MAYA

MAYA'S SMILE FADED WHEN Helena's hazel eyes clouded with confusion and she stumbled backwards on all fours like a spooked crab.

Of course, she won't recognise you, dummy! Who would want to hang out with a vampire with glowing red eyes in the middle of an apocalypse?

She caught Helena's ankle and pulled her back into the treeline. "It's me, Maya. I had to borrow this shell to help you."

Helena's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Maya laughed. "I'm not attacking you. And...those things are the scum of the Demon Realm. They're the lessers that roam the wasteland in search of food. With that fire keeping you here, you're going to end up as their next meal." Grasping Helena's shoulder, Maya tugged her closer in time to keep Helena from being squished by a body that landed next to them. She recognised the vampire instantly. It was Alexander—the rich prick who always complained about spending his precious money.

"Oh my God, is he—" Helena began.

"He's alive," Maya said, although she would rather see his head rolling. It would be one less vamp to kill later.

Helena suddenly gasped, bringing Maya's attention to the events happening at the centre of the cemetery. Vincent—one of the Vampire Council members—held the Arcanae Mortum and seemed to be using his vampiric ability on Anna, another Councilwoman, who struggled to get close to him.

"Can you do something? Can the possession be reversed?" Helena asked.

Maya nibbled on her lip. "These beasts don't deal with contracts like the others in the Dome. So, the moment you're weak enough, they will take over. You can't do anything here, Helena. Let's just think of a way to get you to safety..."

"No. People I know and care about are here."

"But you're no good to them dead. Think about it, you're a human in a fight between vampires and demons. Think they'll give you a handicap?"

Helena looked back at the fight, her chocolate brown hair swaying with the wind. It made Maya sad to see how much that girl cared for those monsters. Sighing, she glanced to where Helena's gaze was focused on. The Council's head, Eliza, managed to get her hand out of the portal's circle, but the rest of her body remained trapped.

"We can't let that thing out!" Helena told her full of determination.

"That's an Archdemon. Silver bullets won't hurt the Councilwoman with Tanatos controlling her."

"You're on first name basis with demons now?"

Maya stuck out her tongue. "He's the fifth gatekeeper. Since there are only six of them, it's hard not to know their names."

Helena rubbed her gut nervously. "Lucious is getting close."

"Great. Leave the fighting to the experienced!"

"You're right, I'm pretty much cannon fodder."

"Yeah." Maya heard someone approaching. She turned on the spot and grabbed the wrist of a reaching vampire. Twisting his arm, she slammed him into the dirt then kneed him in the neck. She took Helena's gun and, without a second thought, shot him in the head.

Three more possessed vampires emerged from behind the trees, and Maya cursed. Their red eyes glowed with menace, and she wasn't about to let Helena die here. Not on her watch. Maya fired a round into each of their heads.

Bullseye! Ben would be proud.

To her dismay, they didn't die. They only staggered like zombies. Their hungry eyes watched her every movement. Blood of others trickled from their mouths and dripped onto their torn clothes.

"This isn't good..." Maya barked. "Run!"

*****

They didn't get far. But, at least, they managed to reach the Councilman.

"Vincent, we must find a way out of here!" Helena shouted.

Maya kept fighting back the possessed vampires and acted as her shield. She could fade in the Human Realm without a vessel, and she wasn't keen on looking for another one right after scoring such a hot body. Maya ground her teeth and punched a vampire in the nose, shattering his cartilage. Her knuckles and bones ached a bit, but she didn't have the time to complain. More were coming, and they had to do something to stop Tanatos from escaping the Demon Gate.

She peered over her shoulder at what Helena and the Councilman were doing. Vincent had seen better days. His grey bespoke suit was covered in dirt and rain that kept on descending on them. Strands of his white hair had come undone from his ponytail. He even looked seventy instead of fifty-something she often thought he was turned at.

Two thousand years of being an undead blood-sucking Class 5 vampire can do that to a person, I guess.

The other Councilwoman was snarling at them, trying to find the right time to attack. Maya could see the demon lurking inside that vampire's vessel. She was no lesser. She was like Maya, a demon with a conscience of her own.

Maya's eyes darted between the incoming enemies. "Kill her already. We don't have time to play around."

"She's Lucious' sire. We can't kill her!" Helena snapped.

"The demon is too close to the gate. She won't regain control no matter how long you stand here chatting to it. So end it, damn it!" Maya retaliated.

Vincent whispered something to the Councilwoman that Maya didn't catch. She was too busy sweeping the legs from under a vampire and plunging her hand through his chest to rip out his heart—one sure way to kill an undead aside from hacking their head off.

Maya rolled her shoulders and got up again. Facing Helena, she said, "I'll keep the others off for as long as I can!"

While her friend was preoccupied with the possessed Councilwoman, Maya shot two more vampires in the head. It slowed them down long enough for her to get close and rip their throats out.

They fell to their knees, clawing at their necks. She stood behind the first, grabbing the young vampire by the hair and pulled until his head came off, spraying her cream-coloured blouse with blood. She was already drenched from the pouring rain, now she had to look for bleach somewhere, too. Brilliant. Taking the head off of the second vampire, she felt a sharp pain in her side.

She looked at the blood that coated her blouse more. Someone had shot her. Looking around, she saw a few vampires who were spraying bullets as if they were confetti. Has that vampire never fired a gun before? Not only was he wasting bullets, he was also endangering others.

Maya was about to go and rip that weapon out of his grubby hands but was stopped when she noticed that Tanatos was getting close to escaping the portal's barrier. A few more tugs and an Archdemon would be set loose in the Human Realm. She couldn't let that happen. Who knows what damage he could do to humans?

She turned on her heels, falling back to Helena's side who was watching her boyfriend fighting the Councilwoman. Maya never liked Lucious. He was the reason why Helena wound up wrapped up in the dark supernatural world to begin with. Without him in her life, Helena would be free from pain and the suffering that came with being an immortal's lover. But, Helena didn't see it that way. For some reason, she loved that creature with all her heart. So, Maya had no choice but to stay a good friend and be there for her if things went south.

"Helena, we need to go," Maya urged, placing her hand on Helena's shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

Maya pointed to the magical circle the Archdemon was about to leave in Eliza's body. "We can't let Tanatos escape!"

"How do we stop it?"

Maya thought for a long second and grinned. There was a sure way to kill Eliza's body, but it was risky. "You won't like it..."

"Say it!"

"We do what Lazarus did with you and Andreaz. I can give you the power to drain her life for a short time."

Helena blanched. "I won't be able to keep Eliza still."

"Don't worry about that. We'll work as a team. I've got your back."

They jogged along the slippery grass. Their booted feet caused the forming puddles to splash. Maya noticed Helena shivering from the wet clothes she wore. Since Maya no longer felt cold, she wasn't as affected as her friend.

The closer they got to the portal, the more powerful Maya felt. Being near the Demon Realm helped her recover some of her energy that she had used for fighting the possessed vampires. But, they were too late. The Councilwoman had freed her final limbs from the gate. A devilish sneer exposed her teeth and fangs.

"I'll hold on to the demon," Maya said and hopped onto Eliza's back. She kicked the back of the Councilwoman's knees, making her fall backwards. Eliza's long red hair fell into Maya's eyes, and she moved her head to one side to clear her vision. Then, Maya wound her legs around Eliza's waistline and snaked her arms around her neck like a wrestler would.

"Do it. Now, Helena!" Maya yelled.

Helena climbed on top of the struggling duo and pressed her lips to Eliza's. She looked uncomfortable, kissing an undead woman, but Maya knew Helena wouldn't let her down. Closing her eyes, Maya sent her dark energy into the demonic bracelet that Helena was wearing, filling her mind with the ancient knowledge of the ritual Lazarus loved to use on his enemies. Extracting the life energy from the vessel was tricky business. Maya wouldn't be able to do the ritual without years of practice. For some reason, to Helena it came naturally. Maya knew exactly who the second soul inside of her friend was. She could see the white light of that being becoming brighter with each passing day. Helena didn't have long before the second soul stole her body's control.

Eliza fought harder. Her burning hand gripped Helena's arm, scorching the jacket and singeing her flesh.

"Almost there, Helena," Maya urged, knowing full well that Helena had to be suffering a lot of pain from the burn. "Concentrate!"

Eliza's body started to disintegrate in Maya's arms, and Helena ended up straddling Maya. What once used to be the leading bitch of the European Council became a pile of ash and dirt. Maya would get a ton of praise from her hunter clan if they heard that she had killed a Class 5 vampire. On the other hand, if they found out what she was, she would be skinned and tortured for information before they exorcised her.

The wall of fire around the cemetery collapsed and the Demon Gate began closing, taking away the strength that Maya was beginning to miss.

Helena cried out in pain. She fell to her side and started convulsing. She had absorbed an insane amount of life force from Eliza, and now that it needed to go somewhere, Helena's life was in grave danger.

I should have thought of this before asking her to risk her life...

Maya patted Helena on the cheek. "Stay with me."

"I...have...to pass...it on," Helena spoke between clenched teeth.

"It will kill you both!" Maya yelled, grasping Helena's face. If Helena pushed the energy through the soul-bond she shared with Lucious, the two of them wouldn't make it. He wasn't strong enough to accept so much power.

"Send him half, but the rest..." Maya cursed. "No, you can't keep it. You won't survive." Think, damn it!

Helena's body convulsed again and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"Stay with me!" Maya screamed. "Oh God, I know! Break the link... You must concentrate on breaking the soul-bond. Helena? Helena!" Maya was beginning to panic. Her friend wouldn't stop shaking. Tears reached her eyes. She didn't want Helena to die because of a dumb split-second decision she had made. "Please, Sis. Fight back! Don't die on me!"

The panic she felt when she returned home to see her entire family's bodies scattered around the house came back. She had lost everyone she loved and cared about on that day. Experiencing that again would kill her.

Shedding more tears, Maya placed Helena's head on her lap and stroked her friend's wet hair. "Come on, Helena. There is so much we have yet to do. We have to see a movie together, kill a few bad vamps, or eat ice cream all night long while watching cheesy romance movies... We can ditch your stalker vampire and hook up with some human guys if you like."

Helena's face slowly relaxed, and she opened her eyes. After staring at the sky and Maya for a minute, she turned her head to the side, focusing on Lucious. She sniffled.

Maya's heart began to ache. Helena truly did love that vampire, even when she was on the brink of death. Would Ben accept Maya for what she had become? Dating outside of the clan was forbidden. He could be punished for being with a demon-possessed vampire. It hurt her head just thinking about the abomination she had become.

Helena's eyes slowly closed and her head rolled to one side lifelessly.

She couldn't be. No!

"Get out of the way, demon. Let me heal her," a Royal vampire, Karl, ordered Maya and shoved her aside.

He bit into his wrist and opened Helena's mouth, feeding her his blood and massaging her throat to push it down. "Drink. It would be a pity to let you die here."

"That's enough!" Maya shouted, trying to grab his arm.

"Don't tell me what to do," Karl warned and helped Helena sit.

At first, Helena swayed a little. She peeled open her eyes sluggishly, bringing relief to Maya. A second later, Helena pushed Karl away and crawled across the dirt to Lucious who was unconscious and lying on the wet ground.

Over three dozen metres away, something exploded. The shockwave knocked a couple of vampires over and Helena. Maya frowned when Karl picked up Helena and swung her over his shoulder like she was a sack of flour.

A huge, six-foot-five, werewolf ran up to Lucious with Alexander at his side.

Both men seemed exhausted, and Alexander said, "The hunters are here. They used an EMP to kill the tech in the vicinity to cover their tracks."

A flurry of bullets started flying above their heads. The werewolf lifted Lucious and drew his brows together.

"Is he okay?" Helena asked.

"Yeah..." The werewolf scanned the area. "We'd better get out of here before we part with our lives."

"Agreed," Alexander said.

Maya wasn't about to stick around and wait for the hunters to take her in or shoot her full of bullets, which was more likely. She ran out of the cemetery using her vampire speed, leaving Helena in the hands of her lover and his friends. Lucious would keep Helena safe at the cost of his life, Maya was certain of that.

Ten minutes later, she reached the part of London that seemed quiet and pressed her back against the brick wall. She slid down, all energy drained from her legs. In such a short amount of time after escaping the Demon Realm, she had come to a realisation. She was no longer human on any level. Today, she could have been the cause of her friend's death because protecting the Human Realm from Tanatos was more important than one human's life. But, whatever did happen to Tanatos. Once Eliza died, she didn't see what happened to the Archdemon. She was too focused on Helena at that time.

"Shit," Maya grumbled under her breath. "Hemight have claimed another vessel by now and hid his presence." She had to findhim. But first, she needed help.