Page 40

Bella!I projected loudly.Are you all right?

She didn’t answer. I pushed away from the tree and dropped the rest of the way down to the ground. It wasn’t very far to go. A human could easily survive a jump like that.

I landed in a crouch, my movements more feline than human. I rose slowly, looking around, struggling to see anything in this thick smoke soup.

Where are you?I called out to Bella.

She didn’t respond.

I heard the crackle of bark under someone’s boots. But the footfalls were too heavy. It wasn’t Bella. It must have been one of the vampires.

I grabbed a rock off the ground and launched it at the unseen foe. I heard a gasp of surprise, and then the thump of a body hitting the ground.

“What was that noise?” said one of the vampires.

“Calm down. It was just a falling branch.”

“That wasnota falling branch,” said the twitchy vampire, panic creeping into his voice. “It sounded like a falling body.”

“Maybe it was the witch’s body hitting the ground after I shot her out of that tree.”

“You idiot! It doesn’t take a body five minutes to hit the ground after falling out of a tree.”

“It depends on how tall the tree is!” replied the defensive vampire.

“The tree doesn’t reach all the way into outer space, moron. That wasn’t the witch. But she is still down here. And so is the human. We need to find them.”

“Then maybe you idiots should stop talking so we can hear where they are!”

Bella?I called out again.

And again, no response.

Where was she? Why wasn’t she answering? Was she hurt? Or unconscious? Or…dead? My heart started to race faster. So much for controlling my fear. Nero was way better at that than I was.

“Little witch, little witch, come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Panic choked my throat.

“We only want a little taste.”

The hyena-like laughter restarted.

I had to get to Bella. That was all that mattered. I had to save Bella.

I found my sister lying unconscious on the ground, surrounded by vampires. Blood trickled from their ears, an effect of the sleeping potion bomb. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been strong enough to take them down. They were obviously a lot tougher than regular vampires. Their eyes flashed silver when they saw me.

One of them glided forward like a battering ram on wheels. “You lose, human.”

The dark fog turned white. It was glowing, twinkling like a sail of stars.

“No.” Bella rose from the ground, looking up as a surge of light shredded the smoke, letting in the day. Her gaze snapped back to the vampires. “You lose,” she said viciously.

My mind and Bella’s were still connected, so I felt a jolt the moment her humanity receded, and the monster within her took over.

The sun had risen on this ill-fated battle.

CHAPTER 14