Walk Into The Light - Shadows of the Night 6

Chapter 1

Hi,

I'm so excited for the new book, I don't know where to start! Writing another book seems like a thrilling adventure, weird experiment and new possibility - all in one.  And it might turn out to be the best choice ever (I hope)... I guess we'll see.  ;-)

No matter what: thank you all for reading! You made this book happen. :-)

Lara

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Chapter 1

ANDY

The surge of elemental magic behind me was stupendous. I had turned my back on them and started walking – against my better judgement. You don't turn your back on an enemy, unless your back is well covered. Anna's godmother might be a skilled witch, but Heléna Bathoryn had an outrageous amount of magic available. I had no idea if Giuliana could take her.

Still, my range of options was limited. I was going to trust Giuliana's skills, for now.

The fighting in front of me was messy. The vamps moved supernaturally fast, slipped into that blend of fast-forward motion and sudden stillness, if needed. Impossible to detect their next move as a human, still hard to tell as a witch. The auratic setup of the street was one hell of a mess, leaking the power of the grave like a massive black hole in the making.

In the chaos of a fight one can slip through easily, if one knows how to move and what to avoid. Now, if these are vamps you're dealing with, slipping through is more like trying to ditch flying bullets coming your way. I'd have to stay on my toes and keep a cool head.

Still, there was one motherfucker of a problem I couldn't just slip past by. How the hell was I going to get Anna away from Vladislav without him noticing?

I redid the concealing spell I'd used before, repeating it word for word until the magic whizzed through my veins like liquid powder. The question was whether Vladislav would notice. Even among all those powerful vamps in the street, he was the one that stuck out. He was the eye of the storm of auratic chaos.

Anna was motionless. Her long brown hair shielded part of her face, but I could see enough to know something was wrong. Her eyes were vacant, as if she wasn't here in the street, but miles away.

Then, a few steps beside her, he. Vladislav wasn't moving, hadn't in fact moved for a while. His eyes were on the fight, but might have been fixed on a black void. Like he too, wasn't quite there himself.

There was only one viable strategy I could think of: Wait for the right moment and snatch her from right under his nose. Which was the worst plan of action I could have chosen.

You have no better idea, Varner, so fuck it.

A guttural scream traveled above the level sound of fighting. My eyes scanned the surroundings and halted on Alexander and his adversary. He was facing off with the red-haired vampire Anna and I encountered when we followed Fabrice's group into the old cinema.

Alexander's was face void of emotion most of the time and I suspected he used the blank look as some sort of weapon. It was the same when he was fighting and not. Something was different about him when he was in motion.

A certain relaxed naturalness settled over him when facing his opponent. He was moving lightning fast, controlled and attacked with a level head – outstanding, even among vampires. Had he been a soldier at some point in his life – perhaps once, a long time ago, when he was still human?