Dread Nemesis of Mine

Salazar glanced back at me with narrowed eyes and shook his head at Thomas. The other man crossed his arms and gave him a withering gaze, but it didn't faze the Colombian. I followed Bella through a long brick archway, and emerged inside a fenced-in lot bordering a street congested with cars, foot traffic, and noise. A thick aroma of burnt diesel and other pollutants crowded my nose. The brick-paved street wound down a long hill between white adobe houses with barred windows and worn terracotta shingles. I looked behind me. The plaza looked like a tall, brick warehouse from the outside. No doubt the razor wire and chain-link fence kept most casual passers-by from trying to get in.



A shadowy flicker in the corner of my eye sent a panicky jolt straight to my heart. I ducked and rolled, eyes scanning for the shadow creature. Instead, I found a gray, cloudy shape drifting around the perimeter. A group of kids were trying to squeeze under the fence. The cloud morphed into a humanoid shape, its ghostly hands brushing the children on the head. The intruders abruptly stood up and wandered down the sidewalk, eyes blank, faces expressionless.



"What is that thing?" I asked with a shudder.



"A minder," Bella said.



"Those things give me the creeps," Elyssa said with a shudder.



I noticed several more of the ghoulish wisps patrolling the fence. "What did that thing do to those kids?"



"Minders twist the thoughts of people." Bella gave a shiver of her own. "Arcanes discovered these things lurking in the Gloom decades ago and, after several disastrous attempts, learned they are sentient to a certain degree."



"They trained them like animals," Elyssa said, eyes angry. "And allow them to feed on noms."



"They feed on normal humans?" I couldn't really muster any outrage, given my need to feed on human emotion.



"When the minder touched those boys, it fed on their thoughts and memories. We still don't know exactly how they do it, but prolonged contact with those things could permanently damage your mind."



I sidestepped farther away from one of the minders as it drifted along the fence in our direction. "They're really that harmful?"



"I would tell you to ask the first Arcanes who discovered them, but they're stark-raving mad now." Bella's violet eyes grew unfocused as if she were looking at a memory of her own.



A line of black SUVs waited outside the fence. Christian and Thomas piled into the lead vehicle, still talking heatedly. Bella and Elyssa climbed into the vehicle behind it. I walked around the back of the same vehicle to toss in my luggage when I felt a cold ping on my supernatural radar. It was close. Maybe fifty feet away. I'd felt that sensation enough to know exactly what it was. I spun to face it.



The Templars felt it, too. Within a split second of the sensation, dozens of swords slid from sheaths. Another cold blip popped up behind me. Another to my side. Followed by another. And another.



"Starfire! Get down!" someone shouted as a ball of white energy the size of my head shot from a rooftop down the road and streaked toward the lead SUV.



"Dad!" Elyssa shouted. She dove from the backseat. Rolled on the pavement and pivoted for her father's SUV. But it was too late.



The fireball slammed into the grill of the vehicle, suffusing the frame with brilliant white light, and exploded. My body left the ground and flew through the air, slamming against the hard brick road. A twisted and charred bumper slammed onto my chest. I sucked in a wheezing breath and heard the whine of tinnitus buzzing in my ears. Screams and shouts echoed as though through a long tunnel.



I shoved the blackened bumper off me and rolled onto my side. Noms scattered in all directions as dozens of dark forms leapt from rooftops and hit the ground running. I pushed myself to my knees. The effort sent waves of agony through my back and ribs. Something hard and sharp brushed against the inside of my arm. I looked and found a blade of shrapnel jutting from my side.



"Justin!" someone screamed.



I saw Elyssa surrounded by a circle of Templars fighting off a mob of vampires. Some of the attackers looked barely out of middle school while others looked college aged. Maximus obviously didn't discriminate by age or gender, because there were plenty of females in the riotous mix. Each attacker wore a red armband around one bicep, each bearing a valentine-shaped heart with two fangs piercing it. Some vampires wore pink shirts with the same heart logo on it.



A flutter of pink drew my attention to the SUV Elyssa had been in. Bella hung halfway out of the backseat. Blood dripped from her outstretched hand, forming a puddle on the ground. I roared with anger. Grabbed the jagged shard of metal in my side and pulled it out. The world faded to black for an instant, and a scream tore from my throat. As the ringing in my ears subsided, I pushed myself to my feet and ran for Bella.



I dragged her from the SUV. She groaned. Her eyelids fluttered.



"Bella?" I said.



"I—I'm okay, Justin."



I watched a slice down her arm slowly heal as her supernatural healing kicked in. "Can you run?"



She nodded.



Strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders and jerked me away. Threw me across the road. I turned my roll into a three-point landing and looked into the red eyes of a gaggle of vampires. One-on-one, I knew I could beat them, but—



Something snapped around my neck. I turned and saw a female vampire smile, her fangs glistening. Bella shouted something.



And the world went black.



Chapter 8



Elyssa



Elyssa stared at the burned-out hull of the SUV in shock. Her father and Christian were in there! Adrenalin burned through her blood. She had to get to them. He couldn't be dead. But he probably was. What sick joke was the universe playing on her to steal her brother and her father from her in the space of a week? She reached for a sword, ready to slice through the mob of vampires surrounding her meager circle of Templars, but her sheath was empty. The sword was in the back of one of the SUVs.



She kicked away one attacker and looked around to see who was in charge. Everyone looked too busy fighting for their lives to think about the chain of command. Considering how many vampires were swarming them, she had to do something.



"Call for reinforcements," she shouted to a local Templar fighting next to her. "I'll cover your position."



He gave her a confused look at first, then seemed to realize who she was. He nodded and backed inside the circle, pulling out a cell phone.



The circle was faltering. Dozens of other Templars were scattered about, fighting individual battles. Considering the odds, they wouldn't last long. Whoever was supposed to have taken charge hadn't. She took a deep breath and bellowed, "Templars, form cohort! Skirmish ranks!"



As if she'd just pushed a button, individual Templars shouted out positions, trading spots and lining up in a wedge, while scattered individuals formed a smaller rank and fought their way toward the main group.



Elyssa backed behind the wedge for a clear view of the battlefield, and checked for Justin. She'd seen him through the throng only a moment ago. Thankfully, the attacking vampires were untrained at hand-to-hand. Maximus was obviously counting on sheer numbers to do the job, but with order restored to the Templar ranks, the tide of battle was turning.



She clubbed the closest vampire in the nose. He yelped. Elyssa thrust a foot straight out, slamming into his chest. He flew back, taking several other vampires tumbling to the ground with him.



With her view momentarily cleared, Elyssa spotted Justin dragging Bella from an SUV. She looked okay, but—Elyssa's eyes caught sight of a group of vampires rushing the two of them. Before he could react, a vampire slapped a sleeper collar on Justin.



"No!" Elyssa shouted. Despite years of training and a sense of duty hanging heavy around her neck, she didn't hesitate a second. She left the protective wedge and ran for him.



The vampire, who'd collared Justin, slung him over her back and dashed down the road. Elyssa dodged a clumsy swing from a vampire and shoved him away. Another charged straight at her. She ducked under his grasp and flipped him over her shoulder. Spun and drove her heel into his neck. A bone cracked and he lay still.



The vampires who'd cornered Justin now blocked the road. The diminutive sorceress, Bella, faced them down, a pale staff in her hand. Though Bella was a dhampyr like Elyssa, she was just an Arcane, not a trained fighter. Elyssa threaded a gauntlet of vampires, racing for Bella and Justin's kidnapper.



Before she could reach Bella, something hard smacked Elyssa in the temple. She rolled sideways to avoid another blow, but her eyesight blurred from the impact. She sprang back to her feet. Her vision cleared just as a muscular woman drove her fist right at the bridge of Elyssa's nose. She caught the fist. Twisted the arm. Drove her elbow into the vampire's arm and heard the crack of bone. The vampire screeched.



Elyssa swept the other woman's legs from under her, grabbed the vampire's neck, and drove her face-first into the brick street with a crunch. She looked back at Bella. Several vampires fanned out, encircling the dhampyr. Behind them, Elyssa saw the form of Justin's abductor speeding downhill on foot.



There was no way she'd help Bella with these vampires in time to give chase.



Bella twirled her staff and smacked a vampire in the head. She spun the rod around her waist and, sweeping low, upended the next vampire. The staff whirled over a shoulder, swung down and cracked the downed man in the face. Before the other vampires could react, Bella shouted, "Kineesi!" and stabbed the rod into the road. A bright blue light exploded around her, flinging the remaining attackers in all directions. One flew over Elyssa's head and bowled over several of his comrades.



"Holy smokes," Elyssa said. She'd obviously underestimated the woman.



The sorceress saw Elyssa and motioned her over. "We can still catch them!" She rushed to the back of the SUV and grabbed something. Turned and tossed a silver katana hilt-first to Elyssa.



Without another word, the two women sped down the street.



A blinding pulse of energy explodedthe bricks next to Elyssa. Shards of brick stabbed her flesh in countless places. Bella cried out. Somehow, they kept their feet.