"Jen," Charlie called, "set her on fire!"

I looked at him in confusion. He knew that sparks were all I could make. Why didn't he just do it? In fact, he had plenty of chances to set the vampire on fire when they had been facing off. But there wasn't time for questions. I aimed my wand at the vampire and tried to envision an inferno. As I expected, a few weak sparks flickered into life on her shirt. The vampire looked worried for a moment, but almost immediately laughed at my pitiful attack. Then, my sparks burst into life, and the vampire was engulfed in flames in seconds. She shrieked in pain, and I heard the railing clang to the ground. I looked back at Charlie in surprise. His hand was raised toward the vampire, and he was frowning in concentration. He turned my sparks into flames! I had only ever seen him controlling fire from close range. He must not have been able to make it spring into life wherever he wanted.

Then the vampire moved. I hardly had enough time to register that she was running in my direction. Then, she was on me. It all happened so fast, I was on the ground before I knew it. She grinned triumphantly at me. Charlie grabbed her from behind, and the flames roared until I couldn't see either of them. It was only then that I realized I didn't have my wand. The vampire had taken it. I scooted away until my back hit the rail, feeling even more helpless. Something about having the wand, even though I knew I wasn't very powerful, had been comforting. As the vampire screamed and thrashed in the flames, Dani grabbed a stake and rushed toward her. He slammed the stake down, ignoring the flames, and suddenly the screaming stopped. The fire died down, and the vampire collapsed to the deck. I heaved a sigh, and my entire body relaxed; she was dead.

"Jeez," Mark breathed. He went over to the dead vampire and took a closer look.

"Oh, Danio," Charlie said.

There was something in his voice that made me look at Dani. I gasped when I saw what Charlie had. Dani had been badly burned when he staked the vampire. His entire arm was bright red and already blistering. There was steam rising, practically billowing, off of his arm.

"I'll be fine," Dani said. He leaned down and grabbed the vampire's leg. "Help me toss her." I realized that his unburned arm was the one the vampire had injured. If we were attacked again, Dani wouldn't be able to fight.

Before anyone could reply, I heard a scream of pain and a howl. My breath caught in my throat. It wasn't over, Thomas and TS were still fighting! I raced for the stairs. I couldn't do anything to help, but I couldn't bear to leave without knowing what was going on; without knowing if anyone was hurt. I slowed down, once I reached the stairs. Even with my heart hammering in my chest, I knew better than to rush blindly into the fight. What I saw when I got down the stairs was enough to make me sigh in relief. The female vampire was already dead. TS snarled and snapped at the vampire, and Thomas inched closer, stake in hand. Nathaniel's neck was torn and bleeding from where TS had bitten him, and he was clearly hurt. Then, I realized that TS was limping. One of his back legs looked broken. Thomas didn't have any visible injuries, but he was obviously tired.

Dani put a hand on my shoulder, and I nearly jumped a mile. "Get back to the room. Take Mark and..." He trailed off, and his eyes widened in horror. "Where's Mariana?"

I had been so overwhelmed that I hadn't even thought of her. "She went overboard with the dhampir!" I cried. Guilt surged through me. I should have said something as soon as she jumped. What if she'd been hurt?

Dani immediately pursed his lips like he was whistling, but I couldn't hear anything. He waited a moment, listening, and then did it again.

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"Anything?" Charlie said.

Dani shook his head, eyes churning in concern. "She isn't answering." He sounded terrified.

"Then go!"

TS yelped in pain, and I looked back at him in time to see him sail across the deck and crash into the wall. Nathaniel dodged Thomas and ran over to TS. TS tried to scramble to his feet, but Nathaniel reached him and kicked him viciously in the side. TS let out a strangled yelp and collapsed back onto the deck.

Next to me, Dani took another step down the stairs. He glanced at the rails and looked back at TS, obviously torn.

"Go! Get Mariana," Charlie said. "We'll be fine."

With one last worried glance at TS, Dani rushed down the stairs. Nathaniel hissed at Dani, looking like he expected Dani to attack. Instead, Dani went straight for the rails and dove overboard. Even though Dani hadn't done anything, his presence had been enough of a distraction. Thomas rushed up behind Nathaniel and must have been a fraction of an inch from staking him. Nathaniel dodged him and hissed again, as Charlie and I hurried down the stairs. Mark was right behind us.

"Both of you go back to the room," Charlie said.

"I can help! I'm a vam—or dhampir or whatever!" Mark insisted.

"Then help protect Jen," Charlie said. I wanted to protest, but without my wand, I was even more useless. That and I knew he was saying it to make Mark feel better.

With that, Charlie ran across the deck, fireballs flaring in his hands. The last thing I wanted to do was leave, especially with Thomas still facing off against Nathaniel. But there was nothing I could do to help, and I'd only be a distraction.

"Mark! We have to go, come on."

He looked reluctant to leave the fight. I started up the stairs, hoping he'd follow. I heard another furious hiss from Nathaniel. I turned to make sure Mark was behind me and was just in time to see Nathaniel grab TS by his broken leg and swing him at Charlie and Thomas. Thomas dodged, but TS collided with Charlie, and they both crashed into the deck with a shout and a yelp. Nathaniel laughed an evil, bone-chilling laugh. I saw that I had been wrong, Thomas was hurt. He sagged against the wall, breathing heavily and clutching his leg. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. My heart leapt into my throat as Nathaniel turned back to Thomas. He lunged forward, and Thomas dove out of the way. I was relieved when he stood back up with his weight on both legs. Nathaniel swung at him, and to my horror, I realized that he had a stake too. Charlie was back on his feet, looking for an opening, while Thomas and Nathaniel circled each other. TS tried to get back up, but it hurt just to watch him struggle. His back leg didn't just look broken, anymore; it looked mangled. Nathaniel had done even more damage when he had thrown TS. I had to fight back the urge to vomit, when I spotted shards of bone caught in the blood-matted fur. With another hiss, Nathaniel lunged at Thomas, just as Charlie rushed forward. Nathaniel must have seen the flash of fire. He seemed focused on Thomas, and I was sure that Charlie had him. I didn't even see what happened, but suddenly Charlie flew backward. He hit the deck hard and didn't move. I could see dark smoke rising up and knew he was bleeding. I watched in horror as Thomas and Nathaniel grappled.

They lunged at each other again and again. Suddenly, Thomas dropped low and threw himself at Nathaniel's legs. Nathaniel roared in pain, and the two of them broke apart. Nathaniel staggered and fell to one knee. It looked like Thomas had injured, if not broken, the other one. Then Thomas brought his stake down. I heard a choked cry of pain, and a spray of blood coated both of them. Then, an ear-splitting howl echoed across the deck. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Nathaniel slid his stake out of Thomas’ stomach, and Thomas collapsed to his hands and knees. He coughed, and blood spattered the deck. Nathaniel stood over him, laughing. Then, he kicked Thomas right in the stomach and laughed even harder, as he pulled away a blood-soaked foot. He shoved Thomas over onto his back and knelt down with one knee planted firmly on Thomas’ chest. TS, still howling, frantically tried to get up. He managed a few steps across the deck before falling again with an agonized whine. Charlie started to slowly sit up, but Nathaniel had hit him hard. His mouth and nose were practically gushing blood and still billowing smoke. He started to stand, but fell back to the deck, clearly still dazed from his injury.

Thomas hung on to his stake and started to raise it. Nathaniel pinned his wrist down and raised his own. For one horrible second, he stayed motionless, stake poised above Thomas’ chest. Charlie was on his feet, but looked so unsteady; there was no way he'd be able to get across the deck to Thomas in time.