Dietrich looked down at him and considered that. “That makes sense,” he said. “The proximity would allow him most of his power and yet give him time away from us to come up with a new plan. I’m guessing the medallion protected her. It will do the same there. He’ll have to figure out a way to get it off of her.” He turned to peruse the area.
And that was when he saw it.
A sort of shock rocked through him. It was the kind of surprise laced with incredible hope that one might experience at seeing something large and golden in a mining tin. He couldn’t believe it. But it was really there.
Abruptly, he grabbed Meagan by her upper arms and moved her roughly away from the tree on which she’d been leaning. She frowned and stumbled a bit, but righted herself. She was about to say something when she must have seen it too, because she went still beside him instead.
“What is it?” she asked after a moment. “Did Logan leave that here?”
“Yes,” Dietrich said. “Yes, she did. I can smell her blood on it.” Apparently that was a new talent he would possess in this goblin body of his. He leaned over, placing his nose close to the letters that had been carved into the tree. They were laced with the slightest traces of blood. He inhaled slowly. She must have scraped her nail completely off at the tip while carving the word. The blood was hers.
This was her writing.
“By the gods,” he whispered as he straightened. “I know how we’re going after them.”
Epilogue
The four of them stood side by side in the forest clearing, each wearing a well packed backpack, and each dressed in layers of clothing and sturdy boots. It had taken them an hour or two to acquire everything they might need, especially since Lehrer had to direct the process from the safety and privacy of the back seat of Katelyn’s car. They’d also had to deal with the two unconscious vampires they’d left in the alley earlier.
Luckily, Dietrich’s grove possessed members who were both old enough to be familiar with the strangeness of the world, and wise enough to know how to deal with it. The group had taken Shawn and Nathan, still unconscious, to one of the older witches. She’d taken one look at Dietrich, transformed as he was, and then another at the two vampire boys with them, and she’d quickly opened her door wide and ushered everyone inside.
Using her own magic, the witch placed the vampires under a longer stasis spell and then sequestered them in chains in the basement. Just in case. Then she told everyone to get out and fix whatever mess they’d caused. No questions asked.
Now the four of them were ready, or at least, as ready as they would ever be. Dietrich looked down at his companions; he’d grown at least half a foot during his transformation. They looked up at him. He met Meagan’s gaze and held it.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
He took a deep breath, grabbed her hand to squeeze it gently in support, and nodded.
Meagan turned toward the tree in which Logan had carved her word. A bard’s words did not hold as much magic in this world as they did in Samhain’s realm. Not on their own.
But when they were read by a witch, it was another story.
Meagan licked her lips and raised her free hand toward the space that had held the portal hours earlier. Dietrich held his breath. The world quieted.
And in a clear voice filled with magic and hope, Meagan the witch read what Logan the bard had shed her blood to write.
“Open.”
The End.
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Stay tuned for book three in The October Trilogy, Suddenly Sam. Release date TBA.
Table of Contents
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Secretly Sam Page 17