“That’s my babe.”
Next to us, the Torna sisters whispered to one another and started giggling.
I arched an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
Sana responded to my question with a sly smile.
“Headmistress Cristala should be coming in today too,” Ayla replied, more serious than Sana. “She was trying to recruit more fae, a last-minute push.”
“Luvon and Volwin are with her,” Sana added, nudging her sister’s side, causing telling patches of pink to bloom on Ayla’s cheeks.
I cocked my head to the side. I’d seen Volwin dancing with Sana in Faerie, but other than that, the guys had been notably absent. “About that . . . I thought they had sworn allegiance to you or something. Where have they been?”
“They are sworn to us,” Sana said. “We insisted that they travel with Headmistress Cristala. Our parents hated that, but too bad, so sad.”
“Before you returned from the past, our headmistress was putting herself at the most risk,” Ayla explained further. “Sana was safe in Faerie. I was with Andre and Sam. Andre could get us anywhere at a second’s notice. But the headmistress was approaching powerful fae and demi-fae in this realm, sometimes daily. Even after Queen Aquatia gave us soldiers, Headmistress Cristala continued to contact high-powered families. Since she began her mission we knew that if one of them turned out to be in league with the demons, she would need help.”
“So the guys went with her. They provided muscle so others would think twice before messing with her,” Sana finished. “But, man, have we missed them.”
Ayla’s cheeks turned a deeper red, and my lips curled up in a smile. “Yeah, I bet.”
“There they are!” someone cried out and pointed to the top of the mountain.
I craned my neck to find three dozen vampires stampeding over the mountain ridges. Although they were too far away for me to make out their features, I knew that others clung to their backs. Headmistress Wake, my parents, and my friends’ parents among them.
My heart began pounding faster as the sprinting vampires neared.
When they were close enough that I could make out the faces of each vampire and the person they carried, I tilted my head in confusion. “Is my dad carrying somebody?”
Eva squinted. “It looks like it. Maybe the person passed out, and he had to save them?”
It wasn’t until the vampire carrying my dad ground to a stop in front of us that I realized something was wrong. Dad’s face was red with anger and he handled the person he carried roughly as he leapt off of the vampire’s back.
“Dad!” I cried. “What’s happening?”
He pulled the limp body of the other person behind him, still taking no care at all for their well-being even though they were clearly passed out. “The helicopters had just landed, and we were dividing up the supplies we’d brought for easier transport, when your mom saw someone sneaking out of the woods and into a chopper.”
My stomach dropped.
“This vampire had been lying in wait for us to land.”
Dad held up the unconscious woman he was dragging behind him. Her skin was pale and her shirt stark white, like I’d seen on our hike.
“She said that she came with the first round of healers. As a spy. Who invited her?” he snarled.
The group fell silent as everyone exchanged nervous glances. When it was clear no one was going to fess up, my eyes darted down to the vampire’s face. I recognized her from that morning, and recalled thinking how strange it was that a vampire would be a healer. But Alex had mentioned that a few extra people had wanted to help and I’d beensodesperate for the real healers to take over that I’d forgotten all about her. It was especially easy to forget as I hadn’t seen the vampire much since. Probably because she’d been hiding in the woods—listening to my friends and me discuss our numbers and the state of the army.
“This is only a fraction of our people. The rest are inside,” I said. “We should ask the others.”
Dad’s eyes bored into me. “That’s exactly what we’ll do, pea. In the meantime, everyone else, gather your things. This vamp had already used the helicopter’s radio by the time she got caught. I’m fairly certain she’s given away our location.”
He drew in a long, hard breath. “Our enemies might arrive at any minute.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
The spy had tagged along with the healers after one of Tiberius’ crew asked her to lend a helping hand. Little did the healer know the vampire wouldn’t help at all. She would only screw us over.
The poor, distraught healer had no idea that their old friend had gone to the dark side. But once we found the small demon stone in the vampire’s pocket, there was no denying we had been compromised.
