Page 49 of Cursed Shadows

I hear Morrigan’s call and feel her urgency.

It must be a dire situation if she attempts to enlistmyhelp. I consider ignoring the plea. Morrigan and I are not allies.

Yet there is something more to her panic that suddenly infiltrates my entire being. Another is threatened.

The female.

I recall the eyes of the angelic demon and the feel of her slick passage. I cannot ignore her entreaty.

I melt into the dirt of the forest floor and allow the wind to carry me wherever I am needed.

***

EILISH

Mortal Realm

There’s a flare of green light and a loud explosion that sounds directly in front of me. A magically induced fire suddenly explodes in the center of the truck bed, catching the wood immediately.

Baron seizes the chaos of the moment to spring to life.

Bright green smoke fills the air around us, and it’s nearly impossible to see. Through the smoke, I watch Baron, who moves unbelievably quickly. He removes the burlap sack from his head, then grips me around the waist before leaping out from the bed of the truck. We hit the ground hard and I land on my side, my cheek bouncing against the dirt road.

Pain instantly radiates through my entire body and I can’t move, can barely even breathe. Baron, on the other hand, is on his feet in an instant. He appears completely unfazed from our fall, the smoke, everything, while I feel like the wind’s been knocked clear out of me. I struggle to inhale, my lungs burning with every effort. I can hear coughing coming from inside the truck, and then Anona’s blood-curdling screech.

“Get them!”

Dragan is still in there,I realize.

“Dragan!” I try to yell but my voice is nonexistent. I struggle to sit up, the task made difficult by the pain in my side and my bound hands. Baron is back in the truck in a split second, but in the time it takes him to return with the large body of Thoradin, we have company.

The driver of the truck, an especially mean-looking dwarf, is there to meet Baron when he attempts to return. The dwarf holds an open vial with something crimson bubbling out of it. He throws the tincture at Baron, who immediately claws at his eyes. A few seconds later, his body goes limp and he collapses on the ground, seemingly unconscious. I roll over and immediately regret it. The pain from my side radiates through my entire body, making it impossible to move. Not only that, but my hands and ankles are still bound tight.

Anona and Dravon stumble, spluttering and gasping, out of the truck and land on the ground where they claw at the leaves and forest debris, still trying to get away from the suffocating smoke. I don’t know where the rest of Anona’s men are, but I imagine they can’t be far.

I’m not sure if it’s owing to the truck stopping short, but Dragan’s immense form suddenly drops from his slumped position against the wooden wall of the truck and lands on the ground. He doesn’t wake up, doesn’t even make a sound.

Thoradin, Dragan, and Baron all remain immobile on the dirt road and there’s a strange reddish glow surrounding Baron. I’m worried for him because whatever the dwarf threw at him doesn’t appear to be something he is immune to. I can only hope it isn’t killing him.

But how do you kill a vampire?I don’t have an answer for myself.

Anona, haggard, rises to her feet, glaring at me all the while.

I can’t move, can barely breathe. I’m huddled in a cocoon of agony and I feel winded, clouded, and, yet, flooded with adrenaline. Adrenaline that has nowhere to go.

In the background, the truck splutters and pops as it battles the massive green flames of the fire that consumes it. Pretty soon, it’s reduced to nothing but a skeletal frame and fluids leaking all over the road.

The dwarf starts yelling about the condition of his vehicle and Anona turns, pulling a pistol from her waist, and shoots him right between the eyes. He’s dead before he even hits the ground.

My breath catches as panic starts to upset my stomach.

Just then, the sky grows dark as clouds suddenly collect overhead. They move so quickly, as though time has sped up. A gentle spattering of rain begins to drop.

“What the?” Dravon says, glancing up as he holds his hand out and the drops splash against it. “Wasn’t it just sunny a minute ago?”

“Never mind that!” Anona reams him. “Collect the men and tie their hands and feet together with rope!”

Dravon nods but I don’t watch him for long. Instead, my attention is riveted to the sky, where the drops are now falling in earnest and the clouds are growing darker by the second. Thunder tears through the quiet as lightning interrupts the darkness of the sky.

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