SurfAngel_1031

  “Gd you e.” Sylvie curled into Casey’s chest shamefully. “No excuses. I just acted. Casey, darling I am so sorry.” Sylvie ughed and hugged her lhtly theed Vivienne’s French at the best she could. “Ahem…I will endeavor to include you in my future battles, Mon Amore.”

  With the ensuing battle raging beyond the walls of the Mill that the others had taken up, Casey took the tender moment for the two of them and mirrored her mistress and began ughing hard enough to send a few blood-soaked tears down her cheeks. “You shit…You shit…” Casey mao eke out then added her twist to the teasing versation. “Your delightful a did not go unnoticed, Sylvie darling. We will discuss this more ih wheurn home and I have ample time to address the events of this evening…For now rest, if you please.”

  “That erfect.” Sylvie giggled and swiped the blood tears from Casey’s cheek and then licked her fingers. “Thank you, babe, I hat.” Sylvie pulled herself up and kissed Casey and looked towards the doorway where she watched the unfolding battle turn in the vampire's favor. “Looks like Amber is direg things.” Sylvie poio her former blood bunny and smiled.

  “Are you both finished?” Kody quietly walked up to the couple, holding a couple of bottles of blood from the crates that Jessica brought down. “I could have survived without the Vivienne reenat, thanks.” Kody pulled the corks and hahe couple the blood. “Looks like the entire cartel is dead, to include your friend Frank.”

  “He’s about as much our friend as Vivienne is your mother.” Casey stuck her to at Kody, and surprisingly they returhe se. “Was that an actual emotion?”

  Ign the little taunt, Kody squatted down beside Sylvie and Casey. “I have them, I just prefer to trol them.” They got quiet for a few moments until the tiny drone flew into the building and nded quietly oable. “I think you should see something that the drone caught on its way ba, Sylvie.” Fshing their power button eyes a w blue, Kody transferred the footage that the drone captured to Sylvie’s tact lenses. “Since you are kind of the leader here, I thought you should see it first. We didn’t sense anything because of the fighting and we are well…” Kody hesitated, “...We are upwind.”

  Covered in greenish slime and rotting vampire entrails the others stumbled into the room, Kynthia speaking first. “She’s not the leader, we discussed that.” Flipping her purple hair to one side, Kynthia grabbed the first bottle of blood she could reach. “Kody, what the hell did you trao her?” She flung off a few ks of the vampire flesh from her arm, “Ugh…disgusting. I need a shower.”

  “Circumstances were such that she o know before the rest of you.” Kody stood up and walked to his iPad, and transferred the video. “Feel free to look all you want, but this is Sylvie’s ‘town’ and she should see the problem first.”

  A collective gasp came from the group of vampires when the video began pying. Initially showing a soft reddish glow, the camera focused oire subdivisions of the city that had bee abze. Beyond that fires seemed t up in pockets all over. Malls, schools, churches and evey's municipal buildings had caught fire. Matg Sylvie’s vision near perfect, the little drone's camera doted the areas of thick trees popping and throwing pieces of burned brahrough the air.

  “Stars above…” Sylvie sighed as she witnessed a separate portion of Swift Creek boiling into steam and hot enough to burn the ground. “I hoped that this was metaphorical. The city is .. gone.”

  Tappier on the shoulder, Daniel poio Sylvie. “I know you don’t want to put me down…but I need a couple of minutes, you handsome devil.” Smiling wheer gave Daniel a longing look, she leaned up and gave the man a brief kiss. “More ter…Mmh promise.” She winked and on the ground shuffled over to Sylvie. “So sorry.” She grasped Sylvie’s hand, “Do you think your house is part of that?”

  When the recorded video stopped, Kody closed their various devices and offered a question. “Do you think that little attack was a cover for something else?” They walked back to the frorand shook their head seeing the bright red glow that surrouhe city. “Did we really cause this, Sylvie? With Phantasmagoria? Franko never wanted anything like this, you know that, right?” They sat down and slouched in their chair.

  It was Amber who spoke up. “No, Kody.” She walked into the crowd with Jessi tow. “This was all An. I mean, sure it was human magic that destroyed most of the prote, but it was him that broke the final seal and hid it from everyone.” Amber poi her former mistress, “Which he then turned around and bmed Sylvie for all the while w for the White-wraith.” Briefly listening to Jessica whisper in her ear, Amber nodded. “Yeah we should, Jess.” Looking back at the crowd, Amber o the group. “Thanks for letting me show you how to deal with them a little better than Sylvie’s lovely and iive method.” Amber smiled and blew Sylvie a kiss. “Jess and I are going to try and find Veronibsp; We’ve been together so long, It feels like the right thing to do…even though she was careless and well…” Amber did a three-sixty and stopped. “Forced An to make me. I was initially so angry that I attacked her..” She trailed off. “...you know the rest.”

  Having recovered enough to stand with Casey’s help, Sylvie gave her friend a long hug. “Do what you have to Amber, you will be sorely missed.” She cupped Amber’s cheeks. “If you need anything…anything at all, e see Casey and I.” Sylvie watched Amber as she and Jessica left the Mill, then sat down in her chair. “Thank you, sweetheart.” She cooed, “You take such good care of me.”

  Casey resumed her p Sylvie’s p and held her lover firm. “Love means you don’t have to ask, right?” Casey watched as the others flopped in their seats, still pig off body parts and shaking off slime.

  Finally taking a moment to sit up, Kody stated their again. “If it had nothing to do with Phantasmagoria, then why the faside? They…they…” Kody paused as the realization hit them, “That out there…” They shivered lightly in their chair, “...Those shadewraiths came here to die. My god. What are these things?”

  “It is yic that this attack was a diversion to do what? Set the city on fire?” Jason asked and scratched the back of his head. “Something is missing. Why do both, why not just kill us ahe fight?”

  Still trying to the s on her mobile device Brienne grumbled and offered more, “Oo keep us occupied, the other to create chaos and fear…” She stopped and looked at Sylvie. “...build power and find something.” She pihe bridge of her nose. “Probably that book of yours, ‘To Xenagos’.” Noting the looks on her felloires’ faces, Brienne shrugged and wiped her sleeve on her phone. “We ’t hide aire town fire, Sylvie. The veil is broken, someone has had to have seen the Shadewraiths doing it.”

  Leaning ba his chair, Nathaniel popped the legs up and rocked the seat. “At least thanks to Amber, we know some means to fight them successfully.” He rubbed his hands over his fad grumbled, “I just don’t know that I really want to. All of us could just leave the area ahem have the damned pce.” He poiowards the city, “I mean they’ve already wrecked this town, how far could they really take this?” A growing sense of dread rippled through Nathaniel’s mind. “Jesus…I just…” He smmed his chair ba all fours, and grabbed Brienne’s hand. “...The book. If it showed us how to make it, what are the odds it has the information that allows them to permaly trol it?”

  Reag down aing Daniel bato his p, Jason answered the mencholy question. “Truth? I suspect that everything about it is in that damned book, I mean Sylvie and Casey found the means to close it.” Fetting himself for a few seds, Jason took a long and deep breath of Daniel’s hair then whispered, “How did you know…damn…” Once he heard the others lighten the mood with their quick chuckles, Jester cocked a half smile. “Okay, okay. You got me, Daniel owns me..but…” He Nathaniel. “I think you are right. This white-wraith is ing and knows how to dey us and kill us.” Blinking his brown eyes a few times, Jason shook his head. “What’s worse is that she was just fug with us out there.” Jester poio Sylvie. “ you make those bracers? Destroy that portal thing?”

  “Yes.” Sylvie said fidently. “I’ve seen some of what I…we…” She wi Casey and whispered to her progeny and lover, “We…”

  “Now you’re learning.” Casey affirmed.

  “...We have to do, and where I think we have to go. We have a two-fold problem.” Sylvie held up one finger, “They have been all over Casey and I pretty much since we found the book. So I doubt they are just going to stop when we leave this meeting.” Sylvie raised another finger. “It appears that we’ve beerayed by a mage, which isn’t surprising.”

  Pig green goop from her purple hair Kynthia grunted out of disgust and asked, “What mage? What betrayal?”

  “Tatum Bckwell.” Sylvie sighed and saw the surprised look ohers' faces. “We made a deal to get the book. She was supposed to keep the White-wraith occupied while we figured all of this out, she said she wao settle the debt that Denise Crow started.”

  Slowly pag up their gear, Kody secured all of their items to their skinny body and stood up. “I have done my part. I think my debt to my limited part in Phantasmagoria is dohey smiled at Sylvie, “Later when this is finished, I have a few fessions that I o bare to ‘move on’ as Lucy tells me.” Kody took o look at the vampires at the table. “It leasure to meet all of you and I hope things work out for the best.” They turned back to Sylvie, “Are we in agreement? Have I filled my debt?”

  “It will be sad to see you leave, but I uand.” Sylvie ran her fihrough Casey’s copper-strawberry hair, “I think you’ve hohe legacy of Frand Phantasmagoria with grabsp; I’ll take care of the rest.” Sylvie paused, “You’re a great friend, don’t stay gone forever.”

  Waving their hand as it turo a patchwork of metal and steam, Kody nodded. “Once I figure out more, I’ll be back.” A sed ter their meical owl form appeared and took flight, exiting one of the upper windows of the Mill.

  “I don’t suppose we will get any help from the Rid cil. I mean they do nothing to stop the cartels from killing each other.” Daniel asked and started trag little hearts on Jason’s shirt. “So, this is left up to the seven of us, unless Amber es back.”

  Nodding solemnly, Sylvie sadly answered. “Appears so.” She looked at each of the other five, “It gets more plicated. With Tatum’s betrayal, you five have to keep this from going further than ial Heights. If this reaches into Petersburg or even Rid, it won’t stop.”

  Lifting her head, Casey looked deep into Sylvie’s crest moon eyes. “I smell her love. She’s walking up now.”

  Unwilling to show an ounce of weako the small feminine shadoproached the Mill’s door, Sylvie stood up and bared her fangs. “You. You have some nerve showing your face here, Miss Bckwell.”