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Camille and Delilah separated, flanking Chase and Morio. Camille raised her hand toward the sky, while Delilah closed her eyes and began to sniff the air. Chase and Morio watched our backs, while Roz and I scanned the area in front of us.
After a moment Camille lowered her hand. "The Moon Mother's singing tonight. She says be very cautious in the trees. Something's got them up in arms tonight. They're acting sentinel for a creature who means us harm."
"I smell dryad on the wind. Want to make a bet Wisteria's lurking and she's stirred up some of her cronies?" Delilah pulled out her long silver knife with her right hand and flicked open the wrist blade fastened to her left. "I'm ready."
"Let's get in there and clear them out. We'll deal with Dredge after we clean up this mess. And remember—we take the offense. Wisteria's a handful, but if we go in with guns blazing, we can take her down." I strode forward, Roz by my side. The others followed, Chase and Delilah shifting positions to guard Camille and Morio, who were whipping up some sort of magic.
As we entered the thicket, a loud rustle signaled visitors. As a patch of overgrown ferns parted, out leapt three floraeds, Wisteria in their center.
"Well, well, if it isn't my pretty captors," she said. "Too late, girls. You're on our turf now." She looked directly at me, smirking.
"Still a little too much swagger, I see." I motioned to Roz and we stepped aside as Camille and Morio moved forward.
Wisteria and her buddies joined hands. A low rush of brambles crept out from the undergrowth, their thorns looking way nastier than I wanted to tangle with. Camille stared at the runners and laughed.
"Is that all you've got?" She grasped Morio's hand and they let loose with an invocation that echoed through the trees. A flash of silver washed through the area and the brambles froze, then fractured like an ice sculpture hit by a hammer.
Wisteria shouted. While her friends' lunged forward, ready for the fight, she held out her hands and runners spidered out of her fingertips. The vines enveloped Camille, entangling her arms and snaring her in a web of green.
Morio took a bead on Wisteria. "Foxfire!" He sent a globe of light zinging right at her eyes and as the orb hit, it exploded in a blinding flash.
As Wisteria screamed, Delilah ducked her way through the tangle of vines. Before the floraed could stumble out of the still glowing afterflash, Delilah brought her knife down hard against Wisteria's chest, sinking it deep into her flesh.
"Fuck you!" Wisteria gasped, stumbling in my direction.
I leapt and landed at her side. In a single motion, I caught hold of her hair and yanked her head back so hard and fast that I could hear the bones break. As I let go, she dropped to the ground. The sound of scuffling behind me stopped and as I turned, the other two floraeds were running like hell toward the parking lot.
"Should we follow them?" Delilah asked.
I glanced in their direction. They were headed across to the thicket beyond. "Leave them. Let's go after the newborns. But first, I want to make sure this bitch is toasted. Anybody got fire?"
Roz pulled a small, round ball out of his pocket. "Get back."
"That won't spread and hurt the animals, will it?" Delilah asked.
He shook his head. "Nope, it's magical. Lasts for only a few moments and it's localized. Now, move it."
We stepped back as he pulled off a seal and tossed it onto Wisteria's chest. There was a sudden flare and her body blazed with a light so bright it hurt my eyes. A few seconds later, the light faded. All that was left of our little troublemaker was a pile of ashes.
"I want some of those firebombs!" Delilah said.
Roz snorted. "As if I'd give you any."
"What other surprises do you have under that coat?" Camille asked, scooting close to him and peeking in his coat.
"Any time you want to know, babe, I'll be glad to give you a taste of what else I've got hidden under here." Roz's voice was cushioned in silk and he batted his eyes at Camille. "Want to play show-me-yours now?"
"Enough. Let's get moving." I pushed ahead of them.
We headed into the thicket and Camille once again raised her hand. "The willows are quiet now. Wisteria was the one stirring them up. They're watching. Just watching."
The undergrowth surrendered to a path that had been hidden from the walkway. No doubt they'd gone to a lot of trouble to forge a trail out of sight to passersby. Snow-covered huckleberries and ferns shimmered in the dark of the wood, while scuttling noises announced the presence of squirrels and other night creatures who lived on the outskirts of the zoo.
"This way," I said. I could smell the faint whiff of vampire on the wind. All vamps had a scent. Not quite decay, not quite perfume, we smelled like graveyard dust and old bones and lilacs and yew trees and the faint promise of passion in the night. A vamp could always smell a vamp, which meant that if they were near enough, if they were paying attention, the newborns knew that I was on the way.
As we pushed on through the bushes, Camille tapped me on the shoulder. "Over there—see?"
I squinted, staring into the darkness. There it was: the entrance to an underground vault with stone steps leading down to the door. Probably a utility shed sunk into the ground for protection, or maybe an old foundation to a house long forgotten. Whatever it was, the newborns were using it. Which meant that the floraeds had probably scouted it out for them at Dredge's request.
