Power (Soul Savers) (15 page)

Where is everyone?
I asked Tristan. From what Blossom had told me, the area should have been
bustling.

“
Don’t you feel that?
”
he asked in return.

The dark magic? Yeah.
Is it keeping everyone away?

“
That’s what I’m
thinking. Let’s go.
” He took my hand and led me in a flash.

My boots sunk into soft sand, and the rush and crash of
waves sounded from several yards behind me. Far in front of us but easy for my
eyes to see was a street with three-story hotels and condos lining the far side,
restaurants and bars on their ground floors facing the street and beach.

“
Ocean Drive
,”
Tristan said.
“
People should be overflowing the restaurants and sidewalks.
”

Blossom had explained that, too. In South Beach, people lived
on a different clock. She’d told me about the restaurants on Ocean Drive with
their outside seating and aspiring models standing at the entrances with menus,
trying to get passersby to come in and eat dinner—at midnight. Her
description had been so clear, I could actually see it now: colored lights
brightened the art-deco buildings’ fronts; twinkling mini-lights illuminated
the shapes of palm trees; neon signs glowed blue, green, and pink; and
beautiful, tan women in stiletto heels and tight, colorful dresses that barely
covered their goods draped over men handing them umbrella drinks. I could even
hear their laughter and Latin music pumping from the clubs, and smell the
exhaust of traffic.

But the image disappeared as quickly as it’d come. Tonight,
there were no people. No traffic. No music. The only sound and smell came from
the ocean behind us, the salty air filling my nose. Now I understood what the
faeries had meant.

The place was a dead zone.

Tristan suddenly stiffened, and at the same time, I felt the
waves of malevolence undulate over me. My head jerked to look up at him. Sparks
flashed in his eyes. His face was hard as stone.

“
This way
,” he
said between clenched teeth, taking my hand and leading me in another flash
before I could say a thing.

He didn’t take us far. I could still smell salt on the air
and hear the ocean in the distance, echoing down the streets and off the
buildings in the otherwise eerie silence. We stood in the middle of a wide
boulevard and a street sign half-a-block down read Collins Avenue. More hotels
and condos with the funky curves and lines of 1940s-era architecture surrounded
us. Their first-floor nightclubs, though now empty, were illuminated in pastel
colors, contrasting with the dark magic that pressed all around me, making my
skin feel tight and my bones heavy.

I felt as though we’d stepped into another, surreal world of
apocalypse and ghost towns.

A tingle ran up my spine, and I fought the shiver that
wanted to throw it off. The hair on my arms stood on end. My lungs and heart
held still, as if my body was afraid the slightest movement would bring Satan
himself.

A rattling noise echoed down the road, making me jump. My
heart had forgotten its need to stay silent and now raced loudly and painfully
against my ribs. Though no wind blew, a plastic bag swept past my feet, the
city’s version of a tumbleweed.

I slowly exhaled. My heart began to quiet—

HOOOONK!

The horn blared right behind me, and cars, taxis and buses appeared
from nowhere, congesting the street where we stood. Life suddenly teemed around
us as people filled the sidewalks and loud music resonated out of nightclubs. A
bus barreled right toward us, and Tristan and I leapt, hitting the curb at the
last moment. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the way, into the mouth of
another alley. When we turned toward the bustling street, it was once again
deathly silent and empty.

“What the
hell
?” I
whispered, taking a step forward and leaning out of the alley. I jumped back as
the world filled again with sights and smells and a cacophony of noise, right
in front of our eyes. And when it fell silent again, I saw it—a wavering
in the air similar to those produced by cloaks. It was all just an image,
projected by a faerie or a mage to feel real.

Again, the world came to life, but I saw through it this
time. The colors, the sounds, the smells were no longer as vibrant now that I
knew they weren’t real.

“
Something’s wrong.
Let’s get out of here
,” Tristan said as he moved toward the street, but a
streak of silver in the corner of my eye caught my attention. A white-blond
head ducked around the rear of a building at the other end of the alley. I
grabbed the hilt of my dagger and prepared to run.

“
Be ready to fight!
”
possibly-Cassandra warned, which I didn’t understand. Although I’d promised
Tristan no fighting, if I caught up with Vanessa, I didn’t plan on having tea
and a chat. I was already prepared to fight, so why the pep talk? I swept my
thumb over the amethyst in my dagger and unsheathed it.

“No, Alexis!” Tristan growled, but I took off running
anyway, swinging my dagger at my side.

Vanessa’s mind signature disappeared, though, and at the
same time, a big, burly man dressed all in navy blue stepped out of a dark pool
of shadows and into my path. I skidded to a halt, surprised to find a Norman
out after all we’d seen, and annoyed that I’d once again lost the
vampire-bitch.

“What are you doing down here?” his booming voice demanded
as he swung his Billy club in one hand, his other hand on the butt of his gun.

Is he real?
I
asked Tristan, cloaking and sheathing my dagger, in case he was. The cop
certainly looked and sounded and
felt
real. Tristan didn’t say anything, and I looked over my shoulder at him. He
stood where I’d left him, thirty yards away.

“This is no place for tourists,” the cop said as he came
closer. He lifted the club to point at the street behind us. “Get on your way
now. The party’s that way.”

He
was
real. Real
and Norman, and he saw what the Daemoni wanted him to see—his city bustling
with partiers as usual.

As I began to back up, closing the distance between Tristan
and me, a woman appeared right next to the cop and grabbed him in a chokehold.

“That’s all right, officer,” she drawled against his ear,
“we’ll take care of this.”

Her mouth clamped onto his neck. I’d never forget his
blood-curdling screams.

As if those shrieks called them like a siren’s song, several
Daemoni vampires came out of the dark nooks and crannies of the alley. I
blurred to Tristan’s side, but we were surrounded.

The cop’s body sagged to the ground, already drained.

“We can’t exactly advertise that there’s any trouble in this
fabulous playground,” one of the vampires said, waving his white, long-boned
hand in the air to indicate the city. He was shirtless and wore skinny jeans,
showing off the lean muscles that wrapped his thin frame. His narrow hips swung
with a feminine stride as they all sauntered toward us. “Glamor, dark magic,
visions … whatever you want to call it … keeps the Normans happily oblivious.
Of course, you two can see right through it.”

“So glad of you to join our fun,” another said.

We’re flashing, right?
I asked Tristan, though the answer seemed pretty obvious. Unless he’d changed
his mind about fighting, we had no other choice but to leave.

Good thing I didn’t immediately flash without waiting for an
answer, because he didn’t reply. Again. With annoyance, I peeked up at him out
of the corner of my eye, while still trying to keep as many of the Daemoni in
my line of sight as possible.

What n—?
I
started to ask, but his eyes silenced me.

Flames filled them. Just as they had in the past when evil
had been trying to overtake him.

I dipped into his mind, but his thoughts were an incoherent
ball of anger. I couldn’t make sense of them, but hoped he was ready to fight
so we could get the heck out of here. Because the Daemoni had come too
close—close enough to follow our flash trails.

Using my greatest advantage, I opened my mind to hear everyone’s
thoughts. Vanessa and Kali were the last things on their minds. The taste of my
blood was first. I bent my knees, leaned onto the balls of my feet and slid the
silver blade out of its sheath once again right as the first vampire made her
move.

So much for no
fighting
.

“
I’m here with you!
”
possibly-Cassandra said, her voice full of inhuman strength.

They all rushed at me at once. I punched and kicked, twisted
and flipped, knocking two out instantly. Hands grabbed at me, and I swiped my
blade out. Someone hissed as the silver made contact with skin. Their numerous
thoughts became too frenzied for me to keep track, and I had to rely on my
other senses and fighting ability. And more power than I’d ever felt before.

I spun out of another’s grip, and faced a female with fangs
bared. I stifled a cry when their sharp points pierced into my shoulder, and zapped
her with an electric charge, sending her backward several yards. Only to have
another lock me into a chokehold as someone else charged at us.

My hands latched onto the iron-like forearm against my throat
as I brought my knees to my chest, then kicked out at the charger. He flew
back, too. With a forward lunge, I bent forward, flipping the vampire over my shoulders.
He landed on his knees, and I swept my foot up, kicking him in the underside of
his chin. His head snapped back, and he crumpled to the ground.

I couldn’t even catch a breath as two more vampires grabbed
me. Fangs dug deep this time, right into my neck, and I couldn’t contain the
scream. I wailed out loud as I pushed both electricity and Amadis power out of
my body before the vamp had a chance to suck. They screamed louder than me and
disappeared. I shot electricity at the last one in my sight, and he flashed
away, too.

Hands out and ready, I spun toward Tristan to help him.

He just stood there. Just
stood
there.

Had he already fought his share off? He sure didn’t look as
though he’d been fighting. In fact, he didn’t look like he had moved from the
spot I’d left him in when I was attacked. Did they go after him? But even if
they were too scared of him and left him alone, surely he would have helped me.
Right?

His eyes, still bright with fire, stared down the alley, not
even noticing me. His face twisted and contorted as though he fought something
invisible, though his body didn’t move at all. In his head, I found … chaos. A
red haze enshrouded his warring mind, garbling his thoughts into a hot mess. I caught
only a few coherent words such as “hate” and “kill,” and louder than the rest,
“
NO!
”

“Tristan?” I said warily as I swiped my fingers against the
tingling sensation at my neck. They came away wet. I looked at them, surprised
to find them coated in crimson. My hand flew to the wound and pressed down to
staunch the flow. “Tristan! Let’s get out of here!”

I needed him to snap out of it so we could flash. But he
ignored me.

“
More! Be ready,
”
Cassandra warned again.

The smell of my blood must have been a beacon. Every vamp in
the vicinity must have picked up the scent. They blurred at me down the alley,
from the rooftops, from God knows where. A dozen of them, at least.

I hoped the wound would close on its own because I needed my
hands to fight. Again.

Tristan!
I
screamed in his head as I fought off the attackers.

I kicked, hit, and lunged again, but my movements were slow
compared to theirs. Their hands were on me, their fangs slicing across whatever
skin they could reach. My head collided with someone else’s, sending stars
across my eyes. I turned and cartwheeled, swinging my blade out, returning
every gash they gave me.

Tristan!
I yelled
again.
I need you!

His head finally snapped toward me. His eyes lit up
brighter, as if he just now realized what was going on right in front of him.

A little help, please?

He leaned forward as if to lunge, as if to finally fight.
But then he stopped. Frozen in place again. Rage swept over his face and again
he seemed to be fighting something unseen without actually moving. It looked as
though he
couldn’t
move.

I didn’t have time to figure out his problem. I was already
losing my ground. The wounds left by the vampires’ fangs bled freely, sending
them into a shark-like frenzy.

“
Keep going, Alexis
,”
Cassandra said. “
You can do this
.”

The only thing I had left, though, was to pull on all the
Amadis power I had within me and blast it outward.

The energy exploded from me like a bomb.

Vampires shot through the air and landed with sickening
thuds. When they didn’t move, I seized the opportunity. I tried to run to
Tristan, but it was more like I stumbled. I hurt all over. My head throbbed and
my pulse thundered in my ears. But I had to get us out of there.

“Come on,” I said, latching onto his arm. Rather than
embracing me, he simply glared at me with flame-filled eyes. “Tristan! Come on!
Get us out of here!”

He still didn’t move. I wanted to flash away, to go home and
let him help me heal. But he couldn’t have been more uncooperative. He may as
well have been in a different world. I didn’t know if he’d follow my flash, and
I certainly wouldn’t leave him. So I tugged on his arm, pulling him toward
Collins Avenue, with no idea where to go from there. At least he moved. Not
smoothly. Definitely not normally. But he didn’t resist.

After we rounded the corner and made it half a block, my
body gave out.

“Tristan, please,” I begged. “Snap out of it.”

I fell into the doorway of a clothing store, pulling him
down with me. He looked at me with eyes as blank as the mannequins’ faces in
the windows. His thoughts remained elusive. I slapped him across the face. His
eyes tightened a hair.