"Those are the vampires," another physician said, the awe in his voice unconcealed.

"Those monsters are exploding when they're killed," someone else observed.

"Come, I think we're needed there more than here," Karzac said. "Leave half behind. Those who are willing, come with me." He gathered up as much in the way of supplies as he could and headed toward the door. Several followed his lead. "Look, there's a female vampire," someone said as Karzac made his way through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room. Karzac smiled grimly at the comment.

* * *

Most of the Refizani citizens had gotten away and now the majority of what was left were priests and vampires. The five who'd been standing behind the altar were still there as well, only they'd moved toward the back wall, content to watch as the vampires fought Solar Red. Dragon, when I saw him off to the side, was whacking priests with bricks and bits of wood. He didn't have his blades; those would have been too obvious when we'd come in. Nevertheless, he was doing pretty well with what he had, driving priests toward waiting vampires, who were only too happy to remove heads.

I was getting blasted by demon sand time and time again as I moved among them, slicing off heads. I might have been nicked a little, here and there, but the heat of the battle was too intense for me to notice. A knot of vampires flanked me after a while and I found Gabron fighting at my side. He was fiercely efficient, moving so swiftly no demon priest held the tiniest chance against him.

Emergency vehicles were now making their way to the temple now, sirens announcing their presence. Briefly I wondered what they could do for the ones bitten by demons, but had little time to reflect on that dilemma—more priests came and they were joined by demons that had already sloughed away their humanoid appearance. They boiled out of the underground caverns beneath the temple like angry ants from a mound.

Lissa! Dragon's desperate mindspeech came just as the most recent wave of demons was followed by a huge monster. He had to be at least twelve feet tall with the same ugly, grayish-brown skin that the smaller demons wore. Dragon said they stayed demon for twenty years or so before becoming Ra'Ak. This had to be one of the older ones. I had to go to mist to fight this one; he was sweeping vampires away before him with wide swipes of huge arms—they couldn't get close enough to do any damage.

Coming up behind him, I gave him one good slash to the back of the neck with my claws, severing his spine. He went down with a terrible howl, falling first to his knees before crumpling, crushing two remaining priests beneath him. They'd sought his side as protection from the vampires and died for their trouble.

Finish him Lissa! Dragon shouted encouragement, so I swooped in, letting only my hands and claws materialize as I swept the remains of the head from the torso. The huge demon dusted almost as violently as the Ra'Ak that I'd killed days before. Vampires were blown outward with the dusting and some didn't rise again quickly enough—demons were falling on them, which caused me to scream and go after them.

That was the moment the Ra'Ak chose to reveal himself. The one I'd seen in a field outside the city materialized first; he was one of the five men who'd stood behind the altar and watched as demon priests attacked humans. Now, the other four turned as well—Dragon had five Ra'Ak to contend with, instead of the one that was supposed to be there. Dragon, I learned quickly, wasn't given that name because of his tattoos. I watched, completely amazed as he shouted at the Ra'Ak before becoming a huge dragon, his lithe, well-muscled body covered with red scales tipped in black. Dragon was now facing five Ra'Ak, who were just as large. No way he could fight them all. No way he could take them all down and I almost went still from fear.

* * *

René was doing what he could without revealing himself and the strength he was exerting, tossing aside rubble and debris from the bombed hotel and searching for survivors. He was shouting at medical personnel and anyone else who would listen, anytime he heard the faintest heartbeat or sniffed out the least sign of life. Fire crews were nearby, putting out small fires here and there and René was completely soaked by spraying water. He knew Tony was somewhere amid the destruction and he was desperately searching for the man. He also knew that Deryn and Paul had gone out earlier to run with one of the local Packs, so they would not be buried with the others.

"Aidez moi!" Rene's French was flawless as he shouted for assistance. Two paramedics came as quickly as they could, stumbling around unstable debris to get to René's side. As soon as they arrived to help the woman René had uncovered, René placed compulsion to forget him and continued his search for Anthony Hancock.

* * *

Dragon told me that even brushing against the Ra'Ak in their serpent form would poison anyone; that their scales held poison, even, along with their teeth and spines. What could I do? Watch helplessly while Dragon was taken down? Stay away from the snakes! I shouted at any vampire that could hear me. I didn't know if Gabron was still alive; I'd lost sight of him minutes before. Well, as potential deaths go, I was far from home and I had no idea how deadly the poison was or how quickly it would react. It might be a horrible way to die, but could it be worse than the sun on a vampire's skin? Been there, done that. I misted toward the monsters—and Dragon, too—he was fighting the Ra'Ak as well as he could, but the best he was doing at the moment was getting out of their way as more than one charged him at once, teeth bared, ready to kill.

Chapter 12

Tony moaned; he couldn't feel his legs and he knew he should be in pain, buried as he was beneath broken furniture and debris. He lost moments as his consciousness became a fleeting thing, coming and going with the sounds of shouting and sirens, and then periods of blankness. He didn't have the strength to call for help, he could only lie there and hope, when he was coherent, that someone would find him soon. He heard the groan of metal twisting and then a crash as a heavy weight was lifted off him. "Mon Dieu," René's voice came and then René was kneeling beside him.

"My friend, this is quite serious," René looked into Tony's eyes. Tony blinked up at the vampire; they'd become friends in a short amount of time.

"How?" That one word was all Tony could muster. He was begging René to tell him how bad his injuries were.

"My friend, I will be truthful. You may not live," René said softly. "Much blood you have lost, here."

Tony watched the vampire's face and knew the truth of René's words. "Don't let me die," Tony begged. René looked about him, checking to see who was close. All the others were busy elsewhere.




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