Vampires hate fire, so I would send in the fire mage and dhampir to deal with them. Or, I could summon Ifrit.

  “Kat, can we take them? Be truthful.”

  She hesitated but shook her head no. “If Lexi and Ella were here and Zeke, we could. There are too many, and they’re too quick for us to handle. Without you having practiced the shared magic with your summons, it could end in disaster for us all. And I’m not sure this would be the time to try.”

  I looked at Alana, she nodded her agreement.

  “You must summon your fire elemental and probably the woman to handle this for us,” Alana suggested hesitantly.

  “Yeah, let’s see what they can do.” Kat smiled broadly and showed off her fangs.

  I sighed and began my incantation.

  Chapter 35

  Moments later, three portals opened behind us and out came my summons. Ifrit looked the same, as did Therian. Danae was somehow dirtier looking.

  I kept that to myself and said, “Greetings to you three. I’m in need of assistance.”

  There were more screams emanating from the house. Another came from the west side again. We heard the evil vamps laughing loudly at their prey. My three summoned looked at the evildoers and grinned. That made me smile.

  “Okay, Danae and Ifrit, take care of those four. Therian, take to the air and see where that other scream came from. We will tend to the wounded. After Danae and Ifrit take control of the situation, we’ll come to your aid.”

  The three bowed their heads and without any words, they went into action. Therian flew off in the direction of the screams we’d heard. Danae floated toward the dhampirs causing issues, and Ifrit followed her in flight.

  What happened next was horrible. The four threw down the prey they had been torturing and faced the two foes in front of them. At first, they were laughing and taunting them as well, but when the four tried to attack, well, they hit an invisible wall and were blown back. The four landed twenty feet away and tried to quickly get up, but they fell to their knees as Danae slowly made her way over. For some reason, Ifrit was waiting.

  The dhampirs screamed as they held onto their ears. It wasn’t even ten heartbeats, but we all heard the agony in those screams. I winced as Danae held out her hand and they all went silent, staring at her.

  “What the hell is she doing?” Kat whispered as we watched the scene unfold.

  I didn’t want to even guess.

  We stared at the woman with dirty clothes, wondering what she was up to. It wasn’t moments later that the four on their knees were screaming soundlessly. A flash of light came from her hand, and we saw what looked like vapor or something flow out of their mouths to her outstretched hand.

  It didn’t take me long to figure out what she was doing. The bitch was sucking the life force out of the poor suckers. We saw each one of the dhampirs dry up like a husk and fall over. Danae shuddered and took a deep breath before exhaling.

  She nodded to Ifrit, and he immediately burned the husks to ash.

  The people that had been tortured gaped and scrambled away from the two high-powered individuals. I saw Danae moving her way toward us. She was smiling as she and Ifrit came up.

  “Thank you, master, for the scrumptious meal.” Danae bowed to me. “May we have more?”

  I was stunned at first. Did she look somehow less pale? Was there a word for that? I cleared my throat. “Yes, but not all of them. We need someone to talk.”

  Danae giggled. “Why would you need that? I can just strip the information out of their minds like I did with those idiots we just killed.”

  I sighed and wasn’t sure what to say to that at first, but finally I nodded to her.

  “Wait,” I said before she could move, “Did they give you any information about their leaders?”

  She grunted and pointed. “They’re in the basement of the town hall. There are captives there too.”

  Well, shit. “Okay, that’s good news. Go and help Therian. Kill them all.” They were about to leave, but I stopped them again. “Wait!”

  The two halted and turned to me. “Belay that order. Kill the ones that need killing and leave my people alone.”

  The two nodded and took off. I shook my head and exhaled a deep breath.

  “You’ve got to be straight with them, and be specific,” Alana stated in a low voice.

  “Yeah,” Kat agreed and chuckled. “They would probably just annihilate everything and think it was funny or all in a day’s work.”

  Alana snickered as well.

  I grunted. “You aren’t wrong. With the way they easily took out these vamps, I can only imagine how they’d fight regular folk. Anyway, let’s go see if we can help those people.”

  We began walking over, but Kat interrupted. “What about the town hall? We need to get in there before nightfall. The strigoi are more easily killed before dark.”

  I thought about it and looked up at the sky. The sun was setting. “We will get to them after this. There’s time.”

  Kat didn’t respond, she and Alana just followed silently. There were elves in the group, and we helped with their injuries the best we could. One had a broken arm, so we set it and put his arm against his chest and used a wrap to secure it for the time being.

  I was watching the area while Alana and Kat helped everyone get ready to walk. When the group was able, we slowly made our way out. Alana went toward the front gate with the ones that we’d freed while Kat and I went to search for Lexi and Mae. Seamus as well.

  We found them near the town hall, where bodies were strewn everywhere. There had to be at least twenty. As we approached, Lexi and Mae walked over.

  “What happened?”

  Your summons killed the bad guys,” Mae snorted and pointed over at the town hall. Danae, Ifrit, and Therian stood at the front entrance, silently waiting.

  “They also saved our asses,” Lexi added as she glared at the kitsune. “The five were hard as hell to kill. They must have just fed before fighting us. The innocents were already dead or dying when we tried to intervene.”

  I sighed. “Well, nothing to do about that. We have others inside the town hall. There are some strigoi in the basement.”

  They perked up at that.

  “Oh? And where did you learn that little tidbit?” Mae asked as she looked at all the dead bodies around.

  “His summons retrieved that information from one of the minds of her first prey on the other side of the village,” Kat informed the others.

  “Is it me, or does she look less pale now?” Lexi questioned our little group.

  We all looked over at the crazy psycho woman. She did. Her skin looked almost normal relative to the deathly pale she had when the woman first showed.

  “She’s definitely less pale,” Alana commented. “Probably because she sucked the life force out of them to gain strength. You best be careful with that one, Gage. She might try to overpower you.”

  The others agreed. They told us she also sucked the life force out of those who were still alive when she showed up. I groaned and thought about what would happen when she was at full power.

  “Let’s take care of this problem first, then we will worry about the floating lady later,” Mae suggested. I agreed and we strolled over to the town hall.

  Danae grinned as we came up. “Master, thank you again for the meal.”

  “Okay, you can stop with that, Danae.” I sighed in exasperation. “We’re going to have a discussion later about this.”

  “Of course, master.” Danae bowed her head to me.

  “Therian, what did you discover when you scouted the area?”

  “The vampires were killing those that were fleeing from this building. I intervened and killed a few before Ifrit and Danae showed to help. There were two that got away and fled inside. We were about to enter but decided to wait for your orders.”

  He was polite but abrupt, probably a result of his military background.

  “All right, then there should be captives inside. Dispose of the captors and we will help the captives. Danae will take care of the strigoi in the basement. Ifrit will accompany and burn their bodies.”

  The three bowed and went inside, following my orders. The girls snickered at that, and we waited for a few moments to let them do their thing before entering.

  Chapter 36

  When we entered the town hall, we heard screeching coming from all over. I saw a few people hiding in the offices to our left, and we helped them escape out the front door. Alana and Mae stayed behind to protect them and others if we found any.

  Kat and Lexi came with me, and we searched the two-story building. There were only five left alive. I heard fighting from the basement below and further down on the first floor, followed by lots of roars and screams.

  Once we’d searched the entire building for survivors, Kat, Lexi, and I made our way downstairs to see about the strigoi. I wanted to come face to face with those assholes.

  When the three of us got to the bottom of the steps, we heard some hissing to our left. I looked over and saw two black sarcophaguses with their lids thrown to the side. In front, lying on the ground, were four dead vampires with white hair. Their heads were cut off, and blood was squirting from the top of their pale necks. Moroi.

  I shook my head at that. This was getting crazy. Gurgling and hissing brought my attention back to the two sarcophaguses. Therian and Ifrit were holding two pale vampires with dark hair by their heads. I was surprised, the two strigoi must have been weak from sleep. Either that or Therian and Ifrit were on a higher power level.

  Danae was standing in front of the two strigoi with her arms extended. The two vampires were trying desperately to get free, but they couldn’t break away.

  The pale witch or sorceress, whatever you could call her, was chanting in a language that I’d never heard before. I glanced over at Kat and Lexi to ask if they knew what she was saying, but the two were staring in fear. As a matter of fact, they had taken a few steps back from me.

  Well, I can’t say I blame them. Hell, the three creatures in front of us took down over a dozen vampires like it was nothing. Now, they have two strigoi in their grips, supposedly the strongest of the vampire kind, except for the elders. At least, that’s what they said.

  Danae finished her chant, floated over to the strigoi, and put her hands on top of their heads.

  “Thanks for the information, gentlemen,” Danae said in a gentle tone. “Now, the time has come to pay for your dastardly deeds.”

  The woman looked over at me and smiled. I rolled my eyes at her antics.

  Get on with it!

  Danae pouted. I guess she wanted to get a rise out of me. With these bastards gone, I wouldn’t need to worry about them. Well, their kin would probably find out and try to hunt us down, but that worry was for another day.

  The psycho woman took a deep breath and spoke a couple of words in her language. Soon after, the two vampires went still, and their mouths opened. White mists began flowing out of their bodies and moving over to Danae. The woman began sucking the mists into her body, which began to tremble. This went on for a few minutes until the strigoi were nothing but dried up husks.

  What the hell?

  Moments later, Therian and Ifrit let go of the corpses, but instead of falling to the ground, the bodies hovered in the air. We heard some cracking noises and I realized that their heads were turning the wrong way. I thought that would be it, but no, the heads kept turning and I heard some ripping sounds. Suddenly, the two heads lifted from the dead bodies and were hurled to the other side of the room.

  Damn, that was nasty. She must have used telekinesis to do that.

  I sighed and was about to say something to the woman when she turned. The girls gasped beside me as Danae walked toward us. I was flabbergasted. Her skin had changed again to a peach color, and her body looked healthier, as did her hair. The woman was evidently healing herself with all the bodies she stole the life force from. But she still had those soulless black eyes.

  “Master, I have news,” Danae said as she broke my stare.

  I cleared my throat and replied, “Okay, that sounds good, but let’s discuss what’s going on here. Therian, Ifrit, do you mind giving us a few minutes alone?”

  The two nodded and were about to leave, but Danae stopped them. “They don’t need to go. I’m assuming you are going to ask about my body changing?”

  I grunted. “Yeah, I am. Stealing the life force from those vampires has given you new life it seems. You’re more vibrant and healthier.”

  The crazed woman giggled and nodded. “Yes, that’s true, master. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to begin healing.”

  I was afraid to ask, but I did anyway. “Is this going to cause me issues? I don’t want to have to face the people who put you in the abyss if they discover that I let you out.”

  “Oh no, master.” Danae shook her head. “They will not come after you. Since I am a summoned, then I only do as my master commands.”

  The bitch smirked at her statement. I, on the other hand, was stuck. If I didn’t use her abilities, then I would be helpless in certain situations. Would she fight against the contract if I didn’t summon her? Hell, could I even fight her? I doubted any and all of my crew would be a match for her since she could hold off any kind of attack. How did they force her into the abyss? I shook those thoughts off.

  “All right, let’s get this straight right now. I don’t know what your plans are, but if they end up getting my people hurt or killed then we are done. I will force you back to the abyss and cancel the contract. You agreed to that before we started, but I can’t help but think that with you gaining more power, you’re planning something.”

  Danae’s eyes flashed with a bit of anger, but it went away as she calmed herself down. “I…” she began and stopped, hesitating. It took almost a minute for her to start again. “Yes, I do have plans, but they have nothing to do with you or your family, master.”

  The woman had determination in her eyes now.

  “So, then what are your plans, Danae?”

  The woman hovered in front of us, staring at me for a few moments. I guessed she was trying to ascertain if I’d prevent her from achieving her goals.

  “When I get back to full power, I will walk out of the abyss and find those who put me there.”

  The girls gasped and looked over at me with wide eyes. It took all of my willpower not to sigh and put my hands over my eyes.

  “Okay, and for curiosity’s sake and to ease my mind, would you answer me this. The ones that sent you to the abyss, are they your kin?”

  She grunted and nodded. “Yes, amongst others.”

  I did sigh at that. Gods and goddesses fighting or worse, war. It didn’t bode well for that world.

  “So, you will wage war against them?” I wanted to make sure what she was actually planning to do.

  The girls were on alert at that, Therian and Ifrit were just standing there in silence with blank expressions.

  Danae shrugged and nonchalantly began explaining her point of view. “No, but it might end up that way. Look, I wasn’t always like this you know, not until those pricks betrayed me. Yeah, I may have taken some things too far, but what other god or goddess hasn’t? We all play the game and sometimes things unfortunately happen, but for them to send me to the abyss for the same things that they have done, that’s inexcusable.”

  I was contemplating what she said when Ifrit spoke. “If you need any assistance, Lady Danae, I would be honored to help you. I, too, know what it is like for others to imprison you for ridiculous reasons.”

  That was surprising to hear. Therian just nodded, agreeing with him, but he didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if he agreed with him about going to help or with the wrongful imprisonment.

  Danae bowed her head to the fire elemental. “Thank you for the offer, Ifrit, I may take you up on it. At least, if the master okays it.”

  The girls snapped their heads my way in disbelief at what was going on here. I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.

  “Let’s get back on track here. We need to get out of here before others notice what has happened.”

  “Yes, master,” Danae agreed. “And my plans won’t hinder helping you. After all, you were the one that rescued me. I won’t ever forget that.”

  Great, lay more on the fire. I’m going to get reamed when we get out of here.

  I could feel the glares from the girls, but I ignored them. “What information did you find out?”

  “Oh, yes, I found out that an elder was found by an adventuring party and was let out of his tomb,” Danae informed us. That made Lexi and Kat groan.

  “And I’m assuming the elder is leading the ones raiding and plundering?”

  She nodded and explained. “From what these two knew, Alexander was the one they let loose. And he has freed two others, Mikael and Bellatrix. These three are the reasons for all the kidnappings and rituals. They are trying to heal and restore their powers, then forge an army of undead and vampires.”

  Well, that isn’t good. Three elders are awake and kicking.

  “Did they say if any of the three were at full power?”

  Danae thought about it but shook her head no. “I didn’t see that in their memories. Of course, they may not know, or perhaps they were commanded to forget.”

  That makes sense. Compulsion.

  “Anything else to inform us?”

  “No, master,” she replied but wavered. “Well, except that those two strigoi met with others in Ailmoor, but I couldn’t see them meeting the three elders or find out their location.”

  “That’s because, as you said, they were compelled to forget or they may not even know,” Kat butted in. “Hell, these two are probably lackeys and low in the hierarchy.”

  “I would have to agree with you, sister,” Lexi said. “This is getting out of hand. How the hell did Alexander know where the other two were entombed? From what I remember, they were hunted down and placed in places far away from each other.”

  “Yeah, that’s concerning.” Kat nodded. “Who would even have that knowledge?”

 

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