Faris held up one hand, as if he was going to beseech her. “I wouldn’t say that. You have not a single vampire here with you. Only servants. That is a rather large change.”
Her eyes narrowed and her hand tightened on Pamela’s throat. Damn it all, what was he trying to do, get Pamela killed?
But his words made me take a quick look around. Hell fire, he was right. None of those who stood with her were vampires, but servants. The differences were subtle, darker skin, their movements were slower, and their eyes had zero hypnotic effect. Things I’d learned after my last encounter with them.
Servants. Only mildly easier to kill than a true vampire. That explained the effectiveness of the firebombs.
“Berget.” I lifted my sword, pointing it at her head. “Let her go. You asked me to save you, but I can’t save you if you keep putting those I love at death’s door.”
With a laugh, she pushed Pamela to her knees. “I never asked you to save me. And what would you save me from? A life of power? A life where I ruled the world of the supernatural and the humans?”
I stepped closer, my sword tip never wavering. “Yes. I would save you from those things.” Gods be damned, I would fight for those I loved time and again, no matter how much they hurt me.
A flaw that would likely get me killed, but for the first time, I truly embraced it. She was my sister, and I would fight for her until I could fight no more.
Where there is life, there is hope. I hated clichés. Even when they were true.
Her hand tightened on Pamela until her face went bright red. “I will kill her if you take a step closer.”
Pamela lashed out, yanking the bowie knife from her back and slashing Berget across the face. An arc of blood spurted out across Pamela’s shirt, splattering her in a brilliant red splash. But Berget didn’t flinch, just reached out and snatched the knife from Pamela, acting as if it hadn’t happened. As her face healed up, I realized that for her, in a way, it hadn’t happened. It was an inconsequential moment in her life.#p#分页标题#e#
We were so screwed.
Tense, I stared my little sister down. “I will kill you if you end her life. No matter what is between us, Sister.”
Another truth, the dark side of the same coin; I would kill her if she killed Pamela.
“Then we are at a standoff. One where no one wins, everyone dies, and the world goes on as it was.” Berget tossed her hair. “Completely unacceptable.”
“I agree.”
We all turned to the newcomer who stepped into the room to the far left of us.
Milly, dressed all in black with a long dark green cloak that brushed the ground.
What. The. Fuck.
She lifted her hands and a bolt of lightning slammed between Pamela and Berget, sending Pamela skidding across the floor to Milly’s feet. Milly bent and pulled the girl upright.
“Rylee, I see you’re up to your neck again,” she said, never looking my way.
I managed to get my shock under control. “Same old, same old.”
Berget stood at the back of the room, glaring at me, fury etched into her face. “You think you can end this with your witches? I will show you power.”
She flung her hands toward Milly and Pamela, and while Pamela flinched, she snapped her hands up to brace against the flow of death coming at them, sweat sliding down her face. I’d never seen her so determined, so damn fierce. Her lips were pressed to a thin line and her brows were drawn deep over her eyes with the intensity of her concentration. While she defended, Milly attacked. The spell she unleashed wasn’t a death spell, but one of light, the brilliant splash of magic slamming between the three women blasted my eyes and I had to look away. With a triumphant yell, Milly forced Berget back, step by step.
“You cannot win, vampire. Not against both of us.”
As a team, Pamela and Milly were beyond formidable. They were downright fucking scary. And I could see already in Milly the calculations, of what she could accomplish if she brought Pamela under her tutelage. The way her eyes darted to the younger witch as they fought side by side. Shit, that could not happen.
Minutes passed and finally the standoff broke in a rather anti-climatic way. Berget bolted, flinging her hand back toward Milly and Pamela one last time before disappearing through an archway and into the darkness of the tunnels.
The crackle of flames behind us was the only sound as the firebombs continued to eat at the walls.
I lowered my sword, but realized too late that we were far from done. The sound of the flames was drowned out by a new sound. One that was, in it’s own way, far more deadly. Especially considering the simple fact that we were far underground. Far from any semblance of rescue.
I stepped back, understanding what was coming a split second before it happened. Water, thick and dirty, erupted out of the tunnels and swept toward us in a wave that threatened to swallow us whole.