A Shade of Vampire 22: A Fork of Paths by Bella Forrest Read Free Book Online Page A

mast, away from the Bloodless below as they once again set their dull eyes on her. I hurried toward her. Grabbing hold of her arm, I slowed her down in her ascent.
    “No! Aisha, listen to me. Please, you must! I-It’s what Benjamin would’ve wanted.”
    Playing the Benjamin card was the very worst thing she could have done. My fury reached a boiling point. Raising my hand, I backhanded her in the face. “How dare you even utter his name!” I seethed.
    “Unless we do something about this infestation, it is going to spread!” Julie panted, her eyes wild and desperate. “We’re the only people who know about them, the only people who are here…” Her voice trailed off as one of the Bloodless reached her level on the mast. Kicking hard, with one swift motion she dove off the ship and landed with a splash in the waves. I shared a grunt of frustration with the Bloodless who’d just swung for her and followed her down as the rest of the monsters also corrected course.
    Hovering over the foaming waves, I plunged my hand into the water and caught her ankle before she could get too deep. I tugged her up to the surface. Gripping her by the shoulders, I hauled her into the air.
    “Aisha,” she gasped. “The Bloodless are going to continue to multiply. What don’t you understand about that? We’re the only witnesses alive who can do anything about it. Please, we need to work together, at least until we’ve gotten rid of them. If we let them go, the supernatural realm is going to become flooded with these monsters! We have a responsibility!”
    I didn’t trust a word coming out of her lips. Yes, we were the only ones around with the power to do something about this before they expanded further—which did seem to be their plan—but I didn’t believe for a moment that even a single bone in her body was genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of her fellow residents of the supernatural realm. Not after she had so viciously betrayed Benjamin. This was just a pathetic attempt to save her neck, and citing our responsibility to deal with these monsters was nothing but an excuse to delay her demise.
    She squirmed harder as I dragged her back toward the ship.
    “Please, Aisha! These creatures are dangerous not only to vampires. Didn’t you see that they killed dozens of witches? What’s to say they’re not a threat to jinn too? We need to—”
    “There is no we ,” I growled. “Even if I wanted to spend my time acting for the greater good of our supernatural realm, I don’t need your help. I can do it by myself.”
    Of course, that wasn’t entirely true. In fact, not really true at all. I could manage basic movement, and could just about carry Julie because she was only small and light in weight—although even that was a struggle when she squirmed fiercely—but taking on an entire ship filled with these creatures would be too strenuous without command of my full powers. Julie would have been of use, in fact, but I would sooner see the entire supernatural realm infested with these nightmarish creatures than accept this wench’s offer of help.
    “Aisha, I’m sorry,” she continued to plead shamelessly.
    “Oh, I’m certain that you’re sorry. And you’re about to become a lot sorrier.”
    “Two wrongs don’t make a right!”
    “My math works differently.”
    “No! Please, let her go!” a female voice shrilled behind us.
    Annoyed by yet another distraction, I turned to see the girl who had been traveling with Julie in the boat before she’d jumped into the waves and escaped from my sight. Now she swam toward us in the ocean, terror gleaming in her eyes as she looked from Julie to me.
    “Please,” she said frantically. “Have mercy. Don’t kill Julie. I can’t survive without her. I’ve lost everyone!”
    “And do you think you’re the only one who’s lost everyone?” I roared, a wave of anger and grief surging in my voice.
    The three of us fell silent as I took in a deep breath, attempting to