Forever Entranced ~Book Two Of The Soul Bound Series

Chapter Fifteen ~ Nights Of Fire And Ash

Our heavy breaths were loud, but the battle outside was louder. Though the walls were made of stone, every window we passed acted as an opening to the horrific sounds outside. Inhuman growls mixed with howls and guns.

Killian led the way, winding us down hallways and through doors, "We'll go out the back entrance, once we're out and into the village, I need Ava to stick as closely to me as possible. West, Illius, you two might want to get your weapons out." He said with all seriousness as we came to stand in front of another wood door. I slipped up beside him as he cracked it open, peering outside before silently beckoning for us to follow and sliding out. I quickly followed, holding my breath, Illius and West coming through after me.

A bitterly cold wind hit my face as light flakes of snow fell from the dark, night sky above us. The small alleyway the door had opened up to was thankfully empty. Snow clung to the windowsills and in spread out, half melted clumps across the dirt ground, forming muddy puddles that our boots sunk into as we jogged to the end of the alleyway. The narrow streets were surprisingly mostly empty except for the occasional wolf that would come dashing through.

"Don't tell me the only way out of here is through the main entrance," Illius grumbled, glancing down either ends of the street outside of the alley we stood in.

"There is one other way out, but you're not going to like it." Killian hesitated a moment before his green eyes met mine, "Assuming the vampires haven't broken into the village yet, we should be able to smoothly reach their zip line which will take us to the other side of the mountain. Once we're over there, however, we'll be outside of werewolf territory, which means that vampires will be lurking much closer. They strive for the cold and darkness, in turn, the north makes a perfect lair."

"So it's either out the front door or on a zip line. Either one poses as a threat to my life. Fabulous," I sarcastically said, forcing a smile, "I just can't wait."

A small smirk grew over West's features as his brown eyes trained themselves on me, "I bet you can't."

"Come on you wimps, this is going to be fun," Illius grinned, his eyes filled with excitement.

I rolled my eyes, "Why is it that every time you say something like that, I almost end up dead?"

"Let's go," Killian broke in, urgency in his voice, "Unless you all want to be vampire blood bags." He slipped around the corner of the alleyway and hurried down the street, keeping close to the wall. I trailed after him, my boots splashing on puddles of water and crunching on mounds of snow and frozen ice that I prayed I wouldn't slip on. We pressed up against the door of a small house as Killian peered around the corner. He quickly snapped back, his face having went pale.

"What is it?" I asked, anxiety building up inside of me.

"This is going to be more difficult than I initially thought it would be," He clapped his hands together and slowly pulled them apart, a crackle like electricity sparking between his palms as a ball of energy formed, lighting up the night. He leapt around the corner and in one quick, fluid movement, extended his arms, pushing his palms out. Bolts of lightning struck down the street in a loud bang, a blinding purple light forcing me to look away. I blinked several times to try and regain my vision that was clouded over by black dots. There was another crackling snap of lightning and then the sound of Killian shouting. My eyes fled back towards him, West grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the warlock, "Get over here!" Killian shouted over his writhing magic.

We gathered behind him and he brought his fist up, bringing it down towards the earth with a flood of purple electricity following it. I sharply inhaled as a flood of tingles ran through my entire body and a visible barrier that resembled a bubble formed around us. Its surface rippled and sparked with flashes of forked lightning. Lying on the street in front of us were several pale lumps, twitching as bolts of lightning sparked around them from the remaining magic. I was about to ask about them when I caught several moving shadows in my peripheral vision. I let out a startled shriek as a grotesque creature threw itself at the purple barrier surrounding us. It flew back, slamming against one of the houses lining the street and fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Pasty skinned vampires stalked out from the shadows, circling around the barrier, hissing and scratching towards us with their wickedly sharp claws. Their sharp rows of teeth covered in blood that dripped from between their cracked lips. They hunched over, their spines poking out from under the skin of their back. They had eyes of blank white, trained dangerously on me.