Faelan leapt to his feet as footsteps sounded on the stairs “You ready?”
Conall nodded, glancing back at Russell’s body. He drew his sword as the footfalls grew louder. Both men sprang out at the two newcomers, still in human form. They weren’t even armed.
“Minions. This’ll be messy.” But it had to be done. Once they turned evil, it was too risky to trust them. Faelan plunged his sword into the minion’s heart a second before Conall took the other one’s head.
Both warriors stood mute, staring at the piles of dust on the floor.
Chapter 33
Conall’s face was ashen. “Blimey!”
Faelan’s head pounded. “We’ve got a problem,” he said into his microphone. “We just killed two…” he looked at the dust again, “two vampires.”
There was total silence. “Vampires?” Duncan said. “Must be one of Druan’s tricks, like the invisible castle. Vampires don’t exist.”
“This is no trick. I’m looking at two piles of dust and a dead man with holes in his neck.” Maybe the question wasn’t whether Bree was human or halfling. Talismans wouldn’t kill a vampire. But why would a vampire have been in Druan’s bed? Vampires and demons were enemies. Then what were they doing in a demon’s castle?
“Are you sure?” Ronan asked, his voice strained.
“Dead sure.”
“I thought vampires were destroyed centuries ago,” Niall said. “Shane! Behind you.” There was a shriek. “What the… Shane’s down!”
Faelan and Conall raced up the dungeon stairs two at a time, their footsteps pounding down the corridor as they followed the yells. Faelan rounded the corner and saw Shane slumped in an arched doorway. A high-pitched wail sounded from inside the massive room, a library, as Niall extracted his sword from a halfling a second before it disappeared.
“Bastard threw the knife from across the room,” Niall said. “You’re right. There was a bloody vampire right in the middle of a punch of demons. Shane stabbed him through the chest, and he sprouted fangs and tried to run. Three of them got away.”
“We’ve got them cornered,” Duncan said. Screams echoed from down the corridor. Sorcha and Duncan arrived minutes later, faces grim.
Faelan leaned over and checked Shane’s pulse. “He’s alive. Tomas, we need you here.” He had the most knowledge of injuries. All warriors knew the basics of caring for wounds and illnesses. It was one of the things they learned in order to become a warrior, but some had special medical training. That had stayed the same. The clan still avoided outside doctors if possible.
“’Course I’m alive.” Shane opened his eyes and reached down, yanking the knife out of his chest. “He wasn’t that good.” He gave a pained smile, but his face was sallow.
Faelan pulled off his shirt and pressed it to the wound. He remembered Bree doing the same for him after the chapel battle. “You need a doctor.”
Tomas arrived and confirmed Faelan’s opinion. “It’s fairly deep. I can stitch it, but I think he’ll be better off if we get him to a hospital. Tell them he fell on a piece of metal.”
Shane protested, but Faelan wasn’t taking any chances. “Another demon could finish you off before you recover. We need to get you away from here.”
Sorcha sheathed her sword and knelt by Shane. “Cody said Druan has a chopper. I’ll fly Shane out. If we can find the key.”
Faelan’s head tipped back. “You can fly one of those things?” Was there no end to what these modern women would try?
“You’d be surprised what I can do,” she said with a suggestive wink.
Duncan scowled at her as Ronan and Declan arrived, Ronan with an arrow nocked in his bow, Declan wielding his sword.
“Tomas, go with Shane and Sorcha,” Faelan said. “Niall, you’re the strongest, get him to the helicopter. Ronan, cover them from the balcony with your bow. Cody and Anna, keep watch from out there. Cody has a gun. Use your talismans if you have to.”
“Consider it done,” Cody said.
Someone found a clean cloth and gave Faelan his bloody T-shirt back.
“Keep this tight against your wound,” Tomas said, pressing the cloth into Shane’s hand. Niall scooped him up as if he weighed nothing.
“Hey, I can walk.”
“It’s faster this way,” Niall said, without looking down or breaking stride.
Faelan left his ruined shirt on the floor, and they all took their positions, watching as the warriors crossed the castle grounds. Niall put Shane inside the helicopter and closed the door. The key must have been there, because the blades began to whirl. Three demons ran out, but Cody destroyed the first one with a bullet to the head. The body disappeared as Ronan caught the second demon with an arrow in the heart. Anna killed the last one with a well-placed knife. Niall was back before the helicopter was out of sight.
“I expected a harder fight,” Duncan said. “Either these bastards are afraid of us, or they’re somewhere else.”
“We found pieces of a body nailed to the wall in the tower where Faelan rescued Bree,” Declan said. “If that’s what he does to his own, I’m surprised he had anyone left.”
“Get back to your positions and work toward the south tower. It’s the only place we haven’t checked. Niall and Conall, take the passageways. Cody, I need you inside. Meet us at the south tower. Anna can handle things out there.” If Faelan needed help with Druan, Cody was probably the only one who stood a chance. “I’ll take Ronan and
