Page 81 of The Second Sight
I shrank lower. A shadow fell over me, and I looked up to see a Bambara hunter standing above my hiding place, a curved blade in his hand and murder in his eyes. Before he could strike, a blur of movement slammed into him. Felix, one of Seven’s vampires, tore into the man’s throat with savage fangs. Another vampire joined him, the two feeding with an animalistic hungerthat turned my stomach. Blood sprayed across the concrete as they literally tore the man apart.
I crawled away from the gruesome sight, desperate to find better cover. Across the trainyard, Brooklyn had freed herself from her restraints and was limping quickly between train cars, keeping low and out of sight. Thank God. At least she was getting away from us.
A roar of pain drew my attention to Seven and Gideon. Gideon had somehow managed to drive a blade into Seven’s thigh, but Seven barely seemed to notice the wound. With inhuman speed, he whirled behind Gideon, wrapped his arms around the hunter’s neck, and twisted with savage force. The crack was audible even through the battle sounds. Seven didn’t stop there. His face contorted with a next level of rage. He gripped Gideon’s head in a sleeper hold. I watched as Gideon’s eyes bulged from their sockets. Seven twisted his arms swiftly and tore Gideon’s completely from his body in one violent motion.
Blood fountained from the severed neck as the headless body collapsed down to its knees before falling forward. Seven stood holding the severed head. His eyes wild, his fangs exposed, and his clothes soaked in crimson. Bile rose in my throat, but I was determined to thug it out. For a moment, the battle seemed to pause around this brutal execution.
“NO!” Desmond’s agonized scream cut through the momentary silence. “YOU KILLED! MY! SON!”
Son? The word repeated in my mind as I tried to process this new information. Gideon was Desmond’s son? Even Tarus looked shocked, freezing mid-fight to stare at his leader in confusion.
Seven’s face registered surprise for just an instant before hardening again into deadly resolve. He tossed Gideon’s headaside with contempt. “He died better than you will,” he snarled across the trainyard at the man he hated more than anyone.
Desmond’s face transformed from grief to fury in a second. The scar on his face seemed to pulse with dark energy as he raised his hands, black powder crackling between his fingers. He was preparing some kind of attack, something far more dangerous than what his hunters had used.
In the chaos of the moment, I saw Basirah. While Desmond’s attention was focused entirely on Seven, she was slowly edging away from his side. Her movements were weak, but her eyes seemed suddenly clear and focused where before they had appeared vacant. She caught Seven’s gaze for just a moment. A silent communication passed between them before she slipped behind the SUV and disappeared into the shadows.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
KASI
The battle still raged on around me. Blood and magic mingling on the concrete of the abandoned trainyard. Screams and growls filled the night air as vampires and fairies fought side by side against the Bambara Brotherhood. I pressed myself against the concrete barrier, wishing I had some way to help, some power I could call upon beyond the meager half-fae abilities I’d just discovered.
That’s when I felt it, new presence, powerful and familiar in a way that made my heart stutter. I looked up, and my world shifted yet again.
A flash of purple light streaked across the night sky, drawing everyone’s attention upward. My breath caught in my throat as a figure descended toward the trainyard, magnificent wings unfurled like shimmering purple flames against the darkness. I knew her instantly, even after six years. My mother. Theia.
Her face was exactly as I remembered it, but now she had fairy wings, beautiful, powerful wings that carried her down into the battle with grace. My mother was a yumboe fairy. And she had come for me.
“Mama?” I whispered, the word feeling foreign to my tongue after so long.
She didn’t look at me yet. Her focus was entirely on the battle below as she pulled a golden blade from a sheath on her back. The weapon caught the moonlight and seemed to amplify it, glowing with inner power. With a battle cry that sent chills down my spine, she dove into the fray, her wings creating gusts of wind that sent loose debris skittering across the concrete.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. The woman who had left a note and disappeared from my life was fighting with the ferocity of a warrior queen. Her movements were graceful yet lethal as she cut through a Bambara hunter who tried to cast some kind of spell at her. The man screamed as her blade sliced across his chest, with blood erupting from the wound before he collapsed.
Six years of hurt, of wondering why she’d abandoned me, and here she was risking her life in a battle. For me.
My mama cut through the night like an avenging angel. Her skin glowed with an otherworldly light, and her golden eyes burned with a fury I’d never seen in the gentle woman who had raised me. This wasn’t the quiet shopkeeper who had read tarot cards and mixed spiritual oils. This was a yumboe warrior, ancient and powerful.
Her eyes found mine across the chaos, and for a heartbeat, time seemed to stop. Recognition, love, and sorrow passed across her features in a single moment before she turned her attention to the hunters below.
I stood frozen, watching my mother fight. Every movement was graceful as she fought with deadly purpose.
Across the yard, Romeca and Kyren finished a hunter together, their golden blades working in perfect synchronization. Romeca’s yellow wings flared as she took flight again, scanning the battlefield. When she spotted Theia, her face transformed with shock that quickly gave way to fierce joy. Shecalled out something in a language I didn’t understand, but the emotion behind it was clear. Family reunited.
I ducked as a silver blade whistled over my head, missing me by inches. The abandoned yard had transformed into a battlefield. Blood spattered the pebbled stones where bodies had fallen. I scrambled behind an overturned train car. I searched for Brooklyn among the chaos.
Seven had positioned me here, away from the heart of the battle, with strict instructions to stay hidden while they sprung their trap on Desmond. But the fighting had spilled everywhere. Hunters, vampires and fae locked in combat that moved too fast for me to follow. I caught glimpses of Lily, her elegant form a blur as she took down a hunter twice her size. Kyren fought nearby. His movements were delicate and deadly. His golden blade flashed as it found its mark in a hunter’s chest.
“Stay down!” Seven shouted to me from across the yard, his voice carrying over the sounds of battle. Three hunters had converged on him, but they might as well have been children attacking a lion. One already lay motionless at his feet.
A scream pierced the air. It was Brooklyn’s voice. My head snapped up, searching frantically. I spotted her being dragged toward a black SUV by Tarus. Without thinking, I pushed away from my hiding spot and ran toward her. I wouldn’t let them take her again. Not after everything she’d been through.
I started moving, desperate to reach Brooklyn. The fighting swirled around me as I dodged between combatants. Seven appeared at my side.
“Kasi, get back!” he ordered with his ice-blue eyes scolding me.
