Free Fairy Magic by Ella Summers

you?”
    “Close but not close enough, just out of reach. They wanted to taunt us with the impossibility of escape. Their minds are cruel. There’s not a shred of humanity left inside of them.”
    “Who are they?”
    He simply shook his head, too scared to speak.
    Naomi pulled him to his feet. “Is there anyone else left alive down here?”
    His eyes panned across the dead bodies on the ground. “No, I’m the only one.”
    Fire exploded on the wall behind them. Naomi turned to find a mage standing in the doorway, orange flames dancing on both of her hands. A manic spark gleamed in her eyes, like her mind was not all there.
    “Who are you, my pretty? Another snack?” she asked, wicked delight dripping from every word.
    Naomi blasted her with Fairy Dust, but the mage gave her hand a casual, almost bored flick, throwing up a wall of flames that consumed the Dust. The wicked witch was strong. And high on magic, Naomi realized, watching the anxious twitch of her body. Great, because this day didn’t already suck enough.
    A river of flames poured out of the mage’s hands, rushing toward Naomi. Cyrus moved into its path, blasting the fire mage with red Fairy Dust. The sparkling magic hit her hard in the face, and she dropped unconscious to the ground.
    “Thanks,” Naomi told him.
    He nodded, then stumbled over to the sleeping mage. Fangs descended from his mouth, tearing into her neck. As he drank, Naomi peered into the hall to check for more guards. She found none. As she popped her head back into the dirty dungeon, Cyrus’s mouth pulled away from the mage. His hands closed around her neck, breaking it.
    “More will be coming,” he said, grabbing the mage’s knife.
    “How many?”
    He rose slowly. He looked better. The color had returned to his cheeks. “A lot.”
    “All like her?” Naomi indicated the dead mage.
    “Yes. They are crazy, powerful, and juiced up on a blend of magic and drugs.”
    “We need to move,” Naomi declared.
    “Yes.”
    “Can you run?” she asked.
    He winked at her. Draining the mage had not only brought the vampire fairy back from death’s door; it had made him downright perky. “The question is more whether you can keep up with me.”
    They ran down the turning hallways, making their way to the stairs. As they came around the corner, two fairies charged toward them, magic sparking on their fingertips. Naomi lifted her crossbow and fired. Cyrus tackled the other, ripping him apart with unfettered enthusiasm. As more guards, all with that same manic spark in their eyes, poured down the stairs, Naomi tapped her bracelet to activate its magic. A pale blue glow shimmered across the golden surface. Eva had a matching one. When one glowed, the other did too. It was the signal to leave.
    A storm of fairy and mage magic shot toward Naomi and Cyrus. The vampires were closing in around them. Naomi and Cyrus stood back-to-back in the basement, blasting Fairy Dust at the guards. He shot again and again, his magic fueled by fury.
    But it wasn’t only his anger that made him powerful. He’d been turned into a hybrid, not born one like she had. Turned hybrids had the full power of both sides of their supernatural make-up. Born hybrids had the advantage of a more seamless flow between their powers, but each power was weak. Except when Naomi had been in the spirit realm. For some reason, her power there was as strong—if not stronger than—any fairy’s magic. After fighting in that realm with all that magic at her disposal, she suddenly felt horribly underpowered here.
    Cyrus blasted a hole in the wall of guards. Naomi ran for the stairs, stopping when she realized he wasn’t following. He shot at the guards again and again, his mind trapped in an endless repeating loop of revenge. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the stairs before he got himself killed.
    As they reached the upper floor, waves of crazy supernaturals stormed across the dance floor. The guests of the gala scattered in