Some of the creatures started to follow her, but the others continued to filter through the streets hunting for prey. The screams of the maimed and frightened increased as she moved deeper into the fray.
CHAPTER 6
“What the hell was that?” Gideon’s amazed whisper was close by his ear.
Braith was seething, his hands fisted as he watched Aria leap from one building to another. “I’m going to kill her myself.”
“Well let’s worry about getting to her, in order to kill her first,” Gideon muttered.
Braith’s attention was brought back to the street and the creature’s filtering down it. He would have to get through them in order to reach her, and he had no problem doing just that. They were the sickliest looking vampires he’d ever seen, but their desperation made them far more volatile than many things he had encountered.
The streets echoed with screams, the scent of blood hung heavily in the air as the creatures stalked through the town, looking for more victims. Most people had already fled to safety, taking shelter in the buildings. Some still scrambled to get out of the way, others had not been fortunate enough to escape. Some of the creatures were trying to drag their victims behind them.
Their eyes were a glowing red. Braith assumed it was a permanent condition, one caused by their desperate need for sustenance. Two charged at him, one broke away, squealing as it raced down an alley after some unknown quarry. The other one was so pale that it was nearly transparent. These creatures seemed to no longer move about in the day, but remained hidden until nightfall when they searched out whatever kill they could find in these desolate lands.
It launched itself at Braith with an eager screech; its overgrown fingernails were hooked into lethal claws. Braith managed to catch its arm and pull it swiftly down. It bounced off the roadway with a sickening crack of bone. He found no pleasure in the mewl of pain it released; in fact he was hesitant to kill the thing. He didn’t know what it had done to merit banishment, knowing Gideon the punishment had been deserved, but this thing was pitiful.
And it was deadly.
Bracing himself, he knelt to drive his fist through the creature’s chest for the final blow. Its ribs gave way far too easily. He didn’t know that it had been a woman until he felt the clammy fleshiness of her br**sts against his wrist. Disgust curled his upper lip as he ripped the heart from her chest.
He rose slowly, standing over the remains of the unfortunate creature. He didn’t have time to process the fact that this was what they could all become as more were already emerging. They ran down the streets in a savage frenzy, clawing over top of one another in their enthusiasm for blood. Panic tore through him as he threw himself into the madness, fighting his way toward where Aria had disappeared.
Gideon stayed close by his side as they grappled to control the melee around them. Braith caught glimpses of other vampires in the crowd, Gideon’s vampires, trying to control the chaos, but the creatures kept coming. It was a never ending wave of pale, almost slimy bodies with vivid red eyes. Aria was fast, she was resourceful and a fighter in more ways than most humans, but she was also just that, human. And there were so many of these things.
If they got their hands on her…
He shuddered, breaking the thought off. It wasn’t possible; he would not allow it to happen. He shut down all his pity for these creatures and turned to deal with the commotion at hand. Braith heard Gideon grunt loudly, he realized that they had been separated and Gideon seemed to be the main focus of the creature’s attention. Gideon had been the one to banish them, the one that had forsaken them and now they required payback.
Gideon was being pushed back, swamped by their weight as they piled on top of him. Braith grabbed hold of the shoulder of one and pulled it back. Animalistic sounds ripped out of its throat as it fought to get back at Gideon. He drove his fist through its back, and crushed its heart within his grasp. Gideon was fighting to get out from beneath the crush upon him. Though as one fell, another one swiftly took its place.
He heard the whistle of the arrow seconds before it shot a hairs width past his ear. Gideon let out a gurgled shout of surprise as it pierced through the skull of the creature that had just sprung up to grab hold of him. The thing squealed; horrible sounds of distress tore from its throat as it reeled back. Able to get in a better shot, the second arrow pierced through its heart, effectively putting the thing out of its misery.
Braith turned slowly; relief filled him as he spotted Aria. She was standing on the roof of a bar, her bow raised as she released another arrow that soared past Braith’s shoulder with a sharp whistle and dull thud that indicated it had hit its target. He was given only a brief moment to savor in the sight of her though as another creature came at him and he had to destroy it.
Ashby was shoving his way toward them; he had never been much of a fighter and he’d been doing more of it than he liked recently, that was made obvious by the grim set of his shoulders and the clench of his jaw. The remaining creatures began to scatter, sensing a shift in the tide as more of Gideon’s vampires emerged. Braith and Gideon managed to grab hold of a few more, but the rest were fleeing, escaping beyond the town. Gideon gestured to some of his men, pointing down the road as he ordered them to follow and bring back any survivors.
Another arrow knocked a straggling creature over as it jumped toward him. Gideon had worked his way free of the group surrounding him, he was bloody and his clothes were torn, but otherwise unscathed. The whistle of another arrow pierced a creature that had been lurching awkwardly at Gideon. Gideon didn’t flinch at the sound again, but his head fell back as he looked toward where Aria stood. Surprise and amazement filtered over his features.