Page 93 of Midnight Kiss

It was the weirdest thing, to press my hands outward as I reached them, and watch them fly across the room like ragdolls. Hit the walls. Scream. It made me sick to my stomach, giddy with excitement, a mixture of both.

I hated it, but I wanted this power. I wanted to free myself.

One of the vampires, the tall one, rose and rushed toward me. But he bounced away as if he’d collided with an invisible barrier. The short vampire tried and encountered the same shield, bouncing away and hissing.

I had no idea what was going on, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. After being afraid and weak for so long, it was amazing to feel so powerful. Invincible.

“The keys to the door?” I asked.

The tall vampire hissed at me. “You won’t get anything from us.”

“Karn will come back any minute,” the short vampire said. “He’ll see her like this, and we’re going to be the ones who get in trouble.”

Another hiss.

And then they attacked as one.

A pulse of power emanated off me, forcing them back so fast and hard that they struck the opposite walls of the chamber. The taller vampire’s head cracked against the wall, and he rolled over onto his front. The shorter one screamed.

“The keys,” I repeated.

But neither of them listened. They wanted me dead. They were afraid, and it wasn’t of me. It had to be because of Karn.

If I had somehow gotten his powers, or a portion of them, and this was the result, he had to be incredibly strong.

The vampires attacked again, and I released another of those pulses. This time, it cracked the dungeon door open so hard that it banged against the outside wall.

I’m escaping. I’m leaving.

Hope burgeoned in my chest. This was it. I’d done it.

And I wasn’t sick anymore.

I ducked out into the corridor alone and started walking up it. A whisper sounded in my mind, one that sounded exactly like Alex’s voice. Emily. Emily, where are you?

“Alex?” I shouted. “Alex? Are you here?”

“Emily!” The call came from further down the hall to the right.

Behind me, the vampires darted out of the hall and chased after me. “Don’t let her get away. If she escapes?—”

I cast a hand behind me, and red light pinned them against the wall and held them there. Their mouths filled with it, and I stopped myself before I could do anything worse. I turned away and continued down the stone hallway, a strange sense of calmness taking over.

A little of the power was gone. I sensed the shield around me was smaller, but it didn’t matter. I was fine. Nothing could touch me.

“Emily?” Alex’s voice again.

None of this made sense to me, but for the first time since I’d fallen ill, I felt good again. Like I could help.

But why help the vampire who had lied to me? Was this where he’d brought the book? Were these horrible creatures a part of his coven?

I entered the room, heart pounding.

Ezekiel stood in the center of it, his hands out, magic pulsing from his palms. Alexander darted forward, diving toward him, and they collided, teeth gnashing. An explosion of magic sent me backward, and I let out a shocked cry.

Alexander's gaze darted toward me. “Emily?”

Hadn’t he called me here?