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They threw it at Cara.
She yelled something and threw her hands into the air, and then Nick lost sight of her. The bookcase hurtled at her and slammed against the corner of the floor and the wall, and dust and debris exploded into the air.
She finished the spell, Nick knew that, but he couldn’t see her. He should have panicked, but something stopped him, and he turned to the vampires.
She must have been behind the bookcase, or she was under it. There was a gap in the space between the wall and the floor, beneath the bookcase. She must have been there. She cast a spell. She was fine. She had to be.
Jay sent another vampire flying through the air, and he hit the door frame with a sickening crack of wood and bone, but it only took a few moments before he was standing again. Nick rushed to help Jay.
Jay threw out his hand again and one of the vampires smacked his arm down and grabbed him. His legs were kicked out from under him, and he landed hard on his knees with a vampire standing over him. Teeth flashed and a vicious snarl filled the room.
Jay tried to use magic but another vampire grabbed his arms and twisted them sharply behind his back. He cried out, and Nick stopped. He couldn’t beat the vampires. If two witches with magic couldn’t beat them, he didn’t stand a chance.
He took a step to the side and used his full strength to smash the iron poker through the window.
Sunlight flooded the room. The vampires screamed and turned to run, but the sunlight hit them. They burst into flames within seconds, and they stumbled, screaming, and Nick stepped back. The poker fell from his hand and he stared at them as they died.
“Nick,” Jay gasped.
Jay was still on his knees, squinting against the sudden sunlight. He rubbed his arms and watched the vampires as they collapsed. Eventually, they stopped moving, and their charred remains turned to ash.
“If the entire building didn’t know about us already, they definitely know now,” Jay said.
Nick helped him stand, but he didn’t speak.
“Thanks,” Jay said.
Nick waited until he was sure that he could speak. “Sure. No problem.”
“I’m serious,” Jay said. “Cara and I couldn’t have done it without you. Hey, you’re bleeding, one of them must have caught your arm-”
Nick didn’t hear the rest, he was already rushing to the bookcase. He dug through the debris, pulling at chunks of wood, and he barely noticed the splinters cutting his skin. He couldn’t get to the bottom, but he could see through the gap he broke through.
Cara wasn’t there. There was nothing but a dark hole covered in huge pieces of wood, floor and debris.
She was gone.
***
Chapter 20 - Cara
It was dark.
Pain clouded her senses, and she could barely move her arms, but she knew she was trapped underneath something. Falling. She remembered falling.
Cara pushed herself out of the wreckage with a groan. Everything hurt. Her magic was already coursing through her body. Heat washed over her, focusing in some places more than others, and she let her instincts guide the power to the places that needed it most. Her right arm, her shoulder, her thigh.
Pain flashed and faded, flashed and faded, and her magic focused on her left ankle. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t focus her thoughts. There was too much happening, and it took all her concentration to channel the healing magic through her body.
She let the heat flow, and slowly, the pain faded. She couldn’t see anything, but she could feel the blood on her skin. It was hot and wet, and she felt panic bubbling up in her throat.
There was a lot of blood, and she tried not to think about what would have happened without her magic. She couldn’t think about it now. She was alive, and she had to get out of here. She could already feel how tired she was. The magic drained her strength, and she had to concentrate to try and stand up.
Splinters and dust fell from her hair and her clothes as she stood, and she took a few steps forward, testing her legs. Her ankle was still stiff, despite all the healing, and she was suddenly glad she couldn’t see it.
Fire flickered in the darkness, and she raised her hand, lifting the flame higher. The orange light spilled over broken pieces of wood and stone, and around the edges of the room, she saw old furniture. Chairs, tables, a dirty mattress on the floor. It looked like they used this room for storage, or dumping things they couldn’t be bothered enough to throw out.
Cara turned and looked up at the hole she must have fallen through. It was dark and blocked by something big. The bookcase, she remembered. Even if she could climb up somehow, she couldn’t get through.
