Gavin lowered his head, focusing every sense he had on who was coming. “A vampire.”
Tracey and Gregory didn’t reply. They both knew. All three were trying to identify who it was, but they were coming fast and they weren’t being cautious. Whoever it was wasn’t trying to hide their approach. Sounds of them whipping past trees, leaves, grass, leaping over logs, they all heard those tiny sounds. It was deafening to a vampire and then the assailant crashed through the last foliage.
They leapt over the entire group and kept going. They never stopped.
“Who—” Gavin’s head snapped, watching the vampire. He had two seconds to decide and he did. He yelled over his shoulder, “I’m going after him.” He sheathed his sword across his back and before anyone could argue, he was gone. The same sounds came in his wake as he sped after the vampire.
Gregory growled, “He shouldn’t have done that.”
Tracey threw him a dark look. “What do you expect? We have to find our allies. We need to find Roane.”
There was another crashing sound from the forest. It was coming from where the battle was, and both vampires turned once again. It was the same as before. A vampire was coming at them. They knew it. They couldn’t hide. They had humans with them. It would’ve been useless. Any vampire could smell a human. There was no point in hiding.
“We’re like sitting ducks.”
Tracey gave Gregory another annoyed look, but pressed her lips together. She couldn’t argue with him. All she could do was get ready and she was.
Twenty yards.
Eighteen.
Twelve.
Eight.
The vampire was moving faster than the other one.
Five.
One—she leapt as the new vampire soared through the air. The first knew they were there and jumped over them already, but this one landed before them. The new vampire was going to stop, land where they stood, and push off against the ground for more speed. As he came through the last of the trees and brush, his eyes went wide at seeing them, but Tracey was attacking before he saw her, too.
She thrust out her arm, hit him across the chest with it, and rotated swiftly so her other arm was wrapped around the vampire’s head. She snapped the neck before she stopped to see who it was, and when the body fell to the ground, her knee was going to his chest. Then, she saw his face.
Horror filled her and she leapt backwards. “Oh no.”
Gregory looked and grunted. “Good one, Tracey.”
It was Bastion.
DAVY
Davy knew there was something wrong with her.
The Immortal was still silent. Davy had shut her off with an extra boost of power. She was surprised for how long the mute spell was working, but she wasn’t complaining. It was nice to be walking with only herself. No vampires among her. No judgments. No disapproval. No quiet condescension. And no voice in her head. When The Immortal was awake, Davy felt her persuasion. She knew she was being pulled in one way, but she wasn’t sure the direction now. All she knew, as she paused with only one more hill to go before she would arrive at the Mori community, was that she wasn’t the old Davy anymore.
She tried to remember who that girl had been. There’d been a reason why she was taken captive. She only remembered the torture. The witches had pulled the thread so it was separated from her. And Lucan—it was Lucan who had taken her. He wanted the thread, but there was more . . .
She frowned, dipping her head down. She couldn’t remember the other reason anymore. A faint stirring began in her. She didn’t like this feeling, of being turned off to the real soul inside of her. A solid plastic wall had been erected in her and she was shut off from everything that made her her.
Davy. She didn’t know who that person was anymore.
She closed her eyes and commanded, “Remind me.”
A memory stirred. “He’ll come after you, you know.”
Lucan shot to his feet, but he didn’t go anywhere. He didn’t leave. He didn’t threaten. He just stood there and waited . . .
She remembered that conversation—there’d been a guy . . . No, he was more than just a guy.
“He loves me. Do you think he won’t come for me now?” I saw how he stood there. “Do you think he won’t go against you for me?”
Lucas Roane.
She remembered him now. He was Lucan’s twin brother. Lucas turned on his brother to save her. He protected her, and then Lucan came into his brother’s house and took her. He took her and all of her friends too . . . but no. Davy needed to remember. She had a purpose before. It hadn’t been about power. It was about . . . friendship, love, trust, making her loved ones safe.
Pippa, the wolf. Brown, the witch. Kates, the best friend. There were others, but those three were her human friends.