by Ally Shields
Andreas focused on the vampire. “You act as if you know us, but I don’t recall seeing you before. Do you, Gabriel?”
“No, but a lot of vampires live at the court.”
“I caught a glimpse of you last fall,” Miguel said, responding to Andreas. His eyes darted to Ari. “And she must be the witch everyone talked about. You wouldn’t have noticed me. I’ve never been inside the elders’ chambers.”
Andreas raised an eyebrow. “You’re living with your sire?”
“I have nowhere else to go. He brought me here when he returned from southern Spain three years ago.”
Which explained his new vampire vibes and his dark features. Ari looked from one guilty party to the other. “So how did you two get together?”
Miguel shrugged. “We met on a raid and have been seeing each other when we could since then.”
“A raid? You’ve been killing witches?” Sophie’s voice dripped with venom.
“No, he couldn’t. Or I wouldn’t be here.” Rebekah gave Miguel a crooked smile. “Maybe I should explain. You’re already leaving out the important parts.”
His return smile was slightly apologetic.
“It started last spring.” Rebekah looked at Sophie. “Remember the large raid that breached our northern defenses?” When the priestess nodded, she went on. “There was also a smaller southern group, just a handful, and I went after them with my sniper rifle. I shot him several times, and he went down. When I went to confirm the kill, he kicked my feet out from under me.” Her eyes flicked to his, and she cleared her throat. “I thought I was going to die, but instead he hid me from his friends.”
“They weren’t my friends,” Miguel protested.
“The truth is, I tried to kill him, and he saved me. While we waited for the other vampires to leave, we began talking. Mostly about his family in Spain. He just seemed like anyone else.” She gave Ari a pleading look. “Surely you understand?”
Actually she did, but Ari wasn’t ready to give them a pass yet. “Go on. Tell us the rest.”
“That’s about it.” Rebekah’s face flushed again. “I liked him. I could tell he liked me too, and we wanted to see each other again. It just grew from there.”
“So all the times you’ve been missing from camp, you were with him?” the priestess asked.
“I guess so.”
“If this is so innocent, why go tonight when you were forbidden? Why didn’t you wait until the restriction was lifted?”
“I had no way to call it off. Tonight was arranged before you locked us down.” Rebekah spread her hands. “I didn’t want to stand him up. I was going to explain I couldn’t stay and then go right back to camp. I didn’t think anyone would see me.”
“A touching story,” Gabriel said. “But how do we know you’re not making it up?”
“I’m not a liar,” Rebekah snapped.
Sophie cocked her head. “And yet you’ve been lying to me for months.”
Rebekah—the brash and snarky witch who had been a thorn in Ari’s side for two years—burst into tears. Miguel started to go to her, but Andreas shook his head. Miguel stopped, automatically responding to the other vampire’s authority.
Ari believed her. And she hated to see women cry. Tears—even her own—made her feel helpless. Still, the situation presented a big problem. Miguel was a wild card. By his own admission he’d been in the elders’ court for three years, and he’d been on at least one raid against the witches. Was there more he hadn’t said? Vampires were good at hiding what they thought, even from her. But not from a powerful vampire prince.
She turned to Andreas. “Well?”
He gave a half shrug. “I sense no guile. But he may have inadvertently let something slip.”
“How did you know we were in Germany?” she asked Miguel.
“I didn’t. Not until now.”
Sophie grabbed Rebekah’s arm. “You hadn’t told him? Tell me the truth.”
“Of course I hadn’t told him. Not because I don’t trust him, but we promised not to share their arrival with anyone. So I didn’t.”
“Why are you here?” Miguel asked. “If you’re plotting a confrontation with the elders, you might want to wait a couple of days.”
“Why is that?” Ari asked.
“The day after tomorrow, half the elders will be gone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“Where?”
“Why?”
“Which elders?”
They all spoke at once, bombarding Miguel with questions.
“No! They can’t escape us. Not now.” Ari pointed an imperious finger toward the kitchen table. “Sit down. You’re going to tell us everything you know.”
While they regrouped, Gabriel opened the refrigerator and held up a bottle of wine. “Looks like you were prepared for a cozy evening. Do you mind?”
“Why not?” Rebekah waved toward the counter. “The opener’s in the first drawer.”
“Don’t need one.” Gabriel popped the cork with his fingers. He grabbed a few glasses from the cabinet, set them on the table, and began pouring.
“So who’s leaving the castle and why?” Ari couldn’t wait any longer.
“Luc, Porbius, and Fiorosom.”
Ari’s heart pounded, and she interrupted before he could get any further. “It’s Zylla’s vision. They’re going to Riverdale. Or Toronto. Which is it?”
“Honestly, nobody outside the council knows their plans.” Miguel seemed taken aback by her vehemence. “Gossip is split between a raid on someone and setting up a new court in America.”
“Or both.” Ari scowled. “Is Bastian part of this?”
“No one’s mentioned it. I don’t think he and Porbius get along.”
She lifted her gaze to Andreas. “Why Fiorosom? Did you have any contact with him when you were there?”
“Nothing personal. I know little about him.”
“He’s super strong,” Miguel offered. “I saw him lift a tour bus with one hand.”
Geez, the image both appalled her and explained why others stayed away from the castle.
“Zylla referred to him as Atlas-like.” Andreas cocked his head at her. “Such strength might be handy for getting through reinforced doors.”
She widened her eyes. Yeah, like the kind at the vampire compound, the mansion, and the club.
“It sounds like their trip isn’t good news to you,” Miguel said.
Ari gave him a quelling look. “The more curiosity you show, the more suspicious you seem. You don’t make a very good spy.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I’m not one. Look, I’m not a fan of the elders, and I hate the vampire who did this to me, but this is the only home I’ve got.”
“What about Spain?”
“My family’s there, and they don’t know…about me. The truth would kill my mother.”
“We can’t let him return to the castle,” Gabriel said.
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“A careless word would be enough.” Gabriel looked at Ari. “And if our plans go forward, he wouldn’t be safe there.”
True. But didn’t Miguel’s information change everything?
“Can we go forward? If the elders are leaving on Friday… We’re not ready to move that soon.”
“Ready for what?” Miguel asked. “Maybe I can help.”
“At this point you don’t need to know.” Andreas got to his feet forestalling further discussion. “But you’re both coming with us. There are plans to be made, and I’m not yet sure where or if you fit into them.”
Miguel stood and put his arm around Becca. “Then we’re to be treated as prisoners.”
“Not exactly.” Andreas’s tone was curt. “Your girlfriend is Sophie’s problem, and you won’t be harmed. But I’m sure as hell not letting you walk back into that castle.”
* * *
On the return trip to camp, Rebekah marched in sullen silence; Miguel seemed lost in thought. The rest of the group didn�
��t want to talk in front of them, so there wasn’t much to say.
Once they reached the encampment, a shortened version of Rebekah and Miguel’s story was repeated, and the two miscreants were placed in the empty cabin with guards stationed outside. Sophie accompanied the Americans when they retired to their own cabin to discuss the next step. They’d positioned themselves in close proximity to their “guests” in case Miguel caused any trouble. It wasn’t expected, but no one wanted further surprises.
Ari pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the kitchen counter and got to the crux of the matter. “Now what? We’ve got twenty-four hours or less. And we don’t have the forces to pull this off.”
“Then let’s get more firepower,” Lilith suggested. “Attack the castle with RPGs. Shoot down their plane if they try to leave.”
Ari stared at her. “Are you kidding? We don’t have access to that much weaponry, and it isn’t like we could call in the Marines. The elders are too powerful to be defeated by conventional warfare. We have to catch them unaware…and keep them off balance so they don’t have time to rally their forces…or combine their powers in a psychic attack. If they have any forewarning, they could teleport or levitate or fly themselves out of danger.”
“Then what about the plane? Just getting Porbius, Luc, and Fiorosom would help,” Lilith persisted.
Gabriel frowned. “We don’t know where it is. We can send out scouts to look, but the chances of finding it in time aren’t good.”
“Then we’re back to the castle,” Ari said.
“Can’t you and Andreas still destroy the elders? If we don’t have enough fighters to surround the castle, their other forces might get away, but does it really matter?” Sophie looked around the group. “Is it that bad?”
“Yeah, it is.” Ari’s eyes were solemn. “It’s not just about the others escaping. If the raptors, vampires, and werebears aren’t kept busy with the attack, they’ll get to Andreas and me before we can finish our spells.”
“I thought you’d be working behind a barrier.”
“A barrier between us and the elders. Andreas can’t build an impenetrable bubble around us or he’d prevent my spells from reaching out. We’ll be vulnerable from every other direction.”
“So the assault on the castle is just a distraction?”
“No, but without it we don’t have much of a chance at the elders.” Ari slid down from her perch and started pacing. What if she used the fire spirits to block the doors? But then who’d keep the elders busy so they didn’t discover a way to get to her? Fire wouldn’t stop the raptors anyway. “Andreas and I might hold off a few bears and vampires, but we can’t stop the raptors.” She looked up from her musing. “Does anybody know how many there are? Maybe Miguel could tell us.”
“I can ask him,” Sophie offered.
“Bring him here,” Andreas said. “Maybe he has a role in this after all…if he can provide other castle details.”
Sophie left to retrieve him. The others turned their attention to what forces they could assemble by tomorrow night.
“Where’s the jet right now?” Gabriel asked.
“En route to Riverdale. Prince Daron, the wizard, and Jena are scheduled to fly in tomorrow. We can call and ask them to bring as many people as they can safely get on board and two or three of the larger weapons. But the jet wasn’t built for huge transports. We could put shifters or wizards on commercial flights, but that’s not an option for the vampires or weapons.”
“I’ll make some calls. See what I can do,” Gabriel said.
Ari nodded, but finding an answer wasn’t going to be easy. If there was an answer. “Steffan, is there a chance you can hurry the local wolves into making a decision? They’d be a big help against the werebears.”
His look was doubtful. “It may be too late by the time they gather. But I’ll try. I’ll leave as soon as it’s light.”
The cabin door swung open, and Sophie walked in with Miguel and Rebekah. Ari frowned, not sure they needed the other witch, then shrugged. Why not? At this point, anybody’s opinion was welcome.
They spent the remainder of the night revising strategy, reviewing the enemy’s defenses, making calls to America and Canada, speculating and worrying. Sophie sent word to the Witches’ League about the stepped-up deadline, but even for locals it was short notice for the word to spread and for people to travel. Their North American forces—the vampires, wolf league, and magic councils—were scrambling, but most of them acknowledged it was unlikely they’d make it.
Refusing to give up, Ari and her friends recalculated and redrafted their plans. At dawn the vampires were forced to retire, and Steffan left to confer with the German wolves. Exhausted and discouraged, the rest of them sought their beds for a few hours of sleep.
Ari slept for two. Then she was up pacing, nearly mainlining coffee at the camp headquarters building, and not liking the responses that were trickling in. If they had another twenty-four hours, they’d be in better shape, but immediate overseas flights for getting people to Germany were mostly full, and many of their forces simply couldn’t be contacted in time.
Sophie’s coven was already awake. They fixed platters of food for everyone, left them in the oven to stay warm, and then went about their own business, preparing for battle.
Ari checked the time on her phone. 9:37 a.m. The elders would want to be in the air before dawn. To be certain of catching them still in the castle, the attack would need to commence by midnight. That gave her thirteen hours to assemble their forces and another hour to get them in place by 11:30.
Her companions began to wander in, grabbing coffee, and raiding the witches’ food supplies. Their tired faces reflected growing dismay as they heard the updates.
“Do we call it off?” Lilith asked.
“And let them go to Riverdale?” Ari shook her head. “Not an option. We can’t let that happen.”
Russell put an arm around his wife. “Then we’ll have to succeed with what we’ve got.”
“Not Lilith,” Ari said. “When the jet gets here, she goes home.”
The lioness stuck out her chin. “I won’t go. I’m not leaving you and Russell.”
“Yes, you are.” Ari’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t just about the babies you carry. If we have a bad outcome tonight, someone has to protect Rayne. I’m asking you to go home and do that. Get her and Claris to safety. Away from Riverdale.”
“That’s blackmail, and others are there to do it.”
“Not anyone I trust more than you.”
“Honey, she’s right,” Russell added. “And I need to know that you and our cubs are safe.”
Lilith subsided after that, and it wasn’t long before she disappeared. Ari hoped she was going back to sleep but knew it was more likely the lioness was sulking. If Ari didn’t see her again before she left, it would make a bad end to their friendship.
By two o’clock a dozen new witches had arrived in camp with at least two larger covens expected. They began working on spells to protect the meager forces that would make the outside assault. Steffan still hadn’t brought the response from the German werewolves. A half hour later two vans of reinforcements arrived from the jet, delivering Merlin, the two wizards from the Riverdale Magic Lab, Jena, Prince Daron, Samuel and two weretigers, and three of Steffan’s wolves carrying an armful of flamethrowers, backpacks, and spare fuel tanks. Eleven plus heavy arms in an eight-seater plane.
Ari shook her head, thankful she hadn’t known about the overload while the plane was flying over the ocean.
“We have another eight wolves on commercial flights,” Jena said. “And Ryan was still working on other transportation when I left. Your partner was a big help in arranging things. Two of the flamethrowers were courtesy of SWAT.”
Ryan always had her back. But if additional forces weren’t in the air by now, they’d be too late. She looked around, counting noses. Three wizards, about seventy-five witches when they were all there, and a handful of shifters. Against
five hundred vampires, at least two hundred werebears, and by Miguel’s count, seventeen of the giant raptors. Ari wasn’t crazy about the odds.
By the time the rented vans were unloaded and ready to leave, Lilith still hadn’t appeared, and Russell went to find her.
Andreas awoke on schedule a few minutes later. Ari saw him striding across the clearing and went to meet him, wanting to break the bad news in private. She gave him the full update. “Our numbers are way too small,” she concluded. “So, what do you think?”
A smile tugged at his lips. “I think we’re in trouble.”
“Yeah, besides that.” She returned a half smile, then sobered. “I think we should go ahead, strike tonight, and take down as many of the elders as we can. But is that the right thing to do? Maybe we should go home instead and try to protect Riverdale.”
“I think your instincts are good, madam wife.” Andreas circled her with his arms. “We’d be lucky to get home before they did. Every elder we eliminate here in Germany will make Riverdale a little safer.”
They entered the crowded witches’ headquarters and told the others their decision. “Our chances of success aren’t good, rather terrible, in fact,” Ari admitted. “If anybody wants out, just go.”
“We had this talk in Riverdale,” Gabriel said. “I’m in this till the end. I think we all are.”
There was a general consensus. “We all know the score,” someone said.
“OK. Then let’s do it.” Ari’s voice was husky, and she turned away. As she moved toward the back of the room, she noticed the jet’s pilot was still there. Why hadn’t he left? She spotted Russell just inside the door and made her way to him.
“The jet’s waiting. Where’s Lilith? Isn’t she ready to go?”
He shook his head, his eyes angry but resigned. “I don’t know. Apparently she’s decided not to go home.”
Ari swore softly. “Where have you looked?”
“All over camp. She isn’t here.”
“Could something have happened to her?”
“I don’t think so. I saw her face when you told her to go home.” He blew out a noisy breath. “You know how stubborn she is.”