foes with a single wave of my hand, I am who I am. I shall not be vanquished easily, or quickly.”
“Glad to hear it.” There came a sound from the House-Buttercup, winding up for a good long shriek. “Sir, unless there’s anything else, we’d better get back.”
“Sounds like your banshee girlfriend is getting anxious,” said Evis. His grin, even in the dark, was toothy and wide.
Hisvin rose. We did too.
“I doubt we shall speak again until this is done,” he said. “I wish you both luck.”
Evis and I chorused the same to the Corpsemaster, and he turned and walked away.
I wiped sweat from my forehead.
“Bet you wish you’d stayed home.”
“What, and miss all the fun? Victor. Sara. You can join us now.”
Two halfdead, clad in loose black, glided out of the cornstalks on either side of us.
“You heard nothing of that,” said Evis. “Not a single word.”
Two single nods, and not a whisper of sound.
“What’s out there?”
“Five hundred men. Three catapults.”
“Sorcerers.” That from Sara. “We counted six.”
Evis pondered that. “What of escape? Is there any way to move through their lines?”
“None. The estate is encircled. The circle is closing. By dawn, they will be at the House.”
“All right. Return to Rannit. Inform the Elders. Make no mention of Hisvin.”
Silence. Evis frowned.
“Did you hear me?”
“We heard,” said Victor. “But our orders are to remain at your side.”
“Your orders are to return to Avalante this instant.”
Victor shook his head. “Only if you accompany us.”
Evis growled something at Victor in a language I don’t know. Victor replied calmly in the same tongue. The other halfdead, Sara, repeated Victor’s brief reply.
Buttercup wailed again, louder and longer, this time.
“We’re going to have to continue this fascinating debate of House dynamics inside, people,” I said. “Bad things are going to happen if Buttercup slips loose and winds up in the yard.”
Evis snarled and whirled, making for the secret door in a very unvampirish huff. I motioned for Victor and Sara to follow, and they fell behind Evis in silence.
I brought up the rear. A wind rustled the cornstalks. I thought of the two dead men still nearby, and I hurried back to Darla, Toadsticker’s hilt in my hand.
Chapter Seventeen
Mama eyed the dagger Hisvin had given me with a potent Hog scowl.
“I ain’t never seen the likes of that, boy.”
“Me neither,” added Gertriss. “It…it looks back.”
I took the thing and wrapped it in a dishrag and put it in my jacket pocket.
Buttercup smiled up at me. She’d shown no interest in or fear of the dagger. If she understood what had been said about it, she also showed no interest or fear in that.
We were seated in the kitchen. The oven had been moved back, which cut off the damp smell from the tunnels. Biscuits were cooking inside it, which made the scene almost homey, except for the knowledge that a siege and assault by sorcerers was due with the sunrise.
Gertriss had managed to trim Buttercup’s fingernails. The banshee even wore a ring now. It was fashioned from a twist of yarn and the jewel was a gumdrop, but Buttercup showed it to me with the gravity of an heiress. Shoes were still a problem, Gertriss reported. Oh, the banshee would parade around in them for a few minutes, giggling and clapping, but she quickly lost interest and stepped out of them as soon as she spotted something shiny.
Lady Werewilk had met us underground. I stalled until we were assembled in the kitchen while I decided what to tell and what to hide and what the Hell we were going to do to prepare for a war that had the likes of Encorla Hisvin questioning his own mortality.
In the end, I’d spilled most of it. I hadn’t used Encorla’s name, didn’t mention that he’d laid the Faery Ring or had a long-time hand in Werewilk’s history. I didn’t mention alarkins or artifacts, although the Lady guessed right away that something old and sorcerous was involved.
And I’d told her about Buttercup. And the dagger.
I hadn’t wanted to tell that. But the Lady was my client. I don’t lie to my clients. Especially when Evis would have revealed all of it anyway, in my presence or outside it.
“So the banshee may be the key to all this?”
The Lady is good at keeping her face blank. I resolved never to play cards with her.
“She may be. I’m not convinced of that. Others are.”
“And that dagger has the power to kill her.”
I just nodded.
The Lady took a sip of coffee. “I will have no murder in this house,” she said. “Certainly not of my guests. Most especially not of poor wild creatures who have seldom known kindness. You need not fear for her, Finder. Like you, I refuse to spill innocent blood in the interest of expediency.”
I felt a knot loosen in my gut.
“I’m very glad to hear it, Lady. But in the interest of safety, I’ll volunteer to take the banshee out of your House myself. I think we could slip away, if we leave now.”
“You would die. It is too late for flight.”
Victor had spoken. His voice was dry and flat. Sara, seated beside him, nodded beneath her black hood.
“You managed to sneak past them.”
“I am a vampire. Even so, we moved ahead of them, not through them. You would die. There is no doubt.”
Darla squeezed my hand, which was already numb from being held and squeezed and clung to.
“Fine. No early morning hikes in the dew, then. I guess we get ready to fight.”
“They are many. They have siege engines. And sorcery.”
“We have some small sorcery of our own.” Lady Werewilk grinned. Marlo made frantic shushing noises.
“The time for secrecy has long since passed. I cannot simply stand by and watch my House be assaulted without employing every means of defense available.”
“You know the law,” began Marlo.
“The law is subject to interpretation,” said Evis, smoothly. “In fact, if Lady Werewilk were to engage in some minor acts of the arcane while in the employ of Avalante, I believe the likelihood of any legal action in the matter is quite low.”
“Practically nonexistent,” I added. “Hell. She might even rate a medal.”
“Indeed.” Evis allowed himself a tight-lipped smile, aware that his audience was human. “You may proceed without fear of prosecution, Lady. I speak for Avalante.”
The Lady rose.
“Oh, Lady Werewilk. One more thing. I quit.”
She laughed. “Now, Finder?”
“You hired me to find out who was surveying your land. I’ve told you as much as I can about them. No need for you to keep me on the payroll.”
“Fair enough. Marlo. Pay the man. I do hope you’ll accept my invitation to remain here, as my guest, until this is over.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Lady.”
