Eternal War Rising to the South: The Beynok Vampire Series by Erika Bradshaw

around the house. There were still twenty-three of them fighting the three teams of two in other parts of the house.
    Sorin and I stood back-to-back, taking on four, while Corbin and Serenity took on three. Vendennares possess a touch of magic, which makes it hard to get a damaging slice in. They were vanishing and reappearing in a circle around us.
    Finally, I managed to interpret their vanishing act sequence. As one of the ugly bastards reappeared in front of me, swiping one of its claws in my direction, I plunged my left sword into its chest while I severed its head with my other sword. Sorin caught on and did the same to another one. By this time, Corbin had managed to take one out, as well.
    I knew the odds would be fine if I left the room to help the others. Three vampires should have no problem taking out four Vendennares. Besides, if the vampires left the room, my team would have no idea they were actually fighting on our side. I needed to go help the others as well as inform them about our vampires.
    “Sorin, I’m going to help the others. You stay here and help finish them off.”
    “No, I’m here to fight by your side. Corbin and Serenity can handle the rest in here.” He held his ground and gave me a stern look. “I am going with you.”
    Serenity took out her first Vendennare and helped increase the odds for her and Corbin.
    “Fine, but I’m not sure if I can convince the others you are not the enemy before they engage on you.” Maybe it would be for the best. I wouldn’t have to kill Sorin myself. My team would do it for me.
    We traveled through the hallway toward the front of the house to the main balcony. Boris and Nadia were in full battle with four werewolves. They had already killed two. Vladimir was nowhere in sight. I thought he must be downstairs with Yuri, El, Nickolai, and Irena.
    Boris’s eyes quickly met Sorin’s, and without asking, I knew they needed no introduction. Nadia, on the other hand, glanced over with fear in her eyes. I placed my hand on his chest and nodded my head. Her facial expression looked confused but she resumed the fight in front of her, and Sorin and I joined in.
    The house was filled with the smell of blood. I only hoped none of it was from my teammates. I had to get downstairs to the others. Their odds were much worse than ours. There had to be at least seventeen that came in downstairs. I had only counted thirteen intruders upstairs.
    A rush of urgency hit me. I could sense I was needed elsewhere. I rolled between the legs of the werewolf in front of me, jumped up from behind, and took its head off using both swords.
    Corbin and Serenity emerged from around the corner. I was thankful they had made it out of their battle alive. “Boris, Nadia go downstairs to help the others,” I said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
    Sorin, Corbin, Serenity, and I took over the remaining three werewolves. I sliced through a leg of one of the dogs while Sorin sliced through its neck. We left Corbin and Serenity to finish the remaining two werewolves. This arrangement was working out better than I ever imagined it would.
    Downstairs was another story. Blood stained the walls and saturated the carpet everywhere. From the stairs, I could see the whole open floor plan of the first level. I took a count of Beynoks left standing. There were seven, so everyone had survived so far. What I was seeing was just as unbelievable as our luck: Vendennares, werewolves, and vampires were fighting on the same side to kill my team. The idea hadn’t even registered with me upstairs, I guess, because I had fought the Vendennares and werewolves separately. I had never heard of multiple species joining together to take out another species.
    As I hit the last few stairs, I heard, “There she is, the Beynok princess.” Grunts and screams came from every direction. I heard the voice again, but this time I was able to put a vampire face with it. “Kill her!” he said. “Kill her!”
    Across the