code for everyone to attack because the battle cry rang out, and they all ran for her.
She noticed the head vampire didn’t move from his position. He simply stood, watching with his creepy grin. Myanin ignored him and focused on the vampires rushing her. She swung her blades with practiced ease. Killing wasn’t something she was unfamiliar with. She was diligent in her battle training, despite the fact that it had been a very long time since the djinn had fought in a battle.
Warm blood splashed onto her face as her weapons hit their mark. One vamp after another fell at her feet. When the only one left standing was the leader, Myanin stepped over the bodies, heading straight for him. Blood covered almost every inch of her. She gave him a sardonic grin. “Your turn.”
“I don’t want to fight you,” he said calmly, as if a djinn warrior covered in the blood of his comrades wasn’t marching straight for him with fire in her eyes.
“Really?” Myanin asked sarcastically. “Because siccing your dogs on me kind of makes it seem like you do.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to see what you can do. How powerful you are.”
Myanin could still feel the power of elder Lyra pulsing through her. She had no idea if that power was permanent. She spread her arms wide. “And what do you think?” she asked, curious about what he wanted with her.
“I think that you are exactly what our leader is looking for. You will be a more than adequate substitute for the one we originally came for.”
Myanin couldn’t help but laugh. “You thought you and your little baby vamps were going to take on the djinn that lives in this house?” She motioned to the structure behind her. “That makes me question your intelligence, and I don’t work with idiots, so…” She drew out the last word.
The vampire pulled out a card from the back pocket of his bloody jeans. When he held it out to her, Myanin noticed it was crisp and white, bloodstain free. How on earth did someone as filthy as him keep a piece of paper so white?
After several heartbeats, she put her swords back in their place and took the card.
“Call the number when you’re ready to join the right team.”
“Team?” Myanin raised her eyebrows.
He nodded. “Both sides are preparing for war. After this is over, one team will win, and the other will be destroyed. I suggest you call that number if you want to be on the winning side.”
The vamp walked past her to where the other vampires lay bloody on the ground. They weren’t dead and wouldn’t be unless their hearts or heads were removed. They’d heal eventually.
The vampire pulled a matchbox from his pocket and struck a match. He threw it onto the group of bodies, and they went up like a field of dry grass. It was a good thing Thadrick’s home was surrounded by nothing but old, deserted buildings. She’d just slaughtered a bunch of vampires, and now they were blazing like a bonfire. Those things tend to attract attention from humans.
“Why did you kill them?”
“They lost,” he said simply. “We don’t accept losers on our team.”
Without another word, he turned and headed for the street. He didn’t look back to see if she followed. She didn’t. There was something inside of her that balked at the idea of working with vampires. “You killed an elder, and now all of a sudden you have morals?” she asked herself out loud.
Myanin looked down at herself and shook her head. “Dammit,” she growled. She might not know a lot about the human realm, but she was pretty sure she couldn’t just walk down the street covered in blood and not draw attention.
She turned and went back into Thadrick’s house. She’d shower and find something to wear. She loathed the idea of wearing anything of his, but she didn’t have a lot of options. Twenty minutes later, she was clean and dressed in one of Thadrick’s shirts, tied at the waist so that it didn’t hang to her thighs. She’d just put her own pants back on. They were dark brown, so the blood wasn’t quite as noticeable as it had been on her shirt, and she was trying to convince herself that it looked like paint. Once again, her swords were strapped to her back and stowed out of sight.
When Myanin was presentable, she again headed out Thadrick’s front door. She paused this time, waiting to see