“But why take Kalina with them?”
“She must’ve been the target,” I mumbled. “But why would they want a little girl?Strygaprefer fully-grown victims, and she wasn’t attacked, she was kidnapped. There would’ve been a mess otherwise.”
Emma put a hand over her mouth. It was a revealing tell. “What do you know?” I asked.
“There might be something special about Kalina,” Emma admitted. “Lucien and I suspect she’s a demigod. I didn’t tell you, because it was safer to keep it between ourselves. But if sheisa demigod, Droga will want her. And thestrygamust know he’ll reward them for bringing her to him.”
I didn’t know how they’d come to this conclusion, but that didn’t matter at the moment. “We’ll talk about this later. We need to find her.”
“If they made a portal, they’re in Malovia by now,” Emma moaned.
“Strygacannot make portals. They have to travel across countries the old-fashioned way, on foot or with transportation.”
“So we have time to stop them before they get back to Malovia.”
“Yes. But we have to leave now, and get on their trail.”
“Are you even going to be able to catch up?”
“Shifters are just as quick as vampires.”
And we were just as strong, too. I was going to rip the heads off these monsters who’d taken our little girl.
The doors burst open. Arthur came racing in. “I heard someone scream. Is—”
He glanced at the body of the changeling on the floor. His hand went to his throat when he realized Kazim was there, but not Kalina.
“A changeling.Stryga,” I said, and Arthur made a choking noise. “They were here recently. If we move now, we can pick up the trail.”
Arthur’s eyes filled with tears and he gave a few gasping sounds, but he managed to keep it together as he said, “I can smell them, too. Let's move.”
“What about—” Emma started.
“The rest of you need to guard the estate, in case otherstrygashow up,” I said. “We’ll move quicker in a small group. I promise, Emma, we’ll bring her back.”
Emma sniffed, and a teardrop cascaded down her cheek. But she nodded, and kept Kazim close to her as she hurried out of the room to tell the others.
Arthur leaned out the open window. “They jumped out the window, then ran around the estate. They avoided the animals, so they wouldn’t make a fuss and alert us.”
“Exactly my thinking.” Outside was where we had to start looking.
We raced through the halls. I ran into Stefan so hard that I nearly fell over. He looked like he was in a hurry.
“Stefan, good. I need you with me,” I said.
Stefan’s eyes contracted. “Um—”
“He’s busy,” Kiara said as she and Alexei bustled in. “But we’ll help. You’ll need these.”
Kiara was carrying a small leather bag. She opened it up, and showed me several sharpened wooden stakes.
Wooden stakes through the heart were one of the few things that would kill a vampire— besides dismembering them and burning all the pieces.
Stefan pushed me aside as he hurried on by, and I didn’t fuck around asking questions. “Come on, then.”
I shifted back into a wolf as we burst outdoors. I put my nose to the ground and started sniffing. I caught on to thestryga’sscent right away, and underneath it, the soft scent of a baby. I jerked my head as an indicator the others should follow.
Arthur and Alexei shifted. Kiara climbed onto Alexei’s back, and we ran as a unit across the estate. I followed the scent into the woods, until the smell of blood began getting even more prominent, and my gut began to twist.
