Brumous trotted past us then, an enormous pincer clamped in his jaws. He looked absurdly proud of himself, his tail wagging so fast that it blurred, as he dragged it up the hill toward the house.
“On the bright side, should take Brummy a while to gnaw throughthat,” Zane smirked. “Save us a pair of boots or two.”
“And make the whole manor stink like a fish market,” Ko said on a half-growl, half-snort.
As Zane commented on how the place needed airing out anyway, a flash of white caught my eye.
Seri’s new sneakers.
The ones I’d bought for her. The ones I’d knelt to put on her feet, my fingers trembling as I tied the laces. They were sitting neatly on the grass. My chest tightened, a fresh wave of guilt and fear washing over me, and I rubbed my knuckle between my eyebrows.
“Thirty minutes,” I muttered. “We were gonethirty moon-damned minutes.”
“I don’t call her trouble for nothing,” Zane snickered.
“Look at the golf cart,” Koa mumbled, still shaking with the need to kill. “Dammit. Serilikesriding around in it.”
“Look at theSUV,” Zane countered. “Guess we’re walking to the next monster hunt.”
Ignoring them, I snatched up the sneakers, cradling them tightly to my chest as I turned and ran toward the house.
Plans. Contingencies. Ways to make sure this never happened again. Better wards. More guards. A full security overhaul.
We weren’t going to lose her. Not to Eluned. Not toanyone.
As I reached the patio, I caught sight of Seri through the open back door. She was sitting at the kitchen island, her hands wrapped around a steamy mug, color slowly coming back in her face. Brumous sat before her, his eyes fixed on her face even as his huge paw pushed his trophy across the floor toward her. Addison hovered nearby, dripping cleavers still in hand, and Mrs. Wentzel wrapped a blanket over Seri’s wet legs, tucking it under her bare feet.
“Damn monster ruining my morning,” Mrs. Wentzel muttered, probably too quietly for Seri to hear, but not dhampir ears. “Haven’t run that fast in years. Thankfully, the tarts didn’t burn.”
Even as the corners of my mouth flicked up, the sight only fueled my determination to do whatever it took to keep our beloved safe. Even if it drove me and everyone around mecompletely insane.
Taking a deep breath, I walked into the kitchen.
“Simmy!” Seri called, her voice trembling, but proud. “Did you see me, Simmy? I hit it! I actuallyhitit!”
Her words were a knife to my chest.
“More gargoyles,” I mumbled, not able to face her just yet. “At least a dozen. Hmm. Maybe two. Instructed to attack anything that so much aslooksat her sideways.”
Going to the sink, I spread a dish towel on the countertop, then set Seri’s sneakers on it.
“We’ll need underwater wards, of course, motion sensors, maybe even a net to catch anything that tries to swim through.”
Inside the pantry, I found the white vinegar easily since I’d rearranged everything in alphabetical order.
“Needs a panic button. No, one for every room she frequents. And one she can wear at all times.”
Back at the sink, I filled a glass measuring cup exactly halfway with the vinegar, then topped it off with water.
“Needs to learn self-defense.Properself-defense. Not just swinging a stick. A stick. Astick. I’m going to see that in my nightmares tonight. Zane can teach her. No, Koa. No, both.”
I stirred my cleaning mixture with a teaspoon, then used a dishrag to dab the diluted vinegar at the grass stain on the tip of Seri’s left sneaker in slow, measured circles.Veryslow,verymeasured circles.
“Simmy? Are you okay?” Her voice had dimmed a bit, twisting the knife in deeper.
“Give him a minute, dear,” Mrs. Wentzel told her calmly. “I think he’s nearly run the gamut of possible protective measures. Addison, fetch her a pair of socks.”
“Si, abuela.”
