Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,76
fool us, that raises different questions.” Ari sat at the table, doodling on a corner of a journal page. When she realized she was messing up her notes, she closed the notebook. “What did he gain by attacking you?”
“Divided our focus. Ryan began looking for the car. We became involved in club security. But mainly, he gained my attention,” Andreas said. “Almost as if the creature is taunting, wants me to know it is coming after me.”
“Which sounds personal.”
“I have to concede the attack on me does not appear random. It must be tied to the murder investigation in some way.”
“If the demon is our vampire killer, that would explain how each victim died. The first two were killed by bolts of demon fire, mistaken for gunfire. The third victim was beheaded by a demon sword.”
Andreas nodded. “If we knew why, we might figure out who is behind this. Why has a demon chosen to target vampires, especially these three vampires? What is his interest in me?”
Ari had been thinking about Philby. “You know, I don’t think he, uh, it expected us to learn he was a demon. He set the shooters up so they’d resist, avoid capture, or be killed trying to escape. He wanted us to think humans were behind it all.” Ari looked at Andreas. “If I'm right, he's not as clever as he thinks he is. This thing made a mistake. Maybe he’s made more. Ryan and I can go back over all the evidence.” She turned to look up at him. “Finish your story from France. Did the demon kill all the villagers?”
“No, they chased it away with torches.”
“So it’s vulnerable to fire,” Ari said. “Witch fire might destroy it, if I could get a direct hit. With his speed, he’d have to be immobilized. Provided he doesn’t kill us first,” she added.
Andreas regarded her with a cynical eye. “How do you propose immobilizing this creature while you set it on fire? No vampire is going to offer to hold it for you.”
Momentarily diverted, Ari’s lips twitched in response. “You’re not interested in becoming a crispy critter for the cause?” Fire was the great equalizer. Andreas was faster, stronger, and could snap her in two or rip out her throat in an instant. But if she used the crimson witch fire, he’d burn like tissue paper. It made for a precarious relationship.
He looked at her from lowered brows.
She gave him an unabashed grin. “OK, I guess we’ll have to find a better way. Tell me more about the creature. If it’s not a true shape shifter, what’s it doing, creating illusions?”
“Not just illusions. The forms I saw were real enough, capable of inflicting damage and being damaged. My memories of that night are vivid still.”
“Describe everything you saw.”
Andreas’s aura darkened, his energy seeming far away, as if he’d actually returned to those days in France. “I was hiding in the woods. I heard the screaming first, and the sound of many running feet. What I thought was a young man came racing down the road, headed into the village. A crowd of men and women carrying torches were chasing him. Many were bleeding from open wounds. When I looked at the young man again, he had become an old man with long white hair, but still as fast on his feet. At that point I realized he was not human. The nearest villagers fell back, frightened by the creature's changed appearance, but the crowd behind pushed on. Drawn by the smell of so much blood, I followed them through the streets until they cornered him in an alley.
“He changed his appearance again to a young girl, and they were so astonished, they almost let him approach them. At the last moment, a man swung a torch toward his face, and the creature leaped back, switching into his true demon form. Seven feet tall, red eyes and skin, and claws. Terrified, the crowd backed away. Some of those in front dropped their torches and ran. That is when he charged them. His speed appeared as a yellow blur to me, but the villagers could not see him at all. He raced through the crowd, an invisible terror, ripping off arms, legs, and heads. It was a gruesome sight.”
Ari swallowed hard. If a vampire said it was gruesome, she didn’t want to think how bad it must have been. Unfortunately her imagination was pretty good, and the story made her shudder.
“The survivors rallied, formed a solid circle