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“Do not confront her,” she cut in, all trace of sultriness gone. “Not alone. I’ll send Roger out to assist you.”
“That’s what I was hoping.” I gave her the directions and then added, “She’s not alone. I think there are six or seven others with her.”
“Is Marie one of them?”
“Not as far as we’re aware.”
“My priority will naturally be Jaqueline’s capture,” she said, “but once Roger is there, we will assess the situation and perhaps offer a safe means for you to deal with the others. He’ll be there in ten.”
Meaning he was capable of movingextremelyfast. It had taken us close to ten minutes just to drive to the rifle range, and a good fifteen to walk from there to here.
I shoved my phone away. “Roger’s on his way.”
Aiden nodded. “There’s a small rise off to the right that’ll give us a view over the paddocks with minimal risk of being seen. We might as well head there and get the lay of the land while we wait.”
“Should one of us go back and wait for Roger?” Monty asked.
“He’ll find us,” I said. “He may not be a vampire, but he’ll hear—or Maelle will through him—the beating of our hearts.”
“Which is another reason why I suggest we move to the rise,” Aiden said. “It’s downwind of the bunkhouse, so there’s less likelihood of the vamps in there sensing us.”
I motioned him to lead the way. We left the path and cut through the trees, the grass dry and crackly under our feet. The ground soon sloped sharply upwards; by the time we reached the top, I was sweating profusely.
I tugged a bottle of water free from my backpack and took a long drink before offering it to Aiden. He shook his head, but Monty accepted it gratefully.
I squatted next to Aiden and studied the paddocks below us. The sweeping arc of the canal was evident by the line of greenery that clustered its banks. The stockyards were in a state of disrepair and the shearing shed was missing half its roof, which was probably why the vamps weren’t using it. It was mighty hard to keep the sun out when a good percentage of the metal sheeting was missing. The bunkhouse wasn’t particularly large and looked more like a longish wooden shed than a cottage. There was an entrance and three simple wooden steps at the right end of the building and five windows lining the side. Three had been boarded up, while the other two were covered by the grimy curtains I’d seen when briefly linked to Jaqueline. Between us and that building lay a long stretch of dry grass.
“There’s been a van here recently,” Aiden said, pointing. “It looks like they drew up as close as possible to the door.”
I scanned the end of the building he was motioning to, but couldn’t see anything as obvious as tire tracks. And I wouldn’t from this distance, if I was at all honest. My eyesight was almost werewolf sharp these days, but that “almost” obviously made a big difference. “How can you tell?”
He glanced at me, a smile tugging the corners of his lips. “If you look past the line of trees to the right, you’ll see, in what little grass remains, faint tire tracks. It was a van of some sort, by the look of them.”
A van being the perfect escape vehicle for a vampire if there was a bulkhead in place between the cabin and the rear, and no windows along the side. It meant the only true danger to any of the vamps inside came in the form of whatever gap there’d been between the van and the building—and that was something easily countered by an overlay of heavy clothing, just like the vamp who’d tested the café’s protections had been wearing. The only reason he’d ended up ashes was because Roger had ripped off his face mask.
“What I’m not seeing are any sort of protection spells,” Monty said. “Nor can I see any obvious sign of guards. It has to be a setup.”
“Even if it wasn’t,” I said, “we’re going to have a hell of a time getting anywhere near that building before they see us or hear our heartbeats.”
“I could act as bait,” Aiden said.
“So could I,” I retorted. “And we all know what your reaction to that would be.”
He cast me a wry glance. “They know and want you. I’m just the local ranger checking out properties.”
“Do you remember Monty’s comment about them ‘dining in?’ That does also apply to you, you know.”
“I have no intention of becoming a vampire’s last meal, Liz, but if I can draw their attention, it gives you two the chance to hit them from behind.”
“A sentiment with which I agree,” came a cool, calm voice behind us.
My head snapped around. Roger strolled casually toward us. His pale cheeks were untouched by the heat, and there wasn’t a drop of sweat on the man, despite the fact he must have run most of the way here. More interestingly, it appeared not even Aiden had heard his approach. Granted, Roger was downwind of our position, but a werewolf’s senses were far sharper than a human’s, and he should have picked up Roger’s movements before he’d gotten this close.
That hehadn’twas rather scary—and made me wonder if we needed to add some sort of proximity alert to the protection charms we were all wearing. If Maelle’s thrall could creep up unheard, then it was a fair bet she and the other vamps could as well.
“I take it,” Monty said, “that you arrive with a plan?”
“I arrive with an intention more than a plan,” he replied evenly. “As my mistress has already said, I will capture Jaqueline. You will deal with the others.”
