Flying dark hair, blazing eyes, and a feral snarl was all Amaliya saw seconds before the bone knife thumped into her ribcage, ripping through her flesh and shattering bone. Amaliya screeched in pain. The Aztec was clad in a black dress slashed to her thighs. She appeared every inch of the blood goddess she claimed to be. Etzli jerked the blade out, twisting it as she did so to cause even more damage. An arc of blood flowed from the wound to form a red aura around Etzli. The vampire could draw blood from wounds, living up to her name perfectly.
Roberto fought against the vampires savagely, slipping in out of the night, stabbing and slashing with his silver dagger. Samantha reloaded and opened fire again on the vampires trying to close in on her. The smell of vampire blood filled the night. The blessed bullets exploded in their bodies, slowing their healing while also crippling them.
Amaliya grinned at the vampire. “Hey, cunt, what’s up?”
Etzli started, obviously surprised by her flippancy. Spinning her daggers in her hands, she brought them downward, intending to stab Amaliya again.
A burst of sharp, cold wind knocked the Aztec vampire off her feet. Landing on the road, she skidded into the darkness with a cry of anger.
Amaliya scrambled to her feet. Blood was still flowing from her wound, streaming through the night like a red ribbon. “Fuckin’ bitch!”
Baptiste, clad in a leather jacket, stepped out from behind Samantha’s car. “Amaliya, you okay?”
“No!” she shouted, then felt the touch of death slither through her. “Wait, no! I’m good!” With a grunt, she gestured toward the werewolf with her bloody, mangled hand. “Up!”
The dead wolfman rose in obedience.
A vampire darted past her toward the car, heading toward Samantha. The blonde was reloading her Glock.
“Baptiste!” Amaliya shouted.
“Got him!” The black man raced forward, his hand lifting. In his palm a fire orb formed.
The vampire in the black jumpsuit skidded to a stop. He looked like one of Santos’s henchmen that had abducted Amaliya earlier in the year.
“Catch,” Baptiste said, grinning, and tossed the ball of flame.
The night lit up with an orange glow as the vampire was transformed into a torch.
Amaliya sent the werewolf after the nearest human infused with vampire blood. She needed more bodies. Etzli would be coming back to finish the battle at any second. They had managed to surprise her by hiding Baptiste in the trunk of Samantha’s car. Now The Summoner’s ally would be much more careful.
The zombie-werewolf killed the human minion with a powerful blow to her chest. Amaliya immediately snatched the dead woman with her power. Another fell dead under the onslaught of Samantha’s bullets and Amaliya gripped that one in the web of her necromancy as well. Casting a quick look behind her, she saw Baptiste helping Samantha off the car and setting her on the ground. Meanwhile, two vampires had retreated into the night with Etzli. Roberto hacked at the last infused human and soon Amaliya had four zombies at her call.
The phasmagus, elemagus, ghost and vampire-necromancer gathered in the center of the interstate in front of Samantha’s car. Shielded from human eyes by the spell, they knew no one would be coming into the battle arena.
“We have at least one witch, two vampires, and Etzli,” Baptiste said, rubbing his hands together. His multi-colored magicks swirled around them. With a clean-shaven head, trimmed goatee, and maroon-colored eyes, he was both handsome and imposing.
Roberto reached out to touch Samantha, drawing more energy from her. “I’ll find them.” The ghost dashed into the gloom.
“I know where Etzli is,” Amaliya said in a grim tone. “Just follow the blood. Stay here. Cover me.”
Samantha gave a curt nod.
Baptiste hurled balls of fire into the darkness, attempting to illuminate the hiding vampires. Dark magic filled the air with an impenetrable gloom. The fiery orbs simply vanished into the blackness.
Stalking forward, Amaliya summoned her zombies to follow. The massive werewolf walked just in front of her. Smearing her blood over the zombies, she imbued them with more power. The blood from her wound slithered through the air, leading deeper into the darkness. She followed the trail more by smell than by sight. The dome of magic shimmered overhead, but the preternatural darkness made it nearly impossible to see.
Roberto flickered in and out of view as he searched the edges of the magical dome. The zombies were the freshest she’d ever controlled. It felt odd having so much life left in them. Little sparks of who they were remained. Amaliya picked up tiny flashes of their memories. The werewolf had been from Mexico. The woman had been afraid of Bianca. One of the two men had wanted to run away. The last had been in love with Etzli. Even as she grasped those remnants of the people they had been, those aspects of the zombies were already slipping away beneath the cloak of death.
“You can’t win,” Etzli’s voice taunted.
“Wanna bet?” Amaliya answered.
Though Etzli was pulling her blood, Amaliya wasn’t weakening. The deaths of the werewolf and humans had filled her with necromantic power.
The Aztec whirled through Amaliya’s zombies, slashing, hacking, and ripping with her bone knives. Body parts fell to the ground, then the vampire was gone.
“Fuck!” Amaliya exclaimed as the head of the werewolf landed at her feet.
The remaining vampires rushed Baptiste and Samantha. Etzli appeared above Amaliya, grabbed her by the hair, and tossed her into the air. Limbs flailing, Amaliya sent her death magic into the broken bodies of her zombies. It was difficult to control her necromancy and her vampire abilities at the same time, but Amaliya managed to catch herself in the wind. Hovering, she spun about, ready for Etzli’s next attack. The werewolf rose, pieces held together by the tendrils of her magic, and charged after the attacking vampires.
Floating, Amaliya traced the blood trail into the night sky. Etzli liked to fight in the air. It allowed her to sweep in and out of the battle. The vampire was still drawing Amaliya’s blood. Amaliya felt her vampire abilities diminishing, but her necromancy was still strong. Her long black hair whipping about her face, Amaliya gave up depending on her vampire nature. She released the zombies to true death, reclaiming her power. Despite recalling her necromancy, she still felt a long tendril of her power spiraling into the night. It took her a few seconds to realize the source of the pull on her magic. The blood Etzli was stealing was Amaliya’s and it was dead just like her. With a triumph smile, Amaliya summoned it back to her. The blood returned to her in a gush.
Etzli spiraled out of the night, caught in the aura of blood. Wailing in surprise, she slashed her bone knives uselessly through the air. Like most of her abilities, Amaliya had to learn them by trial and error. Concentrating on the writhing tentacle of her blood that effectively wove a net around Etzli, she raised her hands in an attempt to keep the other vampire trapped. Etzli writhed in the mass of blood, her knives continuing the rip at it. Bobbing in the air a few feet from the Aztec princess, Amaliya unleashed more of her power. It spread out around her like great wings.
“I found the witch!” Roberto’s voice called out from below. Once the witch died the spell hiding the supernatural battle would collapse, revealing them to the humans.
“Don’t kill her yet!” Amaliya struggled to contain the struggling vampire in her power. “I almost have this bitch under control.”
Swearing, Etzli fought even harder, trying to pull Amaliya’s blood from her control and into her own. Amaliya felt the leash on her power slip and cursed. Drifting closer to Etzli, Amaliya watched the vampire thrashing in the blood cloud. Etzli’s dark eyes blazed with fury. Battling against the necromantic power holding her hostage, she bared her fangs.