“Stay away from Rocs!” I called after her as she bolted, bucking and leaping after her father into the night.
I turned to Eve. “There is no time to waste, Eve, who did this?”
“There were two groups; they hit us at the same time.” She ruffled her wings and settled away from the blood that had pooled in the middle of the barn. “First was Faris. But we didn’t think he was going to be trouble. He asked only that we take a message for you, and he took Pamela into the house to write it down.”
I Tracked Faris as Eve spoke, while my anger rose into a white heat that would put the lava we’d dodged to shame. He was on the other side of the veil, which wasn’t terribly surprising. But Pamela wasn’t with him. With her, there was still a large, blank nothing. Not even that shimmering sensation of knowing she was alive, but not being able to pinpoint her, that came with someone being across the veil. With her, there was nothing. She wasn’t with him. She was across some large body of water.
Eve continued. “The second group was like vampires, but not. I know that doesn’t make sense but—”
Liam lifted his hand. “Shadows, the servants of the vampire. They have abilities, but not quite at the level of their masters if they are like the ones we tangled with in Venice.”
“They came with weapons, in the dark. I did not hear them, and they did this while I slept.” She hung her head. “I was caught unawares. I am sorry, Rylee.”
“This is not your fault, Eve.” I put a hand to her side, just grateful she was alive.
The barn door creaked open and Dox stepped in. Alex waved at him, his claw-tipped paw flopping bonelessly.
“Hiya, Dox!”
“Hi, Alex.” He stepped into the barn. “The others are checking the perimeter. Is Eve … ?”
“I am well.” Eve fluffed her wings once, settling deeper into the hay.
Everyone looked to me, even Liam. I was going to have to make the call.
And again, I was going to have to leave Eve behind. Logically, I knew that the chances of another attack on her were slim to none. But I didn’t like it. And there wasn’t time for any other preparations.#p#分页标题#e#
“Terese, you stay here, keep an eye on Eve and call in reinforcements if you have to.”
She spluttered, all her dulcet tones lost in her disbelief. “You can’t possibly think you can save Pamela from a group of vampires, do you?”
“I have something they want. Something I can bargain with.” I quickly went over the weapons I had on me, and then lifted my eyes to hers. “Can you say the same?”
“Rylee, this is what they want, what Faris wants,” Liam growled.
“Faris isn’t the one who has her,” I said, striding toward the barn door.
“Alex comes too.” The werewolf shoved himself up against my side. I dropped my hand to his thick black fur.
“Yes, you’re coming this time.”
Terese threw her hands into the air. “You think he can help you better than I can?”
I stared down at Alex, and then flicked my eyes up to Terese. “He has saved my life more than once. He’s my wolf as much as Liam is. Maybe more.”
Liam grunted, but he couldn’t really argue. Alex listened to me, let me lead no matter what. That quality was good and bad. Right now, it was a good thing.
Terese put her hands on her slim hips, but I turned my back on her before she could say anything else.
“Dox, you, Sla and the triplets set up around the barn. Hold down the fort.”
Dox nodded, his face grim. He’d finally realized the realities of my life, what I dealt with everyday. Between that and making his first kill, I could see a part of him was lost. He was no longer just a gentle ogre; he’d found a dark side to himself. Whatever his past had held, he’d overcome it on this trip, and he would be stronger for it. His words only confirmed what I thought.
“Kill the fuckers, Rylee. Kill them and be done with it.”
I nodded. ‘That’s the plan.”
Liam led the way out of the barn, toward the farmhouse and the dry cellar around the back. I followed him down the steps and turned the light on. At least my weapons stash was still here.
Liam grabbed a couple more blades and my back up crossbow. I went to one knee and opened up the army green lock box that held all the pre-made spells Milly had prepped for me, and the one spell Terese had prepped for me. A holding spell, one that would bind Milly and make it so she couldn’t use her magic, as well as be unable to move. My hand hovered over it. No, that wasn’t the right one. Not yet, anyway.
I carefully lifted out three pre-made spells, firebombs that worked like napalm and would stick to everything they touched. I slid them into their hard carrying cases that would keep them from breaking and, if they broke, would snuff the fire. Then there was the obsidian blade, a four-inch fragile blade that would break the first time I used it. I slid it into a sheath and hung it from my neck, under my shirt. What good it could do, I had no idea, but Doran said to take it. So take it I would.