phedora and she gives me a very dirty look. “Anyway, if you want her, you better get here fast because…”

I feel the wind move behind me and I spin around with my katana at the ready, dropping the cell phone in the process. Christien floats to the ground and closes his cell phone.

He makes a quick assessment of my condition. Seeing that I am not hurt, he takes a sweeping look at the vampires surrounding us before his gaze lands on Phedora. She is still lying on the ground in the spelled silver shackles. He looks at two vampires standing behind her. “Stand her up and hold her still.”

The vampires immediately obey and Phedora is on her feet. She stubbornly meets Christien’s eyes.

Alex steps up beside me with the kids in tow. I had completely forgotten she was there, but I am extremely relieved to see that she and the kids are unharmed.

Christien breaks eye contact with Phedora and talks to the vampires. “Who is your master?”

The vampires do not respond, but look down at Phedora.

Impatient, Christien grabs the dagger from the ground and in a smooth motion, throws it into the chest of the vampire closest to him. The vampire’s eyes widen in alarm. The throw is precise and barely misses the heart. Christien stands in front of the vampire. “I will not ask you again!”

The vampire bows his head and answers. “Phedora is our master.”

Christien raises an eyebrow in shock and looks back at Phedora. “You have been making vampires without my permission? How many have you made?”

Phedora stubbornly raises her chin and looks away from Christien.

Christien looks at me, then Alex. “Alex, do you think you can get Phedora to answer my questions? Roman has mentioned you have a specific talent for interrogating vampires.”

Phedora squirms and begins jerking against her shackles. “What is this?” She looks down at her arms and legs and lets out a small squeal. “Get them off me!”

Alex stands in front of Phedora. “Oh, I think this little human can do more to you than you could ever imagine.”

I stare at Phedora as she continues to struggle against the imaginary things that she thinks are crawling on her. I look at Alex and she has a satisfied smirk on her face.

Christien directs the vampires holding Phedora to take her back to the house. We follow closely behind them as he commands the other vampires to follow.

I don’t feel comfortable having so many unfamiliar vampires at my back, but having Christien beside me is very reassuring.

We return to Christien’s estate. Alex takes the kids into the bedroom. Christien assigns two of his vampires outside the bedroom door to stand guard. In the meantime, I grab my cell phone, call Roman and Kayle and let them know I captured Phedora so they can call off their search for her. Roman agrees to continue rounding up Devan’s vampires while Kayle decides to return to the house with Devan’s second in command.

Just as Alex returns to the family room from the bedroom with her supplies, Kayle strolls into the room with a vampire in tow. The vampire sees Phedora shackled and kneeling on the floor. His eyes widen in fear and he locks eyes with Christien.

Kayle shoves him hard in the back, propelling him forward across the room in front of Phedora. “This is Devan’s second. His name is Luke.”

Christien nods.

Kayle moves forward and stands in front of Phedora. He backhands her so hard that she falls over on her side, blood dripping from her busted lip. He raises his hand again, but Christien stops him.

“That is enough for now Kayle. She gets your point.”

“She has no clue what my point is yet. She has betrayed us all!” He turns to Phedora. “How could you even think about coming back here after what you have done to us?”

She rolls her eyes at Kayle.

“Enough! Kayle, I need information from her so you need to let Alex do her job. After I have the information I need, I will leave her in your care.” Christien demands.

Kayle smiles devilishly at Phedora and sits down casually on the couch.

Alex begins setting up for the interrogation.

Christien walks up to me and kisses me deeply. His left hand tangles in my hair as his right hand brushes my stomach and rests on my left hip. “Are you okay honey?” He whispers against my lips.

“I am okay.”

He kisses me softly then says, “Don’t worry, after her questioning, I intend to leave her with Kayle. I may end her life too quickly for attacking you.”

Kayle snickers in his seat, staring at Phedora with an evil grin. “You do not have to worry about that happening with me. I have been thinking of ways I could repay Dora’s betrayal to us all since I learned of it. My list of torture is long and growing.”