Page 19 of The Soulless Witch

The blade was moving closer, and not because my shield was failing. This wasn’t a bullet flying hundreds of miles per hour. This was an ordinary dagger wielded by a human hand. There was no way he could penetrate a magical ward unless…

My eyes slid to the sharp edge of the blade, studying the purple substance coating the metal. Bloody hell, if that thing could corrode spells, I didn’t want to find out what it could do to me.

Gritting my teeth, I raised my hands and pushed. My ward expanded, slamming into his body so hard that it sent him flying over the heads of the crowd to the other side of the dance floor.

The screaming grew loud enough to shake the walls. Pushing and kicking, the terrified humans kept clawing their way toward the exit with such ferocity that there was no chance of me getting through there unless I planned to kill them all.

Another shot hit my ward, and I ducked instinctively. That purple concoction explained how the other one had penetrated my magic. It hadn’t occurred to me before, but since the humans had progressed so much in eighty years, just how far had the hunters gone? Fear swirled in my chest at the thought of all the new weapons and techniques they must have learned during that time.

Another shot echoed through the room just as I threw myself behind the abandoned bar. Keeping my head low, I ran to the other end of the counter and peeked at the half-open door leading to the back. There had to be a second exit. There had to be.

I was just opening the door when my magic sent another warning through my body, making me turn to see a man jumping over the bar. He sunk his knife into my ward, and I let out a yelp as the tip stopped just short of my forehead. Crouching down to get away from it, I spotted a metal tray lying on the floor amidst the broken glass. I grabbed it before getting up and held it like a shield.

The hunter’s eyes were frantic, sweat dripping down his face while he pushed and pushed, slowly slicing through my protection.

“You zealots never know when to quit, do you?” I snarled in frustration, angling the tray sideways and slamming it into his exposed chest. He grunted, taking a step back, and I swung again toward the hand holding the knife. I hit him again, but he raised his arm just in time to deflect my blow. I stepped back and lifted my weapon, fortifying it with my magic. He moved to protect himself like before, but this time, the impact was much stronger. I hit him in the face next, sending him tumbling to the ground. He didn’t rise, blood dripping from his forehead where I had caught him.

Goddess, I missed my staff. It was so much easier to fight and incapacitate people with it.

I dropped the tray, slipping into a long, narrow corridor behind the bar. I blocked the door with a bit of magic, then ran. Laughing with relief at the sight of the big metal door with a flickering‘Exit’sign on top of it, I prayed I wouldn’t have to blast the damn thing off.

It was unlocked. I stepped into the cold night, my breath coming in a white cloud in front of my face. The screams carried on outside, sirens drawing near, but it all sounded muffled in the dark alley between the buildings.

I took a step toward the main street, eager to join the crowd where it would be harder for them to attack me when a figure appeared in front of me. I staggered back, tripping over my heels as I swallowed the panicked scream that rose in my throat. Fortifying myself with the last of my magic, I watched the hunter move in the middle of the alley, a blade in each hand. Four more slipped out of the shadows to block my way to the main street. Their brands stood dark against their forearms, broadcasting their membership to the Order to anyone from the supernatural world.

They had been waiting. Of course, they had been waiting. I had no doubt others were watching the front door too, ready to grab me. Damn it. What was I going to do now?

I glanced behind me, but saw only darkness—my magic told me that it was a dead-end street, so there was no escape there. Because of the wholeno-soulsituation, I couldn’t translocate like other witches, and flying wasn’t one of my many talents. Dying was, though, which seemed to be what the hunters had in mind.

Or not. Nobody had shot at me yet; they were all holding their knives even though they had pistols attached to their thighs. Why weren’t they trying to kill me? Did they really want me alive?

The hunter in the front grinned as if reading my thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, I kicked my heels off, wincing when my bare feet settled against the cold, hard ground. If they wanted to get me, they’d have to work for it. I still had a bit of magic and the police were coming, so if I could just stall them enough, I might end up being saved by their own kind.

The hunter in the front moved, sending one of his daggers toward my face. I jumped but managed to hold my yell in as the blade stopped in the air next to my head, around a step and a half away from me.

Testing my magic, was he? Damn it, he actually had a brain. Some of his predecessors used to charge at me like I was some feeble girl who could give no resistance.

He threw another knife when the first one dropped in my feet. The second blade stopped right in front of my nose, forcing me to take a step back.

I couldn’t just let them chip my magic bit by bit until I was left defenseless. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could beat them in hand-to-hand combat, and throwing my last reserves in an attempt to take them down was reckless. Especially when I didn’t know what other weapons they had. Or how many more of them were still hiding nearby.

The second knife clanked to the ground and when I looked back to the hunter, he was preparing a third. The dagger flew. I was sure it would pierce my ward this time, so I prepared to duck. That’s when a hand suddenly appeared in my vision, catching the weapon even before it touched my magic. The protection shield hadn’t stopped them from approaching me, which meant they bore me no ill intent, but who…

“Don’t you know it’s bad manners to use knives on a lady without her permission?” A painfully familiar voice made the hair on my body stand on its end as a tall, lean figure stepped in front of me, lowering the dagger to his side. My mouth fell open while I stared at the broad shoulders, wavy black hair, and sharp chin of the man who had just saved me. I didn’t have to see his face. I had listened to that voice whisper all kinds of things in my ear while my eyes were blindfolded. I would recognize him anywhere.

Before I could shake off my stupor, my savior dashed forward, grabbing the closest hunter and sinking his fangs into the man’s neck. Blood sprayed from the wound as his throat was torn open, but the vampire was already moving to the others.

I doubted anyone expected an ancient monster to fight by my side, so it was unlikely they sent anything more than witch hunters to take me down. Even the best vampire hunters could hardly handle an old, powerful vampire, but a few witch killers? They stood no chance.

I watched as the last of the hunters dropped to the ground, his body jerking a few times before going perfectly still. The air was rich with the smell of blood and fear, but despite the bodies lying around us, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the man standing in the carnage.

Wiping the edge of his mouth, he turned slowly, giving me one of his crooked smiles.

“Hello, darling,” Roman said, taking a step closer to me. “It’s been a while.”

I searched for something to say, but in the end, all I could do was stare as he strode toward me. He stopped a respectful distance away, extending his hand for me to take.

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