Page 134 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

“Ooh,impressive, Crimson,” she says. “I almost forgot that you cando a little magic, too.”

“You always had an awful memory, Oana,” Crimson replies dryly.

I try to keep track of them through the forcefield, but it’s difficult to see anything. Two dark shadows dance around the stairwell while I cower behind the magical wall. I feel completely helpless, and I hate that I can’t help Crimson. It must be costing her a lot of effort to keep this magic going while she fights.

“Your witchcraft isn’t bad,” Oana teases. “But I think mine is just alittlebit better!”

She claps her hands loudly, and the red wall around me shatters in a sea of twinkling, blood-red sparks. They fall all around me, tangling in my hair and tickling my skin. Oana is floating over the platform in front of us, and Crimson crouches below her. In a superhuman leap, Crimson launches herself into the air and grabs Oana by her dangling cape, choking her. Oana gasps and claws at the other vampire, but Crimson managed to surprise her.

“You might be better at magic, but I’m the stronger vampire,” she snarls, wrestling her against one of the concrete walls.

“We’ll see about that!” Oana counters, although she sounds a little less confident.

I take the opportunity to run up the stairs to the platform. My bare feet touch the blood pooled there, and I have to stop myself from gagging. Good thing I’m not too squeamish, I literally delivered ababyearlier tonight. It already seems like such a long time ago.

I hurry over to Alin and bend down, checking his chest.

“He’s still alive!” I shout up at Crimson. “I mean, he hasn’t been staked…”

“Paige, get out of here!” Crimson roars. There’s a horrible squelching sound as Oana sinks her sharp fangs into Crimson’s arm.

I hate to leave her and Alin, but I don’t know what else to do. I start to run up the stairs toward the holding floor, leaving red footprints behind me.

But I collide head-first with a twinkling, magical forcefield.

“Not so fast!” Oana shouts.

The magic makes me feel weird and woozy, and I stumble back down, tumbling onto the platform beside Alin. The stake falls out of my hand and clatters down the stairs.

“Paige!” Crimson yells. She lets go of Oana and falls back down to the ground, landing like a cat on her feet.

“I’m all…all right…” I stutter, but red stars explode behind my eyes as I try to recover from the magic. Crimson’s arm is gushing blood, and I don’t want her to be worried about me. But before I can get my bearings, I see the shadowy form of Oana descend upon Crimson again. This time, Oana gets the upper hand quickly, slamming Crimson against the hard, concrete wall.

Crimson knees Oana sharply in the crotch, causing her fangs to descend further in fury. But it only seems to anger Oana, because she tilts her head back and brings it down to crack loudly upon Crimson’s forehead. The back of her head makes firm contact with the wall behind her, leaving a bloody mark on the concrete.

“Stop it!” I shout, my heart pounding. “Please, don’t hurt her!”

Oana backs away, floating up into the air, her cape whipping around her. Crimson slides down the wall onto the ground, her eyes shut, a trail of blood dripping down her neck.

“Crimson!” I scream.

From down below, I hear the sound of the staircase door open. It could be an ally, or an intruder. Either way, they won’t be able to get here in time. Oana clutches her stake in her fist, her eyes pure red, swirling with magic.

IwishI hadn’t lost my stake…

But…maybe I don’t need it…

Oana swoops down over Crimson, like an angel of death.

And with all of my remaining strength, I throw myself on top of Crimson, my chest over her’s.

The last thing I see is Oana’s golden dagger-stake, sinking into my heart.

Then everything goes dark.

CHAPTER 48: ETERNITY

Crimson