Free Burn (Drift Book 3) by Michael Dean Page B

at me in a blaze. Fists were being thrown at me from every direction. I took a few blows but pretty much ducked, blocked, and evaded everything they hurled at me. They were sloppy fighters, so I was confident I would prosper.
    When I was through toying with the id iots, I retaliated. Punches kept coming at me from all directions at the same time, but I managed to block and strike. One by one I pulled out their hearts in record time as they fell to the dirt. I did it so fast they never stood a chance in fetching the Demon Dagger and I accumulated all six hearts of the blood suckers within my arms in mere seconds. I looked up at Shimmer, smiled, and tossed the hearts on the ground. It was a few seconds later they all disappeared into ash along with the bodies of the vampires I just vanquished.
    The crowd went deathly silent . “Is that the best you can do?” I taunted. They began to boo me in pure hatred now, but Shimmer just continued to smile as he raised a hand back up to silence the hostile crowd by placing a finger over his lips.
    “My friends! The traitor has gotten past the weak. This still does not prove his worth to us! Worry not, for I did promise you entertainment.” The cr owd screamed again in jubilance.
    “As a gift…just for you, my two beautiful brides will be doing the honor of being the next in line to eradicate this virus. I assure you, you will be pleased.” The crowd cheered again as Sierra and Molina looked at each other with reluctance. Shimmer sneered back at them, which caused them both to stand and wave at the crowd with nervous smiles. Murgit clapped his hands wildly behind them.
    I watched as the twins released their stilettos from wherever they kept them under their lengthy sleeves. Shimmer threw his hand back at them . “No…the only blade you need is the one in the arena. I need your hands free to use it…leave those here,” he ordered as the duo looked at each other again in hesitance as they released the knives.
    With all of the grandstanding Shimmer was doing, I completely forgot about the Demon Dagger just sitting, unguarded and exposed , in front of the imprisoned Shade. As he addressed the crowd I started to inch a little closer to the weapon in hopes of grabbing it and possibly free Shade. I didn’t get very far at all before the twins leaped off their platform and landed side by side directly in front of the dagger. The sight of seeing their adored queens ready for battle sent the crowd into pure ecstasy.
    “Quiet down…quiet down…that’s not all! Our valiant and brave watchman of the Caverns of the Forgotten will be joining his queens!” The crowd roared in delight as Murgit quit clapping and looked at his Lord in despair.
    Shimmer said something to him and then grabbed his reluctant follower, pulling him to the front. I could see Murgit swallow hard as he sheepishly waved at the now insane crowd. With a push, Murgit flew down into the arena, landing on his side in the dirt. The twins looked back at him as he shuffled up and brushed the dirt off his clothes. With impatience, Molina walked back and pulled him to the forefront. All three of them stood in front of the dagger by Shade, only Murgit still looked a little insecure.
    “The traitor dies tonight!” Shimmer egged on his supporters and they cheered even louder.
    I flapped my wings and prepared for the attack of the trio of vamps , who were now fanning out. The sky was beginning to light up due to the approaching storm. Thunder rolled as a few drops of rain began to fall out of the roaring sky. This set an even darker tone.
    Sierra and Molina slid around to my right and left sides as Murgit stayed in front of me. He looked confused as to what he should do, but the twins weren’t. They charged me at the same time and started punching at me. I leaned back as far as I could to dodge their first couple of attacks. It didn’t take long for them to get me in a compromising position because again one of them hit me high