“Ready?” Uncle Kenny shouted.
Dad threw a dagger at a leprechaun. “South Team ready.”
“Excavation Team, ready!” the Cooper slayer with the jackhammer shouted.
It was impossible to miss everyone’s unease between their tense shoulders and white knuckled grips on their weapons. To their credit, no one aimed a weapon at the coffin—they trusted me that Considine wouldn’t harm them.
And he won’t. It’s Considine. He won’t.
Aunt Erin positioned herself so she was next to the coffin—able to toss the blood pouches in it and not be in Considine’s view when he emerged. “On your mark, Jade.”
I didn’t hesitate—I’d waited so long for this. “Go.”
Uncle Kenny cut the last two locks and had just enough time to duck to the side, crowding the Song slayer, before the metal lid exploded off the coffin.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
Jade
Considine hit it with enough force to send it flying, and my team scuttled to avoid it—although one of Gisila’s vampire guards was not so lucky. He was flattened.
My heart thundered in my ears as I waited.
I couldn’t see Considine within the coffin—a layer of cement dust had stuck to the box and created dusty clouds when the lid was knocked loose.
Aunt Erin and the Song slayer tossed the blood packs in the coffin and retreated, joining the excavation team with Uncle Kenny.
I tried and failed to swallow. “Considine?”
A blur emerged from the coffin, moving so fast my eyes didn’t have time to register the movement before I felt arms sliding around me, pulling me against a solid surface.
“Jade.” Considine’s voice was rough like sandpaper, and his arms around me felt colder than usual. He’d whispered the word against my throat—his lips brushing my bare, unprotected skin.
It was a very dangerous position for a regular human to be in. It was fairly dangerous for me, too, considering Considine could survive slayer blood.
But I was pliant in his arms, trusting him.
I waited a few moments, but Considine didn’t move from where he was pressed against my neck, and he didn’t let me go.
Time to do a wellness check.
He’d smashed my chin on top of his shoulder and had half swept me up so I was standing on my tiptoes. It took me a second of squirming to peel myself off the navy-blue fabric of his uniform.
“Considine?” I asked.
I couldn’t see his face, just his dark hair as he still pressed his face against my neck.
He sighed, and his entire body relaxed before he straightened up.
He was holding one of the pouches Aunt Erin and the Song slayer had tossed in his coffin. He was sucking it down, fast. He’d already almost drained it.
“Jade,” Considine smiled. He was paler than usual and the red of his eyes was more pronounced as he finished the blood pouch.
“Are you…” I hesitated—he couldn’t be okay, not after being buried under cement for so long.
“I’m fine.” He leaned closer, resting his forehead against mine. “You found me.”
