Biting Cold: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel (CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES SERIES)

have been working, dear brother. Trying to rid the world of the pestilence you and yours seem so eager to forget.”
    Seth’s lip curled. “Humans are not a pestilence on the world. Protecting them is our sole obligation. Our sole responsibility.”
    “They are a plague!” Dominic leapt toward Seth, who maneuvered away from him but didn’t manage to get him any closer to Ethan.
    Who had said this part was going to be easy? Just grab the monster, she’d said, and pull away his power. I muttered a curse. And tried my own tactic. If Seth couldn’t lure him closer, maybe I could.
    “Dominic!” I called out, spinning the sword in my hand, hoping a distraction might be enough. “Fight like a man!”
    “I am more than man.” But he was too preoccupied with Seth to bother with me. He pushed Seth like a school bully and, when Seth jumped into the air, followed suit, his wings flapping slowly behind him.
    “Every being with power has its purpose,” Dominic said. “I have served mine, and I was punished regardless. My wings bear witness to that.”
    His voice was exactly like and unlike Seth’s. The timbre was the same, but the cant of the words was different. Seth spoke plainly; Dominic pronounced.
    “You weren’t punished,” Seth said. “You did dark things and your body changed as a result of it.”
    They wrestled in the air, the twins of light and darkness, just as in the picture the librarian had showed me. It occurred to me that I was seeing a battle that was primeval, fundamental in nature. Creatures of the beginning of the human world, fighting over whether humans should be allowed to rule themselves.
    “Catcher!” I called out. “Throw some magic!”
    “I might hit Seth!” he called back. I guess, given what we were battling against, I had to appreciate his concern for the collateral victims of his magic.
    They pushed each other away, separating midair before battling again. “I made decisions no one else would make!”
    “You destroyed people and cities.”
    “They deserved it.”
    “It wasn’t your call to make!” Seth raised his voice, his words booming across the park. I expected CPD patrol cars and picture-snapping residents any minute, so I acted.
    I got a running start, held my sword upright, and leapt into the air toward the flying dervishes. The edge of my blade caught the webbing of Dominic’s left wing. He screamed out his pain and the wing flapped backward with enough force to propel me through the air, just as he’d done with Jonah.
    I hit the ground with a dull thud that pushed the air from my lungs.
    The rain had soaked the ground and made the playground muddy, washing away the remnants of the sigil. But Ethan and Mallory waited, magic at the ready, both of them all but humming with the energy of it.
    Seth and Dominic rolled through the mud, which put the top of Dominic’s wing within a hand’s length of Ethan.
    “Ethan, Mallory, now!” I yelled out.
    Ethan grabbed the edge of Dominic’s wing. It took a second, and then Mallory screamed out as the connection burst open between them. There was no pleasure in her scream.
    Dominic roared out again, flipping his wing in an effort to dislodge Ethan. He put his palms together, and with a crackle of light, the giant broadsword appeared in his hands. He swiped at Ethan, but Ethan, helped by his vampire strength, dodged the blade and wouldn’t let go, and Mallory wouldn’t break the connection between them.
    “Nearly there,” Mallory said, pain in her expression.
    Dominic arched back, roaring again like an injured lion. Catcher didn’t miss this opportunity. He wound up two bright blue orbs and tossed them in Dominic’s direction.
    They exploded against his chest in a burst of blue sparks. Dominic fell back, hitting the ground with a thud.
    But so did Ethan and Mallory.
    The dark magic had stopped, and so did the rain.
    I knew any reprieve would be temporary. Body aching, I pulled myself off the ground and limped toward them again.
    “Mallory! Ethan!”
    Ethan’s grip was still on Dominic, but the magic seemed to have knocked him out, too. Catcher dragged Mallory away, her palms red and chafed from the magic she’d pulled out of Dominic. I did the same with Ethan, ignoring the bleeding gash on his arm and the intoxicating scent of blood.
    “Watch him!” I demanded of Seth, but Dominic was up and roaring again before I could even pull my sword. Seth took point this time.
    I patted Ethan’s face. “Ethan! Wake