“Yes,” Tymon said. “We didn’t have any warning at all. That we were able to save most of the north and the west was a testament to our people’s determination.”
“They touched nothing on the way north to here,” Maurielle added. Her hand had not stopped clutching Sona’s since their reunion at the train.
What had happened that it felt like a reunion?
“Then they must have scouts,” Aiko reasoned. “If they destroyed the south and then touched nothing in between, they sent a scout.”
Sona shook her head. “We’ve been watching.”
“Speed,” I said.
Aiko nodded. “We can run faster than the eye can track. It does expend a lot of energy, though.”
Tymon held up a thoughtful finger. “Then we need to look for bodies that have been drained of blood, don’t we?”
“That will give us a trail,” Roran said. “How do we stop them?”
Aiko and I glanced at each other and chorused, “Lead.”
“What?” Staviz asked, unfolding his arms.
“Lead,” I repeated. “Lead does not answer to magic, at all. Every damn lock in the Stronghold was made with galena, lead. So if we lay lead lines or patches—”
“—the vampires should trip.” Aiko finished.
“We just have to make them wide enough to ensure there’s no way to avoid stepping on them.” Tymon bobbed his head sagely.
Grinning, I continued to hash out the idea. “There’s an old galena mine in the Cerulean Mountains, and Amarti-Upon-Sea isn’t that far. We can get Dorian…”
His absence hit me hard at that moment.
“We can leave Dorian to rot in the dungeons.”
I spun and found Rilen striding toward the group, and his eyes met mine. He headed straight for me and without preamble, shoved his hand into my hair at the back of my neck and covered my mouth with his.
As expected—delightfully expected—he tasted so much like his twin brother. I melted into him, enjoying his hard kiss.
“Saviors and martyrs, you taste good,” he whispered.
I laughed against his lips. “Missed you too.”
“I hope you let Roran keep his blue balls?”
“Teabag? Of course.”
Rilen laughed, and I suspected it was the first time in weeks that he had. “We’ll take care of all that later, Mistress Breaker.”
“We will.”
He took my hand and backed up one step. “We will be going after Master Dorian. As I understand it, we have an idea to protect the towns that doesn’t involve weapons we don’t have and can’t spare?”
“Lead, Master Rilen,” Aiko said. He smiled. “If you wish to make it a real trap, I have ideas.”
“What sort of ideas?” Staviz asked.
“Deadly ones.”
Tymon pointed to the twins. “You two will assist with the trials of how wide the patch must be. Mistress Sona, Mistress Maurielle, will you see to whatever Lord Aiko needs to protect our cities?” They both nodded. “Lunella, will you take Vitas to the galena mines?”
