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He glanced back at her. “What?”
“I’m scared and I really don’t know what to do.”
He recalled what it had been like as a rookie in the Tannisford Vampire Guard. There was so much he had to learn about battling the Invictus. Later, as a seasoned warrior and a mastyr, he’d trained many Guardsmen.
But this was a sensitive fae type. How could he possibly help her in this situation?
He reached for her and gently took hold of her arms. “Get yourself calm, okay? We’ll do this together.”
She nodded slowly. “Okay. But what I’m sensing is that you and I must stay physically connected while we’re in the time-path. I’m not sure why, but it’s important for what we’ll have to do next.”
He stared into her lovely hazel eyes. Suddenly, that was all he wanted in the world, to stay connected to her.
She’d surprised him more than once over the past few hours. She wasn’t who he thought she was. She took risks like knocking him into the street to yet again save his life.
He shifted his gaze to the Invictus. “I’ve been hearing rumors for the past couple of weeks, a lot of them during my visits to the black market.”
“About what?”
“A mastyr vampire, a bad one by the name of Cruce. I didn’t believe a tenth of what was being said among that pilfering lot. But two nights ago, I started hearing about a dark fae and the building up of another Invictus force.”
“You didn’t report it to Mastyr Stone?”
He shook his head. “Until this moment, I didn’t believe any of it was true. Now we have an attack in Boylbury right in front of us.”
He surveyed the group of five pairs. There was no way he could battle them all, by himself.
He needed to understand how the time-path worked. He thought if he did, he could use it. “Listen, Holly, can you take me somewhere so we can leave the time-path and regroup? Create a strategy?”
“Of course.”
He met her gaze once more, his hands still connected to her arms. He couldn’t help but smile. “You sound confident.”
“It’s more like I know what I can and cannot do. I know my limitations. Only, I’ll need you to grow still again.”
The impression he had of the professor’s daughter had never been particularly favorable. He’d seen her as a spoiled woman who’d never had to work for anything. She’d lived in her careful university world, the daughter of a well-known scholar. Her life was very comfortable compared to the real world of the battling warrior.
Yet, here she was, ready to do what she could against an enemy she’d never had to face before. He was damn impressed.
“Where do you want me to take you?”
He glanced around. “Over there, to the west field, in the shadows of the beech tree.”
“Got it.”
He relaxed and drew on his vampire stillness so she could concentrate. The moment he did, he felt her time-pathing vibrations grow stronger. A second later, she took them near the tree.
“Is this good?”
“Yes.” When he felt dizzy, instinctively he knew it was time to leave the time-path. “You can take us out now.”
He felt her time-pathing vibration dissipate and it was like taking a step into the present. In the distance, he watched the villagers scatter because of the sudden appearance of the Invictus. They dove into their homes, locked their doors and no doubt headed for their hiding places.
The Invictus moved along the street but there were no wraith-shrieks as there should have been. He suspected he was looking at this new, deceptive version of wraith-pairs where there were no real wraiths present.
Four of the pairs hovered above the street while a fifth pair approached the door an elven family’s home. It wouldn’t be long before they broke the door down.
The rest of the pairs appeared to be waiting. But for what? For orders?
