Almost To Die For Part 21

Ramses had not come alone. The instant that the people surrounding us surged forward, vampires started dropping out of the sky from every rooftop.

Elias didn't hesitate for a second. His gun rose to the ready, and he gently shoved me behind him. At the same time, with military precision, his men closed ranks.

Ramses' army nearly matched Mom's to a person. I noticed that a group of vampires guarded Mom the same way Elias's men did me. Mom shouted for someone to "protect the witches," at the same time Ramses commanded his people to "grab the witches."

I tried to spot Bea's dad. Desperately, I tried to see my other friends from the coven. From what I could tell over the shoulders of my protectors, it was all chaos. I wished they wore uniforms. I couldn't tell which ones were Mom's guys and which belonged to Ramses. Most of the people were unarmed and fighting with fist, claw, and tooth. A few seemed to be carrying clubs or chains.

No one had weapons but Elias and his two men. Elias could have used his gun offensively, picking off Mom's guys one by one, but he didn't. Instead, he made no aggressive move.

This was crazy. There was an all-out vampire rumble in the middle of downtown. Where were the cops!?

I swung my backpack around and started digging through it for my phone. Elias seemed to sense my movement, though he never took his eyes away from the fight surrounding us. "What are you doing, my lady?"

"Dialing 911," I said.

Elias nodded as though he approved. "A cunning strategy in its own way. I wonder if it will work."

I didn't have time to ask him what he meant by that. I found the cell. Quickly, I punched the numbers, even though my fingers shook so hard I thought for sure I'd misdial. I could barely hear the operator when we connected. She asked me something about the state of my emergency.

"There's a huge fight in downtown St. Paul near the farmers' market," I told her. Then, because I thought I might get a quicker response, I added, "There's a ton of them. I think it might be gang related. And there's guns! And drugs! And I have to go!"

She wanted details, like my name and address, but I hung up. I hoped the police hurried. At least both sides seemed to be at a stalemate.

That's when I felt the low-level hum of magic vibrating below my feet. "Oh no," I said. "They're going to use magic!"

Elias shifted, and he trained his weapon on someone. Looking down the length of his arm, I saw he had his sights on Mom.

"No!" I shouted, grabbing at his shoulder, trying to pull down his arm.

"But if they coordinate their magic, it's over for us."

"You can't kill my mom!" I had to do something. Maybe I could tap my power somehow. I just needed that jump start.

"She wouldn't hesitate to do the same to me," he muttered.

I ignored his comment. "Let me bite you," I said suddenly, surprising myself almost as much as him.

For the first time since the fight began, he shifted all his attention to me. "What?"

"Bea taught me this trick. I think I can counteract their magic. Or at least make my own. Hurry," I said, feeling the cold surge begin. "Give me your arm!"

The black guy with the scimitar took a hit; his head whipped back and he fell almost right in front of Elias's feet. Someone must have thrown a rock at him. He was cradling his head and struggling slowly to his feet. Elias swore in that language I couldn't understand.

Elias tucked his gun into his holster, and pushed up the sleeves of his coat and shirt. Tucking his thumb under my chin for a moment, he caught my eyes. Very seriously he said, "Freely given."

The Asian guy noticed what we were doing, and he took in a sharp breath. "Captain?"

"You heard the words, Lieutenant," he said sharply. Then to me, he said, "Your pleasure, my lady."

"Okay," I said, since he seemed to want a response from me. My fangs were still out, so I grabbed his wrist and bit down hard. His blood exploded in my mouth.

Twenty-three.

The sensation overwhelmed me. I thought I knew what to expect when I tasted blood, but Elias's was, if possible, even stronger, more intense. It rushed through me like an electric current. Every nerve ending danced as the world began to spin again. My body shook and convulsed as I tried to hold on to his wrist as I drank.

I would have let go, but it was working.

The rush of Elias's blood was a much bigger push than Bea's. Internally, I could feel my energies begin to flip between vampire and witch. My theory in practice! It was astounding how much the sensation did feel like a dynamo spinning. The spark of energy flashed like a strobe along my nerve endings. This time, it had no zombie webbing spell to burn through, so it continued to rise and rise. I needed to direct it.

I focused my will using the skills I'd so desperately tried to hone as a witch. I urged the ice to flow into the ground. I imagined it spreading outward in a circle like an ice-skating rink.

Beneath my feet the tremors of the coveners' magic stilled, stalled . . . froze.

In fact, time seemed to stop.

For a second, I stood outside of it all. I could see the whole event from the outside. Surrounded by her followers, Mom's face showed a slow realization that my magic had dampened the combined forces of five True Witches. Ramses, in the thick of hand-to-hand combat, sensed a change in the tide of the battle. Bea's dad and the other witches had been knocked off their feet by the blast and were frozen in midfall.

Cool.

I did that.

And I so wanted to snap a pic with my cell so I could send it to my friends.

When I let go of Elias's wrist, everything snapped back into motion--sort of. Slowly everyone dropped their fists and lowered their weapons. Their attention swung to the center of the circle to where I stood with Elias's blood on my lips.

No one moved. The street was silent.

In the distance, the sirens wailed.

Ramses took a measured step forward. Then, with a flourish, he dropped to one knee. The instant he did, all his people followed suit. Beside me, Elias did likewise.

Mom's mouth hung open. "That was you," she whispered. "Your magic."

I nodded, not trusting myself to say anything else. The sirens seemed right on top of us now.

"Behold your true heir," Bea's dad shouted. "She who walks between the worlds." Apparently, this was very meaningful because gasps and whispers rippled through the ranks of those who remained standing.

Pretty soon everyone was on their knees.

Except for Mom.

And me.

We faced each other in the middle of the street. Mom's face twitched, like she didn't know what to say or do.

So I ran over to her and gave her a great big hug.

For a second, she stood stiffly, not reciprocating. Then I heard a sniff, and her arms wrapped tightly around me.

There were cheers and joyful shouts.

When I pulled out of the embrace, Mom had tears in her eyes. She frowned into my face. With her thumb, she wiped at my lip. "You were always a messy eater."

Red and white lights reflected on the buildings. The police were nearly on us. "Scatter!" I heard her command her people. Ramses similarly told his people to run, but he stayed, coming to stand beside us.

"I was wrong," he said quietly. "Our daughter is stronger when she stands between our worlds. To try to make her a full vampire would have been a mistake."

I looked at Mom. Would she agree? I could see her face tighten. She didn't want to admit defeat. Finally, she said, "It's hard to deny what happened."

They looked at each other for a long time. Ramses was the first one to speak. "Cease-fire."

"Yes," Mom said curtly, her arms still wrapped tightly around my waist. "I will agree to that. But now you go away and don't come anywhere near my daughter."

I started to say something, but Elias came up to stand beside his prince. "That's impossible. Ana and I have joined in a blood bond. She is my betrothed."

"Like we're engaged? " I sputtered, breaking from Mom's grasp to stare at Elias. He was gorgeous and I liked being his lady and all, but I wasn't ready to be anyone's wife or even fiancee.

A police car moving at full speed up the street caused us all to run for the sidewalk. It didn't stop, but seemed to be in pursuit of someone else.

"Was it freely given?" Ramses asked Elias.

I remembered what he'd said. "But," I said. "But I didn't know!"

"You would reject the captain of the guard?" Ramses looked shocked.

"You bet she would," Mom said, looking ready to get up into everyone's faces.

"No, I accept," I said quickly, because I wanted Mom out of my business, and I figured there was probably some way out of it eventually.

Mom's face twisted angrily.

Ramses nodded his head. Looking between Elias and me, he smiled slightly. "Perhaps," he said, "we will someday have a true peace between our people."

My mom muttered something that sounded like "over my dead body," but she cleared her throat. "For now we'll be satisfied with a cease-fire. That crea--The captain may visit Ana only under the strict rules of courtship. Are we agreed?" Mom glared at Elias, daring him to make a fuss.

I had no idea what the rules of courtship were, but I was happy I'd get to see Elias. "What do you say?" I asked him encouragingly. I could still taste his sweet blood on my tongue.

Elias looked at me and smiled. He bowed his head in that courtly way and touched his heart. "As you wish," he said.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I'd forgotten I tucked it there after I'd called the police. I glanced at it. A message from Bea: "Where are you? The party's started."

"Uh," I said. "I've got to go."

Twenty-four.

It took some fancy talking to explain everything to Mom, but when she heard that the party was at Nikolai's, she offered to drive me there herself. I guiltily left Elias with a quick peck on the cheek. I promised him we'd talk soon. He looked disappointed, but was, as usual, a perfect gentleman about it.

Mom and I were halfway there before she decided to talk. "There's a way to break the betrothal, you know," she said. "It's not hard, just formalized."

"I'm not interested right now," I said. Thing was, I knew that if I broke things off with Elias, Mom would find a way to keep me from seeing any vampires. I wasn't ready for that yet. At the very least, I figured I still had a lot to learn about being half vampire. Plus, I liked Elias. There was something about him, what with that catlike grace and all his courtly airs. I wasn't about to break his heart. Not yet.

"Are you and Nikolai dating?"

"Not officially," I said. And that was the other thing. I liked Nikolai, but I wasn't entirely ready to be his full-time girlfriend. Not until I really understood how he felt about vampires. He could be so scary. But then again, he could be superhot.

I wondered whether Nikolai would be disappointed that he missed the big fight. Or maybe his dad had been there all along. . . . I had no idea. I'd think about that later.

Mom sniffed. "I think Nikolai might be kind of upset to discover you're engaged to marry the captain of the Praetorian Guard, don't you think?"

"He doesn't have to know, does he, Mom?"

"You're going to date them both?"

Was I? "I'll work it out," I told her. "My way."

Mom didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, she said, "All right."

What was this? Trust? From Mom?

She seemed to sense my surprise, so she said, "You proved yourself pretty capable tonight, honey. I'm just going to have to trust that I raised you right, and that you'll make smart decisions."

"Really?"

Mom sighed. "Just. . . ." She turned down Nikolai's street. Cars lined the block. I pointed to his apartment, and she put the car in park. "Just be home by midnight, Cinderella."

I gave her a hug and a quick kiss. "Thanks, Mom!"

JOHN WAS SITTING ON A stool just inside the downstairs door checking for tickets. He was arguing with a couple that I recognized as Thompson and Yvonne. "I'm sorry," John was saying as I came up. "You can't come in. You don't have tickets."

When he saw me, he waved around them. "Hey, Ana! About time, girl! Nik's been wondering where you've been."

The look Thompson gave me was pure envy. "You know the band? " he muttered as I flounced happily past him. It took every ounce of strength I had not to stick my tongue out at him and sing the "nyah, nyah, nyah" song.

"Excuse me," I said, b.u.mping him slightly. Okay, so I had to be a little snotty!

Thompson muttered something about how the party must be full of freaks anyway as he dragged Yvonne off the steps with him. John and I watched them go. I couldn't quite stifle a smile. How satisfying was that?