An End of Night (A Shade of Vampire #16)(15)

They all carried two spears, one in each hand, and they looked more fierce than I had ever seen these creatures looking before. My mother still being attached to the ground, Caleb and I crouched down on the ground with her, keeping contact with her so that she remained invisible. The mermen must have been warned that we were invisible foes. Spears outstretched, they began whirling them around wildly.

Oh, Lord.

I crawled over my mother and lay down against her as flat as I could as one merman headed straight for us. One of his blades grazed the air, inches above my ear. I gasped, fearing that he was about to strike again. Instead he yelled and staggered backward. Two nasty gashes appeared across his face—claw marks. I heard Caleb’s heavy breathing as the merman lashed out again with both spears.

“Make everyone visible!” my father bellowed somewhere across the cave.

“No!” I cried. I couldn’t understand why my father would order that. But my protest went in vain. I became visible, as did every other person in the cave. It was then that I caught sight of Caleb standing several feet away from me, blood soaking his claws.

The mermen launched forward now with confidence.

My father’s purpose for such an insane order finally became clear to me as he yelled, “Duck!”

He wanted everyone in sight so he could be sure he wasn’t about to scorch anyone.

Although they looked confused, everyone obeyed his commands and billows of fire shot from his palms toward the two mermen nearest him. A wave of heat hit my face. The creatures screeched and staggered back as the flames engulfed them. They launched toward the exit of the cave and dove into the water to extinguish themselves.

The merman closest to me had spotted my mother and me on the ground. He motioned to move toward us. I shot to my feet and released a burst of fire. I was surprised at how quickly it sprung from my palms. His eyes widened in shock, and he hurried backward, but he wasn’t fast enough to escape my fire. As with the other two my father had targeted, he dove screeching into the water to extinguish himself. Only two mermen remained in the chamber now. They were harassing Matteo and Caleb.

“Duck!” my father and I yelled at once.

The mermen already knew what was coming. They didn’t wait around and moved their slimy bodies straight for the pool. Our flames only licked their tails.

My father then walked over to the entrance of the cave and remained standing over it, positioning his palms above the water threateningly in case any of them got the idea to come back in. The moment they raised their heads out of the water, they would be burnt to a crisp.

Now that the mermen were out of the way, Corrine raced back over to my mother. She managed to detach the chain from her, allowing me to finally pick my mother up with the help of Caleb and carry her toward my father. Ibrahim brought Mona, while Erik carried Kiev’s unconscious form over to us. Once everyone had gathered round, and we had done a headcount just to be sure we hadn’t left anyone behind this time, my father turned to Corrine and Ibrahim.

“Take everyone to safety now.”

“What?” I said, gaping at him. “You’re coming too.”

He shook his head and glared at Corrine.

The witch gripped my arm and my father, along with the cave, disappeared from sight.

* * *

As we were reunited with the rest of our group on the rocks, Caleb and I laid my mother down gently. I leapt up and clutched Ibrahim’s arm. “Why did we leave my father?”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m going back to get him.”

“But why did we leave him?”

Corrine placed a gentle hand over my shoulder. “He’s going to try to get the information we need about Magnus. Without that, our entire trip will have been a waste.”

“How will he get that information?”

“Just… Have some faith in your father, Rose,” Ibrahim said, and a moment later, he had vanished again.

Blood still pounding in my ears, I made my way back over to my mother and placed a hand over her head. Then I bent over and kissed her cold cheeks.

Corrine approached beside me and began examining her. She reached for my mother’s ripped shirt and pulled it down so that the skin of her shoulders was revealed. The witch ran a finger over a bright red spot. At least, I had thought it was a spot. She bent down closer and, after a moment of fiddling, pulled out a small bullet-shaped object from my mother’s flesh.

“A poison dart,” Corrine said, sniffing it.

“Poison?” I said, horrified.

“Yes, but it’s not lethal.” She gestured toward the other side of the rock. “Why don’t you sit over there while I treat your mother? I have my own nerves to contend with without yours too.”

I didn’t want to leave, but I figured that Corrine would work better without me there, so I did.

I approached Caleb, who was sitting on the ground, nursing his injured leg. He had ripped the bottom half of his trousers off to reveal a deep cut just beneath his shin. It was so deep, I thought I could almost see bone.

“Why isn’t it healing?” I said worriedly, bending down.

“It will,” he said through gritted teeth. “I think those spears are tinged with something that makes the healing process slower.”

My eyes fell to his chest. That seemed to be healing a bit better than his leg. I gripped his head, winding my fingers into his hair and pressing my lips against his, kissing him passionately. I pulled away, staring into his eyes.