Page 84 of The Star's Sword

“Shit,” Cayne said. “I forgot Simon got these vultures Drorren security.”

Vampires flooded into the halls, clothed in simple black, eyes red, as the lights went out around us, leaving us with merely the glint of moonlight from the windows on the fangs of dozens of hungry vampires.

“Defend the queen,” they muttered, moving as a swarm, like they’d come from a hive.

“You betray your king,” Cayne said. “Simon built this place. Vasara is a visitor.”

“New queen,” one of the vampires hissed.

“Better blood,” another hissed.

“You ungrateful—” Cayne hit one with a boot, knocking it back. “Your queen is a nightmare.”

Hissing cackles filled the hallway, and the vampires began to flood forward, claws extended, teeth out.

“You are ridiculous, slayer. And now you will die.”

Cayne’s ax caught the moonlight as it slashed forward, and I saw blood spurt up, silhouetted against the window as it sprayed from vampire to vampire, and screams began to fill the hall.

Samael and I could only defend ourselves as Cayne slashed forward again and again, quicker than lightning, charging and flipping over the crowd to get a new angle and cut through another group with his ax.

“She has a fucking army,” Samael said. “What the fuck was she planning, already turning Simon’s army to her own purposes?”

The vampires’ screams of rage grew louder, but then more died, making blood pool thickly in the hall. I almost slipped wherever I stepped as more vampires flooded in, some of them were carrying weapons now.

“It’s ominous,” Cayne yelled, flipping next to Samael and I for a second, holding his ax, his chest heaving, blood dripping from every limb. “The army should be defending Simon, not her.”

He shoved his hood back, raising his ax in an easy swing to take the heads of three vampires running at us from behind him. “I have to admit, it feels good to be slaying again.” He turned and slashed another three vampires, making three fountains of blood spray in the air.

Finally, the vampires were starting to hold back, some of them holding weapons up warily, but looking over the sea of bodies in front of them, they didn’t seem to want to advance.

With Cayne standing there, hulking, heaving, that ax ready to taste another vampire’s blood, I didn’t blame them.

Somehow, everything had escalated so quickly.

The worst part was, neither Cayne, nor the vampires who thought they were protecting someone, should have paid.

Why had Vasara just run and run?

“Just let me talk to her,” Cayne said, turning to the vampires, lowering his ax, his body still poised for quick violence. “Get out of the way, and no more of you have to die.”

But the vampires just closed in.

“So be it,” Cayne said, licking the edge of his ax. “I taste blood betrayal. The end of this useless settlement who doesn’t know who it should protect. Who protected it.” He raised his free hand up, palm open, like he was calling something. “Blood thralls, come forward and avenge me.”

I heard bubbling and hissing and looked down to see blood moving. Squinting, I could see bodies squirming, blood seeping back into them as if in reverse.

Some began to stand, swarms of black mist enclosing them as limbs reattached and bodies re-formed.

When there were about a hundred of them, Cayne raised his fist, pointing it at the vampires standing in our way.

He closed his fist. “Kill everyone in our way and bring me Vasara.”

But just then, glass shattered all over the hallway as something flew in through the one of the large, decorative glass windows that watched over us.

Something with black wings launched forward and landed on one knee. When it stood, its black hair flew to the side, lifted by some ethereal force, and its wings unfurled.

Simon walked toward us, eyes glowing red, skin paler than I’d ever seen it.

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