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Esme released her deadly hold, threw back her head and howled her triumph. Greg’s echoing howl bounced off the woods. Moments later, he and Elena joined us, dragging the prone corpse of Lauren behind them.
‘Isn’t this nice?’ a condescending voice drawled from the shadows. ‘The dogs have already been fighting amongst themselves. It would be rude of us not to help finish them off.’
The Red Guards stepped forward out of the shadows. The vampyrs were dressed not in the classic black, but in maroon cloaks; to me they looked just a little too much like theMonty Pythonsketch and I was tempted to say ‘Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!’, but I doubted they would appreciate the comparison.
There were at least five of them phasing in and out of the shadows in harmony, constantly moving, keeping us looking this way and that. Esme bared our teeth and let out a ferocious growl and their leader, Voltaire, stilled long enough to smirk at us. ‘I’ll take that one,’ he called to his companions, drawing a dagger and tossing it lightly between his hands.
There was an ominous thud as Bastion landed between the vampyrs and the pack. ‘Enough,’ he said coldly to the vampyrs. ‘You’ve got what you want.’ He gestured to the ravaged bodies of Ace and Lauren. ‘These two were sent by the council to bury secrets about the black tourneys. The rest of the wolves have nothing to do with the black tourneys.’
‘And we have to accept your word for that do we, griffin?’ Voltaire, sneered.
‘I am Bastion. Are you questioning my word and honour?’ Bastion’s voice had dropped menacingly. Even Esme shivered a little. We hoped that tone was never directed at us.
‘No,’ the vampyr said finally and sheathed his dagger. ‘Of course not.’ He inclined his head in unspoken apology, keeping Bastion in his eyeline at all times.
I changed, and tried to be blasé about my nudity. I walked forward as if I walked naked in the woods every day.
Voltaire totally ignored me. ‘I’m not questioning your honour, but this is none of your business.’
‘I will determine what is my business. Lucy Barrett is my business.’ Bastion gestured to me. ‘Two of the ringleaders of the black tourneys are dead. Your hunt has been a success.’
‘These two were nothing but sheep in wolves’ clothing.’ The surrounding vampyrs snickered at their leader’s joke. ‘They weren’t ringleaders. My hunt is not over. I’m not done here.’
He was giving me an opportunity. With the pack still not quite united, I didn’t have a chance of tackling the corrupt council members – but maybe the Red Guard did. If I gave them the blackmail material, maybe they could clean house for me.
I moved forward a little, finally attracting Voltaire’s attention. ‘Order that no vampyrs will attack me or my pack for so long as I live, and I will get you the evidence you need to bring down the black tourneys.’
I was hoping to get a full year hassle-free from the vampyrs, a nice little victory to bring home to my pack. I expected him to bargain, to say he didn’t have the authority to grant that, but his gaze sharpened on my face as I struggled not to give the game away. Finally he nodded. ‘Agreed, wolf bitch. It hardly matters because your weakling wolves are not the threat they once were. Give me the evidence.’
‘Witnessed,’ Bastion said sharply.
‘Witnessed,’ called another voice, as the female dryad elder stepped out from a tree at the edge of the clearing.
The vampyr’s jaw clenched but he nodded. ‘So mote it be. Where is the damned evidence?’
‘Buried under that sapling,’ I pointed to my apology tree.
One of the vampyrs nearest to the sapling pivoted towards it. ‘Don’t you dare,’ the dryad’s voice cracked out. ‘I will retrieve it.’ She stepped up to the sapling and crooned to it softly. When she gave a gentle tug, it relinquished its hold on the earth and its roots were drawn effortlessly out of the soil. ‘Now you may dig,’ the dryad intoned.
The vampyr grimaced; they had no shovels with them. ‘Manners,’ I called, ‘dig a little, will you?’
He trotted forward and obligingly started digging in the hole. In moments, it was significantly larger in size. He stopped as his claws came upon a plastic bag. He drew back with a bark.
The vampyr pulled out the bag from the earth. He opened it up. ‘USBs,’ he called to his leader. ‘Lots of them.’
Voltaire met my eyes one last time. ‘We’re done here,’ he said flatly.
‘Do you want their bodies?’ I gestured to Ace and Lauren. It would be one less thing for me to deal with.
‘Their blood is spilt upon the ground. We have no need of their deceased flesh.’ With that final sneer, the vampyrs phased into the shadows and left without so much as a ta-ta. And I thought we were getting along so well.
Chapter 33
Withthedangerdealtwith – for now – I turned to the dryad elder. ‘Do you have something we can put their bodies in?’ Lauren’s body had already begun the shift back into human form.
The dryad elder nodded. ‘One moment.’ She disappeared into the tree.
She took a good five minutes to return; when she did, she was carrying two body bags and an armful of jeans and T-shirts for the pack. I desperately wanted to ask why she had body bags lying around. Apparently even the dryads were more dangerous than I’d thought.
