Page 115 of Magic and Muffins

Blood covered his chest and back, but I wasn’t sure it was all vampire blood.

Even without his ring, he was holding them back. Effora, who I thought was completely useless, was fighting in her fae form not far away. She wasn’t taking on as many vampires as Shepard, but she was holding her own.

A vampire saw me watching.

He grinned and looked at the clear, glowing gap in the top edge of the portal. Shepard saw his attention had diverted and killed him quickly. But another one had already noticed and threw a stone at the gap. It sailed right through. He grinned at me.

“You’re mine.”

Shepard killed him as I quickly tugged both rings off my thumbs.

“Cross, come here,” I called.

He was next to Shepard a second later, his shirt a wet red. I thrust my hand through the gap and dropped their rings into his hand.

He smiled briefly as he slipped his on.

“This ends now.”

He blurred, and vampires fell like puppets with snipped strings. He closed in on Shepard, and I barely saw the handoff as he gave Shepard his ring. Shepard shoved it in his mouth and matched Cross’ speed in meeting the next wave.

Orphia, who was standing off to the side with Vivian, screamed in anger as her minions died one after another.

She caught sight of me, and fury burned in her eyes.

While they were distracted, she blurred to a stop in front of me.

“Give me the relic!”

I stuck my hand through the growing opening and dropped the pieces to the ground in front of the portal.

“What did you do?” she demanded.

“Aw. Looks like all your plans went to shit.” Vivian laughed from behind her. “And guess what? You’re dead.”

I saw the look of realization hit Orphia right before Vivian shoved a knife through her heart. He quickly yanked it out and...I squeezed my eyes closed so I wouldn’t see her end.

When I opened my eyes again, she was lying lifeless at his feet. He looked at me briefly, then darted into the fray.

His target was Shepard.

“Shepard, behind you!"

Shepard killed the vampire he was fighting and turned just as Vivian thrust the knife at him. The knife sunk into Shepard’s side. He let out a growl of pain and pulled the knife free, his pants shredding as his body morphed into wolf form.

Vivian laughed as if his life wasn’t on the line. As if he had no care in the world.

Shepard sprang forward, and a low growl vibrated through the space. They fought, each taking hits. Without the knife, Vivian couldn’t keep up. He was bloody, and I could tell each strike took more and more out of him. He’d lose, and he knew it.

Before Shepard could make the final blow, Vivian grabbed something from his pocket and tossed it into the air.

“At least I got one out of the three. I’m coming, Adriel.”

The sky exploded in light that was brighter than a summer sun.

It was like the sun charm but at nuclear levels.

I winced as it felt like my retinas were on fire and slammed my eyes shut. When I blinked them open, all the vampires were dead or ash, including Vivian.

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