Jar of Souls Read Free Page A

the Lycan leading the charge. It ripped through its body, cutting it in half as it ran. The other werewolves never even slowed down. If anything, they only drew closer together as they continued their charge. I gathered my power again and sent a lance of power out at them, fanning it wide like a wave. All of them fell to the ground, split cleanly in half. I ran forward to examine the bodies. I had never fought against a Lycan that was so mindless. The Lycans tended to displayed pack thinking and hunting strategies that made them formidable opponents.
    When I reached the still-twitching bodies, it was hard to tell just what I was seeing. I bathed my hands in fire again and started to examine the mess. It just didn’t make sense; these Lycans had to have died days ago, maybe longer. Their fur was matted and they smelled of decay. How were they even able to run? Just what exactly did Adam have me guarding here? In all of my years studying with the order, I had never seen someone with the gift to bring the dead back to life, or even think about reanimating the dead. The thought of someone doing this was something so heinous that if it even could be done, it certainly wasn’t a skill taught to anyone.
    A scream ripped through the night, tearing my attention away from the examination. I extinguished the flames on my hands and started running back to the chateau. The three beasts that broke away from the pack must have reached it by now, and I had to do whatever I could to stop them. If they were as mindless as the ones I just faced, then it wouldn’t be much of a chore. Now I just had to hope that I stopped them before they reached the guests. As long as the guests were safe, I may just get out of this with a job to go back to.
    I rounded the corner and brought down the first beast I saw with another lance of power. It wasn’t flashy, but it got the job done. Using a direct blade of power drained a ton of my magic, but it seemed to be the most effective way of dealing with these creatures. I was going to have to be careful going forward; I couldn’t be caught here without my magic. One more blast of power brought down the next two Lycans. I was pretty sure that was all of them unless some had come from the road as well. It looked as if I was in luck; none of the creatures had made it inside, and the only casualties were a couple of guards and one of the valets. Turning, I made my way back to the front of the building. I had to assure myself that the guests were ok. I stepped around the bodies of the dead guards until one of them grabbed my ankle. I kicked at the offending hand and rushed toward the chateau. The dead rose behind me and followed, slowly drawing their swords as they came.
    I couldn’t let these men, or these things that used to be men, get inside the chateau. Summoning my courage, I ran toward them, my sword finding its way into my hand as I went. The first man aimed a strike at my head, which was easily dodged. His miss gave me an opening, and I lashed out at his chest. Spinning away from him, I moved to the next man in the bunch. This time I slammed the pommel of my sword into the next man’s head. A quick glance back toward the chateau showed that the first guard was still lumbering toward it. The blow I dealt should have been a killing blow, but he continued his inexorable progress toward whatever he had been commanded to take.
    I turned to follow when a blade swung by, just missing my head. The man behind me had the side of his head caved in from the hit I had dealt him. That didn’t stop him from lunging at me with his blade again. I ducked under the next strike, and this time brought my sword around in a wide arc, striking his throat. The blade sunk in about halfway and got stuck. Damn my luck. The man reached toward me, sword dropping from his hand. A gasp escaped my throat as his cold fingers found purchase on it.
    I fell to the ground and started trying to rip the hands away from my throat. They were