As Shadows Fade by Colleen Gleason Page B

from him, she dashed through the thick, churning smoke and hurricane-force wind, splashing the entire contents of the bottle just as she leapt into the flames.
    The yellow lull allowed her to clear the flames and tumble onto the ground near Wayren, and the force of her jump sent her lurching into the woman’s legs. But the flames remained in their circle around them, and it was eerily quiet within the enclosure.
    Victoria scrambled over next to Wayren’s face and touched her cheek. It was warm, and she moved her hand along the woman’s neck to feel for a pulse. She felt nothing. Nothing.
    No.
    She smoothed a hand over the prone woman’s torso, praying to feel the shift of breath. Just as she did so, Wayren moved beneath her. A slight movement, not even a breath, but a little shift. Almost a shudder.
    â€œWayren,” Victoria said urgently. She felt again for a pulse, but could feel no sign of life at Wayren’s neck or wrist. Yet her body was warm and felt…alive.
    Victoria heard a distant shout and looked over to see Max and Sebastian on the other side of the flames. Their faces were muted by the swirl of angry blue fog, and whatever Max was shouting at her was lost in the whirlwind.
    He gestured sharply and she looked up, then immediately dove to the ground, covering Wayren.
    The heavy black shapes had become solid ones, with burning eyes of red and orange, and they swooped and skulked. She saw the flash of a claw and the gleam of a long, curved fang, and Victoria reached for her sword.
    Standing in the middle of the blue flames, she struck out at the nearest black shape as it dove closer. Her blade went right through it, and a blast of frigid cold swept over her. Staggering back from the force of it, Victoria nearly fell into the blaze behind her.
    She caught herself in time, using the tip of her sword, and looked back over at Max and Sebastian. They were gesturing to each other, and she couldn’t tell what they were doing.
    A black shape swooped again, and Victoria watched for its eyes, measured, and struck again with her sword, aiming for the neck area.
    Reaching up, her arms made a long, high arc, and the blade sliced into the black being. It disintegrated into a burst of smoke. Then another one, and another, swooped down harder and faster, stirring the calm air amid the flames.
    One of them scored her arm and shoulder with its claws, and the other rushed over—and through her…God, through her!—sending her stumbling once again toward the flames. Cold shudders paralyzed her for a moment as Victoria collapsed to the ground. Her stomach pitched, and nausea trammeled through her, her muscles weakened and shivering. She struggled to breathe, fought to steady the dizziness that crushed her to the stone floor. Her fingers had loosened over the sword, and she had to focus hard, so hard, to close them again. The weight of the heavy hilt steadied her a bit, and she groped at her belly to touch the two vis bullae beneath her shirt.
    Several long moments she lay still, hunched away from the swooping shadows, praying neither Max nor Sebastian were foolish enough to try to join her. Especially Max, who acted as though he still wore the vis bulla.
    The last thing they needed was for all of them to be trapped within this wall of flame.
    When she was able to regain control of her movements, she raised her head and crawled back toward Wayren. Staying close to the ground, she looked beyond the flames and toward Max and Sebastian. They were foggy, but she saw they were holding something up in their hands.
    It looked like they each had a bottle. Holy water?
    Sebastian shouted something, and Max made hand signals, and Victoria nodded back to them. She gathered Wayren’s warm, limp body over her shoulder, staying as close to the ground as she could, and dodged another swoop of the black demons.
    Max raised his fist and shook it…One…two… three.
    The arms of the two men thrust out