I planted my feet and used all the supernatural strength I had to chuck the snarling stone gargoyle at the back of the closest helicopter. It smashed into the main rotors, causing the chopper to violently dip to the right, then roll and crash with a satisfying explosion into the ruined east side of the house.
That got the attention of the remaining two choppers. They swung around, shooting flaming arcs in my direction. I dove under the nearest pile of stone, using that as a barrier against the worst of the flames. My body felt like it was in a microwave from the heat, but Vlad’s aura held, keeping the fire from scorching the flesh right off me. When that orange blast stopped, I was already hefting up a large piece of stone.
The helicopter’s abrupt shift to the right wasn’t enough. The pillar I threw tore through the cockpit, slamming into the pilot and causing the chopper to drop like, well, a stone. I didn’t have time to run away from the fire that blasted out as the helicopter exploded. Instead of being afraid of Vlad’s aura dissolving, for a few moments, I found myself savoring the flames as they skipped over me.
That’s for everyone you murdered today! I thought, filled with vengeful satisfaction at the destruction of the helicopter. Then I began looking for another piece of stone. Only one more chopper remained and I needed to stop it before anyone else was killed.
When the last helicopter swung back around, I had a large piece of rock ready to go. Before I could throw it, multiple firecrackers went off and something hard smashed into me. Somehow, I was looking at the sky instead of at my final target.
“Leila!” someone yelled. More firecrackers sounded, cutting that person’s voice off. I tried to get up but couldn’t. That’s when I finally looked down.
At least I’m not in pain, was my first, stupid thought, as if that made me any less riddled with bullets. The pilot must’ve switched his weapons when he saw that fire didn’t work on me.
Spoke too soon, my hated inner voice mocked as pain roared through me with such intensity, it was as though it was trying to make up for those first agony-free seconds. I heard the helicopter closing in, tried again to get up, and was immediately strafed with a fresh barrage of bullets. Now I couldn’t even turn my head, so when the helicopter hovered right above me, I was completely helpless to save myself.
Something big dropped out of it. I couldn’t see what because my vision was blurry and red tinged. As if regular time had been replaced with slow motion, I watched the dark blur fall toward me. This is it, I thought, the macabre part of my mind wondering what the instrument of my death would be. A missile? Napalm bomb? The fire might not burn me, but the resulting explosion would blow me to kingdom come—
The thing dropped next to me and scooped me into his arms. “Leila,” a familiar voice said.
Even more shocking was the next voice I heard, also familiar—and despised.
“Get away from her, Maximus,” Szilagyi ordered.
My vision cleared enough to see Vlad’s worst enemy striding toward us. Gray still clung to his temples before streaking through his dark hair. His strong jaw and athlete’s build also added to his air of seasoned command. I’d described him as distinguished-looking when I first saw him in a psychic vision, and Mihaly Szilagyi still fit that bill.
Of course, he was also the most evil person I’d ever met, in person or through my abilities.
“Maximus, run,” I whispered. How he’d gotten here, I had no idea, but he needed to leave. Maybe Maximus had been one of the “nearby allies” Vlad had sent to help—
“I told you, she’s worth more to you alive,” Maximus replied, his harsh voice breaking through the pain that fought to cloud my mind with senseless agony.
Szilagyi smiled at me with icy expectation. “I disagree.”
Realization hit me, as devastating to my emotions as the silver bullets had been to my body. Maximus hadn’t been sent by Vlad to help us. He’d come with Szilagyi to destroy us! If I could’ve moved, I would have shoved away from him, but all the silver burning inside me stole my strength.
“Killing his wife almost finished Vlad the last time I did it,” Szilagyi continued. “Perhaps this time, the guilt will be enough to finally crush him.”
“What?” I rasped, stunned into replying. “You didn’t kill Clara. She committed suicide.”
Szilagyi came closer, until only a few feet separated us. “Clara didn’t jump to her death—I pushed her off that roof, then erased everyone’s memory of my presence afterward. This time, though, Vlad will know exactly who killed his wife, and why.”
Maximus’s thick arms tightened around me. “Don’t be a fool,” he said in a flat tone. “The closest you’ve ever come to defeating Vlad was when you held Leila hostage, and that was before he married her. Kill her now; you’ll upset him for a few months. Take her with you, and Vlad will be so determined to get her back, he’ll make a lethal, reckless mistake—”
I couldn’t push myself out of his grip, but my right hand had been creeping toward Maximus the entire time he spoke. When it reached his thigh, I channeled all my remaining voltage into him. With a satisfying crack, he was blown out of my line of sight, hopefully now in pieces.
Then I mustered up a smile at Szilagyi. “No matter what you do, you’ll never win against Vlad.”
Szilagyi squatted down until his dark brown gaze was almost level with mine. “I will really enjoy killing you,” he said, his tone so pleasant it belied the sinister words. “But I can always do that later. For now, I’ll see if Maximus is right and you’re the straw that ends up breaking Vlad’s back.”