Page 20 of The Shadows of the Dawn

Ding.

The doors split apart, opening a portal to an antagonistic reality. Nikola inhaled, and before he could release it in an exhale, a figure rushed toward them. Asher stopped her in her tracks, a female Blood Follower with a mane of tangled blonde waves. He caught her by her arm, which wielded a black police baton.

“Oh, so the fun begins,” Asher quipped before striking the Blood Follower at the elbow. She howled as her arm caved in the opposite direction of its natural angle. Asher kicked her out of the way, catching the baton as it fell from her spasming hand.

He gave it a twirl and Nikola a wicked grin. Despite the settings, the dark expression sent hot pleasure down Nikola’s spine. What could he say? The bad-guy act suited his lover quite well.

Many of the couple dozens of Blood Followers rushing for them were armed with serrated knives and batons... as if picked up off the bodies of human authority. There was a notable absence of body armor or firearms.

Whoever oversaw these Followers did not wish to see them fully equipped.

Asher bounded ahead, the walls echoing his high-strung cackle. The sound was chilling to Nikola, even now as they fought on the same side. It occurred to him that must be the intention of Asher’s wild laughter. Or at least part of it. There was genuine, unhinged glee in that sound.

And Nikola found it contagious.

Downstairs, Asher had fought circles around Nikola as they cleared out the opened space. But up here Nikola barreled through those leaping at Asher. The hallway was narrow, and Nikola and Asher advanced through the storm of Followers, tearing down any enemy standing in their way. Asher swung and twirled his stolen weapon as if he’d been born to use it, collapsing skulls, and rendering limbs useless.

It certainly helped that the Blood Followers were cowering at seemingly nothing, or frantically looking around before attacking the Followers closest to them in a fit of confusion. Nikola could feel the hum of the Moon Children’s magic deep in the pit of his stomach.

In no time, they were rounding the corner, Morrigan’s office within their sights. Neither Asher nor Nikola bore much more than shallow cuts and bruises.

There was no one around, though Nikola sensed presence in the floors overhead. He harkened back to Asher’s comment earlier. “If she’s still here.”

It might not be a total loss if Morrigan had escaped her headquarters. There could still be a scent—

A gunshot went off behind them.

“Move and a bullet goes through your throat. If I sense anything out of the realm of reality, it’s going through your heart,” a gruff female voice said behind them. Asher and Nikola had been so focused on mowing down the threat immediately in front of them that they’d both gotten too many steps ahead of the others.

Asher and Nikola side-eyed each other, mutually raising their hands and slowly turning around. Everyone else did the same. Katsuki shook their head once at Trish. As the Moon’s magic faded from the building, it felt as if an entire crowd of people had left, leaving behind a yawning absence.

The Blood Follower had ink black hair, cut short with straight across bangs. She was skinny and deathly pale, even for an undead, her blue veins visible where they were exposed in her floral summer dress. But despite her slight appearance, she pointed her handgun at them with confidence.

Specifically at Asher.

Nikola resisted the urge to step in between him and the barrel. He ogled the firearm, thinking of Veronica. But to see a Blood Follower holding a gun was not a common sight. For the longest time, Nikola had assumed it was because creatures whose bodies were built to be the world’s most dangerous predator didn’t need manmade tools to kill.

Now he himself was half-Blood. Though it chilled him to think about it, he all too easily recalled the satisfaction of the High King and his minions dying beneath his hands. The split-second kill of a gunshot across the room wouldn’t have hit quite the same.

“Ah, I recognize you,” Asher dared to speak. She arched a sharp eyebrow. “You always kept close to Riccardo, assisting with newbie training or some shit?”

“Oh, that’s where you recognize me?” she deadpanned. “Nowhere else? You almost had it last time you acknowledged my existence.”

Asher scrunched his face, as if trying to remember, and ended up shrugging in defeat. The woman bared her teeth, causing Nikola to fear she was about to pull that trigger.

“Vanessa,” Liam gasped. “Right? Is that you? Shit, you don’t look a day over...”

“Over nineteen, that’s correct,” she hissed. “I barely had the chance to enjoy being free of high school before the night took me.”

Nikola sensed Asher’s bristling and could practically hear his biting retort pointing out that he hadn’t even had the chance to graduate. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re offended I don’t remember every single face from a goddamn city high school,” Asher sparred. “There were, like, what? Three hundred of us in our class? Didn’t you do nothing but hide in the drama room or something?”

Vanessa scoffed, flashing a look at Liam. “How did you get roped into the Horned One’s snare, huh? Asher got scared after he betrayed his creator, so he decided to track down his high school sweetheart instead?”

“Creator?” Asher grumbled. Rolling his eyes, he said louder, “Whatever, doesn’t matter. Why are we here talking anyway? You got a gun, why ain’t you using it?”

Asher, Nikola wanted to scold. He refrained, betting that his lover was up to something.

Vanessa gave a haughty laugh, giving the impression of someone who wanted to be a villain but could only act the part. Still, she was the one with a gun. She couldn’t shoot them all at once, but Nikola would be damned if she took any of them out. “And pass up the opportunity to tell the infamous Master Asher Black what we have thought of him all these years?”

---