Page 41 of Of Flame and Fury
“Careful, boys,” I tell the vamps. “You don’t want to anger those little plants.”
I steal a glance at Emme. She blinks back. Yeah, my girl understands.
“You think me or Master Fate cares?” His lascivious gaze returns to Celia. “She’s all we want.”
“MasterFate?” Shayna clarifies. She looks at me. “Am I the only one who thought he said masturbate?”
“No.”
“Nope.”
Even Emme shakes her head.
The vamp does not approve of the reference. The Nytes do, cracking up in a way that does nothing to ease the tension in the room.
“Shut up,” he tells them.
They continue laughing anyway, so caught up in whatever they’re feeling they don’t notice Emme’s building power. Like the other Nytes, they border on mindless, following orders of their master instead of strategizing.
“Looks to me like you’re not even in charge,” I say. “These dumbasses don’t even respect you.” I grin. “Or is it Johnny who’s laughing at you?”
“You know nothing of the master.” The vamp storms forward, his pride getting in the way of business.
He whips around, sensing Emme’s magic a little too late. “What are you doing?” he demands.
In a windstorm of movement, the rear door bursts open, and every snapdragon in the greenhouse comes at us.
The saplings, irritated from lack of water and from being yanked from their posts without permission, elongate their stems and leaves to absurd lengths, wrapping around anything they can reach.
Celia hauls Emme and Bridette away, sparing them from the snapdragons’ wrath. The Nytes who held Emme and Bridette don’t stand a chance. The saplings cocoon them, entrapping their shadowy forms long enough for Shayna to behead them. The remaining vamps scatter, vanishing beneath the rows of stands and cowering in the shadows.
Celia overturns an entire row. It crashes onto a Nyte trying to escape on the other side. Celia launches herself on him, straddling his shoulders and tearing his head off.
Hmm. Yeah. We’re supposed to be protecting her.
The snapdragons lose their shit; so do all the remaining plants. Emme holds them off by pushing them away from us and into the swarm of Nytes.
Enchanted rose bushes tear the solidifying Nytes to pieces with their deadly thorns. A thyme bush snags a fleeing Nyte by the ankles and beats him against the concrete, crushing his skull and spilling the contents across the concrete.
I’m zapping every shadow zooming past me attempting to flee or fight. My lightning shocks them, solidifying body parts the plants latch onto and punish.
Shayna is a woman possessed. She pivots from side to side, avoiding the plants reaching for her and swinging her sword with precision. Heads roll, literally, and black fluid sprays across the floor.
We’re so busy fighting the vamps and staying clear of the enchanted plants and trees, it takes me a moment to realize the real vampire is gone, and so is Bridette.
I clasp a charging Nyte by the throat and slam him on the concrete. “Where is your master?” I demand.
The thing hisses, his tongue lapping frantically, trying to taste me. The lower part of his body dissolves into a shadowy form. Sparky lights up with power, preventing him from fully vanishing. “Where is your master?” I scream.
A throaty hiss mixed with a sneer shakes through his core, rattling me. It’s unsettling, so is the creature’s voice. “Nyte has come. Nyte will end you.”
I clench my teeth. “You’re wrong.”
Sparky squeezes without my consent, cracking the multiple bones that make up its throat. The Nyte’s eyes bulge, and his tongue lashes in circles. Sparky wants him to suffer. I just want this to end. I take over, averting my gaze as I snap his neck.
The Nyte falls limp, what remains of him soiling the ground.
A rather perturbed snapdragon reaches out and smacks me across the face. I smack it back. “We’re on the same side, asshole!” I yell.