Free Innocence and Evil (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #6) by Jennifer Malone Wright

to look.
    On the far wall there were two openings like
the one we had just come from. Spaced about five feet apart, each
of the cave-like hallways were covered with a burgundy curtain. The
couches were the same shade of burgundy. I couldn’t help but laugh
to myself. If these vampires were worried about coordinating the
color scheme of their nasty basement, then they had their
priorities messed up.
    The question now was which path did we
choose? Christina marched toward the one on the right and pulled
the curtain aside.
    Just as we were stepping into another dimly
lit hall, my flesh prickled and a wave of white-hot hate crashed
down onto me. It was stronger than just feeling that there was evil
close by. This meant they were practically right beside me and
whoever it was, was sooo not a nice guy.
    “Is there something I can help you find?” A
smooth, male voice asked from behind us.
    We both spun, weapons at the ready.
    “Oh.” The vampire waved his hand at our
weapons in a dismissive manner. “Is that really necessary?”
    Neither of us said anything. I was trying
not to just blow the bloodsucker away right then. Something in the
back of my mind, the sensible human side of me, told me that we
shouldn’t kill this guy right away.
    He was dressed in black denim and a black
button up shirt. His hair was blond and slightly long, it hung
about ear length with a few strands falling over his unnaturally
bright, blue eyes.
    When neither of us spoke, the vampire let
out a big, long dramatic sigh. “You can try to kill me if you want,
but you would never get out of here. We all know you’re here, we
knew as soon as you walked in.” He lifted a pale hand and snapped
his fingers.
    Immediately, two more vampires entered from
the hallway which we had come from. They joined the blond one,
posting themselves on either side of him.
    Christina snorted. “Really. Do you actually
think that we can’t take three of you? We’re Vampire Hunters you
fanged freak.”
    The leader seemed slightly disappointed with
Christina’s outburst. “You assume so much young Hunter, there are
far more of us here than you see. Now, I shall extend you a welcome
and suggest that you make yourself comfortable with your
surroundings …” He snapped his fingers again. “Since you won’t ever
see the outside again.”
    The two vamps at his side blurred as they
used their vampire speed to burst forward in an attempt to capture
us. I didn’t think, I only reacted. The gun fell from my grip and I
threw my hands outward. A white light burst forth from my
palms.
    The light flashed out in front of me a good
six feet, and the sound of death resounded off of the stone walls
as the white-hot power scorched the vampires. They shrieked and
hissed, but it didn’t last long. Only seconds later, they were ash
on the floor.
    “Let’s go!” I bolted for the hall from which
we had come. Christina was right behind me and probably would have
bowled me over if I slowed my pace. We had to hurry and get the
hell out, I could feel more of them coming and they were coming
fast.
    “We’ve been compromised!” I heard her say.
She must have been radioing in. “Copy?”
    There was no answer. The radio wasn’t even
omitting any static. “It probably doesn’t work down here for some
reason.” I swung around the first corner.
    And then, the air in front of me blurred and
a vampire was there, reaching out to grab me by the throat. I heard
Christina scream and then grunt. I couldn’t see, but she was
probably fighting back whoever was attacking her.
    They had us from both sides.
    Dammit.
    I stretched my hand out and let the power
flow out of me. A loud scream filled the small space and then his
hand fell as the white light ate his body away and he was nothing
but ashes on the steps.
    I turned to find Christina lunging at the
vampire who attacked her. She slashed at him with her knife,
cutting his torso open. Blood spilled from his body, covering the
stairs with the