Mariana tried a different tactic. "Charlie! Dani's alive! He'll be okay! You have to stop!"

Maybe he heard her. Or maybe he had burned himself out. The flames flickered and seemed to stop growing. Nobody moved, as the flames slowly died down. When they were out, I stared in shock at the carnage. There was actually a circle on the deck. A circle of blackened and warped planks. The vampire, dhampir, and white-haired elemental were all dead, burned beyond recognition. And in the middle of the circle was Charlie. He'd collapsed and steam rose off him, so thick that I could hardly see him. I gasped when I realized that he was in the rain. I ran for him and dropped to my knees. I could feel the heat from the deck through my jeans, and it nearly burned me. I grabbed Charlie under the arms and started dragging him out of the rain. He was still so hot that I could hardly touch him. As I got him safely under the roof, I noticed Mariana doing the opposite with Dani. I sighed in relief, as she pulled him out into the rain. I could only hope that we had both done it in time.

Charlie shivered violently, but his eyes were open.

"Charlie?" I said, wishing there was something I could do. I felt like an idiot, when I realized that there was! I cast my warming spell on him. But, it was yet another spell I should have practiced more. It didn't look like it did much good.

"W-w-wood," he managed to say.

I looked around, there was nothing. "I don't think there is any!" The deck was probably wood, but it was so covered in tar and resin I didn't think it would be much good.

"Then s-s-something. Fl-flammable."

The bar! Surely there was something there! I ran over to it and pulled desperately at the cabinets. Locked. I wanted to cry. There had to be paper behind the doors. I looked at my wand. I hadn't cast any air spells yet. I'd been focusing on fire. Not that it had done me any good. If I couldn't cast one, I'd have to just give my wand to Charlie to burn. It certainly wasn't helping me. I pointed it at the cabinets. "Ahn!" I cried. "Ahn! Ahn!" I was nearly sobbing, as I chanted the word. I glanced up and over the bar at the others.

Charlie had, amazingly, given us the advantage. TS and the two dhampirs were facing off again, and Thomas and Nathaniel were busy staring each other down. But what would it matter if we won if I couldn't get Charlie warm again? And then, a click. Hardly daring to believe it, I reached forward and opened one of the cabinets. Not just any cabinet. One crammed full of paper plates. I grabbed an entire stack and raced back to Charlie. I set a few sparks on one and handed it to him. It flared up in his hands, and he sighed in relief. I started handing him plates as the flames died down. The rain steamed off of him, and he looked like he was drying off. I heard furious growling and looked over at TS. My heart skipped a beat. The dhampirs had spread out. They were so far apart that TS could only attack one at a time. And if he did, the other was too close to Dani and Mariana. Mariana stood over Dani, clutching a stake with both hands. She was coated in blue blood, and I couldn't tell if Dani was even still alive. I had to hope that she wouldn't be defending him if he weren’t.

As if that wasn't enough, Nathaniel and Thomas were fighting again. They moved so fast I could hardly see them, but one thing was clear: Thomas was getting tired. He stumbled and regained his balance, just before Nathaniel grabbed him. Nathaniel lunged again. They fought for a few more moments, and then Nathaniel had him. He threw Thomas clear across the deck. Thomas smashed into, and through, one of the glass-topped tables and landed in a pile of chairs. He sat up, slowly. He was hurt. Nathaniel laughed and crossed the deck in a flash. He stopped near Thomas and, thankfully, not too close to Charlie and me.

"What's wrong?" Nathaniel said. "Having trouble?" He turned and looked at me. "I'm so glad you stuck around."

"Stay away from her," Thomas snarled.

Nathaniel laughed and took another step. An awful, spine-chilling hiss rent the air. It hadn't come from him and had been too powerful for a dhampir. It couldn't have been Thomas. I knew he was a vampire, but somehow I had never thought that he was capable of such a terrifying sound. But Thomas’ upper lip was still curled back, and his fangs were still bared. It had been him. He stood, but he was breathing heavily. He couldn't keep fighting for long.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Are we really going to keep doing this?" Nathaniel said. He sounded so calm. "It's getting dreadfully boring fighting a sick vampire. You're not much of a challenge."

Underfed, yes. But sick? I looked at Thomas in concern. He snarled softly, but said nothing.

"I'll still kill you anyway, of course," Nathaniel continued. "And the rest of your friends. I was told that you haven't been feeding from the non-magics on the ship. I didn't believe it at first, but clearly it's true. I still can't quite believe you refuse to treat them like the cattle they are. I do hope it's been worth it. It's going to be your undoing." He took a step toward Thomas and crouched like he was ready to lunge. "Maybe you should thank me. Starving to death must be rather uncomfortable."

The thought of it made my stomach twist. Starving to death? I wanted Thomas to deny it. But he didn't. "It's better than being like you," he said.

I knew that he wasn't getting enough blood, but I had never thought of him as sick or starving to death. I didn't know how much vampires needed, just that Thomas wasn't getting it. Maybe it was because I had nothing to compare his blood intake to. Or maybe it was because he ate so much normal food it was hard for me to think of him as not eating enough. Then again, maybe I just hadn't wanted to see it. Even the thought of Thomas being sick was upsetting. But starving to death? It was awful. I looked at him. Really looked at him. He was dreadfully thin, but I had chalked that up to the fact he was a vampire. The same for his pale skin, hollow cheeks, and dull eyes. But I had seen enough vampires to know that wasn't the case. None of the others were pale, and their eyes were bright and clear. I'd even asked if there was a way to tell a vampire on sight, aside from fangs. Nobody had ever mentioned that they were pale or thin. Soaked with rain, Thomas’ shirt hung off of him like a tent. But Nathaniel's clung to him, almost too tight. I could see the contours of muscles through his shirt and on his arms. I had been close enough to Thomas to feel his stomach. He hardly felt like he had abs, much less accentuated ones, and his arms looked toneless.

Nathaniel just laughed. And then, he lunged. As they fought, I forced myself to accept reality. Not just that Thomas was starving to death, but that he was too weak to win. He was strong, and he was fast, compared to humans at least. Unfortunately, he was no match for another, healthy, vampire. I knew that Nathaniel was just toying with him, and Thomas knew it, too. As they fought, I grabbed another stack of plates for Charlie. He was still shivering and in no condition to fight.

I stood, clutching my wand. I couldn't keep hiding here. I was sick of being helpless. Sick of watching people get hurt, and maybe killed, because I wasn't strong enough to fight. Dani still hadn't gotten up, and Mariana was about as useless as me. But we both had stakes. And maybe, just maybe, the dhampirs were too busy watching TS to notice me. So, I ran. I pulled out my stake and ran right for the nearest dhampir. TS had already hurt her leg. She must have heard me coming, but was slow in turning. I slammed my stake into her shoulder. I had missed her hearts by a mile, but had still hit her. I didn't even have time to process that I had just stabbed someone. She screamed and lunged at me.

"Mar!"

The sparks were enough to distract her. She cried out and swatted at them in terror. TS dove for the other dhampir, and Mariana jumped over Dani and swung her own stake at the dhampir girl. She didn't miss. The dhampir girl fell with a gasp, and Mariana drove her stake in all the way. We both stood back, shocked that we had done it. Without having to worry about guarding Dani and Mariana, TS knocked the other dhampir down and pinned him.

"Stake!" he snapped. Mariana and I both looked at him, frozen. "Stake! Now!"

Mariana rushed over to him and held hers out. TS turned into a human, grabbed it, and plunged it into the dhampir before the dhampir could react. At the same instant, I heard an awful, screeching sound. Thomas and Nathaniel were by the rails. I realized what the sound was; it was the sound of a vampire breaking the metal railing. For a moment I was worried that he'd swing it at Thomas, but he stepped away. Thomas didn't move from the rails. I squinted through the rain in confusion. It was growing dark. Thomas started yelling.

"Damn you!" he screamed. "This is what you call a fight? What are you, a coward?"

"Mar," I said frantically, recasting my night vision spell.

It was even stronger than before. I could see easily across the deck. My jaw dropped, and I gasped in horror as I got a better look. Nathaniel had broken the railing, but he hadn't used it as a weapon. He had wound it around one of Thomas' arms, trapping him. Thomas jerked and struggled, as he cursed at Nathaniel, but couldn't free himself.

Nathaniel laughed. "I simply like to keep the odds in my favor." Then, with a smile, he turned and advanced on us.