Blood and Kisses by Karin Shah

emitting from its beak-like mouth, it launched itself at Thalia and hit the shield. The shield flared blue at the impact. The creature was forced back, but not as far as the first time. As she weakened, so did the shield.
    Thalia fed more power to the shield, but as the spell took its toll, her strength was fading fast. She sagged and put a hand on the pavement to stop from falling altogether.
    Gideon placed a hand under Thalia’s arm and brought her to her feet, supporting her easily with his enormous strength. To control the golem, the vampire must be nearby. I just need a few more seconds to locate him. Can the shield take another hit?
    Thalia nodded her head feebly, too exhausted to speak.
     
    Gideon tore his eyes away from Thalia’s pale face. Her eyes were huge dark holes. Her arm felt like fine china beneath his grasp. Her body shook. She couldn’t take much more of this, nor did she have the energy to get back to the building.
    He sent his mind scanning for the master vampire as the golem prepared to attack. The search proved unnecessary however, for as the golem made its attack, the vampire revealed himself, leaping at Gideon in the form of another golem. The shield disintegrated as it barely repelled the simultaneous assault.
    Thalia fell to her knees, and Gideon was forced to release her. The two hideous creatures hesitated briefly, shaking off the effects of the shield and attacking again. Gideon moved with the speed of lightning, kicking out at the two monsters. They fell backward, and he was able to swiftly drag Thalia to the nominal protection of a recessed doorway.
    Rage surged through him and he embraced it, allowing the monster free rein for the first time in centuries. He cried a challenge to the night sky as he raced back to engage the enemy. Despite the speed of his attack, the golem and the vampire had regained their feet. They switched places several times, perhaps trying to confuse him, but the evil intelligence directing the attack could not hide behind his puppet. The vampire’s vile nature could not be hidden by mere illusion.
    “Come now,” Gideon said, fury pulsing through every vein. “Discard this weak disguise. Face me as your true self.”
    The vampire didn’t answer. The creatures circled Gideon. He growled as they attacked without warning, and the demon inside him laughed. It was about to be fed.
    His fangs descended. Razor-sharp claws formed on his fingertips.
    Appendages tipped with deadly claws of their own flashed through the air, but Gideon dodged them, flowing away from each attack while striking out with his hands and feet, keeping the golem and its master at bay. The golem, a creature made from parts scavenged from a variety of dead things, was slow by comparison, but damn distracting. He concentrated on the vampire, waiting for his opportunity.
    Gideon leapt over his foe. No longer encircled, he attacked, raking at the vampire with one powerful claw and opening a gaping wound in his side. The vampire screamed with pain and defiance. The wound swiftly disappeared inside the golem illusion, but Gideon knew it was there. He could smell it. Drops of blood spattered on the pavement. The bloodlust welled up inside him. He reveled in the mindless hunger of it, savoring the exquisite pleasure of freedom unhampered by petty morality. He struck again.
    The vampire slipped away, but not before landing a blow of his own. The sting of the shallow claw marks on Gideon’s arm, and the unique odor of his own blood, maddened him. He ducked the golem’s clumsy attack and lunged at the vampire, shape-shifting as he moved into the form of a massive tiger. He hit the vampire square in the chest with his immense weight, knocking the ancient to the ground.
    Despite the huge mass of the golem illusion he wore, the vampire felt the size of an average man beneath Gideon’s huge paws. He flexed his claws, digging them into the vampire’s shoulders, piercing his flesh, and lowered his head to rip