Teaser Tuesday: MY SOUL TO REAP

Yeah, I should be in bed, but revising is keeping me awake. This is one of my favorite scenes from MStR. Ellie is dancing with her friend, Kate, at the annual Halloween party when a stranger cuts in. I always seem to post action scenes, so here's one with more dialog (and a wee bit of action).

“May I cut in?”

Kate stepped aside and the boy took my hand, immediately drawing me close to him. His presence wrapped around me, electric and inviting, and he spun me around the hall in a waltz unbefitting to the music playing, but somehow kept in rhythm. Before I was aware, the music and commotion had drowned into a dull roar until I couldn’t hear anything at all. I looked nowhere but up into his eyes which were the most fiery opalescent kind of hazel I had ever seen. His dancing was like water, powerful and unyielding, yet fluid and smooth through every movement as if he had the predetermined course of a river. I let him lead me through the crowd in a twisted state of shock and bliss, unable to perceive anything but his face. I wanted to take the mask off his face, to reveal the beauty beneath.

Yeah, he was hot.

We danced until the end of the song and he still held me to his chest, his mouth curving into a delicious smile.

“Come with me,” he said, more pleading than demanding.

I nodded like an idiot and let him lead me across the hall back toward the archway we entered through. The hideous feeling of rejection washed away as the mystery guy led me off the dance floor. I was too eager to follow him, too eager to make myself feel worth something. For an instant, I wished Will had seen me leave with this guy. Maybe a spark of jealously would prompt him to make a move.

The Phantom stopped me around the other side of the wall and toyed with one of my curls as he studied my face with a look of both awe and amusement.

“You are a beautiful girl,” he said in a slightly surprised voice, his face close enough that he didn’t need to speak up for me to hear him over the music.

“I like your mask,” my mouth blabbed stupidly. I wanted to slap my lips off. I like your mask?

He laughed, his voice like velvet. “I’m glad you like it. What’s your name?”

“Ellie,” I answered, swooning. I leaned heavily against the wall to hold myself up.

“I’m Cainan,” he added.

“That’s an unusual name,” I noted absently.

“It’s a very, very old one.” The backs of his fingers traced along my bare collarbone. I shivered.

“Are you a friend of Josie’s?” I asked, trying to concentrate on our conversation as he touched me. He made it next to impossible to accomplish that.

“No,” he said, his fiery opal eyes on mine.

As I stared into them, I could have sworn I’d seen golden flames flickering in his irises. I blinked and the flames vanished. “Do you go to our school?”

“No.”

“Do you know a lot of people here?”

“Only one,” he responded. “Your Will.”

I was suddenly confused. “My—?”

In that moment, Will appeared beside Cainan, the back of his fist flying and slamming into the boy’s jaw. The Phantom mask flicked off and shattered on the floor, as if it were made of porcelain.

Okay, that wasn’t quite the move I wanted Will to make a few seconds ago.

“Will!” I screamed, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him back. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

He said nothing, but only stared at Cainan. Will’s eyes were bright green and, even in the dark hall, I could see his power humming furiously around him. Cainan rose to his feet, cupping his jaw—laughing. I would have bet everything I owned that hit from Will should have crushed every bone in Cainan’s face. How was he even alive?

Unless—

“What are you doing here?” Will demanded, his voice subzero, frightening even me.

“I only wanted to meet her,” Cainan said. “I had to get a look at the girl who’s been rustling everyone’s feathers so much lately. She seems to be the object of Ragnuk’s obsession and, not to forget, Askel’s. Can you blame my curiosity?”

Nausea clawed through my abdomen and my body went stiff with fear. “Reaper?”

“He’s one of Askel’s Vir,” Will growled, not looking at me.

Cainan leered knowingly at Will. He reached a hand out to me, but before I could react, Will’s sword was swinging through the air and the tip pricked into the beautiful demonic Vir’s throat.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Will warned, pressing the blade a fraction of a millimeter deeper. Blood peeked at the tip. I glanced around, praying no one would notice.

“She’s a lovely thing,” Cainan said, still as stone, his chin up, his eyes locked on Will’s. “I see why you keep her so close. You wouldn’t want anyone like me sweeping off with her, would you?”

“Leave,” Will demanded. “Or we’ll take this outside and finish it.”

Cainan licked his lips as if the prospect was delicious. “I can arrange that.”

In my horror, my voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “I can’t fight dressed like a sexy nurse!”

“My dear,” Cainan said, his voice sensuous like wine, “I don’t intend on harming you. Your Guardian, here, is another story. We have unfinished business.”

“We aren’t carrying our quarrel into the world of humans,” Will said. “It can wait.”

I couldn’t be sure if Cainan’s face was disappointed or not. “Another time, then?” he asked.

“Agreed,” Will hissed.

Suddenly, Cainan vanished. Will stabbed forward in shock and anger, his blade punching through the wall. I felt warm lips on my neck and I screeched, wheeling away. Cainan grabbed me closer to him. As Will shot toward us, Cainan whispered into my ear, “Farewell, beautiful.”

Then, he was gone again. This time, for good.

Will swung his fists at empty air, cried out in rage, and pounded his knuckles into the wall, crushing the drywall. A couple of girls came around the archway and stared at us for a brief moment before giggling and moving on.

I grabbed his arm. “Calm down! I can’t believe you just punched a hole through Josie’s wall!” I looked around us. “We should walk away…”

Teaser Tuesday: EMPIRE OF ASHES

Here is a snippet from my YA historical fantasy, EMPIRE OF ASHES. This scene is where the teenage shapeshifter, Zuri, is whipped for killing a couple guards who attacked her friend. Because it's YA, and this is kind of a torture scene, I'm afraid it might be too brutal. I think it's less violent than most of my action sequences, but people seem to have a problem with torture.

Dawn hadn’t broken, yet, but the heat was already unbearable. My hands were tied above my head to an overhanging block of wood and I faced east. In no time, the sun would rise and cook my skin. I’d probably die of heat stroke if they didn’t crucify me first.

My head hurt where Rulla had struck me. A heavy pressure on my temple suggested a painful lump had grown, but I wasn’t sure why I was concerned about that. My body sagged exhaustedly against my chains. They must have been enchanted, like the rest of the iron found at the Ludus, or else I would have Changed and broken free. I’d given up tugging a long time ago. I ached to drop to the ground and rest my shoulder blades, but I feared any more weight on them would tear them from their sockets.

I smelled Otho behind me before he got close enough for me to feel his breath on the back of my neck. “It’s a damned shame I’m going to miss this, baby Lioness,” the vampire hissed, his breath blowing my hair over my ear.

I drew on the last of my strength and cracked the back of my skull into his forehead. He cried out and I heard him stumble to the ground, cursing loudly. Stars danced across my vision, but it was worth it. The bottom of Otho’s foot suddenly slammed flat into my back and my ribs cracked. I screamed, my body swinging on the chains, nearly ripping my arms apart. My head sagged as pain and nausea flooded through me. If he’d aimed an inch to the side, he would have broken my back instead of a few measly ribs.

“Otho!” a vaguely familiar voice roared. My gaze lifted to see the foggy form of Claudius approaching. Wrath twisted his face.

I heard Otho shuffle behind me, moving around to the very corner of my vision. He growled something in a strange language and trudged away. Claudius stepped up close to me and lifted my chin with his hand. Rulla appeared behind his superior, flanked by three other guards.

“You killed two of my men,” Claudius said, his voice lacking malice as if the statement was merely an observation of my deed. The calmness of it sent a shiver through my broken ribs. He moved my face side to side with curiosity, studying me. “Normally, I’d gut you right here and string your innards up the cage walls. But one of my men deserved his fate ten times over. Violation of a girl is not something I try to encourage, even the violation of a slave.”

I couldn’t keep the surprise from brightening my face.

He noticed. “You might think me a heartless monster, but I’d like to dispel that belief. You’re worth as much as shit to me, but I like to reward those with a certain spark. They call me a butcher, little girl, and my reputation is well-deserved. Today, you are fortunate. You will receive seven lashings and I will make an honest effort not to turn your skin inside out.”

My body locked up. He moved away from me so that all I could see was Rulla’s darkened face. I shut my eyes tight and waited for the pain.

The first lashing streaked across my back, slashing my flesh wide open, cracking against my broken ribs. I shrieked, my voice stinging my ears, and my body shuddered. Wet heat rushed down my skin and the smell of my own blood filled my nose, sickening me.

By the fourth strike, I felt nothing at all, but I still screamed. Blackness crept over my vision, and the last thing I recalled was the rising sun glaring into my eyes from around Rulla’s dark silhouette.

Teaser Tuesday: SHADOW FALLEN

So it's been forever since I've posted a Teaser, so this is just going to be a fun, quick scene. Hope you like!

The earth give a sudden, massive shake. I gripped the door handle as Desmond swore and the vehicle fishtailed. I looked up and sucked in a breath of terror. Nahaliel’s cold, white face stared at me through the windshield, her pale hair whipping around her face, her long fingers gripping the base of the engine hood.

Desmond swore again and straightened out the SUV with the white vampire crouched on the hood. Nahaliel smashed her fist through the glass and her fingers grasped at me, her eyes flooded with blood.

“Don’t stop!” I screamed and reached across Desmond for his holsters. I whipped his pistols out and emptied the clips into Nahaliel’s face and body. She shrieked and threw her hands up, just as Desmond yanked the steering wheel to the left and the vampire went flying off the hood. He righted the vehicle again and I spun in the seat to see where Nahaliel had fallen. She wasn’t in the road.

I turned back around, my breathing too quick and shallow. I closed my eyes and leaned back into the seat, desperate to steady my heart.

“Was that her?” Desmond barked. He was shaken and out of breath.

“That was her.” I opened my eyes again, but my heart jumped into my throat when I glanced into the side view mirror and saw Nahaliel gaining on us, her robes billowing in the air behind her as she ran. “Oh, God.”

Nahaliel disappeared from view and something crunched the roof of the SUV.

“Shotgun!” Desmond shouted.

I reached under his coat and yanked out a sawed-off, pumped it, and blasted through the roof. I went deaf for a moment, but as soon as I was lucid again, I heard Nahaliel laughing like a maniac from somewhere unseen above. I pumped and shot again, blasting another hole.

Her hands wound around the edges of the hole directly above me and started to rip the top of the vehicle open. As soon as I saw her face, I pumped the shotgun again and fired. Blood flecked my face and Nahaliel shrieked, vanishing for a moment.

I jumped out of my seat and pumped the gun before I slipped my body through the gaping hole Nahaliel had pried open. She crouched, doubled over, with one of her hands clinging to the roof rack and the other covering her shoulder. The wind punished me brutally, but I had no trouble aiming and that close of a range, there wasn’t much need to. Nahaliel looked up to meet my eyes and she hissed, snarling like a mad dog.

“I’m going to kill you!” she roared.

“Not before I blow your head off.” I fired and she twisted, but I nailed the center of her chest. She lost her grip and flipped off the vehicle before crashing to the street. I watched her motionless form until she was out of sight and I dropped back inside the cab. I sat down breathlessly and kept a death grip on the shotgun.

“Still going to kill me after I just saved your ass?” I snapped.

Desmond gave a nervous laugh. “We’ll see. How long do you think we have?”

“Not long,” I said. “She’ll heal quickly. Drive faster.”

What do I define myself as?

Nathan Bransford's blog post got me thinking.

I want to be a career author. I define myself as a writer. But I also define myself as an equestrian, artist, photographer...lots of other things.

I don't take rejection personally. If someone rejects any of my work--whether it's my writing, art, photography, or even my riding at a horse show--then that just means it's not good enough yet.

Yet.

I hate to say it, but Nathan was right. If you're doing something you're not making a living at, then it's a hobby. Once you're able to support yourself with that hobby, then it's a career. Loosen up, people.

Teaser Tuesday: EMPIRE OF ASHES

This snippet is from the second chapter of my YA historical fantasy EMPIRE OF ASHES. It's set in a Roman province in the late third century AD and is told by a teenage shapeshifter named Zuri. Her entire village is wiped out and she's abducted by armored Romans. She finds herself caged with many other supernatural creatures and she has no idea where they're being taken.

I spotted the filthy guard from earlier, or rather, smelled him approach. His biceps, thick with more fat than muscle, dripped with sweat and his horse fared no better. It’s neck and shoulders were lathered and its mouth foamed thick saliva. The horse wouldn’t last another day if it were ridden this hard again. I could smell its agony and its fear of the other creatures locked up so nearby. I bit down on my tongue, the sharp pain bringing me back down to earth and allowing me to focus.

No matter how much the lioness ached to run down the horse, I had to maintain control. The human in me wanted to kill the man astride it.

“You, Smelly,” I called out as the guard rode by.

He yanked the reins angrily, whipping the poor horse’s head around to face me. “Are you talking to me?”

“Of course I am.”

“Do you want to die?” he barked, spittle flecking from his mouth.

“Do you?”

He pulled his staff out of its tie on his belt and he shook it at me threateningly. “If you weren’t worth so much, I’d crush your skull right here and now.”

I smiled. “You’re too slow. A human like you’d be dead before you raised your fist.”

Vorena laid a hand on my arm. “Zuri, don’t make them angry.”

I ignored her. “Tell me where you’re taking us.”

The guard smiled toothlessly. “Oh, you’ll like it. There’s a lot more room to run for you animals than in these cages, but you won’t have long to enjoy your new home. I hope you like killing, because that’s all you’re going to do from now on until you die.”

My pulse pounded a little harder and my mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”

He leaned closer and his breath stunk of carrion. “You’d better not mind some between round entertainment, either. You look untouched to me and I’ve never had a shapeshifter before.”

Faster than the guard could react, I plunged my arm through the bars, grabbed his staff, and punched the blunt end into his forehead. He crashed off his horse and into the dirt and lay for a moment, dazed. His horse scooted and swung its hind end in fear, nearly stepping on its master. My wagon rolled on and the human, cursing loudly, flopped onto his knees and began to rise.

A hand snatched the staff from my grip and I instantly recognized the fire demon from last night. He smelled of blood, brimstone, and the humans he kept company with. He could have appeared handsome if it weren’t for a crooked nose that must have been broken several times before and, not to forget, the fact that I wanted to split his belly open. His cold eyes held fast to my own gaze. He broke away at last and walked his horse back to the fallen guard.

“You’ll not touch her,” the demon growled, his voice laced with venom.

“Rulla!” the human spat. “She just—!”

“You got what you deserved.” He tossed the staff at the human and trotted up to my wagon. “And, you. I remember you well. Are you going to give me trouble?”

I stared back at him in challenge. “Until I’ve had satisfaction.”

The demon, Rulla, smirked. “This one’ll be good in the ring,” he mused aloud and rode away.

I stared through the bars as more human men rode by on horses with their staffs in hand. As soon as I figured out how to break free, I’d eat every one of their hearts.

The gryphon flicked the tip of his tail and watched me with a careful gaze. I wondered where such a creature had come from—where all of them had come from. Who else had lost their families? Who else burned with a need for revenge as I did? How many were afraid? I was still too furious and broken-hearted to feel fear, yet.

But it was only a matter of time.

Teaser Tuesday: MY SOUL TO REAP

Teaser Tuesday time again! Here is a snippet from my book currently on sub.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark shape bound across the road toward my window. Then, something massive rammed into my car door and the Volvo was sent spinning counter-clockwise, whipping my body around violently in the seat. The wheel ripped from my grip and my shoulder slammed into something when the car came to a stop so sudden, my head smashed through the window. The headlights poured out onto the road into blackness.

“Ellie!” Will shouted. “Ellie, are you okay?”

He undid my seat belt and his hands touched my arms, face, and neck frantically. My head spun and I felt like I was going to be sick. I looked around and saw we had smashed up against a tree on Will’s side. My window had been shattered when my head hit it and jagged edges of glass jutted out from all directions. Oh, God, my poor car.

“I’m fine. Are you—?”

The windshield exploded, spraying chunks of glass, and the hideous, deformed head of Ragnuk burst through with a bellowing roar.

I screamed and thrashed, throwing my arms up. Will pounded on the reaper’s snout several times, and its jaws snapped back, biting at his arm.

“Get out of the car!” he yelled, leaning back and kicking, nailing the reaper in the face. Ragnuk roared and reached through the windshield with his giant claws.

I yanked the handle and slammed all my weight into the door, but it wouldn’t budge. It was too smashed. I pushed—and pushed, and pushed, and pushed. As Ragnuk forced himself in until half the car was full of gnashing teeth and swinging talons, I laid on my back and kicked the door with all my strength. My power flared and the door flew open. I dived out and turned back to see Ragnuk halfway inside my car and Will’s much smaller shape fighting him off. I yanked the backseat door open and threw Will’s coat off our weapons. I grabbed my swords and shut the door behind me.

Ragnuk was still thrashing inside my car. I had to do something fast.

I bolted to the back of my car and leapt up onto the trunk, surprising myself with how easily I made the height. I ran up and over the roof until I was above the reaper. I crossed both blades over my chest and slashed him across his back. He roared and slammed his head inside my car before wrenching himself back and was finally free. His black eyes snapped up to me. With a great deal of effort, he stepped back and shook his body like a dog. Chunks of glass were embedded into his flesh and I watched the glass push itself out from his wounds, falling to the ground like blood-drenched diamonds.

He lurched up at me, climbing on top of my hood, and he leapt into the air. I ducked and plunged a sword into his belly, spilling blood. His claws swiped, ripping my upper arm open and I screamed. He crunched his jaws down at me, but I twisted away, and his snout smashed into metal, denting my roof terribly. I swung my sword, but he slammed the side of his head into my chest and the brutal force sent me flying through the air. My back hit the pavement and the back of my skull smacked hard. When I didn’t feel any blood rush, I jumped to my feet.

I could do this. I had to lose my fear and defeat him.

First time riding outside this year!

I rode the beast outside this weekend for the first time. It was super windy and she got a little wild over fences and cantering to the right. She's only five and really green, so be gentle :-D

On Monsters.

I've noticed an increasing trend of making monsters sexy in YA fantasy. While there is nothing wrong with a sexy leading man (and I love romance in YA) but I must be honest that it's been tragically too long since I've read a book with a scary villain. Villains nowadays are dark, suave, and debonair, and while those things can make up a great villain, it just seems like there's no variety anymore. What's happened to the violent, horrible-looking, half-insane villains who much prefer just ripping our protagonist's head off than to spew their angsty plans for boyfriend-stealing and world-domination?

Now, what makes a good villain are redeeming qualities (as I've said before). A boring villain would be one who's absolutely evil and just wants to wreak havoc. Of course there are exceptions to that rule. For example, Heath Ledger's Joker. But since pulling off a character like that is impossible for 99% of the rest of us, a proper villain would be one who something about him/her that enables us to connect with emotionally. Connecting emotionally with Ledger's Joker is impossible, IMO, and instead we can just marvel at his charisma and madness.

So anyway, about monsters. Monsters make amazing villains. They incite feelings of terror and hatred in readers. Villains should make us want to root for the protagonist, not make us swoon. That's why monsters make such great villains. We writers can make them as scary and horrifying as possible (it's of my opinion that the scarier the better). Take Voldemort for example. He was a monster. He was frightening, malicious, and manipulative, yet we were able to sympathize with him for what his father did, and that's a redeeming quality. Voldemort is a pretty badass villain in every respect. (I can't WAIT for Half-Blood Prince!!)

So if monsters make great villains, what about monsters as protagonists? What about a less-than-virtuous anti-hero who may not make all the right decisions, may not be totally selfless, may not be particularly attractive, but is still likable and redeemable? I love protagonists who can be pretty scary and have a little darkness in them--protagonists that make you wonder what they're truly capable of. He/she can even still somewhat resemble a human and still be a monster. Shrek is a good example of an antihero (yeah, I know. Way different genre from the other examples. Sue me. I like Shrek.) who's obnoxious, pretty gross, kind of selfish, and a literal monster. But he's able to grow and prove himself to be a hero, even though he is far less than perfect. Another thing I love about the Shrek movies is that Prince Charming is supposed to be this perfect hero, but he's really a complete scoundrel. I really appreciate that. Okay, back to the topic. So, where are all these anti-hero protagonists in urban fantasy and YA these days? I think these types of protagonists are the most interesting, so if anyone has a really good example, please let me know!

So, there's just some of my thoughts about scary monsters, multi-dimensional villains, and anti-heroes. Do you guys have a favorite monster from a book or movie?

Teaser Tuesday: THE WICKED DEAD

Here are the first few paragraphs from my new YA urban fantasy, THE WICKED DEAD. This book has a reaper in it, but the mythos is entirely different from THE PRELIATOR. These guys are much more traditional (and don't eat people or their souls).

Every day I knew I could die. Not in the way everyone knew it was possible they could be killed in a fiery car wreck on their way to school, or get hit by a random meteorite, or something. But those things were just so unlikely that no one really took them seriously enough to avoid leaving their house—well, except for agoraphobics. No, I meant, I could really die as soon as my homework was done. As soon as dinner was over. As soon as I walked out my front door with my weapons ready and I had to hunt things way scarier than a car accident or meteorite, or even friggin’ Bigfoot. Funny thing was, I never really thought about one of my human friends dying. At least not until I noticed that reaper following Carla around everywhere she went.

He was wearing an expensive-looking white suit, so immediately he looked out of place, and he felt like death. I’d never seen a reaper before, and I didn’t know how I could see one now, but he was definitely interested in Carla. He looked sad, kind of wistful, as if he’d lost something recently. Not lost someone, but the kind of sad you were after you were done being pissed about losing your car keys and you just really wanted them back.

No one talked to him. No one looked at him. No one knew he was there, not even Carla. I tried not to watch him as he watched Carla, in case he noticed that I had noticed him. He was young, too, like my age or a little older. I thought reapers were supposed to be gnarled-looking old men, but this one wasn’t anything like that. He looked normal.

But I knew what he was the second I saw him. It was the same way how I knew what a vampire was even if it was in the next room. Or a lycanthrope. Or a human possessed by a demon. I could sense them, their darkness, how strong they were, how much they hated my kind. Thousands of years have perfected my family’s power. It was a lot easier to win a fight if you knew what you were up against.

In the cafeteria a few days after he first appeared, as the reaper sat in an empty seat at the table next to the one my friends and I occupied, I thought about burying my knife in his chest. We didn’t know a whole lot about reapers, but I’ve learned that different mythologies got a lot right. If a reaper was looking to take Carla’s soul, I’d have to stop him. Protecting humans from the supernatural was my job, what I was bred to do, and I’d be damned before I’d let something kill my best friend.

Teaser Tuesday: SHADOW FALLEN

Posting a snippet from my book SHADOW FALLEN! This is what happens when you play with scythes and a crazy five-thousand-year-old vampire. Please note: Vampires are monsters and they do not sparkle.

The vampire dodged the first swipe of the scythe, but missed the hilt as Diana whacked it against her side. Nahaliel flinched away from it, her eyes widely telling her surprise that the hunter would use such an attack. Diana took advantage of the vampire’s hesitation and slammed the hilt across Nahaliel’s back, knocking her to the ground. The vampire righted herself and grabbed Diana’s leg, jerking her off her feet and onto her back. The scythe flipped over Diana’s head, but she still hung on to it with both hands. Leaping on top of her, Nahaliel grabbed both of the hunter’s wrists and pinned her to the ground.

Nahaliel sneered down at Diana spitefully and licked her lips. “Ha! I have you now, you little rat. What were you thinking, whacking me with that stick?”

The mute hunter couldn’t answer her and struggled in the vampire’s grip.

“See where it has gotten you? See, now you are caught in my web, little fly. What are you going to do?” Nahaliel stroked her thumbnail across one of Diana’s wrists, across the pulsing purple vein and tendons that tightened at the vampire’s touch.

Nahaliel’s lip curled back when she got no response and smashed the hunter’s wrists into the pavement causing her to flinch. “What’s wrong, you idiot? Are you deaf or something?” Diana only glared up at her, controlled and silent. “Do something!”

Diana spat up into her face. Nahaliel roared furiously and shook her head, rearing straight up. The hunter took advantage again; her leg swung up and her knee smashed into the small of Nahaliel’s back. The vampire shrieked and contorted wildly, her grip loosening on the hunter’s wrists. Twisting away, Diana freed herself and shoved Nahaliel off of her and wheeled around, retrieving the scythe and she shot for the vampire again.

Nahaliel stood up and screamed at Diana as she lunged for her and the vampire let her power explode. I saw the pavement crack and sink beneath her strength and my mouth parted in horror at her display. I could not imagine anything could have such incredible power. Diana, however, was fearless and swung the scythe above her head again then whipped it around and at Nahaliel’s belly, but the vampire leapt back. She swung again at Nahaliel’s side, but it was dodged again. Diana hoisted the scythe up and rolled it around her back and up, swiping it at the vampire’s neck. Nahaliel reached up and grabbed the helve, wrenching it out of Diana’s grip. The hunter stopped mid-swing and she reeled back, gaping at the vampire helplessly as she stood defenseless.

The vampire hissed and swung the scythe over her head and dipped it around, slicing the blade through Diana’s neck. As the blood splattered across the ground, the valiant hunter’s head toppled over, hit the pavement with a wet thud, and rolled away. Diana Donatien’s body sank to its knees and fell forward, collapsing at the vampire’s feet, spilling red. Nahaliel shrieked in a mad, victorious rage and wheeled around to face the rest of us, the adrenaline in her body spiking and I could the blood in her eyes.

“Well, what now?” she screeched. “Which one of you is next?”