"Thank you, thank you."

"There are more people waiting upstairs," I said. "We still have to escape."

She nodded. We continued up the stairs. I stepped out into an apparently empty hallway. I had just turned to motion for the girl to follow me when I heard a hissing noise. I looked left. Five vampires, murder in their glowing red eyes, streaked inhumanly fast down the hall toward me.

Chapter 35

Shelton stepped from a niche in the wall and raised his staff. Stacey, back in panther form, stepped from a niche in the opposite wall and roared. The moggies were nowhere to be seen. I assumed they were delivering their cargo to the van.

"There's a van in a parking lot across the back," I told the girl in a rush. "Run to it. Unstrap the man and the girl from the big cats and put them into the van. Now go!"

She nodded and skedaddled.

Shelton raised his staff and shouted, "Yod!" At first, nothing seemed to happen. The vampires raced down the yards of empty hall straight for us. About fifteen yards from us, they slammed into an invisible barrier. Hollow booms resounded in the hall, sounding like a maniac pounding on timpani drums. Bloody outlines of vampire faces hovered in the air as their bodies slid to the ground in a collective heap. Then the thick dark blood which seemed to be hanging in midair, splashed to the floor.

"Duy wov," Shelton barked, and a blinding light flashed above the vampires.

Most of them conked out immediately, but one staggered to his feet and turned to run. Stacey streaked over, batted him with a massive paw, and sent him flipping through the air to thud onto his back. She leapt on his chest and opened her mouth as he screamed and wriggled like a caught dormouse. A dull yellowish light flowed from his eyes and mouth in a vortex and swirled into Stacey's eyes. His screams sent chills down my spine. I turned away.

After a moment, Stacey released his unconscious form and stalked over to me.

"Watching her feed gives me the creeps," Shelton said. "Half of them are scared witless by the time she gets to them, though, so I'll bet it's good stuff."

I shuddered and found my voice. "We should go now."

Shelton stared at the unconscious and groaning vampires longingly. "I don't suppose you could help me take a couple back to the van?"

"Are you kidding me?" I said through clenched teeth. "I'm about to fall apart here. I can barely carry myself."

Stacey rubbed against me like a giant housecat and made a cooing noise that sounded very strange coming from a panther.

Shelton sighed. "Yeah, probably don't have any room in the van anyway. Let's go."

We reached the van and found the girl standing ten feet from it and shaking in fright. She ran to me, making the noise one makes when one discovers a spider climbing up your bare leg. She shielded herself from the van with my body and pointed over my shoulder. "V-vampires in there!"

I gave Shelton a dirty look. "I hope they can't escape."

"Nah, I got 'em locked in sleepers."

"Those plasti-cuff things?"

"Yep. Sorcerer's best friend. They can't wake up until I release them."

Elyssa and Dad were still strapped to the moggies, so we untied them. I lifted Elyssa into the back very gently and pulled her against me. The vampires snoozed in a heap near the back doors. Stacey morphed back into her naked human form right in front of the girl whose name I still didn't know. The girl gave a little squeak and fainted.

"Truly, it's for the best," Stacey said with a smile. She slipped back into her clothes and climbed into the passenger seat.

Shelton closed the sliding doors and hopped in as driver. "Where to?"

I doubted a hospital would do much good. "My house."

"You got it."

On the ride back, I stroked Elyssa's cheek and whispered in her ear. She didn't respond but at least she was breathing. I hoped I hadn't severely damaged her mind. For all I knew, she'd never wake from this coma she seemed to be in. I clenched my teeth to keep the tears at bay.

Dad groaned a few times but seemed otherwise okay. I figured he had to be weak from not feeding, not to mention the obvious health effects of vampires sucking his blood. Both he and I would have to feed at some point. It would take all of my self-control to keep from hurting anyone. I stared hungrily at the sleeping girl. I wasn't sure what we would do with her.

"I'll take care of her," Shelton said in a grim voice, startling me out of my reverie.

"Don't kill her! Maybe we can mind wipe her somehow."

"Geez, you think I'm a murderer? The Arcane Council has a program for ordinary people who have seen too much of the supernatural side. We can help them adapt to the terrible discovery of the Overworld."

The tension left my shoulders. "Good."

We reached my house. Shelton took Dad inside. I carried Elyssa in and put her on my bed. She was a mess. Encrusted blood covered her shoulder and she had bits of rotten vampling flesh spattered on her clothes and skin.

"I do so hate to leave you, dear," Stacey said. "But I must get my companions back to shelter. Dawn is only a short time away and these moggies do not deal well with direct sunlight. It will hurt their sensitive eyes."

I hugged her and kissed her cheek. "Thanks for everything. You're a true friend."

She laughed and pressed a hand to my cheek as a tear welled in her eye. "I am rather glad I didn't eat you, you precious little man."

"Wait, I thought you didn't eat people."

She giggled. "Not in that way."

She took off her clothes and graced me with a seductive smile over her shoulder before transforming and racing into the early morning darkness with the moggies.

"That's a damned fine looking woman," Shelton said. "Scary as hell though."

I gave him a suspicious look. "I could have sworn I recognized those magic words you were using against the vampires."

"You must be a real nerd then."

"Ooh, the pot calls the kettle black. Who in the world would use Klingon words for their spells?"

He grinned. "It ain't so much what you say as the intent." He shrugged. "Plus it sounds cool."

"Yeah, I guess so." I yawned so hard my jaw cracked.

Shelton slapped me on the shoulder. "Get some rest. Not much you can do right now."

"What about the vampires? Won't they come after us now?"

"The vamps don't know where you live, as far as I know, so I think you're safe." He pressed a hand to the floor and closed his eyes for a moment. "You've got two ley lines��kind of like high-voltage power lines for magic—running under this area. It's why your mom chose this place to hide. The magical interference is off the charts. I'll set some anti-vamp wards. They should last quite a while with the juice flowing under this place."

Relief melted some of the tension in my muscles and forehead. "Thanks, Shelton." I followed him back outside and watched the van fade into the night. I felt very alone all of a sudden. The two people I cared about most in the world were unconscious and lying inside, and all the super powers I had couldn't bring them back

I went inside and cleaned off, changing into some jeans and a T-shirt. Elyssa smelled just awful but my muscles trembled with fatigue at the thought of picking her up and bathing her. My stomach howled in unison with its supernatural counterpart. I knew I had to do something about food and psychic energy before anything else. The sky turned pink in the east as I went back outside. I found a little café not far from the house and ordered a waffle. A group of old men were laughing and talking about old times over steaming cups of coffee.

I smiled and hooked into them, filling my psychic batteries with a trickle of warm feelings and good memories. After topping off, I went back home and found Dad stumbling through the kitchen. His face was white as death and his hands were cold and clammy. Ravenous hunger glowed icy blue in his eyes. His face had that demonic bony look to it, the same as when I'd followed him to the Laundromat days ago.

He had to feed but I was afraid he might hurt someone, and I didn't want him going after Elyssa if he lost control. I had no other choice. I reached for his essence. He sensed mine and jerked it toward him greedily. I fell to my knees as he siphoned my replenished energy at incredible speed. Dad was like a starving infant, sucking furiously at a nipple. I felt myself growing woozy.

"Stop, Dad." I staggered to my feet and took him by the shoulders. "Stop!" He seemed to be in a trance. I took every ounce of remaining strength in me and punched him in the nose.

He yelped and crashed backwards into the kitchen table. A look of anger flashed across his face. He leapt to his feet, fists clenched, his once-again hazel eyes glowing. Then he seemed to see me for the first time and gasped. The draining sensation stopped. I fell back to my knees.

"Justin?"

"That would be me."

He helped me to my feet and checked my eyes. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm tired," I said. "But otherwise okay." Strength seeped back into my muscles as my remaining psychic energy settled down.

He looked around the house in confusion. "How—how did I get home? Where's Linda?"

"Linda?"

"The girl. The vampires wanted me to feed off her so I'd stay healthy."

"She's taken care of."

His eyes grew large in horror. "You didn't—"

"No, I mean she's fine. The Arcane Council has some sort of treatment program for the supernaturally exposed."

"Thank goodness," he said, slumping into a chair. "So, you rescued me?"

"I had help. A felycan, the sorcerer who tried to take us prisoner, and a Templar tagged along with me."

His eyebrows threatened to climb off his forehead. "How in the world did you manage that?"

"Now that," I said, "is a long story." I looked at my bedroom. "And I have to take care of some business before doing anything else."