Strangely enough, I find Briar’s take on death soothing too.
Though not enough to take away the very real sense that everything around us is getting worse.
That Vinca is getting closer than she should.
That those goblin females who Winter thought were us are only the beginning, and far more terrible things are coming.
That there are worse things than death—and one of them is, almost certainly, dying horribly at the hands of a vengeful goddess.
23.
Wolf Moon, waxing gibbous
It’s late the night after next when a vampire messenger appears to the sentries outside the den—because like hell would any vampire ever be invited in—and instructs them to inform Ty that his presence is needed down at one of the old timber yards in Medford.
In force.
I go with him because that sounds a lot more interesting than sitting in the grand cavern, watching my mother mete out justice and introduce consequences as she sees fit. It’s not that I think she’s doing a bad job, it’s just the childhood trauma. It does rear its head.
We run out of Jacksonville in pack formation, barreling along the overgrown roads. We cross what was once a farm until it became a sports complex of some kind and is now little more than a ruined old building with pools where various creatures who prefer to stay wet and sleek like to congregate.
We skirt that whole mess, then make it down to the old railway tracks and the log yards there. There are vampire warriors guarding the entrance, and they nod at Ty. One of them puts his hand up to me.
Ty growls. “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you.”
The vampire manages to look both arrogant and disgusted with Ty at the same time. “He won’t want her in there. His orders are very clear.”
I have never liked it when people assume that you shouldjust knowwho they’re talking about. Even if I do know who they’re talking about.
That maybe colors my tone when I respond. “He can tell me that himself,” I say, then push my way past him.
I then instantly regret it because the interior of what was once a factory floor or warehouse, and is now a repository for nothing good, is overrun with the death cult minions.
All I see are red cloaks, swirling in every direction. Those terrible masks that make them all look uniform despite their differing shapes and scents. It makes everything in me go cold, same as always.
But the real mind fuck is the fact that there are so many of them.
Just in case I thought—hoped—that maybe all this stuff is nothing more than Vinca reaching out from her temple and playing games with magic, that notion takes a hit.
This time there are even more than I remember being up on McLoughlin that night. A whole lot more than there ought to be, given how many were killed on Halloween.
“What the hell do they want?” Ty growls.
“I’m going to go out on a limb, given the whole death goddess they worship and whatnot,” I drawl. I look at him. “Death?”
Ty rumbles some more, glaring at all the minions. “You want to sacrifice yourself for some goddess who wouldn’t take a piss on you, go right ahead. What I don’t get is whyIhave to die becauseyoubelieve in a goddess that I think is an asshole.”
Then he hurls himself into the battle.
I follow, and I’ll admit, I’m more than ready. The last time I got to well and truly mix it up was up on McLoughlin that night. It’s all been protective detail over Savi on Halloween and wolf week duties since then.
I’ve always liked a good scrap, and once I get past my distaste of my opponents tonight, I let loose.
I try to keep track of the minions I take down. As I lunge in at them I avoid their wicked knives that we can all smell are drenched insomething vile. Likely some kind of poison to make death at their hands even more unpleasant.
It’s the vampires who take most of the enemy fire. Their preferred game is to go in hard, then turn to smoke as the minion attempts to strike. They usually become corporeal again a split second later when their enemy is overextended and they can easily slip a knife or a fang in deep.
That they have practiced fighting like this for more lifetimes than I will live is obvious. And impressive.
