Bracken vs Torina

  "Careful, Bracken," Kendra warned. "She bites! She can drain your life. "

  Reaching her, he turned and looked back. "I've got it covered. She can't possibly--"

  Torina lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Bracken's torso and sinking her teeth into his neck. Bracken went limp in her arms.

  "No!" Kendra shrieked.

  Torina latched on a second time. Her skin shone with an inner glow. The brilliance intensified, making her veins and bones temporarily visible. And then she burst apart in a stunning surge of white flame.

  Tears falling, Kendra ran to Bracken, who rose to his feet and caught her in an embrace. She squeezed him as hard as she could, burying her face in his shoulder.

  "Are you all right?" she gushed, confused.

  He pulled back and smiled down at her. "Not many viviblixes get the chance to drain a unicorn. Those who do never get to warn the others. They can sense the immense supply of vitality, and they ardently crave it, but none have ever been able to handle it. "

  "Kind of like filling a water balloon with a fire hose?" Warren remarked, approaching with Trask.

  "That's the idea," Bracken agreed.

Chapter 24