Chapter 30

Summer watched Raven's blood leaking out from the slashing wound to her neck as Ivan stood over her body.

"What a shame." Ivan stared at Summer. "You've gone and ruined your complexion. And gotten this very lovely soldier killed as well."

Summer was frozen between rage and fear. She thought Ivan wouldn't be able to match her strength and Raven's, but she'd miscalculated her control and Ivan's ruthlessness.

"Little Summer Mackenzie," Ivan murmured. "What a beauty you were. Is this because my men killed your Dani?" He cocked his head. "I admire your spirit. That's what reminded me of her."

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." Summer didn't have her knife anymore, and the gun in her waistband was useless against a vampire. Ivan had taken her knife and left her with nothing but her hands and her fangs.

Every instinct in her newly forged body was screaming at her to run. Ivan was far more powerful, and Raven was on the ground, utterly still except for the single hand that was clenching into a fist, over and over.

"Summer, run," Raven whispered. "Get out of here. Find Baojia."

Ivan was sidling toward the door. "I'm not going to kill you, Summer Mackenzie. That would be a crime." He nodded at Raven. "So you can keep chasing me, or you can save your friend. Her spine is almost severed, but not quite. Put a little blood on the wound." He winked at her. "She'll heal right up."

"I hate you," Summer said. "And I may not be able to kill you, but this place is surrounded. You're not going to get away."

Ivan clucked his tongue. "So shortsighted, Summer. You clearly underestimate me. Just like my sire did. Just like the cartel did." His scarred face twisted into a sick smile. "You've gone and wasted your mortality on a losing errand. I'm already dead, remember? Just like you."

With that, he slid out the door and down the dark hallway, leaving Summer with Raven's bleeding body.

There was no question about what she had to do. Summer would never be able to live with herself if she let Raven die to exact vengeance on Ivan.

"Summer, run." Raven was utterly still. "Go get Baojia. Get him and tell him—"

"Shhh." She grabbed the hunting knife Ivan had kicked to the corner and fought her way through the distracting smell of blood everywhere. "Tell me what to do? Is blood from my vein more healing? Is my hand enough?"

"Summer—"

"I'm not leaving you." Summer held up the knife. "Tell me how to heal you."

"The hand." Raven's eyes filled with tears. "The hand is enough."

Brigid and Sokolov were locked in a war of flames, both pushing their amnis toward the other, circling the fire that was slowly growing larger and larger, burning the grass that surrounded it, searing the bushes, and pushing toward the trees.

She was getting desperate. If no one else was able to intervene, Sokolov would burn the world around her just to win.

"It's the question every honorable warrior must answer, isn't it?" Sokolov said. "How do you battle an opponent who will do anything to win?" They glanced at the forest. "I have no problem burning this forest to the ground and killing everything in the fire's path. Vampires, humans, animals. How do you feel?"

Brigid glanced toward the trees. The fog had burned away, and there was steam rising from the ground around her. The air was damp and the forest was green, but with enough power and enough heat, any tree would burn.

Sokolov clucked their tongue. "All those good vampires running through the trees. The baby vampires. The humans in their homes. Once across the river, this forest is a tinderbox waiting to be lit."

Brigid felt the flames against her cheeks. "Why?"

Sokolov shrugged. "Why not?" They raked a hand over their hair. "I discovered something quite unique over the years," they pretended to whisper. "The fire doesn't burn me. Isn't that delightful? I heard you have a similar gift."

Similar, but not exact. Brigid's own fire wouldn't harm her as it always exploded outward, but another vampire's fire could kill her as sure as a blade to the neck.

Carwyn, where are you?

Brigid and Sokolov were locked in a stalemate, the growing fire harming neither of them, but both unable to best the other. If nothing intervened, the clearing wouldn't hold the flames for long.

Just as Brigid was about to scream in frustration, a low drifting fog surrounded them. The ground beneath their feet rumbled and began to shake.

Carwyn. Baojia.

The water vampire couldn't draw water this far away from the river, but he could command the fog to gather in the air. The flames Brigid and Sokolov were trading grew smaller. Brigid's amnis began to wane as Carwyn's grew stronger. The trembling beneath her feet spiked and jolted her off her feet. She fell but kept her eyes on Sokolov, who slipped between a crack in the earth and released a bloodcurdling scream.

"Brigid!" Baojia yelled from the edge of the trees. "Ivan!"

She looked where he was pointing and saw Ivan walking out to a massive truck, clearly trying to slip away while the rest of them were distracted.

"Where's Summer?"

A voice screamed from an upstairs window. "Raven is hurt! I need help!"

Brigid ignored the cry for help and focused on Ivan. She ran toward the truck, snapping her fingers, but the air was too damp with fog. She reached inside her pocket and grabbed the lighter, flicking a flame and grabbing it with one smooth movement, swirling it to grow and grow until she could fling it at Ivan's truck. She aimed it toward the gas tank and tossed another to melt the front tire.

The truck jerked to a halt, and Ivan swung the door open and leaped away just as the fuel tank exploded and the front tire burst.

He rolled across the grass, reaching out before he came to a stop and splitting the earth under her.

Brigid wrenched her ankle in the gaping hole and fell forward.

Not good.

Ivan stuck his fist in the ground and twisted, trying to roll the earth over her to smother her.

Brigid grabbed fire from the still burning truck and pulled it toward Ivan, who forced an earthen berm to rise around him.

The sky overhead grew dark as Baojia drew more and more cloud cover to dampen the flames racing around the clearing, threatening to ignite the forest. There was rumbling in the distance, and Brigid knew the air around them was being charged by all the elemental energy flying around the clearing.

She glanced over her shoulder. Carwyn was battling Sokolov, Baojia was dampening the flames, and Brigid was trying to isolate Ivan. At this point, she didn't care who killed him, she just wanted the bastard dead.

So far, battling her attacks was keeping Ivan from opening a tunnel and escaping, but she knew that would only last so long. If she let up for even a moment, he'd open the ground and escape.

"Ivan!" Another scream from the mansion, but this time Brigid didn't ignore it.

Summer Mackenzie was stalking toward them, her red hair flying in the chaotic wind. Fog swirled around her as she emerged from the darkness. She saw Ivan in his small earthen fortress and looked up.

With the fury of the darkness she'd embraced, Summer reached up and pulled the clouds down as lightning cracked beside her, scorching the ground.

The rain came with a violence Brigid had never felt. The water that had built in the air around them crashed like a wave against the rocks. There was nothing graceful about Summer's attack, but it held the raw power of her grief; it was a downpour made of blood, tears, and shattered dreams.

The water filled Ivan's berm in seconds as the earth vampire struggled to break away from the earthen shield that now threatened to trap him with water.

Summer's bloody tears mixed with rain as she ran toward Ivan, scrambled up the side of the earthen fort, and began hacking at him with the hunting knife she carried.

The blade came away bloody, and Brigid knew Summer had hit her mark.

"Summer!" Carwyn ran toward the girl, spreading his arms and pulling Ivan's earthen fortress to pieces. The ground crumbled away from Summer, but she scrambled back and kept hacking at Ivan, who was covering his face and trying to dig into the ground.

"Not so fast." Carwyn pushed up and clenched his fist. "You're finished, Ivan."

The vampire scanned the clearing with sheer panic in his eyes.

Brigid looked for Sokolov, but they were nowhere to be found. Ivan's grandsire had fled, leaving the immortal to face his victims.

Brigid heard sobbing in the distance and three newborns were there, holding each other as Ivan fought off Summer's knife.

Their fight wasn't elegant or masterful, but Summer had pure rage and newborn strength on her side. Ivan's face was a mass of bleeding cuts when Carwyn finally pulled him into the middle of the clearing.

He looked up at Brigid's mate in panic. "Three against one, Carwyn? I thought you believed in fair fights."

Carwyn spread his arms, and the ground gripped Ivan up to the waist. Brigid felt the enormous draw of energy as Carwyn's amnis battled Ivan's.

"Summer, now!" Brigid pointed at Ivan. "Do it now! Carwyn can't hold him forever."

The newborn raced over, hunting knife held in an icepick grip. She crouched down, grabbed Ivan by the hair, and slashed the back of his spine with deadly efficiency.

Ivan blinked rapidly; then his head fell forward, and the pouring rain turned the ground around him to bloody sludge.

Summer fell to her knees next to the body of her enemy, then lifted her head to the sky and screamed.