Page 13 of Vampire Visions

“Alright,” Vaughn said as he stepped off the patio. “Let’s see what you’ve got against me, Druid Princess.” York grinned at his comment. I tilted my head as I thought it through. I guess he was right.

I was a Druid Princess.

Ice crept over the grass between us, making the surface slick. It crawled over my feet and up my ankles, holding me in place as an icicle appeared in Vaughn’s right hand. I didn’t move until he released his weapon, and it came sailing straight at my chest. I slung my arms out, lighting myself completely with hellfire. It was a stupid mistake on my part. Yes, I melted his ice, but I also lit the grass underneath me on fire. Godsdamnit. I was fucking my yard up.

I pulled my flames back in and stomped my bare feet across the ground to put the small fires out. The heat felt welcome against my chilled skin. As I extinguished them, I healed the grass and sent my vines after Vaughn, who’d built an ice dome over himself. The vines whipped about, cracking his shield faster than he could repair it. When his dome fell, I wrapped him in a ball of vines and left him sitting near the patio.

Levi walked over and took out a pocket-knife from his front right pocket, cutting a hole in the vine sphere. “At least you can watch now,” he chuckled. I heard a muted, “Ha. Ha,” come from Vaughn as Stone and Novak sped by me. Cuts morphed on my back and stomach, blood slowly trickling down to the waistband of my tight shorts. I watched them as they healed and then looked around for my next targets.

I surrounded myself with a waist high circle of thin grape vines. When Novak passed me again, they lashed out, catching the vampire around his waist. I strung him up and left him hanging.

Five down, five to go. Everyone that had been caught was still struggling to get free. My yard was overrun with the beginning of my own personal vineyard. Wine anyone? I pushed my intent once more and stared, mesmerized, as new blooms faded into the start of grapes.

Sloane

Tuesday Midday

From the corner of my eye, I saw Sarge walk onto the patio from the kitchen door. The last member of the party had finally arrived. The head of security from my club surveyed the mess I’d made and whistled low under his breath. “Just us left then?” He asked the druid beside him without taking his eyes off of me.

“Yeah,” York confessed. “It’s been fun to watch. I’ve never seen her be so destructive before.”

“It’s a turn on.” Stone nodded his head and adjusted himself.

“I worry about you guys,” Levi confessed to all of them, loud enough for my temporary trophy catches to hear. I promise it’s catch and release. They wouldn’t match my decor, anyway.

“That’s not funny,” Novak called from behind me, hearing my thoughts. His struggle was clear in his voice. He wasn’t done fighting, but he couldn’t get out of my hold.

“I kinda thought it was,” Jack stated from below the vampire. He’d shifted to his human skin to attempt his escape. It wasn’t working any better for him. Now, he was flat on his stomach, only able to lift his head.

“Come on,” I whined. “You guys are all grouped up. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”

“No rules?” Sarge questioned.

“Nope,” Grim replied with a devious grin.

I’d never trained with Sarge before. I wasn’t worried, but I was curious. I knew he was a cross between a shifter and a demon, but he always felt like more of a shifter. I had no idea which was which parent or what he was, though. I studied him from my place in the yard, trying to pick him apart like I had done to that grape at brunch. I could read his mind, but no enlightening thoughts crossed it, only general excitement and the need to stretch. That confused me.

Stone slowly walked forward, morphing into his pitch black demon form as his clothes fell away from his body. He grew before my eyes, and I drank it all in. His tail calmly swayed from right to left as he watched me watching him. He spread his leathery wings out to their full length. Adjusting the small armor plates that covered the vulnerable spots on his demon body, he continued to stare me down.

My wings didn’t look like his anymore. Somehow my demon form was still able to fly, but I had no leathery skin to cover them. Only hellfire in its purest form. My demon was the opposite of Stone’s. It made me appear delicate and breakable, like expensive china. The kind you liked to look at but never eat from. I wouldn’t fight him as a demon. That was always my last resort. Shit would go downhill quickly if I brought the little devil out to play. It was best to keep her locked up tight. I couldn’t afford to let her slip again. She’d…

Stone surged forward. Two flaps of his wide set wings had him reaching me in a millisecond. He grabbed me under my arms and shot straight up. Thirty, fifty, one hundred feet in the air, he climbed and climbed… Until he didn’t.

He stopped abruptly. Floating in the air high above my yard, he pulled me closer to him so we were face to face, and he kissed me fast and fierce. My tongue slid over the sharp teeth in his mouth, my own blood mixing with the heady taste of my demon mate. The next Devil’s equal.

And, he was a cunning bastard.

The moment he felt me relax into him, he grinned against my lips.

Then, the devil-damned asshole let me go.

I… fell.

The first shriek that passed my open mouth was the only sound I made. I bit my lips together and worked to straighten my body. Think, bitch, think! With all the concentration I could muster up, I pushed my intent into the wind, slowing my descent. The light breeze was on my side, catching me and letting me fall like Mary Poppins with her umbrella.

When I was no less than thirty-ish feet from the ground, I dropped my focus and plunged downward. I landed in a crouch with a near silent thud and a loud crack. Motherfucker. I growled to myself when I looked down at my leg. I thought I’d nailed that landing, but apparently not.

It didn’t matter. I just needed to buy myself a couple minutes to set the break and heal it.