Page 77 of Cold Sacrifice

“She will keep her out until dawn,” Bastien said. “She’ll take Farrow into the sun. I will be forced into sleep, and Farrow will burn as I lie in my bed.”

I put my nose to the ground, then to the air, running back and forth as I attempted to catch the scent that had disappeared. I heard one of the guys’ cell phones ringing but ignored it as I searched. I couldn’t lose her. If I did, Farrow would die.

Zach was in front of me abruptly, putting his hands on my face to hold me still, much as I’d done with Bastien. “Kait, listen to me.”

I went still, finally, though I wasn’t the most patient or attentive while in my wolf form. I sat on my haunches and gave an impatient growl.

“Max just called me,” he said. “He said the necromancer can’t go into the ground unless it’s to sleep. She can’t stay awake once the ground closes around her.”

I huffed and snorted, and Bastien spoke what I was thinking. “She was in the ground for decades and couldn’t have slept the whole time. If she had, she wouldn’t be here now.”

Zach straightened. “But part of her did sleep the entire time—the necromancer part. The vampire drew on the necromancer’s strength as well as pulling out the power of the ones buried with her.” He gestured impatiently. “Max just said that once she escaped, the two parts of her merged and created something new. He found three accounts of others just like her. And he said she won’t go into the ground until daylight or after, as long as she can tolerate the light, because it will immediately put her to sleep. If she’s forced to stay awake long after daylight, she’ll die.”

“Two weaknesses,” Remy added, coming to stand beside us. “One, she can’t stay in the daylight all that long, only a little different than a proper vampire.” He tossed Bastien a grin, which Bastien did not return. “Two, forcing her into the ground will make her sleep, heal, and otherwise become strong enough to carry on with her killing ways.” Then he shrugged. “That knowledge doesn’t do shit for us, though, does it?”

“It does,” Zach said. “It means she’s not going to take Farrow into the ground. She doesn’t want to sleep.”

“And that means she’s still out here,” Bastien said. “We can still find her.” His warriors stood with him, waiting for orders.

I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

More so for little Farrow.

If Jolene hadn’t gone into the ground, her scent couldn’t have just disappeared. I’d lost it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. I’d simply made a wrong turn somewhere. I began to backtrack, and finally, I found the scent I’d lost.

“Tracks,” Remy said, triumphantly. “They were here.”

Bastien leaned over beside him to look at the dark ground. “Farrow’s prints?”

“Yeah,” Remy said. “I see a small impression of the necromancer’s tracks, but she’s lighter than Farrow. She’s not going to leave much.”

“She’s also barefoot,” Zach said. “Whatever shoes she was wearing have rotted away.”

“Let’s hope her body does the same,” Bastien said.

“Come on, Kait,” Remy said. “Sic her! That’s a good girl.”

I growled at him, low and deep, and he took a step back, his laugh just a little on the nervous side.

“She isn’t the same in wolf form,” Bastien murmured. “You should be more careful if you want to keep breathing.”

I took another slow step toward Remy, my head low between my shoulders, a quiet growl floating from my mouth. As Bastien understood, it was fun to fuck with the boogeyman sometimes.

But then I caught a scent wafting through the air, and I forgot about teasing Remy. I put my nose to the air and pulled in the scent, tasting it, letting it play across my tongue and seep into my brain, and as though it were a string I’d taken between my teeth, I began to follow it.

And finally, in the deep woods, I found Jolene and Farrow—but not how I expected to find them.

They were fighting.

How Farrow had managed to break out of the necromancer’s hold I couldn’t have said, but it was something we’d need to find out. If, of course, Farrow survived the night. She didn’t look healthy.

Bastien gestured at his four men and they melted into the shadows, probably to slip closer to Farrow and surround Jolene.

I lost my wolf shift immediately, because I would need to fight the necromancer with my blade and whatever magic I could release through it. Remy shrugged off his shirt, and I couldn’t have been happier that he nearly always donned a button-up shirt over his t-shirt.

I believed the habit had kicked in once he’d decided to stick around and had realized how often I’d shift and need something to wear after. Which meant Remy wasn’t always an asshole. Sometimes, he was a nice guy.

I wouldn’t tell him that, though. It might hurt his feelings.