Alex scowled, raised the Thompson, and let fly a circular burst straight through the corner of the hallway ahead. He heard a shriek of pain and a cry of surprise. A long blade and a black trench coat flew out from around the corner. Alex dove to the floor, hoping to evade the vampire, but Spade crumbled to ashes even as he made his last, desperate lunge.
His back-up rounded the corner in his wake. Not wanting to take chances, Alex fired at her, but she had a wooden wand up before he pulled the trigger. It was point-blank range; despite his awkward position on the floor, she should’ve been filled with lead. Instead, the woman waved her wand a second time, and suddenly Alex was heaved to his feet by nothing at all and then thrown through a door behind him.
The room served as a staging area for all manner of refreshments. Tables of champagne bottles, assorted liquors and hors d’ourves trays filled every available space. Alex crashed through the whole mess in his flight through the thin door.
Ms. Black paused outside only long enough to seize Diana with the same spell and throw her down the long hallway behind her. The haggard young woman flew with such force and momentum that she tumbled further away after she hit the floor. With that, the sorceress turned her attention back toward Alex.
“So predictable,” Ms. Black smirked as she strode in. “Give a man a gun, he’ll use it before anything else. Not so hard to ward yourself against bullets-”
The bottle that flew from inside the room was not something she expected. It smashed across her face, and as she staggered back another one came right at her head. She collapsed to the floor in the hallway.
Alex scrambled to his feet, rushing to finish her off. He came face to face with Lydia instead, standing over the fallen woman with murder in her eyes. The succubus’s mouth opened wide. Alex dropped to the floor to avoid the gout of flame that roared from her lips.
He couldn’t recover quickly enough to avoid her grasp. Lydia snatched him by the neck, heaving him up into the air with a vicious snarl. “I was going to be generous and give you the only sort of death a man could actually want.”
“How ‘bout I not die at all?” Alex managed to get out. Blood ran from her grip on his neck as the talons dug into his flesh.
“It’s too late for that now. You’ve made far too much of a mess. Now you will only die in flames. Everyone will die in flames!”
* * *
“Not one of your negotiations has been in good faith,” Anastacia sneered at Lord Stefan. “What other side deals have you made with the demons? Or with others?”
“Lady Anastacia, this does not become you,” Stefan replied darkly. “The Brotherhood and your people have coexisted in tension and even hostility in the past. My people are prepared to continue on doing so if necessary. Our dealings with Lord Baal and Mistress Lydia are our own business.”
Blackthorne cleared his throat. “What say you to that, Lord Baal?”
Still watching the scene from his spot on the staircase with Lorelei restrained at his feet, Lord Baal maintained his mirthful outlook. “I think I will say nothing and let this lovely bit of chaos play itself out.”
On the floor below, the guests grew increasingly tense. The Brotherhood collectively backed up and closed ranks. The vampires uniformly shifted from cool and measured hospitality to open suspicion and hunger.
Molly grew antsy. “Onyx?”
Onyx kept concentrating on her divination. “Wait for it,” she replied steadily.
In front of them, Mr. Woods turned to look at the pair suspiciously. “Wait for what, exactly?”
* * *
Taylor threw the SUV into gear. “On like Donkey Kong,” she confirmed for Drew. She lifted her foot up off of the clutch, pressed down on the accelerator, kept her eyes on the driveway, and quickly set to jamming a sturdy tree branch between the seat and the gas pedal.
She finished just in time to throw the vehicle into second, and then promptly into third.
The huge mansion rapidly became bigger and bigger in front of the windshield. Drew had the road flare out and waited to pull the cap off. “There!” he pointed. “Try to get right there!”
“Got it!” Taylor shouted back. Her adrenaline was pumping fiercely. There were only a couple of seconds to go.
Something big, white and horrifying fell from the sky directly onto the hood of the SUV. It smashed one huge, clawed hand through the windshield at Taylor. The monster flopped and slipped on the oil-and-gasoline-soaked hood of the vehicle, ruining its grab. Taylor threw herself against the door, narrowly avoiding its grip.
“Out!” Drew yelled, “Get out!” Even as he shouted, he put the AK right up to the bony, unnatural thing and pulled the trigger. Bullets sprayed out from the weapon, hitting the monster dead center. Its shoulder and part of one frightful wing fell into the cabin as the bullets shook it off balance.
Taylor didn’t need to be told twice. She shoved the door open and lunged out, trying to cover her head and tumble as best she had been taught. If she had gotten anything useful out of years of ridiculously dangerous high school cheerleading acrobatics, it was the ability to take a fall. The grass was lush and the ground was still soft and moist from recent rains. Just the same, it was rougher than anything she’d ever been through.
Drew wasn’t long in bailing out. He let the rifle drop. Drew had one ugly, face-to-face look at the demon’s four hateful red eyes before he shoved the door open. The only thing left to do was tear off the cap of the road flare that had been in his lap.
The demon roared. Part of Drew wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball, but most of him knew just how counterproductive that would be. He tossed the sputtering road flare into the back seat and rolled out of the open door.
Harrow saw all manner of flammable products and trash stuffed into the back of the vehicle. The monster was quick-witted and powerful, but he didn’t have a clue of how to drive. The notion of turning the steering wheel of the speeding SUV never occurred to him.
* * *
“We did not come to you defenseless,” Stefan warned. “Your numbers and power may be impressive, but the Brotherhood will never walk into a den of wolves as mere sheep.”
“I believe this conversation is done,” Lady Anastacia replied. “Courtesy demands that I allow you safe passage from this gathering. After this night, neither you nor your precious Brotherhood shall be received so cordially. No mercy shall be shown to your holdings in the mortal realm. No shelter shall be found for you and yours in my lands.”
The threats were unmistakable. “So it’s war, then?”
“I would say that the streets shall run red with your blood, but we abhor waste.”
“You will leave now, sir,” Blackthorne demanded. “And the wards you have placed upon my home will come down immediately.”
The assembled vampires and sorcerers below mirrored the tense standoff. Everyone stood ready to draw a weapon or cast a spell, but no one wanted to make the first move. Once it began, no one could know where it would end.
It was at that point that Molly spotted the headlights in the front window. “Onyx.”
“Almost the right time,” Onyx nodded.
Molly’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, it’s time,” she declared. Molly gripped Onyx’s hand as she lunged to one side, pulling Onyx with her.
The burning SUV blew through the heavy double-doors, sending debris everywhere while running over or swatting aside half a dozen party guests. One member of the Brotherhood was struck by the right side of the bumper, which instantly set her dress on fire.
Harrow was still on the hood, fully engulfed in flames even as he took the full brunt of the crash through the doorway. When the SUV struck the stairwell head-on, the force of the impact flung him upward and back. The large, burning demon collided with Lady Anastacia, collapsing on top of her and sending Stefan and Lord Blackthorne both sprawling away. Baal and Lorelei were both just far enough away to avoid Harrow, though they were both staggered by the impact of the vehicle against the stairs.