Chapter 112

I jumped out of bed, Candido was just behind me.

“Give me a status update. Injured. Damage.”

“It just started, but they’ve already leveled half of downtown.”

My stomach turned as I raced back to my room to get dressed. My Blue Moon phone was ringing. I answered it.

“Pandora, we’re mobilizing ever agent in the Full Moon capital area for search, rescue, and evacuation.”

“I’m on it.”

I put on my tennis shoes and athletic gear before grabbing a hoodie. The door opened to reveal Claire. Her eyes were filled with red light.

“What is it?”

“It’s vampires,” Claire said. “Francium said I should warn you about what they’re using.”

I frowned, “What does that mean? I thought he gave us all the information—”

“He did, about their plans. This is news from Francia.”

My eyes widened. “And where… is she?”

“I don’t know,” Claire said, falling into step with me as we headed back downstairs. There was a jeep parked at the back of the estate, marked with the Blue Moon symbol. Francium was there, looking a bit agitated. He turned stiffly.

“What?” Claire asked. “What now?”

“They’re using a lot of magic to cause chaos. Mom had eyes on them… there’s at least a hundred vampire heading towards the city.”

“A hundred?” I asked as Candido came towards us, masked and hooded. His eyes glinted with moon light. “How could… How could there be that many?”

Francium frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I thought that vampires were… mostly dead after the war,” I said. “That Damian just had a small force. Fifty people at most.”

Francium shook his head. “We don’t have the time to go in the details. Damian’s been cultivating a force for decades if not longer.”

My stomach churned and for a moment, I heard Francia’s words again.

Childish. It was so childish to think that because we had been in peace that they weren’t developing a large force, especially with everything that has been happening recently. I looked at Claire and worried my lip.

Werewolves could be turned into vampires. How many missing people had been turned? How many corpses had walked out of the morgue or worse and not reported? The only reason Claire’s missing body became such an issue was because of my investigation and Allen’s position.

I climbed into the jeep. “Let’s get going.”

Candido climbed into the back, leaning back against the bar as the jeep cranked up. Francium frowned.

“She says they’re coming from the west.”

“But Red Moon’s…” I shook my head. “The caves? Are there more of them coming?”

“I don’t know,” Francium said. “She hasn’t said.”

“How is your mother getting this information?” Candido asked stiffly.

“Well, she’s currently an owl,” Francium said wryly. “Given her a bit of time and she might be able to tell you where Damian is.”

“And he’s just one prince,” Candido said gravely. “I get the sense that this battle is bigger than we ever thought.” He scoffed. “I’m feeling more childish by the moment.”

I placed a hand on his. “You’re not childish… We couldn’t have known.”

“Arrogant, then,” he said. “Thinking that everything we’d been doing was enough of a deterrent.”

“No one knows the future,” Francium said.

We turned and crested over the hill that overlooked the capital. In the distance, I saw a plume of smoke coming from downtown. I smelled smoke and burning flesh like a barbecue. My stomach churned. I could almost feel the heat on my face.

“Is that… real?”

Candido took my hand. “It is, but you’re going to be fine. I’ll protect you and if things get too—”

“No,” I said. “I’m not leaving you behind.”

“You’ll leave if I tell you to.” I glared at him. “I’m not talking to you as your alpha right now.”

I drew back. “You’re pulling rank.”

“Yes, I am. This is more than anything else you’ve dealt with before.”

I scoffed. “It’s more than you’ve ever dealt with too. Last I checked when they attacked us in the forest, you needed more help than I did.”

Candido turned to me. “I’m telling you, Pandora, to retreat if I say so.”

I looked up at him. “I’m telling you, Armageddon, that I’ll do what I think is right.”

His eyes narrowed and he turned from me. I felt his irritation, but I didn’t heed him. He was going to be ridiculous about this no matter what I said or did. And there was no way I came all this way to let him run into this alone.

The more I thought about it, what real combat experience did he have? Maybe he’d fought with other werewolves, but fighting vampires was different than fighting a werewolf. I thought about all the photos of the towns that had been attacked before and how all those werewolves had probably all thought they would be fine.

Moon Shadow had been trying to get information and keep vampires out, but we weren’t preparing for war.

Childish. I thought again. “Arrogant.”

“We’re almost there!” The driver called over the wind. “I’m headed straight into downtown, where the bulk of the damage was done.”

People were screaming and running. People were streaming out of the buildings and scurrying away. I heard someone shriek as a figure dropped down on them. Claire leaped off the jeep as we rode past, catching the other figure in the air and slamming them into the wall. I turned back as Francium leaped out just after her and went to her. I heard the snap of the man’s neck as the wind howled around me.

I didn’t know what to think or what to say. I had known that there would be a fight, but to see it like this was more than I could have ever been prepared for.

It felt too real. The jeep skidded to a stop as we reached city hall. It was on fire. Most people should have been gone for the evening, but the fire was spreading, devouring the high-rise nearby where people were trying to flee from the building. Vampires swarmed through the streets, darting through the crowd, and tackling werewolves to the ground.

“Vampires!” Someone wailed and went down under a figure. She screamed again as the scent of blood grew stronger.

I jumped out of the jeep and went running towards the swarm of vampires. I caught one of them by surprise, tackling them to the ground and off of a man. He choked, holding his neck as blood slid through his fingers. I shoved my dagger in the vampire’s chest. She hissed and scratched me across the face. She turned and threw me off.

I slammed into the brick wall and threw my hands up as someone darted towards me.

Then, I heard her screech.

As I slipped to the ground, the vampire twisted as the flames consumed her. She screeched and vanished into sparking ashes. I turned back towards where Candido was walking towards me. Electricity seemed to spark and jolt around him. His eyes glowed in the shadows.

A group of vampires rushed towards up as the werewolf who had been attacked, twitched, and choked. I turned to try and help stop the bleeding. The man’s eyes went hazy as he grabbed for me. His skin started to turn pale and his eyes turned blank.

Then, he stopped moving. It was the first time I had ever seen someone die. My heart seemed to race and I felt sick.

I turned to Candido looking for some explanation as the group of vampires rushed towards us, but they weren’t all just vampires. Their eyes were wild and filled with light. They were slower than the vampire I’d seen before.

And their eyes were bloodshot. I thought of the pills and I shuddered. How much longer did these people have to live before their blood turned to dust in their bodies?

The air heated around up. A spark of light rushed forward, catching on one of their shoulders before it turned into a raging fire and consumed them. Candido walked through the fire.

It washed around him and grew taller, spilling out from the alley and across the street, devouring the rabid werewolves there and few vampires that weren’t quick enough to get away.

“An elemental!” One of them screamed, darting away. “Get back!”

Elemental was that what vampires called it? I had read the Moon Shadow documents on the way people of awakened bloodlines’ powers manifested. We called it energy manipulation. It was considered really rare and draining to use.

Yet, as I watched the firestorm Candido had unleashed, I couldn’t even speak. The fire burned the few corpses that had been left with gaping holes in their necks from being bitten. Each body seemed to feed the fire, and it grew hire. The air heated, then clouds gathered above us. Thunder rumbled through the sky. Lightning cut through the clouds. Then, the clouds began to open and rain soaked the city.

“Armageddon!”