"Grandma…" Susie whispered in a trembling voice.
"Don't move, Susie!" Zeydana snapped, already weaving a spell. The runes on the walls flared brighter.
"Stay behind me!"
The largest vampire lunged straight at Ethan, fangs bared.
"Give me the stake, pup!" he roared.
"Gérard wants you alive!"
Ethan didn't think. He simply acted.
With a furious cry he swung the black stake and slammed it into the vampire's chest.
The stake sank in easily, with a wet, sickening crunch. The vampire froze with his mouth open, eyes wide with shock and pain.
"What… have you… done…" he rasped, clutching the shaft with both hands.
Ethan stared straight into his eyes. The voices inside the stake howled with hunger.
"I'm tired," Ethan growled through his teeth and drove the stake deeper.
The vampire screamed. Thick smoke erupted from his mouth, eyes, and wound. His body began to disintegrate before their eyes — skin blackened, muscles turned to ash, bones crumbled.
His soul tore free and was greedily sucked into the black stake.
Ethan felt a powerful, burning surge of strength. For a moment it seemed he could tear the whole world apart.
But nausea and dizziness followed immediately. The stake trembled in his palm, and the black lines on his neck flared so brightly they became visible even through his collar.
He staggered but stayed on his feet.
"One down!" Flash shouted, firing at the second vampire.
"Ethan, hold on!"
The second vampire, seeing what had happened to his comrade, roared with rage.
"You… you devoured him?!" he bellowed.
"You bastard! Gérard will rip you to pieces!"
He charged at Ethan, but Gideon intercepted him, slamming into him with his shoulder.
"Don't touch him!" Gideon snarled, driving a silver knife into the vampire's side.
The vampire instantly crumbled from the silver's touch.
"Ethan, back!"
The third vampire broke through toward Zeydana and Susie. The witch thrust out her hand, and the air in front of her flared with a protective barrier.
"Stay away from my granddaughter!" she shouted.
The vampire slammed into the invisible wall and was thrown backward, then immediately scrambled up.
"Old witch!" he roared.
"We'll cut all of you down! Gérard will hear about this!"
Susie cried out in terror and pressed herself against her grandmother.
"Grandma… they're coming…"
Ethan turned toward the third vampire. In his eyes burned not only rage, but something new.
"Enough," he growled.
He stepped forward and struck. The wood sank into the vampire's chest. The creature screamed as black smoke poured from his body and was greedily drawn into the stake.
Ethan growled from the strain. The surge of power was even stronger than the first time, but the nausea and dizziness hit so hard that he dropped to one knee.
"Ethan!" Flash shouted, rushing over and catching him under the arm.
"You okay?!"
The voices inside the stake were now screaming with delight.
"I'm… holding on…" Ethan forced out.
"But they… they're getting louder…"
Zeydana lowered her hand. The protective barrier faded.
"You handled it," she said calmly, respect audible in her voice.
"They came specifically for him. That stake is like a nuclear reactor for vampires. I don't know how many souls you've already taken…"
Susie was still trembling, hiding behind her grandmother.
"They… they're terrifying…" she whispered.
Flash scanned the room. Three piles of black ash lay on the floor.
"We bought some time," he said.
"But we need to leave. There'll be more of them soon."
Ethan slowly rose, leaning on the stake. The black lines on his neck pulsed harder.
"I… used it," he said quietly.
"And it… helped."
Zeydana looked at him carefully.
"You took the first step, boy. Now you know what it feels like and what price you pay."
She turned to her granddaughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Susie, prepare the herbs. We need to strengthen the wards." Then she looked at the group.
The room after the fight looked as if a hurricane had swept through it. The floor was covered in black ash that still smoldered faintly.
The protective symbols on the walls still glowed weakly; some crackled and faded, as if their power was nearly spent.
Zeydana stood in the middle of the chaos, breathing heavily. A strand of gray hair stuck to her forehead with sweat.
Using her power had drained her; she looked a little older.
She slowly scanned the room, then looked at Susie, who was still pressed against the wall, shaking.
"Are you all right?" the witch asked.
Susie nodded, unable to speak. Her eyes were full of tears.
Zeydana turned back to the others. Her gaze settled on Ethan.
The witch was silent for a long time. Then she slowly nodded.
"Very well," she said at last.
"I will help you, boy. But not for free."
"I have one condition."
Flash, still holding his revolver, stepped forward.
"What condition?"
Zeydana looked at her granddaughter, then back at the group.
"You will take Susie with you. She is coming along. I am too old to protect her here."
"After tonight's attack, they know where I am. If I stay, they will return and kill us both."
"And Susie… she is still too young to die for my old sins."
Susie jerked her head up.
"Grandma… I can't…"
"You can," Zeydana cut her off sharply.
"And you will. This is not up for discussion."