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“What if she leaves the cave?”
“Then we’ll deal with her.”
“You’re still there?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah, although I don’t think Monty is too happy about spending the night out in the open.”
“He does like his creature comforts.” I hesitated. “It might be wise if he calls in Ashworth, just to be safe.”
“Ashworth is already on the way here, though I suspect the only reason Monty asked him was so he could bring a supply of coffee and food.”
“I suspect you might be right. Be careful out there.”
“Always,” he replied. “Sweet dreams, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
He hung up, leaving me feeling slightly left out. I wasn’t the reservation witch and certainly didn’t have the power or the knowledge to counter the bitch’s spells, but I really wanted to be out there with them.
I sighed and put the phone back on the bedside table. Once I’d stripped off, I climbed into bed and went to sleep.
And for the first time in ages, dreamed of a future filled with happiness rather than death and destruction.
To say the three men arrived at the café the next morning looking less than happy would be the understatement of the year.
“Let me guess,” I said, as I closed the door behind them. “She wasn’t there; only the tracker spell was.”
“She had an escape route all ready.” Monty dropped heavily onto a chair. “We only discovered it after we’d peeled back her spells and went in after her.”
I hobbled around the counter and began making coffee. “You didn’t check for other exits?”
“Of course we did,” Aiden said. “Problem was, she’d already left by the time we’d arrived—something we didn’t know until we entered the cavern itself.”
“Can’t you use a piece of her magic to track her with?” Belle came out of the kitchen carrying plates stacked with bacon and eggs. “You said you peeled it back, not destroyed it.”
“That’s what we’re intending,” Ashworth said. “But the laddie here insisted we wait until the sun had fully risen.”
“Makes sense,” Belle said. “When the sun is at its strongest, she’ll be at her weakest.”
“That’s exactly my reasoning,” Monty exclaimed.
“Your reasoning,” Ashworth said, amusement evident, “has more to do with that rumbling stomach of yours than the best time to attack the Manananggal, and we all know it.”
Monty grinned and didn’t deny it. As Belle returned to the kitchen to grab the rest of the food, Aiden took the tray of drinks from me and carried it over to the table.
“How are we going to tackle her capture?” Belle placed a stack of toast on the table, then plonked down beside Monty.
“We?” he said, eyebrows rising.
“It was a metaphorical we,” Belle said. “Curiosity, not stupidity.”
“Except if I know my cousin, she wants in.”
I smiled faintly as I made myself a bacon sandwich. “She certainly does, but she’s also aware that if things go wrong, she can’t run.”
“She can’t?” Monty glanced down. “What happened to your leg?”
“A dead man exploded. Aiden didn’t tell you?”
“That he was dead, yes, but not that he’d exploded. How the hell did that happen?”
