A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire, #21)

A mighty roar boomed down from the sky, so loud and fierce it made my hair stand on end.

The hunters froze and whirled around. Four magnificent dragons—Jeriad, Azaiah, Neros and Ridan, if I recognized them correctly in their beastly forms—soared toward us. Jeriad—who was leading the horde—widened his jaw and released a storm of flames. Fire blanketed the center of the islet, billowing dangerously close to us. The heat dried out my eyeballs and scorched my already fried skin.

Azaiah, Neros and Ridan joined Jeriad in releasing more fire, and soon I couldn’t even see the hunters through the blaze. I did hear their gunshots, shouts, racing footsteps, and splashes of water as they no doubt retreated for safety. As the flames began to lick but a few meters away from our feet, I feared that they would consume us before the dragons came for us.

But then Ridan and Neros burst through the wall of smoke and fire. Ridan arrived at my side first. His massive left hand closed around my body as he lifted me up while his right hand reached for Derek. Neros picked up my father before the two dragons’ wings beat heavily, raising us into the air. I was relieved that Ridan kept me lower against his body, beneath the shade of his broad chest. It felt like if my skin was tortured much more, it might become irreparably damaged.

Another round of lethal gunshots fired—one so unnervingly close, I heard it whoosh right past my ear. With all the smoke and flames, I could only just make out the outlines of Jeriad and Azaiah beneath us. My vision being hazy from all that forced sunlight didn’t help either.

“The eyes, Amaya!” Jeramiah bellowed from somewhere beneath us.

Oh, no.

“Hurry!” I panicked.

We had to get to the boundary before the witch reached us.

Through the myriad of chaotic sounds broke out a thundering splash. I caught sight of Jeriad’s giant tail thrashing in the water, while the rest of his body was submerged. He was clearly in agony.

“The witch must have gotten to his eyes,” Derek shouted.

At this, Neros flew up to Ridan and transferred Aiden into Ridan’s hand—the same hand that held me, for there was plenty of room for the two of us.

“I’m going down to assist,” he said, doing a one-eighty and darting back down toward Jeriad.

Ridan continued hurtling forward with us toward the island and as he did, he began spouting fire all around us—I guessed to prevent the invisible witch coming too close. I thanked the heavens that we weren’t far from the boundary and we managed to fly through it before Ridan got stabbed in the eye.

Although we were engulfed again by the darkness of The Shade, my skin was still singed. I cast a glance at Derek. His eyes were still fixed on the scene we’d just left. I gazed there too, even as I tried to calm my palpitating heart.

I could make out the hunters’ speedboat dashing away now. Clearly they’d realized they weren’t equipped to battle four angry dragons. Both Neros and Azaiah were hovering near the waves where Jeriad had fallen. I guessed the injured dragon would shift back into his humanoid form for his two companions to easily carry back to the island.

I wasn’t sure how the dragons had known to come, but we had just managed a narrow escape. I shuddered to think what would’ve happened had they arrived even a few moments later. I was certain that those hunters were going to take all of our lives, even as we’d informed them of our innocence.

The view of the ocean became obstructed as Ridan dipped behind a row of trees and touched down in a clearing near the Port.

Derek and I locked eyes, almost certain that the same questions were running through both of our heads. What is up with these hunters? They were so interested in stalking our island—they’d had naval ships stationed near our shores for months now, and they’d even tried to detect our every moment with motion sensors—yet now that they’d had three specimens from The Shade—including the king and queen at that—they’d simply wanted to kill us? If anything, they should have imprisoned us and taken us in for interrogation. The motives of the hunters were a complete mystery to me. What exactly is their game?

Our disturbed nephew, Jeramiah, was yet another enigma. I still wasn’t sure how he’d entered the island, or what exactly he’d thought he would gain by traumatizing and murdering his family members. Revenge? Was that really all that drove him? I guessed it shouldn’t have been surprising. Lust for vengeance had a way of blinding people to what was in front of them.

However jumbled my pain-ridden brain was with doubts and questions about the hunters and my nephew, as Ridan lowered us onto the lawn, there was one feeling of certainty that I couldn’t shake: this wasn’t the last time we’d cross paths with either of them.





Chapter 25: Ben