Loved (House of Night Other World #1)(36)

At the middle of that circle stood Jack Twist, looking pale and confused. In the center of his sallow forehead was the outline of a red crescent moon.

“We are free!” cried one of the creatures whose face was Marked with the fully formed tattoo of an adult red vampyre. “Devour them!”

Then all hell broke loose. Literally.

The red vampyres began pouring out of the circle. Half of them closed on us, while the other half faced off with Darius, who was still standing between them and the group of humans.

“Get up here! Now!” Stark shouted. I glanced up as arrows rained down on the creatures. Damien was lying in a crumbled heap at Stark’s feet.

“Go! Go! Go!” I said. “Get up there!”

Stevie Rae, Shaylin, and Shaunee ran for the stone stairs. Rephaim was backing away more slowly, his knife raised against the hissing horde, but the creatures had paused as they batted at the arrows fired one right after another from Stark’s deadly bow.

With a sick stomach, I realized that none of the creatures were mortally wounded. Sure, they’d paused, but they were simply pulling the arrows from their bodies and throwing them to the ground—like they were annoying insects.

“Stark! It’s not working! Add intent!” I yelled to him, then I grabbed Aphrodite’s arm. “Come on!” She shook me off and started forward.

“Not leaving Darius,” she said firmly.

“Hell yes, you are!” I shoved her into Rephaim. “Get her out of here!” Rephaim nodded, hooked his arm around her slender waist, lifted her, and as she kicked and screamed he kept backing to the stairs.

“Darius! Time to go!” I yelled, retreating to follow Rephaim as, finally, one creature shrieked and fell to the ground. Stark’s arrow had caught him through the throat, burying itself to its feathers. A bloom of metal and blood sprouted from the back of his neck.

Darius was fighting a closing half circle of creatures. Most of them were running after the journalists who had finally stopped listening to Aphrodite’s mom and were rushing with a lot of hysterical screaming to a line of cars parked illegally on Twenty-First Street. Aphrodite’s mom hadn’t followed them. She was cowering behind Darius, whose sword was singing in a loop around them, catching a random creature’s arm as they hissed and circled.

“Sever their spines! That’s the only way to kill them!” Stark shouted. “Zoey, get your ass up here!”

“Getting!” I yelled. “Darius, grab LaFont and let’s go!”

Darius did exactly that. In one motion he picked up Frances LaFont and flopped her over his shoulder in a classic fireman’s carry. With his free sword hand, he plowed through the snarling creatures, taking off the nearest vampyre’s head. The creature crumbled, twitching spasmodically, but it definitely didn’t get up.

And just like that, the red vampyres scattered. Later, when I had time to think, I remembered that they’d been hissing words of encouragement to each other, but after Stark and Darius figured out their weakness, those whispers changed. It seemed the creatures shared a brain and, Borg-like, the horde scattered, fading into the snowy darkness.

“Come on, Darius!” I called to him.

Hefting LaFont, Darius jogged across the circle, and ran right into Jack.

Jack hadn’t moved. He hadn’t followed any of the adult vampyres. He was still standing in the blackened ruins of what used to be a twisted rowan tree. Darius staggered to a stop not three feet from him.

“Jack?” he said, taking a step closer to the boy.

“I—I can’t.” Jack had his arms wrapped around his chest, like he was trying to hold himself together. His voice was his own, and not his own. It hit me hard when I realized who it reminded me of—Stevie Rae. When she was a red fledgling. Before Aphrodite’s sacrifice. When she had little to no control over her feral urges.

“Darius, don’t—” I began the warning too late.

“Can’t … Need to feed!” Jack hissed and gathered himself, obviously ready to leap on Darius. The Warrior’s eyes widened in understanding. His raised sword wavered, and for a horrible second I thought the Son of Erebus Warrior was going to get eaten by sweet, zombie Jack.

From the ridge above us, Damien screamed Jack’s name.

Jack hesitated just long enough for Aphrodite to run past me and jab him with something that had him collapsing to the ground in a jerking, spastic fit.

She looked over her shoulder at me. “Taser. I came prepared.” She made an impatient gesture at Jack and told Darius, “Well, put her down and grab him. Mother can walk.”

The instant LaFont’s feet touched the ground she whirled on Darius, lifting her hand to slap him hard across the face.

“No!” Aphrodite was on her in a heartbeat, grabbing her raised arm and getting right in her face. “He just saved your life.”

“My life wouldn’t need saving if you hadn’t summoned demons!” LaFont spat the words at her daughter.

My anger boiled over. “Your daughter didn’t summon anything. I did. Accidentally. I was trying to protect Tulsa. You interfered. You caused this!”

“Lies! You monsters killed my husband and took my daughter from me. Now you’ve loosed a plague on Tulsa!” Her slit eye gaze lit on Aphrodite. “May you rot in hell with the vampyres you love more than your own people!”