Page 281 of His Sunshine Baby

“Sylviana?” asks Liam, making a disgusted face at whatever she is doing.

“Definitely a vampire attack,” she says. “They didn’t completely empty them of their blood though, which is odd considering the size of these bite marks. It’s like they were in a rage, not hungry.”

“Is this some sort of warning?” I ask.

She stays silent for a while, looking at the red river with an indecipherable look in her eyes.

“I think… she might be losing control over them. If they had attacked to feed themselves, they wouldn’t have made such a mess of it. And if they had wanted to scare us, they wouldn’t have left the bodies intact either.”

“Nice thought of them,” growled Liam, disgusted.

“What do you mean, losing control over them?”

“Maybe those vampires aren’t willing to help her like the previous ones did.”

“You’re saying she’s… forcing them?”

Sylviana sighs and gets up.

“A mind-control spell on so many vampires isn’t realistic, but Water Witches are good at illusions. If she’s controlling them in some sort of way, after all this time, maybe she has difficulties controlling how they hunt too. I’m not sure.”

“Wait, illusions? How come you never told us about this?” asks Liam.

“I didn’t think she was powerful enough for that. Each type of witch has their own set of skills that evolve depending on their own crafts, and I have never heard of a Water Witch attaining such a level. But I might need to reconsider now.”

“Can you do something about it?”

I’m worried now. I don’t remember hearing about any illusions while we were fighting five years ago! Did that damn witch improve so much? If we have to add this…

Sylviana doesn’t seem worried, though.

“She won’t be able to use it on us. Controlling the vampires must take everything she has already if they are uncooperative. I’m sure she won’t be able to use illusions again, not on our people.”

“What’s your top skill?” asks Liam, curious.

Sylviana chuckles.

“That’s a secret for now.”

“What was that, then?” I ask. “They just… attacked those humans without reason?”

“They might have lost control, or she might have told them to feed without really measuring the mess they’d make.”

I’m not sure calling it a mess is the appropriate language. This is a slaughter. Damian and I exchange a look, disgusted asmore bodies float downstream. Crap, I don’t want to spend my evening pulling damn bodies out of the river.

“I’ll go upstream,” I sigh. “If more bodies show up, I’d rather not have them go all the way through Silver City and freak everyone out. And the more we gather, the better idea we’ll have of how many vampires are in her army.”

“Good luck with that,” replies Liam. “It’s just so gross, I am not pulling another one of–”

“Liam, you stay with Sylviana and you help her check the bodies,” growls Damian.

“What!”

But another growl from his older brother has him finally shutting up, and nodding despite his obvious disgust.

“Luna, we caught a woman in the river!”

“I know, just get the body out of–”

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