Setting her feet in a defensive stance, Zora raised her sword confidently—but she had no idea these vampires were nothing like the ones she’d made her career exterminating.

The three vampires smiled. They knew we didn’t stand a chance.

The creepy one stepped away from the others, his weird eyes on Zora. He strolled toward her, getting closer and closer to the shining blade of her weapon.

“Ori torpeas languescas,” she said quietly. A faint shimmer ran down the sword.

He took one more step—then blurred almost out of sight as he lunged for Zora.

She wheeled sideways, saved by her combat reflexes. The vampire shot past her, spun, and halted, leering tauntingly.

“What the …” She adjusted her grip on the sword. “This bastard is a fast one.”

I grabbed my infernus. “They’re all fast.”

Red light flared across my pendant and all three vampires attacked at once.

The creepy one charged Zora again while the other two came straight for me. Zylas materialized with his dark claws slashing. He sprang between the two vampires, striking both simultaneously. A whirling kick sent one vampire flying past me. She hit the refrigerator headfirst and bounced off, the dented door swinging open.

Zylas exchanged swift blows with his second opponent. As the first one climbed to her feet, shaking her head back and forth as though stunned, I threw my full weight into the fridge door. It slammed shut on her head.

Across the living room, Zora darted side to side, frantically evading her adversary. A spell glowed on her left wrist, not doing anything as far as I could see. The vampire circled her, his attacks swift but playful. He was toying with the petite sorceress.

As the vampire pounced again, laughing nastily, she whipped her sword around. The tip of the blade nicked the vamp’s arm—and a shimmer ran up the length of steel. Silver runes flashed across the vampire’s arm and over his shoulder.

Beside me, the female vampire pushed backward off the fridge, wobbling unsteadily after the second impact to her skull. Before I could panic, Zylas slid across the island counter. He slammed both feet into the vampire, knocking her back into the open fridge. Condiment bottles tumbled to the floor.

He grabbed the door and swung it shut on her torso—but with exponentially more power than I had. Plastic shattered, metal warped, and bones crunched.

At the other end of the room, Zora’s opponent was no longer playful. Silver runes glowed on his side and he kept lurching and stumbling, one half of his body moving much slower than the other.

The third vampire leaped over the counter. Zylas met him with open claws and tried to ram his fingers between the man’s ribs. The vampire twisted away, then struck Zylas in the chest. The demon slammed into the fridge, crushing the female vampire all over again.

With a furious shriek, she flung the door open, throwing Zylas forward. Unhampered by her broken bones, she lunged for his back. The other vampire sprang at his front.

The terrifying memory of pointed fangs sinking into his skin flashed through me.

“Ori eruptum impello!” I yelled.

My new artifact flashed brightly and a dome of pale light burst from it. It expanded outward—and everything it touched was flung away from it: a toaster, a knife block, a drain tray full of dishes—

—and the two vampires and demon in front of me.

The vampires slammed into the counters on either side while Zylas was blasted across the length of the kitchen. He landed hard on his back, ten feet away. The fridge door slammed yet again and all the glass inside shattered.

My mouth hung open.

The vampires jumped back up, and Zylas rolled to his feet, shooting me his meanest glare. I winced guiltily.

Note to self: don’t use spell against my demon.

Exchanging a look, the vampires split—one facing me and one facing Zylas. My face went cold. My artifact needed time to recharge before I could use it again. I was defenseless, and I couldn’t even use the sidestep evasion technique Zylas had taught me because there was nowhere to go.

The two vampires charged.

Daimon, hesychaze!

Zylas dissolved into red light. The blaze of power streaked across the kitchen, passing right through the vampires, and hit the infernus. He reformed in front of me, claws flashing. He caught the vampire’s reaching arm, planted his foot on the man’s side, and wrenched.

I almost passed out on the spot when the vampire’s arm tore off his body.

A shriek jerked my attention away from the bloodletting. I expected to see Zora on the floor, but it was the vampire scuttling backward, spitting with rage and bleeding from multiple wounds he seemed unaware of. The spell that had slowed him down had faded, but one of his legs was dragging awkwardly, half severed.

He shuffled backward and Zora, several spells glowing over her wrists, drove him into the bedroom. They disappeared inside. A heartbeat of silence—then a burst of golden magic. The wave of force caught the bedroom door and swung it shut with a bang.

I whirled back to Zylas and the remaining two vampires. Now! Quickly!

Crimson magic blazed up his arms. Six-inch talons extended from his fingers, and he buried them in the nearer vampire’s chest. As the creature fell, the female vampire backpedaled in fright. Zylas stretched out his hand and two glowing triangles snapped around his wrist.

Power blazed and a spear of red light shot across the kitchen and struck the female vampire in the chest. She keeled over backward, a hole through her heart.

The bedroom door remained safely closed, and I let out a relieved sigh as Zylas banished the telltale glow of crimson from his hands. Stepping over the mess, I headed toward the bedroom to check if Zora was okay.

I got two steps and froze.

Zora was okay. I could see she was okay because she was standing in the bathroom doorway. The bathroom. Not the bedroom, even though I’d seen her go into the bedroom. The two rooms … they must be connected.

She was standing in the doorway, sword in hand and her face deathly white. If I’d had any hope she hadn’t seen Zylas’s magic, her horrified expression immediately dispelled it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Zora’s gaze darted between me and my demon, and her hands tightened on the hilt of her sword.

Zylas shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, his fingers curling and claws glinting.

Daimon, hesychaze!

His head snapped toward me, disbelief and fury briefly touching his face before his body melted into glowing power. Crimson light leaped into the infernus and I closed my hand around the pendant.

Just stay there, I told him urgently. Let me handle this.

The silver buzzed under my hand, then went quiet. I exhaled shakily.

Zora slowly raised her sword. “So … does this mean you don’t plan to kill me now that I know you’re an illegal contractor?”

“Of course I won’t k-kill you.” I wished my voice wasn’t shaking. “Let me explain.”

“Illegal contracts are illegal,” she snapped. “Most of them come with a death sentence for the contractor. And yours isn’t just a loose contract—your demon was using magic. How?”

She again shifted her grip on her sword, the long blade wavering, and I noticed the blood dripping from her elbow. The vampire had raked her upper arms with his claws.

I twisted my hands together. “Zora, please—”