In a quick decision, I broke left, grabbing out volatile spells, pinching and throwing. Red streaked past me, followed by pink. Blue splashed at my feet, unleashing some sort of fog. Whatever the effect, it didn’t penetrate my leather pants.

Running, I threw more spells, some lobbed, some hard and toward the ground. Flashes and explosions and one weird monster burst from them, my spells totally unpredictable. Shock and awe. I burst through the side door and quickly slammed it behind me, hoping I wasn’t trapping myself.

A large group of chanting women gathered around a cauldron in the middle of the bare room. Liquid bubbled within it, and steam swirled above it, twisting as it reached for the ceiling. As one, they all turned to look at me, their eyes glazed and completely white.

“What the fu—” I paused for a moment in indecision, not knowing what was more dangerous, the strange women or whatever they were brewing. I needed to know what would be chasing me.

My question was answered almost immediately when the chanting quickened, rising in pitch and volume. The steam pulsed red. In the cauldron, blood rose up through the once-clear liquid. The bubbles started popping, spraying the ladies. Their bodies undulated, their arms jerking. The steam drifted in my direction. A figure started to take form within, spindly and clawed—it was definitely some sort of monster.

“Nope.” I ripped out my gun and shot the pot. The bullet ricocheted. I snatched a spell next and lobbed it, the throw perfect. The orb plunked into the liquid. Swish!

The blast went skyward, enveloping most of the steam. A moment later, it imploded, sucking the spell, liquid, and crazy down into itself. The cauldron shook, wobbling on the floor. Screaming drowned out the iron scraping the stone. One of the women ran at me, her hands curved like claws.

“Seriously, what the hell is up with you broads?” I slapped her arms to the sides and punched her in the face. Her feet flew out from under her. She whipped back and landed on the ground, her head thunking.

Cue insanity.

Screaming or gurgling women lurched after me. I ripped out my gun and fired, trying to make nonlethal shots. I hit one in the shoulder. She whipped back, screeching like a bird of prey, but kept coming.

I shot another. She didn’t feel it either, ignoring the blood now streaming down her leg.

“What are you ladies?” I asked, backing up.

The door behind me opened.

I whipped out an invisible wall spell, pinched, and threw. The spell engaged a little early, stopping two feet from the man coming through the door. He threw a hex, his lips moving and his brow scrunched in effort. Bright green flew out from his open palm. It hit the invisible wall and reflected. He screamed as his spell ate away his exposed skin.

If I’d needed proof they were trying to kill me, that was it. Green light for the no-holds-barred approach.

A hand grabbed my shoulder. An intense shock dug down and frayed through my body. I jerked out of the woman’s grasp, my teeth chattering. I spun and shot. So much for nonlethal. The woman fell. Her eyes changed from white to red, the same color as the potion they’d made.

“You ladies are dabbling in some dark stuff, huh?” I kicked out, my foot connecting with a head. My target staggered, trying to keep her balance. Another woman almost reached me. I shot. She windmilled back, no shock or anything on her face. Just trying to stay upright. That same blood-red color filled her eyes, and her hair changed from brown to a swampy sort of green.

I had no idea what kind of spell would make any of this happen. If there was one, I’d never heard of it before, and that was saying something.

The woman on the ground jerked. Her body bowed backward and she shrieked. I shot another as Exorcist lady struggled to her feet. Like a zombie, she convulsed before lurching after me, her arms out, trying to grab.

Zombies.

I groaned. “What kind of a freak show is this mage running?”

I put my gun away and took out my sword. Another of the women came at me. I slashed, cutting off her head. Killing them was very similar to killing vampires, only easier.

“Dumb move on your part, ladies.” I smashed my foot into one woman’s knee. It bent sideways. She spilled to the ground, clawing at the stone. “You should not work with spells you are unfamiliar with. Look what happens. You get turned into zombies.”

I cut off a head and stomped on a chest. A whizz sounded behind me. The mages were working on the spell I’d thrown.

“Where the hell are Dizzy and Callie?” I chopped off another head, spun, and sliced at a neck. The head lolled to the side, a part still attached.

My stomach swam. That was gross.

I took out the last one as blood started dripping from her mouth. How they could be so stupid as to unknowingly turn themselves into zombies, I had no idea, but it seemed to be par for the course with the type of people the mage had gathered around him.

There were two doors in the back, one to the left and one to the right. Other than their positioning, they looked exactly the same.

I ran to the one on the right until I felt thick, heady magic vibrating from the left. Confused, I jogged that way, palm out. Extremely intricate and wonderfully complex, the pulse of the magic felt pure, comforting. The power of the spell rivaled even the combined force of Callie and Dizzy. It was a blockade, meant to keep people away.

What was the mage hiding? Himself?

I touched the spell with my sword. A burst of light made me blink, followed by an intense electric shock that violently threw my blade away. My hands followed. I punched myself in the face before I could regain control. I was lucky it wasn’t the blade that had hit me…

Taking a step back and breathing heavily, I stared at the door in confusion, knowing my time was bleeding away. I glanced at the door on the right, not pulsing magic. Then back to this one.

There had to be a reason it was protected. I couldn’t let that reason remain hidden, especially not when it would probably sneak up behind me later.

A rumble from the other room shook the floor. People shouted. The mage trying to get past my spell at the other door disappeared, yelling instructions. Someone screamed.

That was probably the Callie/Dizzy team. About time!

I put away my sword and felt the fire burn through my body, sweet and right. Power and strength. My birthright.

I moved my palm sideways through the air, low, facing the ground. Flames sprang up and danced at the base of the spell. I lifted my hand, willing the fire to grow. It spread across the surface, and in a moment, the door was covered in living fire, eating away the magic. I kept it slow. I didn’t need anything blasting out at my face, and this kind of fire would definitely trigger that reaction if it was burning too hot.

Another rumble shook the room, followed by a different kind of roar. That had to be the T-Rex.

The spell over the door peeled away, though it was still fighting my magic. I’d never seen that reaction. The caster had a solid understanding of his craft, creating something that didn’t want to say die.

I didn’t take no for an answer.

I held my hand in front of me, clenched it into a fist, and ripped to the side. The fire roared and flew through the air, taking the spell with it. A throb of light announced the defensive trigger I had expected, but there wasn’t enough spell left to carry it out.

Grabbing the handle, I whipped the door open before draping the space in front of me with fire. Magic shot out, white-hot. It hit my wall and tried to eat through it. I ripped the blanket of fire away, tossing it to a different part of the room. I yanked out my gun and aimed it, only now seeing a girl about my age hunkered down in the broom closet. She was the source.

“I will not join you!” she screeched, her hands digging into a faded blue canvas bag.

“I’m the good guy.” I took a step back, recognizing her look of obstinacy teamed with terror as she tried to find something to throw at me. “You dodged a zombie-sized bullet, by the way.”

Confusion stole over her face as I turned away. She wasn’t the enemy.

“I thought this was a retreat!” she yelled. “They were going to teach me about magic.”

“They were going to teach you?” I laughed, my blood pumping as I squelched the fire and stalked toward the other door. “They aren’t even in your league, sweet cheeks. Stay alive and I’ll introduce you to someone who isn’t a moron. I gotta go now, though. I have to save a vampire from eternal death.”