"What, can't you control those cursed souls?!" the vampire said with a mocking grin.
At that moment, Susie took a step forward. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold them up. But she still raised her right palm.
"Stop…" she whispered in a trembling, tear-filled voice.
"I won't let you!"
Between her fingers, a faint, shaky bluish light flared, a simple, barely noticeable telekinetic spell.
Susie clenched her teeth. Her face instantly twisted with strain. She was too weak for this, yet she kept going.
"I can crush your heart…" she whispered through gritted teeth. Her voice shook with pain and effort.
"I… will kill you!"
The light from her palm stretched into a thin, trembling thread through the air, piercing the vampire's chest.
She was too weak and inexperienced, but she still pushed, pouring everything she had into the spell.
The vampire suddenly froze mid-step. His eyes widened in shock and sudden pain.
"What… are you… doing?!" he snarled, clutching his chest with one hand.
"What kind of… magic is this?!"
Her hand clenched into a fist. The blue light flared brighter and began to pulse unevenly, fading and flaring again.
"I'm… holding…" she whispered through tears and pain.
"I'm… holding your heart…"
A quiet crunch sounded.
The vampire gasped, grabbed his chest with both hands, and dropped to his knees. Black blood poured from his mouth. His body convulsed violently.
Susie kept pressing. Tears streamed down her face. A thin trickle of blood began to run from her nose.
She continued holding the spell, even though her legs were giving out.
"I… won't… let go…" she whispered almost soundlessly.
"And you're going to die right now!"
The vampire let out one final hoarse groan and collapsed face-first onto the wet asphalt. His body twitched a couple more times and went still.
The stake in Ethan's hand suddenly stopped trembling. The voices inside it abruptly faltered and fell silent, as if someone had slammed a heavy iron door shut.
The darkness that had almost broken free from Ethan froze in place. The black lines on his neck stopped pulsing so violently and slowly began to fade.
Ethan exhaled sharply and dropped to one knee. The stake went limp in his hand. He took a heavy breath, staring at Susie with wide eyes full of shock and deep gratitude.
"Susie…" he rasped.
"You protected us. Thank you so much!"
Susie stood swaying. Blood from her nose ran over her lip and dripped onto the asphalt. She lowered her trembling hand.
The blue light faded. The girl looked completely exhausted.
"I… couldn't… just watch…" she whispered in a shaky, tearful voice.
"You… you were almost gone… I didn't want you to die…"
Ethan slowly rose to his feet. He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time.
Susie gave a weak smile through her tears and the blood on her lips.
"I'm… glad… I could…" she whispered and swayed.
Gideon quickly caught her under the arm so she wouldn't fall.
"You did good, kid," he said with genuine respect.
"Without you, we would've lost a fighter today."
Bruno, still sitting on the ground, looked at Susie with surprise and warmth.
"You… just crushed a vampire's heart with one spell…" he muttered.
"And you said you weren't very good at magic…"
Susie blushed and lowered her head, fiddling with her hair with a few fingers.
"I… just didn't want him to take you," she said quietly, looking at Ethan.
Ethan nodded. Deep, sincere gratitude shone in his eyes.
"You bought me time," he repeated.
The group stood in silence, looking at the girl who had just performed a small miracle.
Susie wearily wiped the blood from her face with her sleeve and added softly:
"I'll try to do it more often… if needed."
While Ethan, Susie, and Bruno were searching for the wisteria root, Flash and Gideon had moved ahead to check the next intersection on their route.
They moved quickly and cautiously, weapons at the ready. The night was quiet, too quiet for this part of town.
Flash stopped. He sensed something and turned around.
Behind them appeared a patrol vampire — not an ordinary soldier, but one of Gérard's elite hunters. In his hands he held two short, curved blades.
"You two…" he growled with a predatory smile. "Hand over that blond guy or whatever his name is."
Flash didn't waste time on words. He instantly raised his revolver and fired twice. The bullets hit the vampire in the leg, but he only jerked and laughed.
"You think that'll stop me?" he snarled and lunged forward with inhuman speed.
Gideon fired next, aiming for the head. The vampire dodged with unnatural speed and kicked Gideon aside.
He slammed hard into the wall but managed to stay on his feet.
"Flash!" Gideon shouted.
"He's too fast!"
Flash tossed his revolver aside. It clattered onto the asphalt. In the next second he drew a long silver knife from his belt and charged at the vampire.
What happened next made Gideon freeze.
Flash's movements were too smooth, too precise. He dodged the vampire's first blade strike with an ease any vampire would envy, then delivered a series of fast, lethal thrusts of his own.
The silver knife flashed through the air, leaving bright arcs. One strike sliced across the vampire's shoulder, and the creature hissed in pain as the silver burned his flesh.