Be my guest

The bloodmagic inundated them, acting like a catalyst, fusing, shaping, molding the natural force of the dried plants. It surged upward, through the stump of the neck, spreading through the capillaries in the face, engulfing the brain, saturating the dead flesh.

I guided it, helped it along, until the entire head sat suffused with magic. My finger touched the thick skin of the vamp's forehead, leaving a bloody smudge and sending a shock of power through the undead flesh.

"Wake!"

The dead eyes snapped open. The horrid mouth opened and closed soundlessly, contorting with impossible elasticity.

Pat fell off his chair.

The vamp's eyes stared wide at me, unblinking.

"Where is your master? Show me your master."

Dark magic boiled from the head, drowning the room. It swelled, vicious and furious, like an enraged animal ready to strike. In the corner Pat drew a sharp, loud breath.