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Grateful for the lack of rain, at least for the moment, I pushed through the bushes. Menolly stopped as we neared a clearing.
“Let me turn into a bat and fly up ahead. I want to check out the general vicinity. Just hide over there by that cedar until I get back.” She motioned to one of the ancient trees that towered up through the wooded area. Cedars were thick in this area, their scent cut through the air with a sharp tang in the rain-soaked forest, and they smelled clean and fresh.
“You’re just loving the fact that you’re able to transform into a bat so much easier now that Roman re-sired you. His blood certainly did a number on you.”
Neither Camille nor I added that we still weren’t sure about the vampire lord, and that we weren’t sure if we trusted him. But there was no going back, and he had helped us more than once, so we had agreed not to present our concerns to Menolly. We all had too much stress as it was.
She laughed at me. “Whatever, Kitten. I’m just glad I can do it right now, instead of flying like I’m drunk or trying to drive a stick for the first time.” She closed her eyes, and within seconds, a very tidy pretty bat hovered above us, then she silently glided off into the night.
Camille and I crouched beneath the cedar. It was cold, and we huddled together. The sounds of the forest echoed through the area, the dripping of rainwater off trees, the soft hooting of an owl somewhere near. Creatures lived in these woods, and not just the Fae. Snakes—though it was too cold for them at this time of year—frogs, coyotes, and sometimes a stray mountain lion or two. Squirrels and lizards and slugs and all of the critters that inhabited the woodlands of the Pacific Northwest.
Camille leaned toward me, kneeling on the ground. “You know, this is helping. I still can’t believe Father’s dead, but with his soul statue shattered, I don’t think we have any choice but to believe it. I know this sounds horrible, but better it be in pieces than re-formed like Menolly’s did when she became a vampire. Father couldn’t handle the transformation. He’d walk into the sun.” Her voice shook, but it could have been the cold causing it.
I nodded, balancing in a squatting position by bracing myself against the tree. “Yeah, I realize he couldn’t deal with it. We were always aware this could happen. We never knew if he’d come home from a mission, from a battle. We’ve been prepared for this since we were little girls. I guess that he went in duty would make him proud.”
Even as I said it, I knew it was the truth. We’d always worried when he was away with the Guard Des’Estar. There had always been the chance he wouldn’t come home, and so many times we waited on pins and needles for him to walk through that door and reassure us he was okay. The odds had finally caught up to him, and by default, to us.
“So, when are we going to contact Aunt Rythwar?”
She sucked in a slow breath. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Give her one more day. We can send word to Smoky or Trillian to contact her. I don’t think we should leave home right now. There’s too much going on. I don’t feel comfortable making a trip to Otherworld just to notify her, even though she is his sister.”
“Speaking of sisters, what did you think about our cousins? I liked Hester Lou, but I’m not sure what to think of Daniel.” Something scurried over my hand and I shook it off. Probably a spider of some sort, but we’d all learned not to react loudly when on a mission.
“He’s hiding something—that much I can tell you, but I don’t get any negative feelings about him. Just . . . he’s crafty.” There was a hint of a smile in Camille’s voice and I knew instantly that she’d taken a shine to him. “I’m intrigued and I want to know more.”
“I have a feeling we’re going to find out. Hester, especially, seemed to cotton up to the idea that we’re kin. I have to admit, it cushioned the blow about Father—just a little.” I honestly didn’t know if I was trying to make myself feel better, but just saying the words gave me false courage.
“We’re going to have to get used to this. We’ve lost friends. We’ve lost family. It’s part of life and as much as I hate to sound fatalistic, considering what the fuck we’re up against, we’re lucky we haven’t lost more people. We have our husbands and wives and fiancés, we have Iris and Hanna and Maggie. We’ve lucked out. So many things can go wrong so easily.” She rapped lightly on the tree. “Knock wood we continue in that luck.”
I was about to say something else when there was a blur in the air and then we saw Menolly, hovering above us. Another blur and she transformed back into herself. It was hard to believe she’d made so much progress; she’d been such a klutz when she tried to turn into a bat before Roman’s intervention.
“I think I know where they are. The nest of them is going to be tough and we have to avoid getting bitten. Delilah got lucky with her bite—it’s healing up, but there’s no telling if the next one won’t be worse.”
“Should we wait till morning and come back with the guys?” Camille asked.
Menolly shook her head. “They took out somebody tonight. I don’t know who but they’re eating the woman’s remains.” She grimaced. “We can’t chance letting them get another victim. Who knows how many people they’ve killed so far?”
Camille frowned. “I can’t use the horn again—not until it’s recharged under the new moon. I didn’t even bother bringing it. I could call down a storm and I have my Moon Mother magic.”
“What about a death magic spell? Do you have anything that might work on them, that you can cast without Morio around?” I wasn’t sure just how entwined they were on the energy, though I knew Camille had some power on her own in that sphere.
She snorted. “I could try but there are no guarantees.”
“There’s no guarantee with your Moon magic either. In fact, your fuck up ratio seems to be pretty strong with it.” I meant it playfully but it came out a sharp jab. With an exasperated sigh, I apologized. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a bitch.”
“Don’t sweat it. You’re right. The question is, will death magic even work on them? They’re magical beings, children of the Elder Fae. Does that make them Elder Fae in their own right, or are they a hybrid?”
“Well, I can try to drain them of blood.” Menolly frowned. “But I can only attack one at a time. Luckily, their toxic venom won’t do much on me. Delilah, you have Lysanthra? Can she do anything?”
I had still only tapped the surface of my sentient dagger’s powers. We were in tune, and on occasion she surprised me with a new move, but it was haphazard at best.
“I don’t know. Fuck, why didn’t we plan this out better? I feel like we’re right back to playing the Three Stooges.”
“Maybe I can help.” The voice took us by surprise. We turned around and there stood Vanzir. He grinned. “Don’t even say a word, girls. Shade sent me. If he can’t protect the house, nobody can. So just keep your yaps shut about me being here and let’s get to work. I can attack them and they probably can’t do a whole lot to me, not with their actual venom. They can hurt me but, then again, I can hurt them.” Here, he laughed, and it took on an ominous tone.
Vanzir’s powers had shifted since he and Camille had their unwilling tryst and the Moon Mother had stripped them away. They had been returned to him changed, altered in ways that even he didn’t understand. It seemed like we were all going through our metamorphoses and none of us knew where the light at the end of the tunnel was.
“I brought someone else with me,” he added, looking at Camille. “You’re not going to be too thrilled but tough titty.”
