by Carly Hansen
The three figures stopped climbing for a second and looked in Fenix’s direction. She had nowhere to hide, so they all must have seen her.
The vampire on the crane signaled to the one on the ladder to continue climbing, and they ignored her.
Fenix was disappointed not to see their bodies burst into flames.
It looked like she was going to need that stake after all.
She exhaled in disgust. These were vampires under Micha’s authority.
Or at least, they’d taken the serum. Maybe they were rebels of some sort. Or they got their protection against the sun from a source other than Micha’s serum.
She couldn’t bring herself to think that these vampires, who were most certainly linked to the kidnapping of the girl, were acting under Micha’s orders.
But there was no time to process this any further.
Fenix had no clue what these three were after in this warehouse, but she knew what she wanted—answers. She needed them two hours ago, and she was certain she’d have to use some heavy persuasion to get them now.
She bounded toward the crane.
The man in the purple robe must have climbed fully onto the conveyor belt because Fenix couldn’t see him anymore.
The vampire, however, had got only halfway up the crane.
Fenix stood at the bottom and yelled out, “Where’s the girl?”
Startled, the vampire on the crane lost his footing and slid down a couple of feet.
The other one, on the ladder at the far end of the conveyor belt, stopped climbing. He turned his shoulder and peered down at her.
“What did you do to the girl?” Fenix shouted.
The vampire above her hissed a curse, then signaled to the other one on the ladder to continue climbing.
What did a girl—disguised as a boy—have to do to get a little sustained attention around here?
Fenix swung her hand back and let the stake go flying up toward the vampire.
It met the back of his skull with a clunk.
He let go of the crane and came hurtling down.
Fenix ducked out of the way just as the vampire landed on his back.
He moaned. He must have cracked a vertebra or two. An ordinary human would not have survived such a fall. But Fenix was certain the vampire would heal by the time she could scramble to retrieve the stake.
As soon as she picked up the weapon, she sensed a presence looming over her. She looked over her shoulder, and, sure enough, the vampire was baring his fangs and staring daggers at her.
He lurched toward her. She didn’t have enough time to turn to attack him, so she fired a back kick at his kneecap.
His body jerked and he stumbled backward.
Seemed it didn’t hurt him one bit. It just made him mad.
Suddenly, the vampire plowed into her. Pain stabbed her in the back where he head-butted her. Her fingers released the stake, and she fell flat on her face.
The vampire’s cold, heavy body came crashing down on her. Fenix wriggled and scraped the floor, struggling to break free. She managed to worm her way from under him, but he caught her foot and dragged her. The hem of her T-shirt rolled up as she slid toward him. The bare flesh on her stomach stung as the floor grated her skin.
The vampire grabbed her arm and yanked her up. He spun her around to face him.
With his large hand, he went for her throat. His long, bony fingers pressed against her veins. He was so strong he raised Fenix off the ground with one hand. Her feet and arms dangled limply.
With her circulation and air supply cut off, she began to feel faint.
This could so easily be the end, a voice in her mind said.
It wasn’t her talking. It was Twain’s voice that she heard in her head.
Stupid, Fenix, he said. Alda would be mad as hell to so stupidly lose one of her helpers for something that had nothing to do with her work.
Her mind fought back.
She was not stupid!
And this was not going to be the end of her!
Her hands tingled as the needles pricked her palms. But she didn’t need magical firepower. She willed her hands and arms to move, drawing them up as high as she could. She made the shape of two “Vs” with her index and middle fingers. Then she brought her hands down, stabbing her fingers into the vampire’s eyes.
He immediately released her and bent over, clutching his face.
Fenix fell to the ground and scampered over to where the hawthorn stake lay.
The vampire was still holding his face when she got to her feet. He was much taller than her. She’d need to gain some height to effectively get at his heart.
She punched the vampire in the head as she ran past him.
Enraged, he came tearing after her.
She headed to the ladder and clambered up the first few steps. Just as the vampire reached her, she spun around and hurled herself at him.
The stake plunged right into his heart.
Screeching, the vampire fell backward. She landed on top of him. His cold body cushioned her fall, but immediately sparked and went up in smoke.
Fenix rolled away, exhaling sharply.
Decaying vampire was not the sweetest aroma in the world.
Getting to her feet, she dusted herself off. She grabbed the stake from the last plumes of smoke and scrambled up the ladder.
There was not a moment to lose.
She’d destroyed one vampire, and, if it came to it, she would take out the other.
But she had to keep at least one of the three strangers alive.
Her preference was for the figure in the purple robe. Fenix knew he’d been with the kidnappers in the alley when they’d taken the girl. If any of the three could lead her to the girl, surely it was him.
Fenix got to the top of the ladder. It was a dizzying height. Her heart thumped as she focused on the metal conveyor belt. She didn’t dare look down.
It wasn’t so much the height that struck terror into her heart. It was the rolling pins of the conveyor belt.
Balancing on a platform forty feet off the ground that was two feet across was one thing. Managing to stay on it when each step caused the surface to shift under her feet was quite another.
She stepped cautiously onto the silver pins. Even so, they turned slightly, and she had to stretch her hands out at the sides to steady herself.
The vampire was just ahead with his back turned to her. He lumbered forward, hunched over, with his arms also held out to the sides.
Beyond him was the man in the purple robe. His arms were also outstretched, but he was moving faster. He was heading back toward the crane, which he’d climbed earlier.
“Hey!” Fenix called out.
The vampire stopped and swung his head around to look over his shoulder. His fiery eyes rested on Fenix for just a second. Then he bolted forward to catch up to the man in the purple robe, who hadn’t stopped.
Throwing concerns over the pins out of her mind, Fenix dashed forward.
“Hey, you!” she shouted again.
The man in the purple robe threw his head back to look at her. He stumbled forward, and the vampire dived at him.
The fanged one caught the man in the robe by the sleeves, and the two wrestled with each other.
The rickety conveyor belt buckled, and Fenix’s heart skipped a beat. The rusted thing could collapse at any moment if they kept going at each other like that.
“Hey, watch it, you two!” she cried.
The man in the robe yanked his arm away from the vampire. His entire body jerked back. He lost his footing. As he tumbled off the conveyor belt, he grabbed hold of the edge of it.
Only the tips of his fingers kept him from hurtling to the ground.
The vampire rushed forward. He raised his foot, as if about to stamp on the man’s fingers.
Suddenly, a blinding ball of fire exploded on the conveyor belt.
Out of the orange flames stepped a massive lion with a glorious mane.
As the wisps
of fire disappeared, Fenix had to shake her head and blink. She looked at the creature again. Her eyes couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Chapter 20
Two enormous red wings extended from the sides of the lion’s muscular body.
Projecting out of the lion’s back was a long, gray neck, topped by a goat’s head, with curved horns and piercing, red eyes.
A snake danced behind the lion and was attached to the beast where its tail should have been.
Fenix had read of the Chimera in books she’d found in Alda’s lair, but never thought she’d lay eyes on it. Her jaw hung in awe. She stood transfixed at its frightening and powerful body.
The creature swished its tail. The snake swung around toward the front and shot out its forked tongue.
The vampire inched back, visibly trembling. But he seemed to regain his focus. He turned away from the Chimera and raised his foot again, aiming for the fingers of the man in the purple robe.
The Chimera leaped forward, roared, and blasted long trails of fire from its nose.
The vampire turned away from the flames and ran.
He came pelting toward Fenix.
The conveyor belt jerked. Fenix bent her knees, waving her hands up and down to maintain her balance.
The Chimera stomped after the vampire, shaking the rusty conveyor belt even more.
The desperation in the vampire’s eyes as he came at Fenix told her that he was not about to let her block his escape. He would certainly shove her out of his way. She would fall to her death.
Fenix wanted to turn—to run ahead of the vampire and scuttle back down the ladder, but she couldn’t. Her feet felt leaden, incapable of being moved.
As the vampire reached Fenix, he stretched out his hands to push her aside.
Holding the hawthorn stake tightly, she thrust her upper body forward. The stake plunged into the vampire’s chest. He cried out as he disintegrated in a burst of sparkles and smoke.
Fenix batted the smoke away and found herself staring into the fearsome eyes of the Chimera. Her immediate thought was to thrust the stake like a spear, aiming for one of those eyes.
But she couldn’t.
Her upper body now felt just as paralyzed as her feet.
Thoughts of the many ways the beast could do her in raced through her mind.
A blast from its nostrils would roast the flesh on her bones. Or, if the beast swiped with its giant paw, it could rip the flesh right off her skeleton. The goat head could butt her off the conveyor belt. Or the Chimera could swish its tail and the serpent could strike her down with its venom.
The conveyor belt creaked and buckled. A faint plume of dust rose, and Fenix thought of another way this beast could be the end of her.
Its massive weight was about to bring this aged structure crashing down.
The Chimera raised its head and roared.
Fenix’s heart pounded.
She closed her eyes.
This is it, she told herself.
She couldn’t move a muscle to save herself.
“Get away from him!” a voice boomed. It came from beyond the Chimera.
Fenix flung her eyes open. She was surprised to see Micha climb to the top of the crane and jump onto the conveyor belt.
“I said get away from her!”
His voice filled the cavernous building. The echo amplified the wrath that drenched his words.
The Chimera turned to face Micha. The conveyor belt groaned as the creature shifted its weight.
Fenix felt sure that one of the brackets that held up the belt must have fallen off because the platform jerked and took on a slight incline under her feet. A soft ping sounded as something hit the floor.
Micha paid no attention to the increased danger. He barreled toward the Chimera with outstretched arms and bared teeth.
The creature sent out a blast of fire, and Micha threw himself down onto the surface of the conveyor belt. Clutching the sides of the platform, he slid his body along the steel pins.
He rolled himself far enough to grab hold of one of the Chimera’s front paws. Moving so fast that he was just a blur, he pulled himself up along the creature’s leg and grabbed its mane. Micha’s eyes glowed a frightening red. They were as brilliant and terrifying as those of the goat that stared down at him.
Micha parted his lips and showed a mouthful of sharp teeth. His incisors had grown into deadly looking fangs.
Fenix’s heart thumped, and she shuddered inside.
Micha drew his head back, and, going in for the kill, swung his face toward the Chimera’s shoulder.
The beast roared, yanked its neck and paw away, and got up on its hind legs. It came down hard, but missed Micha. He’d curled his chest away, just in time.
Metal creaked. The platform shook and vibrated. The sound of soft pings echoed as parts of the conveyor belt rained down on the floor.
This was not looking good.
With a loud crack, the conveyor belt snapped in two.
Fenix suddenly unfroze, dropped flat on her stomach, and held on for dear life. Her body tumbled over as the section of the platform she was on swung down toward the ladder.
She was now on her back as her fingers held on to the sides of the belt, feeling as if she’d torn every muscle in her shoulder. She couldn’t hold on much longer.
Micha held on tight to the other section of the broken platform as it swung in the opposite direction, toward the crane.
The man in the purple robe was on that section of the conveyor belt, too. He lost his grip and went plunging down.
The Chimera was suspended in the air. It had flapped its wings as soon as the conveyor belt had split under it. Now it dove toward the man in the robe.
Fenix’s section of the broken machinery slammed against the ladder and juddered.
Pain stabbed her shoulders. Her fingers couldn’t hold on any longer. They came loose from the sides of the platform, and her body slid down.
Her mind went blank. All sounds ceased, and time seemed to slow down as she felt herself falling…falling…falling. Falling to what she was certain would be the end of her.
The other section of the conveyor belt banged against the crane. Suddenly, Micha let go and thrust himself into the air. He splayed his arms and…
Fenix couldn’t believe her eyes.
He came shooting through the air, right at her.
He was horizontal, and he was flying!
Just as Fenix was a few feet away from splatting to the ground, Micha caught her in his arms.
********
They continued traveling like that in the air for a short distance, with Fenix curled against Micha’s cool chest.
Slowly, he lowered his legs. They slowed down until his feet touched the ground. He bent his knees and gently lay her on the ground.
Fenix felt faint. She was sure her face was as white as Micha’s suit. She was about to pass out, but she held onto Micha’s lapels.
“The man in the purple robe,” she said. “I need to talk to him about the girl.” She lifted her head and looked across at the base of the crane.
The Chimera landed on the ground, carrying the man by the scruff of his purple robe, much like a lioness would carry her cub. The beast laid the man down. His hands flopped to his sides as if he were a ragdoll.
Micha got up and bounded over to Chimera. He stood before it with clenched fists.
The creature stepped back from the figure on the ground. It lifted its head and stared at Micha.
The two remained in this face-off stance for a few seconds.
Fenix wanted to cover her eyes and ears to prepare for the fight she expected to come, but she was too weak to even lift her hands.
The Chimera stepped back a few paces. The tail danced forward, and the snake’s head, the goat’s head, and the lion’s head all held Micha in their gaze.
It was as if the creature was studying him.
Its bulging muscles seemed to relax. The glowing red eyes on the goat soft
ened in intensity. The lion opened its powerful jaws and let out a deafening roar.
A blazing orange light flashed, blinding Fenix for a second.
When she looked again, the Chimera was gone.
Micha stepped forward and bent down to the man in the purple robe.
Fenix could no longer keep her head up. She lay back down, flat on her back, and closed her eyes.
The sound of metal clattering came from where she’d last seen Micha and the man. It reverberated in her ears. Her head was spinning. She felt nauseous and disoriented. Her arms and shoulders throbbed with pain. The rest of her felt paralyzed.
She had no idea how long she had lain there.
After a while, she became vaguely aware of strong arms scooping her off the ground.
When she came to, her head was leaning against Micha’s cool, broad shoulder. She was completely off the ground. He cradled her against him, one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. Every molecule in her body buzzed.
With long strides, he exited the musty warehouse. The sun had broken the horizon by this time. Although the light was still low, the contrast from the dark building hurt her eyes.
Fenix turned her head to shield her eyes from the sun, and something rough brushed against her cheek.
When her eyes adjusted, she noticed some sort of rubbery material strapped around Micha’s torso. It formed an “X” across the front of his now-soiled suit and continued behind him.
Fenix raised her head and looked over Micha’s shoulder.
A strap extended from his back and connected to what looked like a makeshift toboggan. It was a rough thing, slapped together with bits of metal, wire, and rubber from the conveyor belt.
The man in the purple robe lay on it. With wire tightly wound around his limp body, he remained in place even as the contraption jerked and bounced with every step Micha took.
Fenix laid her head back on his shoulder.
“It’s all right,” he whispered. “I’ll get you home now.”
The strength of this vampire, who effortlessly carried her weight and that of the man he’d harnessed to him, contrasted with the gentleness of his cool fingers against her flesh.
