Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 88669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Yeah, he’s the one from the picture,” one of them said, his words sounding like a hiss, stopping me in my tracks.
“The picture? What picture?” I dumbly asked.
They answered my question by snarling and exposing their sharp fangs, all three lurching toward me.
I stumbled backward and ran into the shop, throwing the door open and shouting for help, certain that the last thing I should do was take these guys on by myself. I may have been ill-equipped to confront a group of vampires, but a Marvel and her dragon friends were likely overequipped to deal with them.
The four of them came bursting out of the back room just as one of the vampires—the one closest to me with tan skin that made his white fangs gleam—pulled out a nasty-looking dagger. They moved like the wind, swifter, stronger than a gale force. I was in striking distance. It would take nothing for him to stick that dagger straight through my rib cage.
I couldn’t even shout, my throat having tightened with fear. I move backward, hitting the counter, my hands gripping it so that when my knees gave out, I wouldn’t instantly crumple to the floor.
The vampire with the dagger was the first to get tackled. I ran further into the store as the man who did the tackling stood back up, ducking from a clawed swipe of another vampire. He threw a flame-covered fist upward, hitting the vamp square in the chest with a force that audibly cracked a rib and sent embers flying. The vampire went down to his knees, clutching at his broken side. The white fabric of his shirt burnt straight through.
The dragon didn’t have time to celebrate. Another vampire was seconds from sinking his fangs into the man’s neck.
And he would have, if the vampire didn’t suddenly reverse in slow motion, as if someone had pressed rewind on the tape. I blinked, wondering if someone had knocked me on the head. One of the guys, the youngest-looking one with golden scales climbing down his biceps, appeared in front of the vampire, smiling as he threw a fistful of gleaming gold sand directly into the vamp’s shocked face. The vampire clawed at his eyes, never seeing the direct punch to the head that knocked him clean out.
There was one vampire left, and he seemed to be the strongest. He dodged a fire-covered fist from one of the dragons with the grace of a trained dancer, picking up the dagger in the process. He struck at the brick wall of a man, cutting a slash across his T-shirt and revealing a chest of ruby-red scales. The dragon dodged another swipe, and another. They were getting pushed back, knocking over a display case full of different crystals and gems.
They both moved so incredibly fast. It was dizzying to watch, almost hypnotic.
A loud crack sounded as the dragon took a blow to the chin from the vampire’s elbow.
The dragon had gone from offense to defense. Not good. I looked around, wondering if there was something I could do, some way I could help. But what the hell was I supposed to contribute? It was like watching a fight between gods, and I was a tiny ant at their feet.
That’s when the floor became slick with ice, directly underneath the vampire. I looked to see one of the dragons holding out a hand and directing a stream of frigid ice through the air. It was enough to throw the vamp off, allowing the red dragon to fight back.
He struck with flame-covered fists, using his forearms to block what would have otherwise been lethal blows, the dagger stopping inches away from his eye.
But that put the vampire just as close. The dragon smirked and grabbed the vampire by the neck, his hand still consumed in flames.
I turned away from the sight as my stomach twisted in knots. The smell was enough to make that tangle even tighter.
“What in the actual fuck,” Claire said. She stepped out from behind the desk and raised her hand up. I watched as tendrils of dark red mana slithered through the air, wrapping around the one vampire who was still conscious. She lifted him in the air, walking toward him, the other dragons joining her at her side.
This was insane. I had thought the wildest part of my day would be sitting in a puddle of suspicious liquid on the bus. I never would have imagined I’d be watching a Marvel and a trio of heroic dragons taking down a group of vamps… who were after me. Couldn’t look over that part.
“Explain why I have a fried vamp on the floor and about five hundred dollars’ worth of damage to my store? Quickly.” She clenched her hand, and the threads got tighter, the vampire struggling as his feet came off the air, the black leather of his shoes shining from the blood that dripped down his nose.