“Thank you, my friend. Cecil?”
“Yes, Master Sawyer?”
Draco hadn’t even heard him enter the room.
“Will you put some feed out for my birds? They’ve worked hard today.”
“Consider it done.”
Sawyer smiled and stroked the raven’s chest. It flew away, joining the others in the trees surrounding the house.
“Tell me,” Henry demanded.
“It worked. They showed me. I don’t know. It was sort of like a vision I guess. But I could, like, see through their eyes. I saw what they saw. So fricking cool. We need to find a crossroads, where Hill Valley Road meets Cross Creek Way. I saw the sign as plain as day.”
“Cross Creek Way,” Eduard said. “That’s one of the addresses.” He grabbed his laptop and plugged in one of the addresses from the list. He pulled up a map and turned the screen so they could see it. “The map shows a place that looks nothing like what Henry described.”
The image from Google maps definitely wasn’t the house Henry had told them about. It was old and run down. But Henry moved closer and leaned down to look at the screen. When he straightened, he had a beaming smile on his face. “That’s it. That’s the same hill in the background.”
Sawyer whooped before lifting Henry and spinning him around until they were both breathless. “We did it.”
“We totally did it.”
Sawyer turned to Dakota with his beaming smile. Their new guardian’s wall took another hit, crumbling a little more under the onslaught of Sawyer’s joy. Then it was down to business. They were ready to leave within the hour. Sawyer and Andvari had chosen a location for the choppers to land that wasn’t too far from the house, but far enough that they should escape notice and not trigger any wards. They were a little cramped inside, but Sawyer wanted both Draco and Eduard inside instead of in the air. Their energy needed to be saved for the fight. The strategy was actually simple. Divide and conquer. Sawyer would be with Draco, Dakota, and Loch. When they found the guardian, Sawyer would have one guardian from each element with him, just in case.
Henry had the same with Eduard, Saeward, and Andvari. They would provide cover while Dakota led Sawyer to the guardian. Sawyer would be the only one to know for sure that the guardian was real, and Dakota assured them he would be able to get through any locks keeping them out. Draco couldn’t help but be both curious and suspicious of the new guardian’s ability. He would have to borrow one of Henry’s books when they were safely home so he could learn more about Dakota. For now, he wasn’t particularly worried. Sawyer would have both Draco and Loch would be nearby. They would be able to get Sawyer out of there if they needed to.
They had the hellhounds on standby to portal them out if they needed, but Sawyer had felt pretty strongly about not involving them in the rescue effort unless absolutely necessary. Doing so would involve his sister. As much as Draco wanted the extra firepower, he understood Sawyer’s point. They had the same argument about the additional vampire guards. It made sense to load a bunch of them onto other choppers and go in with a full contingent of warriors. Sawyer had said no to that as well. They needed to do this. It was their duty. He insisted, and they all agreed. His instincts hadn’t led them wrong yet.
Sawyer leaned against Draco for the entire flight, absorbing what strength he could. Draco wished he could physically give it to him, but his presence had always been enough for Sawyer. His mates all depended on him, and he would see them safely through this battle.
When they finally landed, Sawyer’s ravens emerged from the trees. As with the one at their home, the one that flew to him was a bit larger than the others. Sawyer held out his arm and it landed there with practiced ease before hopping up to Sawyer’s shoulder.
“Are there wards?” Sawyer whispered.
“No,” Henry said.
The raven squawked.
Sawyer nodded. “There will be. Closer to the house. Be ready.”
Henry nodded.
The raven made another noise and several of the birds in the trees scattered. Draco had never seen anything like it. Sawyer didn’t even seem to realize he was doing it, that he’d begun communicating with them so effectively. It was second nature to him already, and Draco really didn’t think he even understood what he was doing.
He did understand that his mate was scared, though. Sawyer gripped Draco’s hand tightly in his as they made their way toward the house. The air grew more oppressive as they approached, as if giving a warning that this place wasn’t safe. Henry grunted in displeasure and began using his own magic. The pressure eased and they were able to move forward more quickly.
Then they came to the wards. This time, Henry cursed, long and loud. It was so unlike him that they all stopped and stared, waiting for him to explain. “This is dark magic,” he finally said. “That fucking prick.”
There was no doubt about whom he referred.
While Henry set to work dismantling a section of the wards, Sawyer turned to Draco and leaned heavily against his chest.
“You okay?” Draco asked softly.
“No.”
“Me either.”
