I whirled to find him on the overgrown path.
So, yikes. Henrik wasn’t the one stalking me from the bushes either.
“Over here.” He beckoned me with a terrifyingly serious expression that said,Hurry but don’t hurry, because whatever it is out there might pounce.
Bene pressed against my legs, and the tone of his snarl changed as he communicated with me.Back up. Slowly. Please.
The blood drained from my cheeks as I took one unsteady step back, then another. Henrik stepped forward, passing me without so much as a second glance at my neck or any otherbody part. He was totally, utterly fixated on the bushes before us. Then he called out in a language I didn’t recognize. Something my ear translated as,Nahiva vol ijonni,though I probably missed a syllable or two.
Not French, nor Italian, nor any other Romance language I knew. Not German, not Dutch.
Not that it matters,Bene’s insistent backward push said.
The bushes rustled, giving the impression of someone — or something — backing away slowly.
Henrik advanced, chastising it bitterly the whole time. A moment later, he disappeared from view, and a moment after that—
Twigs snapped. Footsteps sounded. Henrik yelled.
Move it. Now!Bene growled at me urgently.
I stumbled backward. Roux slid smoothly between me and the rustling bushes, growling into the darkness where Henrik and the intruder tussled.
I said, move it,Bene ordered with another tap of his tail.
Still, I froze. Everyone was accounted for — except Marius. My heart dropped. That wasn’t him out there, was it?
A deep sense of betrayal filled my gut.
“Hey! Hey!” Henrik yelled somewhere ahead.
I pictured the intruder sprinting through the bushes, toward the woods. Trying to escape.
Not Marius,my heart insisted.He wouldn’t.
But who else would that be?
Mina…Bene’s grumble hurried me along.
I took another two steps backward, then ducked when the air pressure behind me spiked.
Whoosh!A massive shape hurtled over my head.
Even Bene and Roux crouched and stared. And no wonder. I gaped at the missile-shaped body. The pair of huge, leathery wings. The long, thick tail.
“Marius,” I whispered.
Then I yelped and ducked again, because he roared, shattering the tense silence. The flames he spat crackled nearly as loudly, cutting into the inky sky with long, fiery streaks.
Bene grunted something I interpreted asShow-offand nudged me back.
Marius flew so low to the ground, he immediately shot out of sight. Another roar shook the night, and another plume of fire illuminated the sky. Henrik reappeared from the bushes, a leaf stuck in his hair, and pointed to the house.
“Go, already! Go!”
I ran. Bene, Roux, and Henrik formed ranks around me like secret service agents. My heart pounded as I sprinted along. What was going on?
Seconds later, I shot onto the open lawn, feeling dangerously exposed yet protected at the same time. I raced across the driveway, flew up the stairs, and fumbled with the front doors. I practically fell inside, and a fleet of furred, fanged bodies tumbled in behind me. Henrik brought the doors together with a slam, and I twisted the lock, then yanked a crossbar down for good measure. Nothing short of a battering ram was going to break through those doors.
