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Frozen to the spot, Slade kept her gaze on the green eyes that studied her as well. There was a fury behind it that she couldn’t quite place.

Slade didn’t dare speak; this wasn’t the time.

Knife or talon, it pierced flesh, tearing a flinch from Slade who struggled to stop herself from vocalizing it.

In Slade’s peripheral, Manny approached. He fished out the egg and kept it close to him. Slade stayed still, intent on not alerting the angel of the vampire behind her.

Judging from the smirk and the power coming off the angel in waves, Trixie planned to drag this game out to her satisfaction.

The angel scoffed and smiled before turning to strike. “Too slow!”

Without touching Manny, she recoiled then jumped back. He disappeared in a flash and caught up with ease. Trixie turned only once. Manny took the opportunity to put his hand on her forehead. The bright powder that left the other repeat-phantoms swirled, seeping into the egg at a rapid rate.

The egg fractured.

Trixie turned to run but a force brought her back and she arched, screaming.

“Just hold still, harpy,” Manny reasoned. “This will be fast.”

“You were supposed to break it,” she cried. “You swore it.”

“Yes. Well, I am a vampire after all.”

“No.” Each struggle she made to break free was fruitless.

The egg in Manny’s hands cracked in two and a bird-like being darted after Trixie. It caught her in the face, latching on.

“What in the...?” Manny backed away.

Trixie, mouth gaping, dropped to her knees in tears as the small animal continued to consume the power pouring out of her mouth. Her skin dulled.

Slade worried for her enough to run to them. “Is it working?”

The little creature continued to feed, and Manny sounded unsure for the first time. “I do not think this is... It’s hurting her.”

Slade held his hand before he could try and take back the offspring. “Wait. Give it a second. Maybe—”

“Maybe nothing. It’s hurting her!”

Getting emotional was unlike him but he caught the bird with two hands and pulled with all his might.

“Get her,” Manny demanded. “Get her!”

Slade, unsure of his meaning, looked from him to Trixie then pounced, knocking the angel to the ground.

The bird in Manny’s grip thrashed, pecking at him despite its human face and bird body. It had a beak, however, and it was as sharp as any knife, a fact Manny learned the hard way.

Slade looked Trixie over but the former-harpy wasn’t watching her, she instead stared at the flight of creatures heading their way.

“Harpies,” Manny said, gasping.

Trixie rose, fists clenched and with a gleam in her eye that had Slade frightened beyond words. She intended to fight.

Ten minutes previously, maybe she could have. But not now, not this weak due to the offspring’s feeding.

Flames came from Trixie’s hands and she readied herself.

Manny stared out at the approaching flock then met Trixie’s gaze and begged, “Go.”

She blinked at him. Slade did as well.

But Manny didn’t repeat himself, he held on to the creature in his grip, his hand bruised from the pecking as he muzzled the child.

When he met Trixie’s gaze again, she looked neither grateful nor forgiving. She took flight, letting out a shriek before a clap of thunder sounded and she slammed into the ground. The impact knocked Slade and even Manny on his ass.

Chains coiled around Trixie’s body, locking her firm.

Davenport landed, his ornate outfit glimmering against the burning forest as he rushed to them.

“Hold her a bit...” He slowed and looked around. “... longer. What in the...? You did not break the egg?” He met Manny’s gaze, terrified. “Why have you kept that?” After a scan of his surroundings made his fears clear, he turned to Manny and growled, “Are you mad? Why have you kept that?”

“What exactly is this?” Manny took one step to Davenport and the man took flight in his jump away.

“Stand back. Do not bring it closer.” Throughout his panic, he looked at the half-bird half human, but his eyes focused on Manny when he said, “You must do away with it. You must. You—”

A buzzing sound came and a chant along with it. The chains once around Trixie rose up, doubled and shot toward Davenport. Once they held him tight, they yanked him to the ground, capturing him in the same fashion.

“What is the meaning of this?” Davenport demanded.

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Manny looked behind him and Slade followed. The witches advanced, huddled together as they continued with the chant.

Their red rune magic seeped into the air, swirling around.

Slade looked from Davenport to Trixie then to them again, unsure of the next course of action.

Whatever was happening, the army of harpies had arrived. The fires around them meant they couldn’t land but from this distance, and thanks to the dwarf rune, Slade formed one conclusion.

“Brother, they are heavily armed.”

“That I can figure on my own.”

When the witches arrived, Manny gave them room, face still skinned up in disapproval.

Slade took a chance and hurried to them; maybe the good deed would pay off—one of these days it had to.

“We’re trying to get our friend back.”

The young witch greeted her with a bow. “Thank you so much for what you did for my mother. I was foolish. I was beyond foolish to defy her choice. And I’m grateful to you for saving us. That pain would have gone on forever.” She still kept her gaze low when she said, “And I apologize for trying to trick you earlier.”

Manny scoffed. “Witches.”

Slade ignored him and instead begged, “Do you know what is going on? What this is all about? We don’t really understand it. But how can we help our friend?”

The young witch glanced beyond her to Trixie who eyed them with a cold hatred that hadn’t dulled even once.

“Something’s provoked it. But only a moron would abuse an angel. Once they get into a temper, there’s no calming them. There’s only one thing to do for it. You kill it.”

Slade’s breath hitched. “No. That’s—”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” she asked, gesturing to Manny. “Figured that’s what you were up to with releasing that to unmake her.”

“Unmake her?” Manny set his mouth in a straight line and nodded. “Neutralize her, unmake her? I suppose kill her would just be too direct a saying.”

Slade wasn’t convinced. “Is there really no other way? Why would the offspring kill the parent?”

“Tell her nothing,” Davenport wailed. “You tell her nothing or it’s your—”

Manny stepped toward him and he shut up at the sight of the bird.

The witch looked from Davenport to Slade again.

“It’s all right child,” her mother said, inching her aside. “I’ll take the blame.”

“Hag,” Davenport warned, “you shut your mouth.”

“I think you,” the witch began, snapping her fingers, “should shut yours.”

Davenport’s mouth vanished.

The witch’s daughter gasped. “Mother. Are you certain this is wise? Legion—”

“To hell with Legion,” the old hag bit out. “Look where he’s led us.” She turned to Slade and explained, “Harpies have no childhood. They are beings born with both foresight and hindsight. But they’re born as twins. Two eggs. One male, one female. The females see forward, the males back. But it’s a painful experience that requires a massive amount of runes. As such, harpies break one—the male one, and feed that rune to the other egg, allowing it to crack. That freshly born harpy will consume its twin’s entire rune and grow. Then set off alone and within a month, after feeding on each and every rune she finds, grow to adulthood. As she receives hindsight from that feeding, there is no reason to learn and mature like others do. She will seek out an assignment from Legion, the one she serves.”

Despite the calm nature of those words, Slade regarded Trixie with new eyes. Even vampires had a semblance of family. It wasn’t a good family usually, but it was something. From the beginning, Trixie had no one. A bigger problem came.

“Wait,” Slade asked the woman, “so Davenport is a harpy?”

“Davenport is a Legion. A Legion banished to our world for his hubris.”

“Shut. Up.” The man’s lips returned for only a moment before it faded.

The baby harpy in Manny’s hands calmed under his care and he watched it with a heavy frown.

“How can we save the harpy?” Manny asked.

“You cannot save the harpy,” the witch said. “Because when you release that offspring, it will attack any pure source of rune it can find. Nothing purer than a freshly formed angel.” She asked Manny, “But why haven’t you broken the other egg? The mother must have requested it.”

“There was only one fucking egg!” Manny struggled to calm. “I swear, if I hear one more thing about a second egg—”

“But all harpies give birth to two.” The hag paused and said to Slade. “Unless it was broken while inside her. But short of a missile, it would require a great impact to shatter it.”

Slade flinched at the imagery. She met Manny’s gaze when she asked the witch, “How about a damn truck going full tilt on a speed Gateway?”

The witch scoffed. “As unlikely as that is to happen, yes. That, perhaps, would do it.”

An agreement so simple had Slade rubbing her face. “Wait. Are you saying she’s been pregnant this entire time?”

“No and yes.” The hag’s daughter hurried to explain. “Harpies don’t keep eggs for long. It’s a risk they run managing the Legions but so long as they keep themselves starved of runes, they cannot bear offspring. And the Legions don’t awaken easily.”

“That’s enough,” Trixie said finally. “I am calm now. You may release me.”

The tone of her voice alone had Slade stepping away. None of this made sense. From what Eli’d said, Trixie and Manny were together after the business with the truck. Unless....”

Slade marched to her brother and slapped him. “You swine. How long have you been sleeping with her? Had you even given her a choice?”

Manny’s jaw dropped as if he was the one outraged. “She slept with me, you nutcase. I was the one out of my g’damn mind! I woke up and....”

Modesty was a human illusion. Vampires cared nothing for privacy, least of all Manos. So why didn’t he spit it out now?

“Is that it?” Trixie’s chains tightened but she smiled before laughing. “Is that it?” All amusement vanished. “Do you know how we suppress the Legion?”

“You say we like it’s you,” Manny challenged. “I know the harpy’s voice. You are not her!”

The angel stared him down for some time then grinned. “It is me. And I’ll tell you why you’re so confused. We surprise the Legion by exhausting it—we fuck it.”

Slade flinched.

Manny’s eyes widened.

Trixie focused on Slade and fought back her laughter. “Yours got stuck awake because it was testing your limits. And it had to spend the night with Eli again and again until it was sated to return to a dormant state. And when you ran off with Eli, she forced his Legion awake and I was tasked with putting it back down. And I did it. It was the first time I’ve ever had to, but I did it.”

It was a huff at first, then something mixed with a laugh and a cry. “So that was it? That was what got you so angry?” Manny marveled. “I woke up part way and it embarrassed you—”

“Nothing you do would embarrass me,” Trixie bit back. “I’ve been to hell and back. I won’t crumble to the likes of you.”

“But I couldn’t understand it.” Manny tried to approach but the way Trixie leaned away reminded him of the hazard he was carrying. “You were doing your duty and I woke up and took over and it embarrassed you. Then when I tried to get you a damn gift, you blew up. You were the one on me.”

“I wasn’t on you, sir,” Trixie answered, “I was fucking a powerful deity, a god. Not a feckless, hollow, loud, dead and limp vampire.”

A silence floated around them despite the crackling of the fires.

“Did you think I liked it—that I liked you? I hate you. I serve the Legion, but I hated—I hate you.” Her eyes fell to the creature in Manny’s grip. “So let it go. Go ahead and let it go. And when she grows big enough, I hope she decapitates you before she leaves.”

The witch picked her head up. She couldn’t see but she lifted her face skyward. The harpies retreated.

“They’re coming,” the witch muttered. “And they’re coming fast...with honey.” She focused on Slade and said, “You must understand something. Your brother’s Legion started this. He ordered the wolves fixed. He ordered the humans wiped out. He—”

An axe caught her in the head, and she recoiled then crumpled to the ground.

“Mother!”

Huffing and puffing, Davenport shrugged off the last of his chains and wiped his hand along his face for his mouth to reappear.

“Damn witches. You talk too much.”

The next axe he flung missed Manny who dodged it. But not the third. The blunt end struck Manny head on, lifting him off his feet. He landed hard, and the baby harpy darted from his grip.