Not only had I lost the argument with Ava, but with Kerry and Finn. Then Rhys insisted that he join us and Savannah refused to be left alone. Ava hadn’t passed out earlier as I believed, merely lost the strength in her legs for a second. Within moments, she was back on her feet and ready to go.
So now all six of us were piled in Rhys’ SUV and headed to the neighborhood where Ava lived. The address that Callum sent me was located across the street from her house. Which meant Rhiannon had been within arm’s reach the entire time. She could have hurt Ava whenever she wanted. The knowledge made my head pound. All this time I’d convinced myself I was protecting her and I’d been clueless.
I glanced at Ava in the passenger seat but she didn’t seem to notice my attention. Her head was turned away from me as she stared out the window.
The first tinge of dawn breached the horizon, bringing grey and purple light into the darkness. Pink and orange were just beginning to leach into the sky as we approached Ava’s neighborhood.
Before I turned onto her street, I parked the car on the side of the road and turned toward everyone else in the car.
“I will go in first. If anything seems off, your primary goal is to protect yourselves,” I commanded.
Ava sighed. “I’m going in with you.” She held up a hand when I turned a glare toward her. “I’m not going to argue with you, Macgrath. Either I go in with you or I pull the same trick I did back at Savannah’s and makeyoustay in the car.”
I growled low in my throat. “You do what I say, when I say it.”
She leaned toward me. “We are in this together, whether you like it or not. We all have to protect each other. Don’t let your obsession with protecting me get in the way of everyone else’s safety.”
Her words took the fight right out of me. She was right. I was being irrational. She was the most powerful witch I’d ever met, likely even more powerful than Rhiannon. She was more than capable of protecting herself and others. The only reason she hadn’t easily defeated the dark witch before was because Rhiannon was willing to fight as dirty as she had to in order to win. She would threaten and even kill innocents. She had no conscience. Toward the end of the century I’d spent as her errand boy, I’d begun to wonder if she even had a soul.
Kerry scooted forward to the edge of the backseat. “I’m strong as well, Macgrath. Finn and I can defend ourselves. And you know what Rhys can do.”
While her words didn’t exactly reassure me, Finn’s nod helped. No vampire would allow his mate to go into danger if she wasn’t able to defend herself. It went against our very nature. Hell, it was difficult to do even if our mates were strong enough to win a battle.
“Fine,” I grumbled, putting the car into gear and pulling back onto the street. Shooting Ava a sideways glance, I stated, “But if you get hurt, I’m not nursing you back to health this time.”
She snorted. “Oh, because you’re a regular Florence Nightingale?”
Kerry giggled from the backseat, but the sound was cut off abruptly, as though she were choking it back.
I looked into the rearview mirror and Finn’s eyes met mine, full of understanding and maybe even sympathy.
I parked several houses down from Ava’s house and we all climbed out of the car. The streets were still quiet at this hour but it wouldn’t be long before morning commuters would leave their houses to get to work.
“Ava and I will take the front.” I thought it best since she lived in the neighborhood and most people wouldn’t think twice if they saw her walking around. I gave Finn and Kerry a questioning look. “Can the two of you handle the back?”
Finn nodded.
Ava turned to Savannah and handed her a ring of keys. “Go in through the back door of my house and wait there.” She looked at Rhys. “The spells there would probably withstand a nuclear bomb. I doubt Rhiannon could break through.”
“I can—”
Ava shook her head. “I know you’re developing your powers, but you need to sit this one out. Your abilities haven’t strengthened enough to take on Rhiannon if it’s necessary.”
Savannah sighed and relented. “Fine.” She kissed Rhys’ cheek and headed toward Ava’s property, cutting through the back yards of several neighboring lots so that she would remain unseen from the house on the other side of the street. Once she disappeared into Ava’s house, the rest of us faced each other.
“Don’t hold back,” Ava instructed Kerry and Finn. “Rhiannon isn’t weak. She’s vicious and unpredictable. Shewillkill you if she has a chance.”
Once we all agreed on the strategy, we split up. As Ava and I approached the yard, she sent out a small ripple of power. There was no reaction, no protection ward set up.
With each step, I could feel her power rise just a bit, as though she were turning it up an inch at a time. Nothing happened. The air remained still and quiet.
“This is weird,” she whispered, her voice so soft that even I could barely hear it. “She should have spells of some sort set up. To hide her presence, to protect herself from an attack like this.”
“You don’t feel anything?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
The only magic around us was Ava’s as we walked up the sidewalk. We paused together outside the front door. Ava lifted a hand and pressed her palm to the wood. She closed her eyes, releasing one small stream of magic. When nothing happened, she did it again, more this time.
There was no reaction.
She nodded to me and stepped aside.
Taking a deep breath, I lifted my foot and kicked the door in.
