Free Dread Nemesis of Mine by John Corwin

her
shoulder. Spun and drove her heel into his neck. A bone cracked and
he lay still.
    The vampires who'd cornered Justin now
blocked the road. The diminutive sorceress, Bella, faced them down,
a pale staff in her hand. Though Bella was a dhampyr like Elyssa,
she was just an Arcane, not a trained fighter. Elyssa threaded a
gauntlet of vampires, racing for Bella and Justin's kidnapper.
    Before she could reach Bella, something hard
smacked Elyssa in the temple. She rolled sideways to avoid another
blow, but her eyesight blurred from the impact. She sprang back to
her feet. Her vision cleared just as a muscular woman drove her
fist right at the bridge of Elyssa's nose. She caught the fist.
Twisted the arm. Drove her elbow into the vampire's arm and heard
the crack of bone. The vampire screeched.
    Elyssa swept the other woman's legs from
under her, grabbed the vampire's neck, and drove her face-first
into the brick street with a crunch . She looked back at
Bella. Several vampires fanned out, encircling the dhampyr. Behind
them, Elyssa saw the form of Justin's abductor speeding downhill on
foot.
    There was no way she'd help Bella with these
vampires in time to give chase.
    Bella twirled her staff and smacked a vampire
in the head. She spun the rod around her waist and, sweeping low,
upended the next vampire. The staff whirled over a shoulder, swung
down and cracked the downed man in the face. Before the other
vampires could react, Bella shouted, " Kineesi! " and stabbed
the rod into the road. A bright blue light exploded around her,
flinging the remaining attackers in all directions. One flew over
Elyssa's head and bowled over several of his comrades.
    "Holy smokes," Elyssa said. She'd obviously
underestimated the woman.
    The sorceress saw Elyssa and motioned her
over. "We can still catch them!" She rushed to the back of the SUV
and grabbed something. Turned and tossed a silver katana hilt-first
to Elyssa.
    Without another word, the two women sped down
the street.
    A blinding pulse of energy explodedthe bricks
next to Elyssa. Shards of brick stabbed her flesh in countless
places. Bella cried out. Somehow, they kept their feet.
    "What the hell is that?" Elyssa shouted,
looking back over her shoulder.
    "There, look," Bella said, turning and
pointing at a rooftop in the distance.
    Zooming in her sight, Elyssa spotted a man on
a roof, holding a sheet of paper in his hand. "Is he an
Arcane?"
    The other woman grabbed Elyssa by the arm and
guided her toward the buildings on the left, taking them out of the
man's line of sight. "No, he's a vampire, but he has weaponized
scrolls."
    And he'd killed her father. Rage boiled in
her chest. Part of her wanted to turn around and tear the man to
bloody shreds. But her father was dead and there was nothing she
could do about it. Right now, she needed to catch the vampire with
Justin. Her jaw hurt and Elyssa realized she was clenching her
teeth so tight, they felt as though they would crack.
    The vampire with Justin vanished around a
corner in the distance. Elyssa and Bella blurred after her,
whipping past buildings and fleeing pedestrians. They rounded the
corner and smacked into a crowd of waiting vampires. Bella tumbled
through them, losing the grip on her staff. Elyssa converted her
forward momentum into a jump kick, catching one attacker on the
chin.
    Bella punched one guy in the crotch from her
position on the ground. He screamed and went down. She rolled away
from a vampire's foot as he tried to stomp her. Elyssa dodged a
clumsy lunge by an attacker and, grabbing his shoulders, vaulted
over him. Her foot lashed out in a backward kick and sent him
stumbling against a brick wall. Bella's staff lay only feet
away.
    Elyssa swatted aside a punch from a woman
dressed in a skintight, leather suit who obviously thought becoming
a vampire meant she could live out her Catwoman fantasy.
    The woman hissed in Spanish and clawed at
Elyssa's eyes. Elyssa gripped the other woman's wrists. Twisted
them out and