Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts

ALLISON SCREAMED HER LOUDEST as the blood flowed from her only child. Jenny’s heart stopped beating as she collapsed to the ground. The bullet from the high-powered rifle went right through the child’s heart and out the other side; it was as if someone had dropped a car on her chest. Although her heart ceased to pump, her mind remained active; she went into a different state of consciousness, like taking the elevator to the top floor in a skyscraper, passing many levels of awareness. Her soul left her body.

She got out of the elevator, which led to the roof of a huge building so large that the other side was too far away to see. There were thousands of people on the top, all white and translucent. Many stared at her but said nothing, whispering to one another but not to Jenny. One older woman wiggled her fingers at her, returning the greeting, and it all started to fade. It was her great-grandmother. Translucent beings were a challenge to recognize.

Jenny, transported deep into the forest near a wigwam, smelled a combination of black coffee and blood. A crow in a maple tree to her left shook its head, dancing from branch to branch. Was she being warned away from the area? A low chanting had started from inside the round domed shelter. Black smoke exited the dwelling as if it was on fire. Suddenly, Achak blurred out of the wigwam and attacked her; he threw some silver dust into her face, and it burned as if it was acid, partially blinding her. She reached into her purse and threw a tiny bag at him, which burst into flames, setting him on fire. Although she thought he was in distress, he laughed even as the sound of the fire crackled on his bubbling skin.

A short older man with white hair appeared and gestured for her to follow him. “Jenny, all this is a distraction. Achak is trying to distract you long enough so that you will die here. You are a hybrid, and you need to heal yourself. Ignore him and follow me. Concentrate on layers of healing light; do you feel its warmth? Do you feel its caress?”

Her heart only missed two beats when it kicked back to life. The pressure and pain in her chest were incredible. Her heart had palpitations and fluttered, but it regulated itself within seconds. The wound healed as she sat up with a gasp, sucking in air deeper than she ever had, and then she saw them. Bernard and Anthony were arguing in a small patch of forest two streets over. They had inadvertently stepped out of their protective circle. The enchantment of concealment no longer offered its protection. She saw and heard their dirty thoughts, the nasty things they had done in the past. She realized they had shot her and wanted her head in the bag.

“Jenny! Jenny!”

“Mom? It’s okay. I’m okay. It seems that I’m more vampire than human.”

Jenny grabbed her sword and blurred so fast that she inadvertently knocked a tree down to get at them. Anthony and Bernard were about to come to blows when she approached the miscreants. Jenny cut Bernard’s head off, and before his bones hit the ground, she also decapitated Anthony. Jenny was so angry with him that she threw his bones high up into a tree, and they lodged there. She brought her hand to her chest, and the thought that she should be dead was disturbing. Jenny looked down and saw the glass circle and realized there was some spell involved, but had no idea of its origins or nature. She heard her mother crying and rushed back to her.

“Mom, I’m okay.”

“It’s not okay, Jenny. They shot you. I should have never let you get involved in this stuff. It’ll be your death, and it’ll be my fault. How am I ever going to live with that?”

Jenny hugged her mother. “Mother, no, it will never be your fault, no matter what happens. Because of who my father is, I was born into this. A flower can’t decide to be something else, even if it desperately wants to be. It is what it is. And I am who I am.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to be who you are.”

“Mother, I think it’s too late for that.”

“I know.”

Jenny slowly made her way toward the front door. “Everyone alive is on a different journey; even those heading to the same place and driving in the same vehicle will have a different experience.” The girl felt as if someone else was putting words into her mouth. “That was such a strange experience. Look, my hands are still shaking.”

Allison took in a deep breath and then let it out. “I think I need to lie down. Don’t tell your father about this.”

Jenny just nodded. “About what?”