A World of New (A Shade of Vampire, #26)

Shouts abounded, along with the firing of bullets and the dropping of more explosives, but from what I could make out through the blaze, the fire dragons were already above them and had blinded the hunters far too much with their fire to make their aim anywhere near accurate. Besides, the dragons’ scales were so tough, they were practically magical. They could withstand the spells of witches, which in their own way were just as powerful as these explosions the IBSI were raining down on us.

After five minutes of chaos, the dragons relinquished their flames just a little bit. The helicopters that had survived were rapidly fleeing the area. The dragons didn’t bother chasing after those who had escaped, but they did burn all who remained within easy reach to cinders. Several aircraft crashed down against the roof of the island’s barrier, along with the limp bodies of men. The dragons swept down, clasping the wreckage and the bodies within their claws, and flung them miles away, into the ocean.

As my hands trembled, I realized how in shock I was. It was not even so much their sudden arrival, nor what they had said about Josh. I just could not get over the fact that they had been so ready and willing to walk right into such danger. They knew how deadly our security was. They knew we were equipped with an army of dragons, jinn and witches who could take them down from the sky. And yet they had come to aggravate us anyway.

We didn’t know exactly what they had done to Josh, but whatever it was, their actions confirmed to me that we were definitely right to keep him here. The fact that they were willing to risk the lives of God knew how many dozens of men for the sake of one young man who was supposedly at death’s door spoke volumes. They were desperate to get him back. And if they were desperate enough to launch such a fatal attack, they were certainly desperate enough to fabricate wild lies.

And that was what we had to believe the hunter’s statement about Josh was. Nothing but a lie.

Once the fire-breathers’ business was done, the witches allowed the dragons back into the island. They soared down and dumped themselves into the ocean, mists of steam releasing from their bodies.

Lethe descended to the ground with me, along with Shayla and the other witches who had been hovering in the air to witness the scene up close.

“All right,” Shayla called out to everyone—there really was quite a large crowd by now. Vampires, werewolves, humans, even Brett and Bella had trundled out of their caves. “Nothing to see here anymore.” Then she took my hand. “Let’s go to Josh. The first thing I want to do now is get that tracker out of him. Should have done that the day we brought him here.”

“Good idea,” I agreed.

She vanished the two of us and we reappeared on my veranda. As we entered the apartment, we found Josh still sitting by the window. He would’ve witnessed the entire battle from this height.

“They’re gone,” Shayla said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Now, I would like to take you back to the hospital.”





Grace





Returning to Meadow Hospital, Shayla took Josh to the X-ray room. A full-body X-ray, she said, would be the fastest way to determine where the tracker lay. She entered the room with him and closed the door behind her, leaving me to wait nervously outside. I hoped that the tracker wasn’t lodged someplace horribly intrusive.

I wasn’t left to wait long. Shayla emerged about a quarter of an hour later and allowed me inside. My heart lifted at the look of relief on her face.

“This should be an easy job,” she said. “They put it in his right heel. Just a minor surgery is required…” I read the rest of her thoughts. Since Josh couldn’t feel anything in his legs anyway, there shouldn’t be any pain.

We took Josh to the surgery room, helped him out of his chair and laid him flat on the operating table. Shayla decided to give him a mild anesthetic anyway, just in case. Beginning the procedure, she dug into the back of his heel and within a couple of minutes she had pulled out a long, thin, metal tracking device. It was so slim and small, it could have been mistaken for a needle.

Shayla destroyed it before healing his foot. Then she allowed Josh to slowly sit up.

“You feeling all right?” Shayla asked.

“Yes,” he murmured.

“You are now tracker-free,” I informed him.

The witch helped him back into his wheelchair and we returned him to his bedroom. He didn’t want to lie down, so instead we positioned his chair near the window, where he could look out at the sunflower meadow. Shayla drew up a chair opposite him, indicating that I do the same. Then, clearing her throat, she began, “Now that we’ve got the tracker out of the way, we really, really need to try to find out who you are. Why those hunters want you so much.” She paused, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ve been thinking that, even though our first attempts failed, I, my fellow witches and the island’s jinn should keep trying. Different potions, different methods of magic, perhaps even the same ones repeatedly could get through to you. Would you be all right with that?”