Page 6 of Lunar Diamonds
Her attack broke my stupor, releasing a flood of courage. I curled my hands into tight fists, anger sparking to life.
I have to help.
Shades. Dirty, rotten shades. In my library, infecting my life again.
Arseholes.
My adrenaline flared, chasing away the throbbing in my foot. Seeing as the Radiance Pulse Cannon still hadn’t fired, it was time to fight the fear and scrap with the enemy.
Hell yeah. I wanted more of this attitude.
My heart racing at the rate of a terrified rat, I ran after the shade before my influx of bravery failed. I leaped over the ruined double doors, clocking a broken window, and saw another shade crouching over a dead body.
The creature’s fist was buried inside a woman’s chest, her blood a vast pool of crimson beneath her. A long red tongue lapped up the blood, making my stomach churn.
I gagged, holding firm to my new strength, my adrenaline spiking harder.
The rest of the customers took cover under the public computer desks along the back wall opposite me, or prayed in the book stacks.
Okay. Two shades. One busy with that poor dead woman, the other slowly moving toward the computers, taking its merry time to stalk the cowering people.
“Help us!” a man cried from beneath a desk, waving at me.
The shade hissed and spun, fixing me with its red gaze.
Without overthinking, I summoned a spell through the witch bangle, my fingertips rippling with blue energy.
“Witch!” the shade seethed. “Loathsome shimmer witch.”
It charged.
“Trip!” I cried, clapping my hands to release the magic—essential for all spellcasting.
The shade tripped close to the stairs, landing hard on its arse.
Woohoo!
It leaped back to its feet, red eyes ablaze with fury. “Foolish witch will bleed his life across this floor!”
Lovely. I clung to my courage, refusing to give up.
I hadn’t been this sweaty in a while.
The other shade plucked its fist from the woman’s chest, stalking towards its comrade.
Uh-oh.
No, no, no. Hold the line. Don’t let those knees give out!
Okay, what spell next? There were three to choose from.
Trip. Deflect. Hide. Enough to get through a dicey situation, according to the High Coven.
Which one? Which one?
An old human woman armed with an iron skillet crept up behind the shade who’d killed the other woman. Why the hell did she bring a skillet to a library?
Never mind. Better that than nothing.
