Freak Show (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #7)(47)

“I’m glad one of us is so sure.” I clenched my teeth and choked back a pained cry. The brain-shattering sensation was near blinding.

It felt like forever before we exited the city limits. The desert stretched wide around us. Mountains stood tall in the distance. It would have been beautiful at any other time. As we drew closer, the pressure in my head began to ease. I could almost breathe again. I continued to direct Jez, who did a great job of navigating with little more than random arm waves to go on. We turned off the main route and followed a secondary road for several miles. We were close now.

“Over there. That house.” A cool wind blew through me, chilling my insides. It was a confirmation that nearly brought me to tears. He was here.

The house was a small, two level with an attached garage. If the ramshackle exterior and the old rusted car outside were any indication, the place was abandoned. But not empty.

“There are vampires here,” I said. “They must be watching from inside.”

“To make sure their enemies burn.” Jez nodded. “Makes sense. I doubt the head honchos would do a job like that. Whoever is here will be small time. Let’s take them out.”

I balled up the tissue and dropped it on the floor, satisfied that my nose had finally stopped bleeding. “Are you sure you’re up for that after the wolfsbane?”

“Please,” she scoffed. “That may have slowed down a regular shifter, but neither you or I are quite normal, are we? That idiot said he gave us enough to drop a bear. Should have used the elephant dose.”

I stared at the house as we came to a stop. The sun was just emerging over the horizon. It was dark enough still for the vampires inside to come out and stop us. That was a chance I’d have to take.

“Watch your back. They have weapons.”

There was no way to creep up to the house, no possible way to hide our arrival. We stepped out of the car with a score to settle. I held the Dragon Claw in one hand and a blazing blue and gold psi ball in the other.

Keeping our distance from the house, we went around to the back. The rising metaphysical wind tossed my hair. Every step I took toward Arys increased my strength.

I didn’t see him right away. It took scouring the desert land behind the house to spot the two figures on the ground in the distance. My heart sank at the realization that Shaz wasn’t there.

I broke into a run, fully expecting the crossbow bolt that whizzed over my head. The shot was way off. Three vampires burst out of the house. Preternatural speed made them a blur of motion.

“Keep going,” I shouted to Jez before jerking to a halt. With fangs bared, I turned to face my opponents.

The psi ball exploded on the ground before them. A cloud of dust rose up to engulf the two it knocked down. The third quickly became acquainted with the dagger blade as I slid it into his belly.

Without waiting for his ashen remains to settle, I advanced on the other two. “Which one of you wants to die first?” I pinned them with a steady push of power. Fueled by adrenaline and sheer will, it held, though I was going to feel it later. Both vampires were frozen in place. One sneered at me while the other quaked in terror. I preferred the latter. “Alright, together then.” With a swipe of my blade, I decapitated them both. More dust for the desert floor.

I hurried after Jez, thankful for the easy kill; those were very rare these days. She shouted at me to hurry. The sun’s golden glow lit up the horizon. It was close now, just a matter of minutes until the open desert land was awash in its light.

When I came upon the two vampires, bile rose in my throat. Jenner and Arys were staked to the ground. Their captors had driven a pair of lengthy chunks of wood through their middles and into the ground beneath them. Hands outstretched at either side, iron nails pierced each palm, ensuring they stayed put.

There was blood, a lot of it, as well as cuts and bruises from what looked like someone’s torture fun. I froze, staring at Arys’s battered face. Then I snapped into action, moving to help Jez tug the first big stake free. It took both of us, since the stake was embedded deeply within the earth. The shout that it tore from Arys almost doubled me over. I had never seen him in such pain. It hurt me both emotionally and physically, a phantom pain that almost drove me to my knees. It didn’t take long to free him. Getting him on his feet was another thing. I tried to get him to lean on me, but he shook his head and rolled onto his side.

“Jenner.” Arys’s word was barely audible.

I looked at Jenner with his one eye swollen shut and stake protruding from his middle. Part of me was perfectly willing to walk away and let the f**ker burn. He was the one who had made himself a foe from the moment we’d landed in town. He’d pissed off the blood ring and withheld that information from us. I had no reason to save him. Except Arys. Jez awaited my decision. She shrugged, fine with it either way. Jenner rolled his one good eye toward me, knowing damn well his life was in my hands.

“Fuck.” I shot a glance toward the horizon, and my panic grew. “Fine. Let’s hurry.”

Together Jez and I tore the stake free, almost falling on our asses when it burst out of the ground. We each grabbed a nail and yanked it from a hand. Even with our superhuman strength, carrying the weight of an injured vampire was not easy. Every step we took caused them further agony. The limo looked so damn far away. Could we make it in time?

“Come on,” I urged Arys on. “We’re almost there.”