Page 155 of Taming the Beasts

“Is there anything in here that we can use to defend ourselves against vampires?” I asked Kebe.

She shook her head. “Not really. They have super strength and speed. They’re the perfect creations. Usually.”

She was always so unhelpful. I eyed the sword I’d threatened her with. It was heavy and would just slow us down. Besides, I wasn’t sure I could actually use it on someone. I wasn’t a murderer. We just needed to be sneaky and hope for the best.

I turned to the vault door. “Wait,” I said and turned back to Kebe. “Can’t you just teleport to the mic and do it?” I forced the sistrum back into her hands.

“Great thinking,” Emma said.

Kebe smiled. “I don’t know why we didn’t think of that to begin with. Wish me luck!”

I really hoped that what she said about the sistrum was true...

Kebe disappeared. Completely vanished right in front of my eyes. But the sistrum didn’t go with her. It clanged onto the floor.

“Why didn’t she take the cure with her?” Emma asked. “It’s a key part of the plan here.”

I picked it up. Luckily it was still in once piece. The plan would be ruined if we broke the one relic that could save them. “I have no idea. Did she accidentally drop it?”

Kebe reappeared.

I jumped. That was going to take some getting used to.

She sighed. “Freaking Baset. She must have put some kind of magic on the sistrum so that another goddess or god couldn’t easily steal it. Sneaky little kitty.”

I ignored her dig at cats. “So you can’t teleport with it?”

“Apparently not. It didn’t come with me. And just so you guys are prepared...it’s a total bloodbath outthere.” She shuddered. “Way worse than how we left it.”

Great.But the fact that Baset had put some kind of protection spell on this relic seemed like a good thing. It was important to her. That felt like it bode well to it being the cure. “So back to the original plan?”

“Yup,” Kebe said. “Sorry about that.”

I turned back to the vault door. “Here goes nothing.”

“Slowly,” Emma whispered. “In case some of the vampires followed us to the bank.”

“Good thinking.” The door hissed open and I slowly pushed it. I waited for a moment, listening. But I didn’t hear anything. I pushed it open a little more so I could see. “I think we’re alone.”

“They did seem busy drinking their fellow guests,” Kebe said.

Yeah.I pushed the door open the rest of the way. The bank was so eerily quiet. A small piece of me thought I’d prefer it if there was a vampire lurking out here. The silence was so deafening, I swore I could hear my own heart beating.

I held the sistrum tight as I walked quietly past the counter.

But I almost dropped it when I heard a muffled scream.

We all stared out the front doors of the bank. A woman in a dress ran by, holding the side of her neck. Blood was oozing between her fingers. As soon as she disappeared from view, a vampire ran by much faster. And then there was another scream.

I swallowed hard.

“So they’ve spread out farther than the town square,” Emma said. “How far do you think the speakers for the mics will reach?”

“We’ll turn the volume all the way up,” I said. “But we’re definitely running out of time. We need to play this thing before they all spread out.”

Every part of my brain was screaming at me to stay put.

But my heart made me take a step toward the front doors of the bank. I took a deep breath and pushed it open. The door must have been muffling more noise than I realized. Main Street was still pretty deserted. But there were puddles of blood on the streets and sidewalks. And screaming could be heard from the town square at the end of the lane.