“Holy shit,” Liam whispered.
I pulled up my second sight and sucked in a gasp of air. A castle it was, indeed. But it wasn’t the castle that made me suck air, no, the castle, turrets, and thick stone walls weren’t the issue. The issue was the giant sprawled out in front of it sleeping on his side facing us. His body stretched the entire front entrance to the castle, blocking it effectively. Tanned a deep brown, the giant looked just like a man, only on a gargantuan scale. Ruddy brown hair topped his head and dusted the parts of his body that were visible—which was a lot of him since he seemed to be wearing nothing but a loincloth that happened to be hanging to the side, giving us a full view of his—
“Nasty,” Pamela said softly. I had to agree, there was far too much visible in the way of what the loincloth was supposed to be hiding.
On the top edges of the castle, along the battlements, movement caught my eye. I squinted, but couldn’t tell what I was seeing. “Liam, can you see what’s moving around up there?”
He stared long and hard, as did Alex. Liam spoke first. “Humanoid, but bigger. If I can see even that much at this distance, they’ve got to be competing with Dox for size.”
Shit, Ogres and Trolls were comparable in size. The last dealings we’d had with Trolls had been nothing short of a clusterfuck, though we’d come out on top. Sort of. And ogres? Well, unless they were blue like Dox—which I was doubting—we were in serious trouble. Ogres, like so many supernaturals, were territorial and freaking touchy about what they deemed as ‘theirs’. Not to mention, they loved to fight and took any reason, good or bad, to start one. Neither option left us in a good spot.
“I just don’t understand, why is the giant here?” Pamela stared out across the rocky ground, and her question was spoken softly. Almost like she wasn’t aware she asked out loud.
“I think someone doesn’t want us going home, or at the very least, they want to split us up.” I turned a slow circle to check behind us. There were a few possible culprits. Faris was at the top of the list, Milly was close behind, and much as I hated to admit it, Berget was on that damn list too. So much for trusting family.
Did it matter which one of them was trying to stall us or split us up? No, not really. We just had to deal with the shit they tossed our way. But if I had to put money on anyone, it was Faris. Milly seemed to be out of commission since her pregnancy was progressing, and Berget … well, maybe I just didn’t want to believe it was her. Faris though, he had some serious motivation. He needed me to solidify his throne, and I’d turned him down. Berget needed the same thing from me, but she already held the throne. As long as Faris didn’t prove her claim false, she was sitting pretty.
Vampires were not known for going easy on people that had pissed them off.
And I’d definitely pissed Faris off.
To be sure, I Tracked the three possible culprits. I couldn’t feel Berget or Milly, which told me they were both still on the mainland, across the water.
Faris though, he wasn’t far at all. From the direction his threads pulled at me, he was at Jack’s place; I Tracked Jack. Faris was right on top of him.
Every instinct in me jammed up my throat and tried to force me to turn around. I wanted to protect the old Tracker, even though he’d been a total dick. Damn him, and damn my innate tendencies. No, Deanna and Will were with Jack, I would have to let them deal with the vampire. Though how the hell he’d managed to get so close to Jack during the day was beyond me.
Liam moved silently to my side, and thoughts of Jack had to be pushed to the back burner. “We have to plan this. We can’t just run in like you usually do.”
My spine stiffened and, irritated, I glared up at him. “What’s your plan then, Boss?”
His jaw tightened for a split second, then relaxed. “Whatever is up on top of the battlements will alert the giant when we’re seen. We need to take them out first if possible, and then we can slip around the big bastard and into the castle.”
“You don’t know that they—whatever they are—will alert him.” I crossed my arms. He’d been a supernatural for less than two months, for him to think—
He shrugged. “It’s what I would do. Why put myself in danger if I had a giant to do my dirty work for me?”
Damn it. Time to swallow my pride.
Liam was right.
“Pamela.” I reached out and touched her shoulder, drawing her back to us. “What kinds of spells have you got that might be able to help us here?”
She sucked in her bottom lip and frowned in thought. “I could start a fire. Or cause an earthquake.”