Iran through the department, bursting into the main chamber of the Curia Cloisters. I vaulted over a bench and ran as fast as I could through the chamber without ramming into anyone, but it wasn’t until I got to one of the hallways that split off toward the main entrance that I was able to sprint.
I made it outside, stepping onto the salt covered sidewalk and into the bitter cold air.
A line of black vehicles—SUVs, trucks, and vans mostly—stretched so long they disappeared down the block and behind a row of trees, were pulling into the parking lot in an orderly fashion.
Two helicopters hovered over the cloisters, jockeying to position themselves over the building’s parking lots so they didn’t disturb the stone gargoyles positioned on the roof.
“Who’s here?” Orrin asked, surprising me as I hadn’t realized he’d followed me outside.
“What?” I asked, shouting to hear over the helicopter.
Orrin pointed to the helicopters as the doors to the Cloisters opened again, and my squadmates filed out, gawking. “You said ‘they’re here.’ Who are they?” Orrin asked.
The rolling of my gut eased as I looked at my incoming reinforcements. “They’re vampire slayers.”
Rope ladders were tossed down from the two helicopters, and figures clothed in varying shades of gray started descending them, while slayers piled out of the newly parked cars, dressed in tactical gear and toting weapons that would make the Department of Supernatural Law Enforcement green with envy.
“Jade!” A man strode across the parking lot, sticking out with his puff of red hair and big stature.
“Dad!” I ran into his open arms, relaxing when he swept me up in one of the bear hugs I’d been missing horribly since moving to Magiford. A dry sob caught in my throat, and I let my dad take all my weight.
“It’s going to be all right,” Dad said, his normally brusque voice gentle. “We’ll find your vampire.”
When he let me go and set me on my feet, my brothers crowded around me.
“Don’t worry, Jade, we’re here now.” Peri scooped me close in a clingy type of hug I used to hate but was so reassuring in its familiarity I could only heave a dry sob.
Alex awkwardly patted my shoulder. “Practically everyone from the Midwest came—or at least sent a representative to help.”
“Yeah, even the Riveras and Mitchells flew in from the Pacific Northwest.” Jasper straightened my clothes for me when Peri finally let me go.
“Jade—oh my baby!” Mom shooed my brothers out of the way so she could hug me. “I’m so sorry about Considine—we’ll find him. Nan and Paddy are picking out the tactical kits weshould use, but I wanted to ask how friendly is the Magiford police department toward supernaturals?”
My many uncles—my mom’s brothers, who were all members of the semi-retired Carters slayer family—crowded in around her.
“We’ll file the paperwork—don’t you worry, kid,” Uncle Kenny promised as he reached over Mom to ruffle my short hair.
Uncle James pulled out his cellphone from one of the pockets on his tactical vest. “We’re trying to figure out if we should send one of your cousins dressed as a civilian, in case our gear freaks ‘em out.”
“Did Pop-pop and Granny come?” I asked, referring to my mom’s parents.
My uncle Joe released a bark of laughter. “You think we could have kept them away?”
Pop-pop and Granny wintered in Florida. If they were here already, they must have pulled strings.
“Send them,” I said. “Maybe with Cousin Laura?”
“You got it!” Uncle Dennis waved to me before he jogged back to the parking lot. “Yo—Dad! You’ve got an assignment!”
“Blood?”
My family parted so I could look back at my team.
Sarge’s silver hair fluttered in the wind created by the helicopters, and he had a cellphone clamped against his ear. “The Magiford Municipal Airport is on the phone. They’re being inundated with private planes. They got a message from air traffic control, who said all the planes were cleared to land due to a supernatural emergency?”
“Ah, more out-of-town slayers!” Dad boomed.
The slayers in the helicopters had finished climbing down the ladders, so once the ladders were gathered up again, the helicopters started to fly away, the thrumming hum from the blades growing quieter as they gained altitude.
