“Look alive, Ames!” Kiefer’s shout jolted him out of his reverie. Aaron whipped his head around and saw a vampire barreling toward him, aiming for the shield. Aaron raised his crucifix and squeezed his bottle of holy water, shooting a stream straight into the monster’s face. The creature hissed and reared back, clawing at its smoking eyes.
Aaron smirked, but his glimmer of triumph only lasted for a second. He heard his name being shouted again.
“Aaron! Three o’clock!”
This time it was Lucy, interrupting her chanting to warn him of the monster sneaking up on him from the right. He spun to face it, but was too slow. The thing hit him like a freight train, bowling him to the pavestones.
The holy water flew from his hand. A stench of death and decay swamped his nostrils, roiling his stomach, and the vampire bolted him down with both claw-like hands, pinning one of his arms across his chest. Aaron thrust his other hand at the thing’s throat, pouring all his strength into holding it away from himself. Even so, it managed to bend its head closer, it’s needle-fanged hole of a mouth snapping as it threatened, inch by inch, to bite Aaron in the neck again. Only, he knew from the deranged look in its eyes that this vampire wouldn’t stop at only one chomp the way Celia had. It didn’t seem to matter to it that Aaron was a vampire, too; this thing would suck every last drop of blood from his body and then probably rip out his heart and eat it for good measure. Aaron would be dead again, this time permanently.
Aaron grunted, brooding once again over how unfair it was he hadn’t inherited any super powers from his master.
Come on, Celia, you ruined my life. Couldn’t you have at least given me laser-beam eyes, or something else useful, in exchange?
The vampire’s skin felt dry and gritty against his palm, like it was coated in filth. The smell of fleshly corrosion was becoming overwhelming, and Aaron tasted bile in the back of throat. The hand trapped across his chest twitched. If only he could reach the rosary still strung around his neck, he could use it to burn and distract the vampire. That might be enough. Sometimes, in a fight, a few seconds are all that matter. He was thrashing his shoulders, desperately trying to free his arm, when a dark blur swung across his peripheral vision. Whatever the object was, it made solid contact with the creature’s temple.
Whap!
The vampire’s head went whipping sideways, its neck slipping from Aaron’s grasp. “Get your hands off him!”
Aaron looked up, trying to figure out what was going on here—and then it happened again. Someone slammed his assailant upside the head with something heavy.
“I said leave him alone!”
This time, the creature lost its grip, and Aaron was able to hurl it off of himself. He looked up to see Lucy standing over him, her chest rising and falling with her rapid breaths. Her glasses were slightly askew, and her cheeks were flushed. One of the streetlamps behind her head made her hair shimmer like a halo. She’d never looked more beautiful to him—and that was saying something. In her white-knuckled hands she clutched a thick hardcover book with a vampire printed on the front of it. A Prince Under the Moonlight: Special Illustrated Collector’s Edition. One of the books from the broken window display.
“Come on,” Lucy implored, holding out one hand. He grabbed onto her and let her haul him to his feet. He turned just in time to see the vampire making a return run at them.
Lucy brandished her book, ready to swat the monster again, but Aaron stepped in front of her. “Go back,” he said. “Help Dara. She might not be able to hold the shield for very long without you.”
“But—” Lucy started to protest.
“I’m okay.” Aaron knew it was true. Flexing his hands, he felt a spark of power itch in the center of each palm. The itch crept outward, igniting his fingers. On instinct, he brought up his arms and aimed the sparks at the vampire. An invisible wave of energy shot from Aaron and knocked the vampire back a good thirty feet. The thing flipped onto its backside and scuttled away from him, fear and confusion glazing its eyes.
“What the-?” Lucy gasped.
“Some kind of telekinetic punch,” Aaron murmured, marveling at his fingertips. Seems I did get something from Celia, after all. His mouth quirked up at the sides. Well, it’s about time. He raised his palms again, aiming at another vampire in the distance. This time the beam of energy he emitted seemed to barely tap the creature, and Aaron frowned, realizing his range wasn’t very far or powerful. Still, it was better than nothing. Maybe if he used it more, it would charge up.
Glancing over his shoulder, Aaron nodded at Lucy. She grinned, dropped the vampire novel, and raced back toward Dara. He grinned, too, and turned back around, watching the first nosferatu he’d blasted continue to retreat. It would be back, Aaron knew. They kept coming back and coming back. But he would stand here as long as it took. And now he would really be ready for them.
Chapter Twenty
Several minutes ago...
Frankie Lam awoke to the sound of arguing. He blinked and looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He was lying on a purple velvet couch. There were pieces of broken furniture and ripped up books laying all around him. Happily Ever After,
