Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(10)

“Nice move, puta. Now I got your weapon. Let’s see what else you got,” he said, grinning. His bloodied teeth and fangs glimmered.

Despite the fear clawing its way up out of her chest, Amaliya stepped into a defensive position. “Bring it, Pikachu.”

“Not such a badass away from the graveyard, are you, bitch?”

Amaliya shrugged. “You shouldn’t count on that.” She reached down within herself and found the core of her power. Slowly she began to feed it with the remaining blood in her veins, unwinding it.

It took all her willpower not to look behind her and check on Cian. She had to trust him to take care of himself.

The big vampire in the blood-stained yellow shirt smirked as he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at her. “Too easy,” he said.

As his finger squeezed the trigger, Amaliya unleashed her power. It sliced out like icy razors, filling the world around her. A cold wind swirled around her as she felt the dead reach out to her, answering her call. It only took a fraction of a second for her to ensnare them and pull them to her along the pulsing waves of her power, drawing them through the earth to her side.

Just before the first bullet was about to puncture her chest, the dead exploded out of the street. Bullets punched into their bodies as Amaliya was enveloped by the throng of the corpses.

The witch screamed in terror.

The hulking vampire gasped. “What the f*ck?”

“Surprise, *.” Amaliya sent the dead after the big vampire in the ugly yellow shirt, urging them to kill him.

The vampire howled, his pistol firing until it clicked empty. “No f*cking way!”

Dry, shrunken bodies, moldering clothes, and ratty hair filled her vision as she pushed her way through the zombies. She wanted to reach Cian, but she had summoned more dead than she realized. As she passed by her minions, they touched her reverently, her bloodied flesh infusing them with more life. The big bald vampire screeched in terror, fighting the corpses. Amaliya felt her zombies being torn apart through her connection with them. The vampire was physically more powerful than the zombies. Turning, she reached out and grabbed two of the nearest corpses with her bloody hands. She poured her power into them, and through them into their brethren.

“Kill him,” she ordered.

The empowered zombies surged forward.

Weaving her way through the throng of dead, she finally reached the outer edges the horde. Cian stood over the remains of the other attacker. There was pride in Cian’s eyes as he surveyed the mass of dead attacking Santo’s minion. Covered in blood, his eyes were bright red with hunger. He was ghastly pale and his face was thinned out to the point where he resembled her zombies. He needed to feed soon.

The witch stared in horror at the crowd of zombies ripping into her companion. Her hands shook and sweat poured down her face. Afraid, she began to pull her hands down to her sides.

“Don’t you dare drop the spell,” Cian said to the girl.

“Fuck you,” the witch answered.

Amaliya could feel the witch withdrawing her magic. To her surprise, she felt it tangling with her own necromantic power. Curiosity gripping her, Amaliya closed her eyes and reached out with her supernatural senses to feel the edges of the spell. The magic must have been based on blood or death, because the spell began to absorb into her power. With a grin, Amaliya wrenched the spell away from the witch. Instantly, the purplish manifestation of the witch’s power vanished from her hands. It reappeared, swirling around Amaliya’s head like a dark halo.

“What the f*ck?!” the witch cried out.

“I have it,” Amaliya said to Cian. To her amazement, she was able to hold it in place. “I have the spell!”

The witch gasped, her hands falling to her side. Her arrogance was gone as the precariousness of her situation registered. The screams of the bald-headed vampire faded as the sounds of tearing flesh and crunching bones took their place. The corpses were tearing him to little bits.

“Santos sent weaklings to test us,” Cian said, scorn in his voice.

The witch suddenly lashed out with one hand, a ball of black energy hurtling toward Amaliya. Amaliya immediately summoned her dead. A zombie erupted from the earth to absorb the blast. Amaliya felt the creature shudder, but it did not fall.

“She can’t hurt me! Her magic is full of death and blood. It’s mine!” Amaliya said triumphantly.

The witch paled, her breath ragged.

“Then she’s not necessary anymore,” Cian decided.

The horde of zombies gathered around Amaliya, filling the intersection as she stared at the witch facing her.

The girl’s eyes flashed toward Cian, then back at Amaliya. “Send me back to Santos. I’ll tell him whatever you want,” the witch said at last. “I’ll deliver your message.”

Cian shook his head. “Unnecessary.”

The witch spun about to run, but Amaliya unleashed her power and four zombies burst from the street to block the witch’s path.

“Don’t let her through the spell protecting this area,” Cian ordered.

“I have her.” Amaliya said confidently. She was flushed with power and laughed with delight. She could feel the magic around her building, growing stronger. Her zombies were looking more human as they clustered around her.

“Let me go!” the witch screamed. Drawing a pistol from the waistband of her jeans, she aimed it at Amaliya. “You let me go, you stupid bitch!”