Page 100 of Fire Dancer

My hopes soared, or at least peered up from rock bottom. If I could hold off Jananovich and his men a little longer, Pippa might be able to catch him by surprise, and the tables would be turned.

That, or I was imagining things and we really were doomed.

The vampires flexed their claws, preparing for their next attack. I growled and stepped forward, sliding all my chips to one spot in a last, desperate gamble.

Chapter Twenty-Five

PIPPA

I nearly screamed when Ingo threw himself into another lethal round with the vampires, but I couldn’t. Not because Jananovich had me enthralled, though I was happy to let the bastard believe that. I had better things to do, like focus, and focus hard.

Not the easiest thing for me to do on a good day, and not at all with a pitched battle raring a few steps away. But I had no choice.

Delaney and I had already succeeded in killing several vampires. I’d harbored some moral reservations about staking the John Lennon look-alike, but Delaney had not. And she was right. He was a vampire and no relation to the Beatle.

But this was different from the two-versus-one odds we’d enjoyed so far. It was time to dig deep and end this for good. And my greatest weapon was fire.

My greatest weakness, however, was…me.

I let out a slow breath, trying to pull myself together.

A whirl of horrifying action unfolded before me, but I forced myself to shut my eyes and call to the fire. Any fire, dammit.

What seemed like an eternity later, my senses located two fires. One was the fireplace in the huge entertainment room, and another was a candle burning in a room several doors down. The room I’d seen a vampire lead Saanvi to. Delaney andI had planned to head there next, but we’d been stopped by Jananovich on the way.

I raised my hands and called to the fire.

It took a while, but I felt the candle, then the hearth sway in response.

Okay. Step one accomplished, just like my dad had explained way back before we’d both given up on me ever controlling fire.

Step two was convincing the fire to listen, and that was the hard part. Fire was a little like a stray dog in a public park. You could whistle to get its attention, but good luck convincing it to heed your beck and call.

Over here.I moved my fingers gently.Over here…

I sensed the candle lean my way, and the fire in the living room followed suit.

So, whew. But fire couldn’t jump time and space any more than I could. I had to steer it over like a guide for the blind.

The open window created a weak draft, and my mind tapped around the intervening space, identifying different airstreams.

Over here…

Inch by inch, I coaxed the fire closer. Closer…

Ingo yelped, and my eyes flew open, severing my connection to the fire. My heart wept at the blood matted in his dark, thick fur and the fury in his midnight eyes.

I’d seen him in wolf form countless times, but never in such a rage. And never, ever in such danger.

Don’t worry about me, he panted into my mind.Focus! You can do it. I know you can.

I closed my eyes and reached for the fires again.

“Get him!” one vampire grunted to the other.

“That’s right. Just stay there,” Jananovich cooed — at Delaney? At me?

I doubled my efforts. Vaguely, I sensed minds growing alarmed. The fire in the living room had to be blazing high by then, and if someone grabbed an extinguisher…

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