and stop the interlopers when Meg’s face stopped him. She looked
 
 over the railing at the bottom of the arena. She must have convinced
 
 Dante and Rhys to allow her to move closer. Her face was worried.
 
 She was worried for him. She shouldn’t be worried for him. She
 
 should be scared of him.
 
 Beck was shaking with rage as he stopped himself. Meg would
 
 never come to him if she saw what an animal he could be. He couldn’t
 
 48
 
 Sophie Oak
 
 allow that to happen. He swallowed as the horn blared, and the battle
 
 began anew.
 
 The remaining vampires didn’t wait this time. All eight rushed
 
 him immediately. Beck was knocked back by the unexpected charge.
 
 Though his back hit the sand, a fierce joy took over. He did love a
 
 good fight. Up until now, the battle had been rote. Now, he was
 
 thrown a bit off balance.
 
 A big vamp, with fangs and claws out, leapt on top of him. Beck
 
 grimaced as he felt the sharp claws sink into his left shoulder. He felt
 
 the blood start to flow and knew it would make the vamps a little
 
 crazy. He’d feared chaos, and now he was going to get it. Shoving his
 
 foot upwards, Beck launched the vamp up and over as he brought his
 
 sword up just in time to skewer the next vampire who jumped on him.
 
 Gravity pulled the vamp down, and Beck noticed his aim had been
 
 perfect. As the vampire sunk onto the sword, the iron of the ancient
 
 weapon tore through his heart, one of two sure ways to kill a vampire.
 
 The race was tough as nails but vulnerable when it came to their
 
 hearts. Even a minor injury to the heart usually killed a vampire. The
 
 only other sure way was decapitation. Beck rolled away as fast as he
 
 could, knowing what would come next. Vampires didn’t die quietly.
 
 They sort of exploded.