The earth cracked, and black fire rose from the splintered soil as Dysella’s entire body (and steed) was overtaken and hidden from view. She laughed maniacally as her voice took on a darker tone and warble in the night.

  In her mind, she heard his voice again.

  “Get her out of here!”

  Vampires, she thought. Nest-craving, life-sucking, soul-forfeiting, bastards. I’m going to kill every last one.

  Those thoughts only drove the devilfire higher into the sky, 30 feet above, as Chloey and Maeve leapt from their steeds and dove from the scorching heat of Hell permeating the forest around them.

  For a moment, the vampires glanced at one another, one or two asking themselves if this was truly a fight they wanted to take on.

  As the dwindling devilfire finally brought the strange illumination of black flames in a nighttime forest to an end, Dysella emerged as a more demonic visage of herself. All around her, as the column of fire faded, tiny shadows of wickedness danced between the trees. Mollie stood in Dysella’s left hand, popping with black flame.

  Technique: Devilshift

  Dysella’s HP: 82/112

  Maeve’s HP: 316/316

  Chloey’s HP: 31/31

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 20

  “Kill them all,” the lead vampire said before Dysella rushed forward and drove Mollie into his belly.

  “Your brother made a sick bubbly noise when he roasted with devilfire,” Dysella said, her eyes dripping with black blood. “I wonder what kind of noise you’ll make.”

  But before the half-breed angel could finish the job, two vamps rushed in and pulled her backward, slamming the warrior into the earth with all of their strength. One of the vamps sank its fangs into Dysella’s neck while the other clawed at her sword hand.

  Dysella’s HP: 74/112

  Within seconds, the vampire guzzling Dysella’s blood fell onto its back, screaming in agony, a thick, black ichor dripping from the sides of its lips. Rocking with convulsions, the vampire died slowly, its skin pulling tighter and tighter as the demonic blood poisoned its victim.

  Dysella, granted a bit more freedom of movement, roared in a blind rage and headbutted the other vampire on her, horns ramming into the bloodsucker’s skull. It stopped moving momentarily as Dysella rammed it again. And again.

  Blood dripped from the creature’s nose as the half-breed angel got her legs under her opponent and kicked it backward into a tree. Then, before it could recover, a bleeding Dysella screamed and cut clean through the tree with Mollie, severing the vampire’s head at the same time.

  The tree collapsed, and Dysella, neck torn open, turned to the other red eyes in the dark.

  “This is how your nest dies!” the angel roared. “One by one. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. So come out of the shadows, or wait for me to dive in. My blade awaits you all.”

  Dysella’s HP: 73/112

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 18

  Chloey frantically climbed off her horse and slapped its ass like in the movies, hoping it would send the steed running loose and to safety. Her eyes darted around in panic until Maeve grabbed her arm.

  “Hey! Are you okay?” the fae asked.

  The magician nodded.

  “Dysella. She’s. . . again. Just like the farmhouse,” Chloey sputtered as the warrior was smashed in the face with half of a fallen log and driven back into the shadows. Snarls of multiple vampires swarmed her. Eyes blazing with fury, Dysella took a broken piece of the log and staked the vampire closest to her, laughing in madness as it turned to dust.

  Dysella’s HP: 65/112

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 17

  “Yeah, she’s channeling her demon blood. It’s only gotten more common in the last few years.”

  “Why the fuck do you call her an angel, then?!” Chloey shrieked.

  Maeve frowned and slapped the magician.

  “I call my girlfriend an angel because she is an angel. She’s my angel. And even when she doesn’t often have enough faith in herself to reach for those lofty abilities, I still believe in her.”

  Chloey stood there wide-eyed, feeling the sting in her right cheek.

  “She’s going to charge into Hell to save your daughter. So I’d suggest you find a way to believe in her, too. Don’t let the horns and dripping obsidian blood fool you. She’s still your teammate, and Dice won’t for a single moment put you in danger.”

  It took a few seconds, but the magician nodded.

  “. . . Sorry,” she muttered.

  “No time for sorry right now. We need to back her up and remind Dysella that she’s not fighting alone. What can you do?” Maeve asked.

  Chloey took a quick breath and steadied herself. Holding up her right hand, the magician revealed a sapphire ring, and it started to glow.

  “What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes. And I believe in magic,” she said as her energy activated, and a stage light appeared as if from nowhere, bathing the blonde woman in bright light.

  In a giant puff of smoke, Chloey’s traveling clothes vanished and were replaced with a stage tuxedo, fishnet stockings, and a top hat. A short black and white cane appeared in her right hand. Doves darted from the smoke, and floating gloves shuffled three decks of playing cards between them.

  Item: Weisz Family Ring

  Description: A golden band with stars engraved into it and a sapphire on top, enchanted with the family magic of Harry Houdini himself. The ring is activated with a key phrase and unleashes a magician’s outfit of the wielder’s choosing, along with all up to nine enchanted items stored inside by the wearer. The enchanted items come from the Weisz family vault.

  Stepping from the light, Chloey said, “I do magic, Mave. And I can hold my own.”

  Seeing her transformation, Maeve smiled and slung her pack to the ground, pulling out Bridget. Snapping her fingers, the bow immediately assembled itself, fully strung and ready to use, glowing with an emerald light.

  “I don’t need you to hold your own, Chloey. Nor does Dysella. What we both need you to do is back her up. She fights like a feral creature unless she knows an ally is in her space. Then she restrains herself to a degree so as not to hurt them. My advice? Disrupt Dysella’s closest enemies and watch her back. She’ll last longer.”

  The magician pulled out a slim choker with a ruby in the middle from one of her tuxedo pockets and raised an eyebrow.

  “And while I’m protecting your girlfriend, what will you be doing?”

  Maeve winked.

  “Why, I’ll be veiled and sniping vamps, protecting you both.”

  With that, Maeve’s eyes glowed the same shade of emerald as Bridget, and a shimmering veil distorted her image as she quite literally faded from view.

  Technique: Glamoured Veil

  Description: Using her fae glamour, Maeve bends light and sound away from her, causing them to miss her body and leaving her effectively invisible.

  Chloey watched a tree branch bend above as a cloaked Maeve took to the high ground and waited for the right shots to line up. The magician snapped her enchanted choker into place, feeling the weight of its magic on her vocal cords.

  One of the vampires rushed out of the shadows, claws fully extended and ready to rip an arm off the magician. The only thing that stopped it was a hastily-fired arrow ripping into its heart from behind.

  The creature’s eyes widened just before it dissolved into a cloud of ash. And the magician took advantage of the opening, darting toward Dysella.

  The half-breed angel was in the middle of bashing a vampire’s head into mush with Mollie’s pommel, growling, gnashing her teeth like a rabid dog. The aura around her was one of rage as another vampire rushed out of the darkness and smashed a rock the size of a truck tire into Dysella’s shoulder, sending her flying. Mollie spun off into the darkness, a silver glint of light flashing under the moon, its dark flames vanishing.

  Dysella’s HP: 58/112

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 15

  And Chloey realized in that moment, as Dysella snarled from the ground up at the vampire, why Maeve had asked the magician to watch her girlfriend’s back. In her demonic form, Dysella wasn’t fighting as a disciplined swordswoman. She wildly swung the blade like a knife in an alley fight. The half-breed angel tanked hits and left herself open because the pain made her angrier.

  Even now, she rose from the ground and smashed a fist into the vampire’s throat. Then, she headbutted the enemy with her horns. But this opponent was sturdier than her earlier headbutting victim and clasped its hands together, bringing them down upon the back of the warrior’s neck, smashing her face-first into the ground.

  Dysella grunted before eating dirt.

  Dysella’s HP: 50/112

  As the vampire drew back a claw to rip the half-breed angel open from behind, Chloey arrived and placed her index and middle fingers upon the choker’s garnet, which glowed with a fiery light.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Enchanted Item: Irrefutable Command

  Description: A simple black choker with an enchanted garnet in the center. The wearer focuses all their intent on a single target and issues a one-word command. The target who hears the command must immediately obey without hesitation.

  The magician took a deep breath, locked onto the vampire above Dysella, and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Crumbleeeeeeeeee!”

  Ripples of red-tinged sound waves flew across the ground and up into the vampire’s ears as it gasped, feeling an immense pressure smashing its body down into the ground. With a sickening crunch, the vampire’s body collapsed backward into the soil as though gravity were increased by 1,000% for a split second.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 14

  Smoke flew from Chloey’s mouth as she coughed and sputtered, yanking the choker off. It left a mild burn on her skin where she’d used it. The magician’s knees buckled, and her vision grew blurry. In her moment of weakness, a vampire flew down out of a nearby tree and prepared to rip into the magician’s throat.

  She gasped, and just before impact, a bloodied Dysella pushed her back, throwing up her right arm in sacrifice. The surprised vampire bit into demonic flesh instead, fangs sinking into the heavily scarred arm.

  Chloey then realized the reason Dysella’s right arm was so fucked up was that the angel used it as a fang shield. Grunting and watching a new wound open on her body, Dysella lept up and let gravity carry her down, tackling the vampire to the ground. Applying as much pressure as she could, Dysella kept her arm in the vampire’s mouth. She trapped the vampire’s skull between the earth and her forearm.

  “You wanted a drink? So, take your fucking drink!” Dysella snarled as the vampire’s legs kicked. Its eyes rolled back up into its head, demon blood coating the creature’s throat.

  For several seconds, it thrashed, but Dysella stayed atop the vampire, pressing down as hard as she could to keep her wound in the bloodsucker’s jaw.

  With no other choice, the vampire swallowed and convulsed, choking on the demon blood, which pooled in the back of the throat.

  When the vampire let out a final moan and withered, Dysella rose, ripping her arm free and sending more inky blood flying. She closed an eye and grimaced, feeling muted pain rocket through two different places on her body.

  “I. . . I left them alone,” Dysella mumbled, more black blood leaking from her eyes like tears. “Alone.”

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 13

  Chloey’s eyes widened as she tucked the choker back into her tuxedo. Pulling a series of long scarfs from her left sleeve, the magician wrapped the bite on Dysella’s arm. She seemed to come back to herself as the newcomer worked.

  In the distance, they heard an arrow flick through the branches and catch another vampire in the heart.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 12

  The demonic Dysella looked at her wrapped arm while Chloey quickly wrapped another series of thin scarfs around the open neck wound. They were colorful fabrics and soft. But they seemed to stop the bleeding.

  As she worked, Chloey locked eyes with Dysella, and she remembered Maeve’s words.

  “And even when she doesn’t often have enough faith in herself to reach for those lofty abilities, I still believe in her,” the fae had said.

  What was the last thing Dysella said? she thought. I left them alone?

  The magician didn’t understand the full implications of Dysella’s rambling, eyes distant with past grief. But she knew vampires brought out the worst in her teammate.

  The angel who stood in that restaurant and promised to save my daughter, Chloey thought.

  Placing a hand on Dysella’s sword arm, Chloey took a breath and spoke with a raspy but clearing voice.

  “You’re not alone, Dysella. We’re here with you, me and Maeve.”

  As she said this, Dysella’s demonic channeling timed out, and she reverted to her previous human-looking form.

  Gasping from the pain of her injuries, the half-breed angel buckled and started to fall, rips in her flesh throbbing with now-red blood.

  “Fuck!” she hissed as Chloey caught her.

  A vampire ran up on them, but a well-placed arrow fired from the trees above ensured the creature’s immediate demise.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 11

  Taking ragged breaths, Dysella clenched her fists and reached deeper to channel her demonic abilities once again. As the ground under her started to crack and smoke, Chloey grabbed one of Dysella’s clenched fists with her palms and pulled her attention forward.

  “No, Dysella! You’re in no shape to pull that off again,” Chloey snapped.

  The half-breed angel tried to ignore her and pull away, but the magician held firm.

  “I’m not letting you go! So if you want to bathe yourself in devilfire, you’ll have to roast me along with you,” Chloey said, gritting her teeth.

  Dysella growled.

  “Fucking move!”

  But Chloey shook her head, holding on for dear life.

  “They’ll tear us to pieces if I don’t channel my demonic blood again. Don’t you realize that? So back off, and let me change.”

  “No! You’re unsteady enough on your feet as-is. I’ve watched you transform twice now, and I know it hurts you.”

  Dysella got right in Chloey’s face and yelled.

  “You don’t get to tell me how to fight!”

  Chloey yelled right back at her.

  “I do when I’m the one watching your back!”

  The angel froze at this, and staring into the magician’s eyes, she found nothing but resolve. She wasn’t going to leave Dysella alone. The half-breed angel didn’t need to fight like the sole wolf of a dead pack.

  “Look, I don’t know why you fight as your demon self, and frankly, it’s none of my business. But as long as I’m standing here beside you, I want this Dysella. Not the one from the farmhouse. And don’t give me any bullshit about how you can’t fight like this. You’ve still got plenty of gumption left. Use it without wearing horns.”

  As Chloey spoke, Dysella was reminded of Robert, who’d actually said something similar a week after she first channeled her demonic blood.

  ***

  They sat together at an ancient picnic table in an abandoned RV park outside of Tulsa. Dysella felt a new splinter in her leg each time she squirmed.

  Robert was usually a man of few words, a real “don’t speak unless you have something to say” kind of guy. He was raised in the swamps, and when he spoke, Robert’s words carried a Cajun accent. His ginger hair was cut short, and he was ex-military.

  At 45, he’d put together the hunting party of four, bringing Dysella into the fold as a teenager. The ginger was the gun guy, the strategist, the mission-giver, and the de facto leader of the squad.

  Dysella was the frontline muscle of their monster-hunting group. She got up close and personal with a flaming sword and hacked away at whatever threat they faced. Back then, she’d had delusions of grandeur to become a great angelic warrior like her father.

  And Robert was something of an earthly father figure to her. He gave Dysella her gun and taught her how to use it, how to clean it, how to reload it, how to take it apart, and reassemble it.

  Jane was the cursewielder of the group, harnessing the destructive energy of an ancient book full of vengeful ghosts. And rounding out the party was a resurrected sabertooth tiger, the group had named Mullet.

  That day, Mullet and Jane were out grabbing food. It was a nice spring afternoon, and Robert pulled Dysella outside to clean their guns.

  They’d started in silence, but eventually, Robert took off his glasses to polish them with a clean rag from his pocket.

  “I trust you, Dysella,” Robert said out of nowhere.

  She looked up at the man sitting on the bench next to her. He’d shaved his stubble that morning and rubbed his smooth chin. Freckles dotted his cheeks.

  “Huh?” Dysella said.

  “I said I trust you.”

  “Oh. . . um, thanks. That’s good to know.”

  Robert spat into the grass behind them.

  “That job in Cheyenne with the cannibals. . . you tapped into your demonic powers. Remember? Afterward, you told me you felt stronger than before.”

  Dysella slowly nodded.

  “Well, I’ve been thinking.”

  The angel cocked her head to the side. Out of everyone in the group, she was closest to Robert and looked up to him. Trusted him like a battle-tested general. If he told her to charge into battle, she did. If he said to cover him while he reloaded, she did. If he told her to wait for exactly seven minutes before attacking their target, she did.

  So his next words left an impact on her for years to come on their next missions.

  “When we’re in the thick of it, there’s no one I want watching my back more than you, Dice.”

  A slow smile spread across her face as the teen scratched the back of her head.

  “Thanks, Robert. That means a lot.”

  He returned her smile with a small grin. Robert didn’t smile often, and when he did, it was always fairly restrained.

  The angel tried not to giggle. But that just caused her to smile even wider.

  “But if I had to choose,” he trailed off, causing the angel to raise an eyebrow. “Between the feral girl I fought with in Cheyenne and the one who protected me yesterday when I was pinned down by two ghouls. . . I think I’d pick the girl without horns on her head.”

  Dysella slowly reached up to her temples as a vulture flew overhead, riding a thermal higher into the cloudless sky.

  “What I mean is. . . you said using your demon blood made you feel stronger. But I know for a fact you fight smarter when you’re like this. I think the girl sitting with me now is plenty strong.”

  The angel’s hands slowly fell to the bench they sat on.

  “Your demon blood is part of you, Dice. But that doesn’t mean you have to let it control you or let it determine how you fight. Understand? Dysella controls Dysella.”

  The teen nodded. And she didn’t channel her demonic abilities for years after that.

  ***

  “Robert. . .,” Dysella mumbled, closing her eyes and letting a single clear tear race down her cheek.

  Dysella controls Dysella, she thought, hearing his voice in her head.

  Around them, the snarl of vampires rushing in grew louder. The bodies were too numerous for Maeve to pick off all at once. Still, she struck one more bloodsucker down.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 10

  “To me, Mollie,” Dysella whispered, opening her eyes.

  The faerie steel blade picked itself up from the forest floor and raced through the night sky into Dysella’s grasp. The moment she had it, Dysella took a deep breath and traced two fingers over the blade.

  An orange flame followed behind her touch until the entire sword was engulfed in mortal fire.

  “Watch my back,” Dysella commanded, turning with the fiery sword to face their closest opponent.

  Chloey scoffed.

  Just before the vampire reached them, Chloey’s hands glowed yellow as she waved each at her target. A long steel chain leapt from the magician’s tuxedo sleeve like an angry viper. It rattled and quickly wrapped itself around the vampire, pulling the creature to the ground, where it struggled to break free.

  Enchanted Item: Houdini’s Chain

  Description: The very chain that Houdini was wrapped with during his first public escape act. It’s extremely heavy and difficult to break free from.

  Using all of its concentration, the vampire managed to levitate off the ground and right itself. Unfortunately for the creature, that just gave Dysella time to lob its head off.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 9

  Two vampires rushed the half-breed angel from behind, and Chloey clapped her hands together. When she pulled them apart, they held three interconnected silver rings the size of dinner plates.

  Drawing back, Chloey spun toward her attackers with the rings, which took on an edge not all too different from the razorwire that tops prison fences.

  Enchanted Item: Chloey’s Rings

  Description: The first magical items Chloey designed, these rings can rejoin and pull apart with her will alone. Designed to instantly sharpen when they hit a certain velocity during movement.

  With a grunt, the magician severed each vampire’s head from its neck, sending them rolling off into the dark.

  Two more arrows flew from the trees above and found true targets among the nest.

  Total remaining in vampire nest: 5

  It took another few minutes of heavy fighting and close calls, but with their combined efforts, Dysella, Chloey, and Maeve thoroughly decimated the nest that tracked them.

  They rested together around a large oak tree, breathing hard and licking their wounds.

  Dysella popped her nose back into place with a gut-wrenching CRACK. Chloey thought she was going to be sick hearing that.

  As they caught their breath, Chloey helped Maeve clean an open gash on her cheek.

  “How’d this happen?” the magician asked, wiping the wound with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.

  The fae hissed.

  “Fucker took a wild chance and threw their knife upward as I was leaping between trees. It was a one-in-a-million shot. And the damn thing happened to be made of iron, too. That’ll still be hurting tomorrow,” Maeve groaned.

  Dysella’s HP: 43/112

  Maeve’s HP: 300/316

  Chloey’s HP: 25/31

  Dysella glanced over with concern. But she was in too much pain from the evening’s thrashing to say much.

  “I’m okay, love. It just grazed me,” she said. “But from what I could see, it looks like our new magician did pretty well, huh?”

  The half-breed angel just raised an eyebrow and gave a wordless nod.

  Chloey sighed after taping a bandage to the side of Maeve’s cheek.

  “I’m not gonna lie. That was my first time fighting vamps. I froze a few different times.”

  And to everyone’s surprise, Dysella pulled the magician close with her good arm. The magician let out a slight “Eep” as she did.

  Maeve just grinned, watching Chloey resting her head on Dysella’s shoulder, stiff as a board. The fae whispered, “Let me translate. She’s in too much pain to say it, but Dysella is telling you to shut up and that you did alright tonight.”

  Chloey shifted uncomfortably as Dysella let out a quiet squeak of pain.

  “And that means ‘please stop moving because you’re hurting me,’” Maeve laughed even louder as Dysella held up her middle finger.

  Chloey swatted the finger.

  “Don’t flip your girlfriend off!” she scolded.

  Dysella scowled, unsure of what the fuck just happened.

  “You heard me,” Chloey said, nuzzling closer before Dysella could growl or snarl or so much as bare her teeth.

  And Maeve couldn’t seem to stop cackling at it all.