Page 24 of A Vow of Shadow and Blood

I charge the nearest vampire, slashing my blood-coated blade across his chest before dropping low and slicing through the calves of another. Both scream out, but I don’t stop to think. If I do, I’ll die and so will Tori, and Willow will be left alon…

I can’t even finish the thought. I will not leave her to fend for herself. I have to live.

“Why are you all standing around? Kill her and every human in here!” the woman kneeling beside the dead vampire says as tears stain her pale cheeks. Her stare is lethal as our eyes meet,but I don’t have time to think about it as the room descends into chaos. Humans bolt around screaming as vampires catch them, clamping their fangs into their flesh and draining them before flinging their limp bodies to the floor.This is my fault.

Focus, you can feel bad later,Athriel growls.

He’s right, if I don't act now, then every human here will die.

I look up just in time to find a vampire heading in Tori’s direction. I flick my wrist, sending my dagger flying through the air, only releasing my breath when it sinks deep into his eye. A guttural scream rips from him as he falls to the floor with the others who have felt my blade’s wrath.

I meet Tori’s eyes, and she nods. She yanks the dagger from the vampire’s eye and bolts toward me. I snatch it from her grip and drag the blade across my arm, relief flooding me at the sight of the black stain.

“I don’t suppose you have another one of those tucked under your skirt, do you?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I think I’m going to die tonight, then.”

I follow her gaze and find the room of vampires watching us, yet they hesitate to come any closer as they stare at the black blood dripping from my blade.Good.I hold it out in a firm warning, but almost drop it when I see all the bodies littering the ground. They killed every human in here. We’re the only ones left. A knot twists my stomach, and the taste of bile fills my mouth. We need to get out of here. My focus sharpens as I take each of them in. If any of them get close, I’ll take them down just like the others.

I thank the lost Gods that their current state makes them slow and sluggish; there would be no chance of us getting out of this any other way. There are only eight of them left. Their fear is keeping them back for now, but it will not last forever. They aresimply assessing, waiting for the opportunity to strike. And the only exit is through the door behind them.

“It’s her, she’s the slayer,” one of the vampires says as he points down at a spot on the floor, his eyes wide with horror. I look down and find the two fangs I stole earlier lying there.

I need those fangs.

The fangs are the least of your worries.

If I leave without them, then all of this will have been for nothing.

“Unmask,” one of the vamps commands.

“I don’t take orders from you,” I say, keeping my dagger in view.

“Enough talk, one of you kill her,” the female who was crying demands.

“I’m not going anywhere near that blade. Did you not see what it did to the others?”

“Pathetic,” she sneers as her eyes meet mine again. “You’ll die for what you did to my brother.”

I keep my head high, watching her through my mask.

“By whose hand?”

A growl erupts from the back of her throat, and I push Tori out of the way, sending her flying in the opposite direction. The move costs me time, and the vampire collides with me, sending us both crashing to the floor. The dagger falls from my hand and flies across the room. Her scream sends a pounding sensation through my head as she rips the mask from my face.

My head and back throb from the impact, and little time passes before she slams a fist into my face. The familiar taste of copper floods my mouth, and the ringing in my head drowns out Athriel’s voice. Another blow lands, and through the haze I catch Tori’s scream. I try to lift my head, but my body rebels—it takes everything just to keep from blacking out.

My head tilts to the side, and I just about make out Tori being held back by one of the vampires, her face filled with so much fear as she fights against his hold.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this,” I whisper, not even sure if she can hear me. Before I can even think of a plan, the female vampire vanishes. I blink, once, twice—and then her body slams into the far wall with a sickening crack before crumpling to the floor.

“Get up.” A voice commands. I look up and find a man in a hooded cloak standing over me, his hand outstretched for mine. Despite myself, I take it, letting the adrenaline replace the pain. The man scans my body as though looking for injuries, and I gasp.

“It’s you.” The words fall out before I can stop them. It’s the man from Finn’s apothecary. His mouth tilts up for a second before the harsh line of it returns as he swirls into the path of a vampire readying to attack us, slicing him in half with a sword he reveals from beneath the folds of his cloak.

The vampire doesn’t have time to make a sound, and I watch in horror as his body slides in half, his torso hitting the ground with a thud. Time seems to freeze, and my body doesn’t move.