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“All of it. ” I scanned until I found him—the Draug keeper. He was in a corral on the far side of the valley, bustling his way through a mob of goats who were bumping and nipping at him. “Looks like it’s feeding time. ” Other goats ignored him, instead skittering and hopping around, looking wild-eyed. I wondered if they’d caught the Draugs’ scent and recognized a predator.
“It’s go time,” I said. “I’m going to sneak down while Farmer John is dealing with his herd. I’ll wait till most of the Draug are back in their pens; then I’ll show up and see what attacks. ”
Mei held up her flute. “I’ll be waiting. ”
Our eyes met and held, and we shared a grave nod. Mei-Ling was just a kid from Long Island, and here she was, ready to play her weird little instrument, risking her life to save mine. And I’d thought I didn’t have friends.
Giving her a small smile, I said, “I know you will be. ”
I eased over the back side of the hill, cursing the pitter of displaced gravel as I skidded down. I just had to hope the groans of hungry Draug would drown out the sound.
I edged around the base of the hill and sprinted to a rocky outcropping. It’d provide cover enough for me to spy on the scene before acting—I needed to make sure every last one of those Draug were penned before I opened myself to attack. I figured Mei and I could easily handle one sociopathic Draug keeper—he was probably only human, right?—but I wasn’t so sure what would happen if we added some undead to the mix.
Panting, I leaned against the rock to catch my breath. Time for a weapons check. I wriggled my arms, feeling the reassuring poke of my stakes where I’d hidden them at my forearms. My stars, though, those I needed to see for myself. I pulled all four from my boots and held them at the ready.
I heard the goats now, mehhing and baahhing, their voices comically low and unconcerned. The smell came to me clearly now, too, the stench of rotting Draug masking any livestock stink there might’ve been in the air.
Inch by inch, I edged around to peek from behind the rock. I’d heard the goats, and now I saw them, jostling each other, eating.
And the Draug keeper was…
Gone.
My heart kicked up a notch. I pressed my body against the rock, trying to see as much as I could without actually revealing myself. Did Mei-Ling still see him from her perch? Because I’d lost sight of the guy completely.
“Who they sending now?” a man’s voice asked.
“Oh crap,” I exclaimed, stumbling backward, startling like a child.
It was the Draug keeper, up close. I braced for him to eviscerate me for my language, but he only laughed. His face was weathered, but he wasn’t ancient, not by a long shot. Rather, he looked like someone’s very vital, somewhat eccentric, and fairly soiled grandpa.
He studied me, taking in my uniform and the stars in my hand. “You work for the vampires. Well, you tell them things you’re not the best spy, eh?”
“I’m not a spy. ” Was this his way of toying with me? Because he sure wasn’t acting like he was going to kill me.
His eyes narrowed to slits. “Who sent you?”
I pulled my shoulders back. I stood tall, but I felt cornered. The rock was a cold wall cutting into my back. “Nobody sent me. ”
“Mm-hm,” he grunted, continuing to give me a critical eye.
I gave him a critical eye right back. He carried a shepherd’s crook and a thin, yellow stick that I assumed was some sort of cattle prod. I wouldn’t let him get close enough for me to find out.
He twitched his head. “Well, girl? You don’t get up off that cold rock, you’ll catch your death. ”
Catch my death. His ominous words galvanized me. I readied for his attack, and let the star I held in my right hand slide between my fingertips.
He curled his lip. “You come to kill me?”
“What?” I inched sideways and felt the tug of my uniform as it snagged on rock. “No. ”
He pointed at the stars I gripped in my left hand. “Then why you got those? You gonna kill me, just get it over with. Or don’t. It’s time for tea. ”
It was the weirdest, most normal thing I could imagine hearing. But then his eyes widened, and suddenly he looked like a crazy man.
Here it came. His attack. I braced.
“Stop there,” I warned.
