“Open fire!” I scream into my radio for anyone who might still be human and listening as I pull my first pistol and run down the stairs. “All units, engage the vampires!”

Some do, but it’s not nearly enough. By the time I get down the stairs, the square is in chaos. Marcus’s vampires have surrounded the entire square, a literal vampire army closing the trap on their helpless victims. I don’t know how many are down, but the ground is already running with blood.

My guardians are right beside me, Tyler unslinging his bow and firing in the blink of an eye. “I’ve only got another ten shots,” he warns.

I raise my pistol and aim at the nearest vampire, squeezing the trigger . . . but nothing happens. “What the fuck?” I ask stupidly as the vampire charges at me. Cole meets him with a swipe of his sword, decapitating him, but as I look around the square, I see the same thing happening again and again. My team, those who are human, at least, are trying to fire, and nothing’s happening. Our weapons are somehow disabled. “Our weapons aren’t working!”

All around the square, the few cops who have managed to open fire are either ineffective, or if they’re firing bullets, not doing anything except hitting innocents.

“They’ve been tampered with,” I whisper, horrified. For a day and a half, we prepared, and I loaded a lot of those clips myself. I saw and checked the rounds and verified that the batteries in the lasers were charged.

Something must have happened. The weapons must have been tampered with. How . . . I don’t have time to think about the ramifications. I point my weapon again and pull the trigger, but again, nothing.

Devin, who’s followed me downstairs, looks desperate. “What do we do?”

Noah solves the problem by picking up a nearby wooden chair and breaking it over the head of a vampire. The chair shatters, and Noah takes one shard and stabs the vampire through the eye with it. Pulling the gore-covered stake out, he tosses one to Devin and the other to me. “You remember the face of your father and fight. Don’t forget, with that, hit the heart or brain.”

Noah’s example spreads, and people start fighting back as we charge the pack of vampires, staking every single bloodsucker we can. Jacob, who’s stayed next to me every step of the way, smirks and hands me one of his knives. “Here. It’s enchanted. And a lot better than a chair leg.”

Jacob moves like a ninja, two more throwing darts appearing almost out of nowhere to bury themselves into two vampires.

The five of us penetrate deep into the killing field, fighting our way toward Marcus, who stands on the podium like a father watching his children at play . . . and despite his teenage-looking face, I guess he is. Two brave SWAT officers, in a suicidal attack, charge him from each side, each holding a wooden stake like a spear.

“Die!” one screams, thrusting forward and catching Marcus in the back. It pierces him, but Marcus casually turns and with one swipe nearly takes the guy’s head off.

Marcus turns around, grabbing the other officer by his throat and lifting him up like he did the chief. “Stupid human. I’m far too powerful for this. Now, you shall die.”

I’m still thirty feet away when Marcus squeezes his throat and tosses him away like a ragdoll. I turn to Tyler to tell him to shoot Marcus, but he’s out of arrows, using his backup weapons.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Joe and Devin fighting back to back, the battle raging around them as fists and wooden stakes streak out against the darkening night. And at first glance, I think they're fighting in a circular battle as vampires close in. But in a flash, I see something odd. Vampires are attacking Devin left and right, charging him as he fights back for his life. And while Joe is fighting violently, Vampires aren't charging him, merely circling as if in a dancing pattern. The stall is what makes me realize the vampires still think Joe is on their side, that this is his version of 'undercover', working with the police against the vampires, but they think it's a ruse and he is still firmly in Marcus's command.

“This is a fucking bloodbath,” I growl, putting Jacob’s knife aside and trying to form a Faelight. It comes easily enough, only to fly around again, bursting on a catering table and making something explode. It catches more of the back on fire, cutting off another line of escape for the few who are getting past the vampires.

“Not helpful!” Noah yells, his staff whirling and crushing his foes.

“I’m going to end this,” Cole says, and I’m not sure if I’m hearing him with my ears or my mind, but he leaps up on stage, his sword whirling. He swings, but the blade is blocked, Marcus holding up his hand and catching the blade on his forearm. “How?”

Marcus turns, smirking. “My Master told me you were coming, Fae. And he prepared me. I shall earn my place with your death.”

Marcus shrugs off his coat, revealing that underneath, he’s wearing some sort of black armor on his forearms. He snaps his right hand down, and a black blade, its edges glowing sickly green, pops out, a foot of obviously enchanted metal.

Cole twirls his blade, smiling. “Prepare to go home, demon spawn.”

The whole battle around me seems to slow as Cole and Marcus attack each other with superhuman speed and vigor, their blows echoing around the plaza and overwhelming even the screams of the wounded. Cole’s a whirlwind, his sword flashing silver in the spotlights as he and Marcus go back and forth, pushing each other up and down the stage. Marcus’s own blade cleaves the air with green light, glowing trails pulsing in the air long after passing by.

Marcus has the advantage in that he’s taller, and with a protector on one hand and a blade in the other, he can fight with more abandon, but Cole’s skills have been honed for centuries. He fights like a god among mortals, and with a slash of his blade, he cuts Marcus deeply in the thigh.

“Argh!” Marcus screams, hobbling back. “To me!”

Nearly a dozen vampires, who have been standing at bay and watching their Master fight, leap onto the stage, attacking Cole. Even his skills are no match for so many bodies, and even though he cleaves several in half, he’s taken down.

“Cole, no!” I scream, charging the stage as Noah, Jacob, and Tyler fight with me. “No!”

More vampires charge him, and soon, I’m the only one left as the other three fight for their lives. I leap in front of Marcus, holding Jacob’s knife.

“Ah, the Halfling,” Marcus says, pausing arrogantly. His mouth drips blood. The vampire lord has fed well, and even the hole in his chest has now fully healed. “I have big plans for you.”

I reverse my knife and hold it in front of me defensively. Marcus leaps but is met by a hurtling body who knocks him off the stage and onto the ground behind.

Noah unleashes his massive strength. He grabs Marcus and hurls him completely over the stage, nearly to the middle of the square before following, Tyler fighting with him while Jacob struggles to free Cole.

The fight is furious, and Noah shatters his staff over Marcus’s arm guard, but still, the vampire lord stands, his minions sacrificing themselves to prevent Noah or Tyler from being able to drive their enchanted weapons into the body of their Master.

“Eve! To me!” Cole yells as he and Jacob break free, adding their blades to the fray. Jacob throws one of his knives, and it pierces Marcus’s shoulder, making his face turn gray with pain as the enchantment weakens him.

“You . . . can’t . . . kill . . . me,” Marcus groans as more vampires join the fray. “We shall . . . overcome you.”

Around us, I see everyone fighting for their lives. Joe and Devin are still alive, though struggling.

Cole meets my eyes. Look around you, Eve. See, not with your eyes, but with your heart and mind. You will know what to do.

His cryptic words make no sense, especially since I just crossed the battlefield to get to his side. But I look again, willing myself to calm the fury coursing through my veins and see beyond the battles raging on.

And that's when I realize. This is not just Marcus's coven, not even an alliance between a few covens. This is a full-scale uprising of what seems to be the entirety of Old Haven’s vampires. There's a cross from all walks of life, covens of old and new, wealthy and poor, it's . . . all of them. There are almost fifty thousand vampires in Old Haven, and a good portion of them are all here, rallying in waves of righteous anger behind Marcus, raising him as their new leader.

Cole turns, his blade flashing even as he looks back at me, his face smudged with blood and vampire flesh. “Eve . . . NOW!”

From somewhere deep inside, where things just happen, I know what he means. I open the floodgates, pouring all my emotion, my love, my anger, my fury, and my energy out as I thrust my hand out at Marcus. Jacob’s dagger is still in his chest, and I focus on it as a beam of light shoots from my fingertips and finds the shaft of the silver knife.

“You wanted to taste the sunlight?” I ask as Marcus starts to scream. One of his vampires starts to get in the way and the beam turns it to dust at the first touch, still unbroken. “Here!”

His screams rip through the square, causing the battle to pause and the windows of the surrounding building to explode. His body seems to stretch, swelling with what looks like white light for a moment before his chest blows out and he explodes into dust. In the stunned silence that follows, the vampires stare in shocked defeat at the remains of their Master, Jacob’s knife standing in the middle of a pile of dust.

“Retreat!” one screams, and the vampires vanish into the night, the few humans left too exhausted and wounded to pursue. Even the Fae are tired, and Jacob takes a knee, sweat dripping from his chin as he picks up his blade.

I hear someone running toward me, and I turn to see Devin, miraculously still alive. He’s covered in blood, and I’m not sure if any of it is his or not. “Eve, you did it!” he exalts. “That was fucking amazing!”

“That, she did,” Joe says, his jacket torn, but other than that, looking unharmed.

“Thanks, J—” I pant, my words cut off as Joe pulls out his pistol, aims it at Devin, and shoots him in the head. The light in Devin’s eyes winks out in a blink, and he drops, and I stare at him, shocked.

“Now . . . let’s see just how much you’ve learned,” Joe says, his voice changing as his skin darkens and his eyes begin to glow a sick, swirling and now familiar green.