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“Are we near a cemetery, Cian?” Amaliya asked, craning her neck to peer out the window.

“The Texas State Cemetery,” Cian replied. He turned the wheel sharply, racing up a one way street, expertly avoiding all oncoming traffic, before taking a hairpin curve that placed them closer to the graveyard.

“Okay, I got the dead on this side, Samantha. Get ready.” They were within a block of the entrance to the Texas State Cemetery. Amaliya could easily scale the fence. “Pull over, Cian!”

Cian obeyed immediately. “Be careful, Amaliya!”

“Go to Samantha’s! I’ll meet you there!”

Amaliya scrambled out of the car and sprinted to the fence. The street was briefly clear of traffic, so she jumped it, landing hard on the other side. She swore as her heels sank into the dirt.

“Amaliya, where are you? You need to come here fast!” Samantha shouted into the phone.

“Little bitch, I need you to call to me when you’re near the corpse.” Amaliya felt her power sinking into the ground, calling the dead. The dead answered, the necromantic power filling her completely and vanquishing her hunger. Death sated her just as much as blood.

“Fuck! I have to go outside. Benchley, cover me!” Samantha ordered on the other end.

Amaliya could hear the little blonde swearing, a door opening, and a terrifying sound that reminded her of Godzilla dry humping the Empire State building.

“Okay, I’m about to it. Be ready, bitch-face.”

“Just do what we did that night. Call to me.”

Amaliya crouched down, buried her fingers in the earth, and concentrated on the tendrils of her power reaching out into the night. As always, in her mind she saw them as black glittery ribbons adorned with stars. Within seconds they intertwined with the wispy white mist of Samantha’s magic. Weaving into a thick web, the combined energies grew stronger. Amaliya felt it racing into her, filling her completely.

Come to me, Amaliya, Samantha’s voice said in her head, each word throbbing with power.

The earth opened up and dragged Amaliya down.

Chapter 9

Samantha never dreamed she would be so relieved to see Amaliya spew out of the earth like a zombie in a cheesy horror film. The vampire clawed at the ground, attempting to pull her legs out of the dark brown dirt. Samantha grabbed her icy hands and tugged. Meanwhile, Benchley crouched beside them wielding both a gun and spell bags.

“Ugh!” Amaliya grunted, spitting out grass and dirt, and kicking away the remains of Mr. Kibbles. “Gross!”

“Poor kitty,” Samantha lamented, then noticed Amaliya’s shoes. “Louboutins! You have Louboutins! Cian never bought me Louboutins!”

“Gawd, they’re going to be ruined by the time this night is over,” Amaliya complained.

“Could we focus?” Benchley pointed at the dark figures moving along the hurricane fence line. “You know, bad guys!”

Still holding Amaliya’s hands, Samantha tugged the vampire to her feet. When she released the other woman, Samantha sensed their combined powers unraveling rapidly and drifting apart. In a panic, the blonde immediately clutched Amaliya’s fingers, afraid to lose their connection. Their power again surged between them, bitingly cold and full of death. In her haste, Samantha had unleashed the full force of their magic. Amaliya thrust their clasped hands forward, loosening the excess in a massive wave that swept over the ground and swelled up along the edges of the ward in a torrent of black and white energy.

Samantha gasped.

“Wow!” Amaliya grinned.

Benchley grabbed both of them. “Get inside!”

Samantha stumbled a little, still disoriented, and managed to get a sticker embedded in her big toe, but the three of them made it safely into Samantha’s bungalow.

“Did you see that?” Samantha gasped.

“That was crazy!” Amaliya shoved her hair from her face, bits of leaves and grass falling to the clean floor. “I’m buzzing hardcore.”

Samantha’s hair was standing on end and her fingers were tingling. “Me too.”

“What are you talking about?” Benchley demanded. Frustration reddened his face and made his voice surly.