To Save a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,45
flush against his chest.
He holds the Crimson Sword low in his other hand, angling the blade toward the girl. The crystal-like blade reflects the bright sunlight, splintering it all around us in shades of white, blue, pink, and red.
Ripper growls at our feet, the only sound in the now strained silence.
“What are you doing?” I ask Asher nervously, almost embarrassed by his outburst and how close he’s holding me in front of a stranger.
The girl laughs, the sound trickling like water in a brook. She takes a couple vivacious steps closer to us, her hips swaying lightly and her demeanor changing with each passing second. Asher releases me and pushes me behind him, against the rock wall.
“Stay back,” he says to her, his voice harsher than I’ve ever heard. His jaw tics and his muscles tense in his arms and back.
She laughs softly again, taking a few more luxurious steps closer to him. He lunges, bringing the sword down at an angle with enough power to rip her tiny body in half. With a flash, she twists away from him, his glass-like sword hitting the wall of the cliff. Centuries old rock crumbles against the force of the blade, sending boulder-sized rocks to the ground at his feet. I take a few steps back from them as pieces of debris rain down on me, dusting my dark hair. The sword and Asher are both unaffected by the repercussions of hitting the hard granite. If anything, he stands straighter, fury pulsing through his fluid movements.
“Asher, is that any way to greet a friend?” she asks in a purring voice.
He breathes through his teeth in anger, and his eyes flash with rage to where the girl now stands at the river’s edge, a playful smile washing over her face and her pale blue eyes appearing to grow whiter. She takes small steps back and forth, her dress swooshing around her thin legs. She’s taunting him. Asher’s assessing glare never leaves her. She giggles, lunging left then stepping right.
Asher’s spine is rigid, his muscles taut. It’s a game to her, and he’s tired of playing. She shakes her head at him with a pout and takes a few more slow steps toward him, her hand outstretched to him in a casual way, her gaze that of a lover. She trails his body with her eyes. Anger and confusion rise in my pounding throat. The friendship fish now lays like dead weight in my palm, but I can’t bring myself to look away from Asher.
She lunges for him, her movement like lightning, her thin fingers like claws ready to clutch into him. Asher sees her advance before my mind even processes her actions. Her movement is like white lightning in a night sky. His arm extends back and rushes forward, the blade striking where she is, directed at her thin core. The blade doesn’t sink in though; a cloud of silver smoke fills the air, blowing away in the light breeze. Her melodious laugh echoes around the bluffs, chilling me to the bone.
She’s gone.
The breath I was holding escapes, taking a heaviness that filled my lungs with it. The sound of the river trickles through the rocks and into my thoughts. Asher lowers his sword, his shoulders falling. I see his Adam's apple bob as he swallows harshly.
“What the hell was that?” I ask in a shaky whisper.
My feet instinctively move toward him, needing to close the distance between us. My hand grips his arm, holding him in the present like he too might disappear before my eyes. His chest rises and falls, his eyes never stop scanning our surroundings.
“That was an Infinity witch. There’s a community of mystics who hide out here in the forest. Anything she said to you was a lie. Even her appearance was a lie. She appears to you as what you want to see, based on your ambiance.” He looks down at me for a moment, his anger diminishing. “She might appear as something kind, or pitiful, or something beautiful, but their shrouded bodies match what’s left of their souls and are actually quite mangled.” His eyes trail down to my hand that still grips her offering.
The meat she gave me is now a heap of white ash. I let it fall through my fingers, and the breeze carries it away. I can’t help but shudder as dried particles of it float into the rapids. The waves drink it up, making me cringe from the thought of something