Jaxon stayed very still, unable to look away from the two writhing bodies covered with fur and rippling with everything from barbs to horns. It was something out of a horror film. Blood sprayed in wide arcs. Instinctively she leaped back out of range of the poisonous liquid. She bit her lip hard, focusing on the pain to keep herself from being mesmerized by the scene.
The only warning she received was the sudden slamming of a vise around both her ankles, and abruptly she was being sucked beneath the ground. Without conscious thought Jaxon dissolved into droplets of water. Afterward neither of them knew who had done it, Lucian or Jaxon, only that evaporation had been uppermost in her mind, in their mind. Jaxon shot into the sky, streaming upward into the bank of thick mist and fog Lucian had immediately provided for her to merge with. From her vantage point she watched the battle unfold, watched as Lucian materialized for a brief second only to dive beneath the soil and move like lightning through the earth toward the fleeing master vampire.
The two lesser vampires were raking each other with teeth and claws. Crimson blood was spraying in all directions. Overhead, lightning arced from dark cloud to dark cloud and then slammed to earth in jagged bolts At once Jaxon smelled charred flesh and saw sparks erupting all around the two vampires. One screamed, a high-pitched cry of terrible pain, and when the smoke and sparks cleared, Jaxon could see the creature dragging itself across the ground, a huge gaping hole through its chest where its heart had been The searing heat from the lightning bolt had cauterized the monster’s flesh, so there was no poisonous blood, but she sensed it was still dangerous.
The second vampire, Sir Robert Townsend, lay motionless, smoke still rising from his chest, where an identical hole had incinerated his heart. Jaxon studied Phillipe as he crawled across the ground moaning and hissing. The sound hurt her ears. Being mist, she had no way to muffle the noise until it occurred to her to turn down the volume. Part of her was still locked with Lucian, monitoring his progress as he hurtled through the earth after the undead. She tried not to be distracted, concentrating on what to do about Phillipe. He should have been dead, lying motionless along with Townsend.
Perhaps the lightning bolt didn’t hit his heart straight on. If any part of it is still functional, he can repair himself. Do not allow him to burrow into the soil.
She recognized Lucian’s confidence in her, and it gave her the sense of partnership she needed with him. Jaxon focused on the vampire. He was indeed, reaching for handfuls of mineral-rich soil and packing his gaping wound. Using Lucian’s memory as a guide, she centered her energy on the sky above her, felt the power moving within her. Even as she did so, a part of her found the beat of the vampire’s heart. It was unlike that of a human being. It seemed cold, dead, with no real rhythm, rather a sluggish, irregular flow of fluid through the chamber. She gathered together the electrical particles in the air, moving them with her mind, shaping them into a fiery orange and red ball. When it was large enough for its purpose, she focused on Phillipe. At her silent command he turned his body toward the sky, far too weak from his hideous wounds to fight the compulsion. The ball hurtled from above and struck him, searing easily through his chest and incinerating his heart in one blow.
Jaxon found herself sitting on the ground several yards from the two bodies. She was exhausted and pale, unable to find the strength to stand. It had taken unbelievable energy to use her mind to accomplish such physical tasks. And she knew from studying Lucian’s memories that she was not yet finished. Both bodies and any evidence of the battle and all droplets of blood had to be completely obliterated.
She was suddenly aware of hunger moving through her body like a living, breathing entity. Her cells were crying out for sustenance, for replenishment after her sleep, after the battle, after using such energy.