Zara was the first to recover. “Just keeping each other awake.”
She smoothed her shirt with a flourish that almost drew attention to the fact that it had been halfway up her ribs three seconds ago.
Xander remained mortified. He managed a nod, then a cough, then finally. “Good to see you, Hailey. Jax. Everything, er, uh, stable?”
“Perfectly,” said Jax, his voice so dry it could have preserved a mummy. “Everything good on your end?”
Zara nodded, all business now, but Janice and Kendra stepped out the back door of our house before Zara could speak.
“Report,” said Janice, not even waiting for pleasantries.
I stood a little straighter, trying to look more together than I felt. “Training continues on schedule. Corvus is running me through swordplay. Jax is with the aerial combat team. Adalinda’s presence is now officially recognized in the courts, and the nobles have accepted her, at least for the time being.”
Janice typed, fingers a blur. “Any change in Vaelog’s patterns?”
Jax took this one. “The scouts tracked him to the southern vent last night. He moves mostly at dusk, never the same route twice. Corvus thinks he’s baiting us, trying to test the new guards.”
“And Flint?” Kendra asked, softer.
I hesitated. Just for a second, but all three faces tensed at the pause.
“Flint’s thriving,” I said, and to my horror, my voice caught on the word. “He’s made friends with the other hatchlings. He’s so happy.”
The silence on the other side was louder than the wind. I pressed on. “Tharneval is close to finishing the dragon claws. He says days, not weeks. Once we have them, we’ll be ready for a strike.”
Janice nodded, and for a second, she looked genuinely relieved. “You’re doing good work. Both of you. I’m still mad that we can’t go help you.”
Xander, who had recovered enough to speak, piped in. “If you need anything, you know how to reach us.”
Jax nodded, all business. “Same goes here. If the portal starts to flicker, or if you notice anything weird, anything, we need to know first.”
Solenne had stationed a few dragons close by the portal to watch out for abnormalities or messages from our clan of family and friends.
“Copy that,” said Janice. She hesitated, then softened a little. “Stay sharp, you two. See you tomorrow.”
We said goodbye and walked away, the visibility through the portal fading.
11
LUKE
Thursday morning,I was up before sunset, straining to see the world through the haze of disappointment. I’d let Marvin get awaythreetimes now. Jordan was right when he’d said this skip was slippery. If it wasn’t for the “no outing yourself as a vampire to the human race” rule, I’d have caught him by now and wrung his neck for all the trouble he caused.
Tuesday, I’d picked thorns out of my ass for forty minutes after he vaulted a fence into a bramble thicket. Wednesday, I’d kicked in his cousin’s screen door and found nothing but a still-warm coffee and an open back window, and the very idea that this doughy, vape-addled skip was somehow running circles around me set my teeth on edge. Jordan had pinged me first thing this morning. Marvin was spotted at an off-track betting parlor two counties over. I’d pointed the SUV south and floored it.
Izora rode shotgun. She wore a teal faux-fur coat that shed everywhere, including my side of the SUV, and a hat so ostentatious it could have served as the centerpiece at a mafia funeral. She’d been silent for the first twenty minutes of the drive, save for the rhythmic tap of her manicured nails againstthe window glass, but it was silence that collected tension like lint. Of course, that demonic dog of hers sat in her lap.
“So,” she said, finally, drawl languid as syrup, “what’s your plan, field marshal? Crash through the front door and hope the element of surprise compensates for your lack of recent success?”
“Remind me again,” I said, “why you’re here?” She definitely hadn’t been any help on the last three attempts.
She smiled, but it was fake. “To witness your triumph, darling. And maybe to catch you if you faint from exertion. You looked faint last time.”
I was not faint. After Izora and Ransom, I was one of the strongest vampires alive. Or unalive. Whatever. It was too bad that I lacked coordination and had yet to learn to control my speed. Not to mention my charm power. Maybe I could turn that up if Marvin would stay put long enough to charm him.
I ignored her as we hit a patch of potholes, and the SUV rattled like a tin can full of bad ideas. I checked my mirrors, the clock, and ran through everything I knew about this bastard in my head. There was no margin for error.
The phone mounted on the dashboard vibrated with an incoming call. I didn’t recognize the number at first, but the area code was from the Appalachian area, and there was only one reason that would be calling me this early. The twins. I stabbed the accept button.
