Instinctively covering her ears, Harley began to hum a tune. She didn’t want to hear the jester. She didn’t want to be incapacitated.
The air rushed out of her lungs as she was tackled from behind. She tried to roll with the impact and only half succeeded. A ghoul was lying half on her, his jaws snapping perilously close to her neck.
Harley swung the sword upward connecting with its shoulder. The blade stopped when it hit the bone. The surprised ghoul howled in pain. Leveraging herself off the floor, she pushed the blade in deeper, cutting toward the neck.
A strange vibration went through the sword and down her body. Suddenly the ghoul was laying in two pieces. She had somehow sliced it in half.
Harley didn’t have time to be horrified as the ghoul’s greenish, foul smelling blood splashed all over her skin.
It left red welts behind where it hit bare skin. The room was clear now from the unnatural darkness. Besides the vampires, there were at least a dozen ghouls in the room.
Emery and Aiden were locked in battle with multiple ghouls. Aiden’s laughter must have only lasted a few seconds. No one was lying on the ground. She wondered what stopped him. Perhaps he realized that they hadn’t warned the others.
A jester’s laugh would be just as fatal to the good guys as it was to the bad guys. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aiden’s face spread into a wild grin as he gouged out the eyes of the of the ghouls.
She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to someone enjoying inflicting pain on others. Maybe it was something the jesters had no control over.
She was suddenly face to face with one of the Russian vampires. He was tall. Taller than she was by a good several inches. His shoulders seemed impossibly broad. He seemed to fill up more space than was physically possible.
Since he caught Harley by surprise it was easy to catch her gaze. Not all vampires had the ability to snare someone via gaze but, this one did. He drew Harley into his eyes and she felt as if she were falling down a long tunnel.
She fought to gain her footing. Her mind reeled as the vampire peeled back her defenses like you would peel a grape. He seemed to be able to peer into her very soul.
She knew what he was doing and it was too late. He was pulling out her darkest fears. He was pulling David out of her memories.
David stood before her imploring her to help him. He begged her to save him. He was being attacked by vampires and only she could save him.
“Save me, Harley. I love you.”
She knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. She felt the strong need to protect him. Harley turned her sword against one of the police officers who was about to shoot her husband. Why would he want to shoot, David? She didn’t understand.
Harley felt conflicted. She wanted to protect David, but she knew she shouldn’t kill a police officer.
She sliced through the skin on his right hand, making him drop the gun he was holding. David was encouraging her to finish the officer off. He wanted her to cut out his heart.
Harley shook her head. No, that was wrong. She couldn’t do that not even for David. She flipped the sword around using the hilt to knock the officer out.
She hadn’t carried out David’s exact wishes, yet she had saved him from being shot. She tried to lead David out of the house to safety.
He refused to follow her. Did he want to get hurt? Instead, he led Harley deeper in the house. He led her to what looked to be the master bedroom. Moving a large floral painting away from the wall Harley saw a wall safe.
David asked her to open the safe. Harley hesitated and then tried to open the safe using the combination dial. She didn’t know the combination. No one had given it to her.
David demanded she open the safe. He told her it was the only thing that would save him. He told her that he could leave the house after she opened the safe.
Harley studied the safe for a few minutes before casting a spell. She cast it a few times before she heard the click. David must have heard it was well.
He pushed her aside, roughly, and eagerly opened the safe. He roared in anger. The safe was completely empty.
“NO!!!” David grabbed her roughly and shook her. “What did you do with it?”
“What did I do with what?”
“The shard, you idiot. Where is the shard?”
Harley knew what he was talking about. She hadn’t known where the shard was kept or even that there was a safe in the master bedroom. How would David know about the shard? Something was off. Something was off.
With lightning speed, he struck her hard across the face. The blow would have floored her, except she had drunk vampire blood. She was stronger.
Harley’s mind began to clear. She was starting to see through the fog. This couldn’t be David. David was dead. This time, when the blow came, Harley wasn’t there. She surprised herself with the speed she moved. Her muscles seemed fluid.
She managed to dodge the next few blows, which gave her time to recall her sword. Still, not completely sure what was going on, her survival instincts kicked in.
The next blow was blocked with the sword. Harley seized the opportunity and kicked the assailant’s knee. She heard a loud pop and knew she had dislocated the knee.
He roared in pain, slashing with a clawed hand and caught Harley across the chest. She was mid-swing with the sword. Pain
