Page 50 of Last Hope
Anya scanned the crowd but couldn’t see Isis among the large bulk of people. She closed her eyes and called on their Soul Mate connection andreachedas if she could touch the surface of Isis’s mind. She felt it, like she was dipping her hands in cold water and felt the chaotic cold thoughts enter her own.
Anya’s eyes flew open. Isis was close, she felt a tug at her heart, as if a string was being struck over and over, pulling her closer to her. Anya looked up. Isis was on the rooftops somewhere, that much she knew for sure. All she had to do was get to higher ground in order to spot her.
Anya attempted to push her way through the crowd.
But she didn’t get far before everything fell to chaos.
* * *
Isis stoodon the ledge of the building, looking down at the people. They were a blur of colors shapes and shouts, almost as small as ants from the height she was at. Details were nearly hard to decipher but she had vampire vision and she could zoom in and out at will. It made her a better hunter, a better predator.
So it was no surprise that her vision cleared and captured the scene that unfolded below her. She could have been standing right in the middle of the crowd, that’s how well she had focused her vision. From practically every closed door below burst hundreds of supernaturals; most of them vampires, with flaming, scarlet eyes.
At first, they stood as unmoving as mannequins. The silence in the air gave a chill that caused goosebumps to rise beneath her clothes. She could see every single vampire standing, each one twisting their mouth into the parody of a smile. Their fangs gleamed like the promise of a sharp knife beneath the moonlight.
People were petrified in place, too scared to make even the smallest of movements. But no one had to move because in an instant they burst into motion and began to attack.
Bodies flew up and down like the wave of a violent ocean crashing to shore. Black rubble flew up, shattering windows and doors with their impact. The vampires didn’t care who they attacked. Their madness overpowered them, driving their every crazy move.
She eyed one of them advance on a woman holding a wad of blankets to her chest. It wasn’t until he advanced on her and wrenched it out of her hands that Isis noticed it was a small baby. The baby’s face was red, mouth opened in a heart wrenching scream. The vampire gripped the baby by the leg and waved him around the cold night air. The mother rushed forward to protect her child…
And Isis stepped away from the ledge, unable to bear the sight, unable to bear the thought that her brother was the one causing all of this pain, all of this suffering.
She turned away from the screaming, from the pleading and ran to find her brother.
* * *
Anya was involuntarily pulledinto the battle around her. Bodies knocked her onto her butt and had her crawling along the gravel, only to have her hands stepped on. She cursed and stood, looking for a door that was close by that she could go through to look for Isis.
She eyed one far off to her left and pushed her way towards it but was stopped short when she saw a vampire wrench away a baby from a woman’s arms. Anya gasped in shock and felt herself move automatically towards the woman, who rushed up to defend her child. The vampire held the child up by his leg and bent, teeth bared…
Anya let her hands fly towards him. An invisible ray flew from her fingertips and struck him square in the chest causing him to stay frozen where he stood. The mother turned in confusion, tear streaked eyes widening when she saw Anya.
“Grab your baby!” Anya commanded in a shaky voice. The spell required deep concentration and energy. The woman didn’t waste any time. She grabbed her crying child and soothed him. As soon as she was out of his reach, Anya recited another powerful spell that zapped the vampire down to the ground in a filthy writhing mess until he went still. The woman held her child and stared at Anya.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
Anya nodded. “You need to get to safety. You can’t get out, so you have to hide.”
The woman nodded before clutching her baby close, turned then ran away. As Anya watched her retreating form, she sent a quick protective spell after both her and the child.
Anya sighed, a shiver sliding down her spine. Magic required energy, and she had little of it. She looked up to the moon and bathed in its rays of fluorescent light. Being part of the Moon Coven, the moon is what gave her strength, more than anything else in nature did.
She felt her pores take in the magic of the moon and her energy immediately heightened. Just in time, she turned to see an advancing vampire lunge at her. She held up her hands and let her spells fly.
* * *
Before they could makeit to the doors, supernaturals burst from them and began to attack. Victoria wasted no time. She crouched onto all fours and let the pain of the change take control until skin and blood exploded and showed her new wolf form in it.
Terrance was at her side, his gun pulled from his holster, pointed and shooting without mercy. Victoria jumped onto the body of the nearest vampire. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, not excitement but something else. Eagerness to get to Azizi, eagerness to avenge her best friend.
She eliminated her target easily and soon as was on her next one and the next one and the next. She didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. And Terrance at her side, she felt, was as driven by adrenaline as she.
They tried as hard as they could to protect the people around them and at the same time protect each other. But Victoria feared that the release of these supernaturals was just a setback for the FBSI. A way to stall them from finding Azizi and stopping him.
She barked at Terrance then ran inside and up the stairs.
She didn’t have to turn to see if he was following.
