Page 4 of House of Vampires and Flame

Without hesitation, I extracted Deathsong, a dagger forged by my father with his black magic, from the sheath dangling on my waistband. I’d stolen it from him when I made my escape. The dagger was a terrible thing to have, as it brought up horrible memories, but it was a necessary evil. It was the most effective weapon to kill a Shrieker.

The now one-eyed female Shrieker prowled forward, shoving away the male to get to me. I rolled away but was a touch slow, and its claws tore through my trousers and impaled my thigh.

Pain lanced through me. I slashed my dagger blindly at the Shrieker and tore myself away from its claws, blood gushing out of my wound.

The Shriekers sniffed at the scent of my blood and shrieked in excitement and glee. My blood was nectar to all monsters.

Run! Sy urged. Let me out. I’m faster.

We won’t be able to run far, not while we’re bleeding like this, I said in dismay. And you know it’s too risky to shift now.

When I shifted, it was instant, but when Sy tried, the transition always took three and a half seconds. The Shriekers could get to us in a blink, and in the middle of Sy shifting and taking over, we were as helpless as a toddler.

Let’s end this, I said.

I lunged at the female Shrieker, and it lashed out with its massive tentacles. My black dagger cleaved the tip of a tentacle, but its other tentacles slammed into my wounded leg. I flew backward like a rag doll, crashing into the wall of an abandoned factory a dozen yards away.

A whimper escaped my lips as pain shot through me.

“Deathsong!” the female shrieked. “You stole it from Master!”

“To slay you,” I offered.

It clucked its rattlesnake tongue and stalked toward me. “I’ll make you suffer, Princess.”

It stiffened before lurching, eerie darkness swirling in its remaining eye that now glowed crimson. The surrounding air chilled instantly, icy fear slithering up my spine.

The God of Ruin peeked out of the female’s eye, fixing his merciless dark gaze on me.

“What has become of you, Daughter?” His voice, soft, deep, and musical, came out of the Shrieker’s mouth.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, my palms suddenly slick with cold sweat. I hadn’t heard his voice for years, and I’d prayed to never hear it again.

He inhaled in ragged relief. “I’ve found you, and you’ll never leave again, little one. I regret that my agents will have to maim you to bring you back to me, so you won’t be foolish enough to run away again. All is forgiven, Daughter. When you return home, I’ll put you back together, as you’re the apple of my eye.”

Get up! Get up! Sy snarled at me, as I was paralyzed with fear.

The female Shrieker stepped closer. It was now three feet from me, its tentacles and claws reaching for me.

I rolled to my knees, every move shooting a spike of pain through me. I let out a hiss of agony as I slammed my palms onto the grass, my fingernails digging into the soil beneath.

The limited magic from the land trickled into me like icy drizzle—it didn’t have much, but it would have to do. Borrowed magic buzzed and waltzed on my skin. Five hundred acres of the land around me was bleached of color, scorched and blackened instantly. The weeds and grass withered.

This was another reason why I was better equipped than Sy to fight Ruin’s agents when outnumbered and needing a quick exit. Sy was a stronger fighter, but she couldn’t absorb magic like I’d just done.

I hated to drain the land and leech its last magic, but I had no choice. I lowered my head. Probably every villain said the same thing.

“You’ll never fucking have me again!” I roared.

Magic blasted out of me in a current of dark light, spearing the female Shrieker. It jolted like a puppet, a half-shriek tearing out of its mouth as my father abandoned his vessel. The male turned its scorpion legs and ran, but my dark light rushed over it, reducing it to a pile of ashes as well.

The wind picked up, sweeping the ashes through the dead weeds and grass before it stilled. For a moment, it was eerily quiet, then a cacophony of shrieks vibrated in the air.

The horde was approaching. I looked at the remaining corpse. I’d used all the borrowed magic to burn the two Shriekers. I had no more to erase the final evidence, and I didn’t want to take more from the land. Every time I siphoned magic from any place, my soul grew blacker.

I trembled as the pain returned, my rush of adrenaline receding.

I tore a sleeve off my shirt and made a tourniquet around my wounded leg to slow the bleeding. Then I used the wolfman’s discarded pants to clean up the blood on my leg, trying my best not to leave a blood trail as I fled.

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