Page 89 of Curses & Keys
Ten minutes later, I stop. “It’s an apple tree.” I turn in a circle. “The only one in this grove of olive trees.” Stepping closer to the trunk, I see the symbol etched into the bark. “This is it.”
Mathias shouts for the others, and we hear footsteps running in our direction.
I hold my palm out to the tree. This time there is no light. Instead, an apple falls from the branch above me. Catching it, I carefully examine it. No serpent. The shiny red surface is the most perfect color red. Too perfect. I sniff it. Smells real.
I bring it to my lips and take a bite. Juicy and full of flavor, it’s the most delicious apple I’ve ever tasted. Mathias glances back at me, and I smile.
Everything goes dark.
43
PHAEDRA
The clang of metal on metal pierces the fog around my brain, and I force my eyes open. The last thing I remember is taking a bite of the apple, then darkness took me under. I raise my hand and find a panel in my hand instead of an apple. Sitting up, I grab my phone and shine my light on it. A double-headed eagle wearing a laurel crown is depicted on the piece. The image my father used to identify our kingdom.
Dirt flies up beside me and startled, I look up and find Mathias engaged in battle with another vampire. Fangs on display, they’re a blur of arms, legs, and knives. Mathias quickly dispatches him and whips around to confront another.
I jump to my feet. Shoving the panel into the back of my pants, I draw my gun. I’ve killed mages. A shifter too. Never a vampire. “Where do I aim?”
“Bullet to the brain,” he shouts. “It won’t kill them, but it’ll slow them down.”
“How do I kill them?” I shout back.
“Cut off their head and burn them with fire born from magic,” he replies, narrowly dodging a sword. “Stay behind me. Only shoot those that get past me.”
With my back against the tree, I hold the gun steady in my hand. The world around me blurs. Mathias and the vampires move too fast for me to follow. Occasionally, I get a glimpse of his fierce face, but it’s gone in a blink.
Jamison appears with a golden lasso in his hand. He ropes several, then with a flick of his wrist, he decapitates them. Throwing a ball of fire on their bodies, he moves on to the next group.
“We need to get out of these trees,” Jamison shouts in Mathias’ direction.
More vampires pour into the area, and Mathias looks over at me. “Get her out of here. I’ll cover you.”
“You better be right behind us,” Jamison utters in a grim voice. Mathias pauses and dips his chin in acknowledgement, then returns to the fight.
Jamison grabs my arm, but I shake him off. “We can’t leave him.”
“You’re his biggest liability right now,” Jamison says, pausing to burn a few vampires.
Several vampires circle us as we head in the direction of the temple, but Jamison wields the lasso as if it’s an extension of his arm, holding them back. “Hawthorne and Gatlin are holding their own, but we need to regroup.”
I look back at Mathias and see him moving in our direction. “He’s coming.” A vampire pops up behind us, and I fire but miss. “They’re too fast.”
“Save the bullets,” Jamison orders as he cracks the whip, obliterating him.
We burst through the trees and into the field with Mathias about twenty feet behind us. I turn my head toward the temple and see Hawthorne twirling a staff made of fire. The second it touches a vampire, a shower of sparks bursts into the air. Gatlin stands to his right in gryphon form. Impenetrable to their teeth, the enemy is having a hard time landing a hit before his beak snaps them in two. Bodies are piled on the ground at his feet.
Jamison tosses a ball of fire at the pile and incinerates them. The three of them form a triangle with me in the center. Unable to throw any potions, I hold my gun tightly, preparing to fire at any vampires who get too close.
“Where’s Mathias?” Hawthorne shouts.
“He was right behind us, but I don’t see him now,” I return, biting my lip.Where the hell is he?
A blur knocks the gun from my hand and without thinking, I use the curse that hit Hawthorne in Oxford. Dots of blood appear all over the vampire’s body. He screams but can’t get away from it. His red eyes lock with mine, and he flashes a bloody smile. Poof! His head is torn away by Gatlin’s massive beak. Hawthorne touches him with the staff, and he’s nothing but a pile of ash.
The vampires move in closer, and we back away from them. I stumble and go down; rough stone scrapes my palm. They’ve managed to back us halfway to the temple. Fear tries to rise, but I choke it down and get up. We can’t portal out of here with them this close. We need a way to get them away from us. Just for a second.
A lone whistle pierces the air, and every single vampire stops moving.
