“Okay.” I blinked.
“Gwen?”
I blinked again.
“Gwen!”
I shook my head hard. “Yes, I hear you.” I nudged my horse forward. We began walking at a sedate pace, the ground much more level here. “Try to keep up, Bel. I don’t want you to fall behind. That would be embarrassing for you.”
My lover snickered and whispered, “She is fine now. Let’s hurry so she doesn’t leave us behind. She will, to save face after that fall.”
I pretended I couldn’t hear him.
Every noise from the woodland right next to me might have made me jump in my saddle. My heart might have raced at any branch that snapped under my horse’s hooves. My breathing might have been labored, too, my chest heaving in the darkness.
My sweating palms were a definite, though.
I couldn’t pretend that away, the reins continuing to slip between my fingers, making me clutch them that much harder.
The sun soon rose lighting the way.
I didn’t calm. I could now see the woodland better. Or, more precisely, hardly see anything inside it, the trees growing even denser the farther we traveled—anything could be lurking in the shadows. I simply would not be able to see it, even though I was able to see clearer now. This was more terrifying than the darkness.
I wiped the sweat from my brow as the sun climbed higher in the sky. I shouted in aggravation, “How much farther?”
“We are going slow,” Dorian called down. “It is taking longer than expected. You need to stay quiet. We are not in friendly territory right now.”
“Great,” I grumbled.
Those words did not help my heart rate.
We kept moving. The sun ascended into the afternoon.
It was hot as fuck here. I fluttered my shirt for air.
How much longer must we travel?
Where was air-conditioning when I needed it?
Suddenly, they stopped above me.
I pulled my horse to a quick halt. I shielded my eyes from the sun with a swift hand, squinting up in their direction—staying silent as previously ordered.
King Belshazzar sat forward on his horse, peering out into the forest from above. He shook his head, muttering, “There is nothing there. I see and hear nobody.”
It was Dorian and Rilen who led the group still, and Dorian pressed a pointed finger to his lips, silently hushing my lover.
I turned my attention to where he was staring, to the forest not too far from me. I scanned every opening in the trees that I could, but I did not see anyone, either. I looked back up to Bel and shook my head. There was no one there from my vantage point, either.
Dorian sat up straight instantly. He shouted furiously, “Get off your horse andrun, Gwen. Back the way we came. Now! They are under the ground!”
Well…shit.
I could run faster than my horse had ever had a chance of running. With adrenaline sparking inside my veins, I jumped down from my horse with vampire speed and dumped my bag off my back, preparing for a long-ass run. I turned in a blur.
Vampires rose from under the dirt, shaking off bits of mud all around me. Swords were drawn in the air, along with ancient-looking rifles that had seen better days. Did they even work?
Hundredsof vampires.
