Duncan opened his mouth to respond when an explosion rocked the house. Jaden had Moira on the ground so fast he didn’t know if she even understood what had happened. He pulled Duncan down next, forcing the Sidhe over Moira. “Protect her. I’ll find out what’s going on.”
Duncan nodded, his Seeming falling away, silver stars dancing around him. “Be careful,
“I will.” He stood and gestured toward Akane to join him. “Let’s go.”
“I’ve got the front, you get the back.” That freaky eye of hers was glowing. Golden horns peeked out of her hair. She was moments from changing into her dragon form, ready to do battle and defend the Dunnes.
He nodded and misted through the door, rematerializing on the roof of the porch. Lucky for him night had fallen while sitting in the Dunne kitchen.
That luck was offset by the blast radius around what used to be the Dunne barn. “Fuck me.”
“No thanks, your mates might not appreciate it.” That hissing voice had him smiling. Akane had joined him, her wings flapping silently beside him, her amber gaze narrowed on the barn. “Smell anything funny?”
He sniffed, sorting through the various scents. “Redcaps.”
“Headed this way. Guess what else is out there?”
He sniffed again. “Shit. Someone is using a salamander?” The creatures were animals, trainable but not very bright. Salamanders were one of the few things that could kill a vampire before he knew what hit him.
“Let me deal with the salamander. You take on the redcaps.”
“My pleasure.” Jaden allowed his Seeming to drop.
“There. Go.”
He saw where her claw was pointing. Three figures stalked across the ground. He recognized one of them as the redcap he’d drunk from earlier. “They’re Charles’s pets.”
“Great. We now have proof positive he’s working with the Black, if not a card-carrying member himself. We’ll deal with him later.”
Jaden nodded, not taking the time to fill her in. He already had proof positive, but this wasn’t the time and place to give out the deets on Charles’s bad boy ways. He flowed along the roof, eager for the coming fight. He waited until they were almost to the house before dropping into the middle of them, startling them all.
Once again he found himself thanking the gods that redcaps were dumber than a box of rocks. He got hold of the first redcap, determined to take him out quickly. Jaden grabbed the redcap’s head and twisted, snapping his neck. He let the redcap fall and raced toward the next one. He couldn’t afford to let them into the house.
The ground under him trembled. The redcap on his left let out a horrified screech as he was sucked into the earth through a hole the size of a pin. There should have been a fountain of blood and gore flying through the air as the redcap was essentially strung through that hole, but the immense gravity just sucked everything in until there was nothing left, not even a drop.
Sean Dunne stood on the porch, the light of battle in his eyes. He grinned down at the last redcap. “Do you want to be joining your friend?” The strong lilt of Ireland was in the leprechaun’s voice. His black hair gleamed like the richest earth, his skin showing the faintest whorls common among those whose element was the earth itself. His green eyes had darkened to the color of summer leaves.
And he looked
Jaden damn near did a happy dance. These idiots had confronted a leprechaun on his own fucking land, threatened his family. He bowed to Sean Dunne, according him the respect he deserved. “Allow me.”
Sean, never taking his eyes from the redcap, nodded.
“Da! More on the south side!” Leo came running, golden sparks trailing behind him.
“Where’s your brother?” Sean followed his middle child around the house and out of Jaden’s sight.
Jaden pointed toward the redcap. “I know you! Didn’t I feed from you?” He licked his lips. “God, I hope you bathed today. Last time you left a nasty aftertaste.”
The redcap’s hand went to his neck, his eyes wide. “NO!” The idiot turned and ran, hand still over his neck.
When he was done, it looked like he’d be paying a little visit to Charles Malmayne’s house. It was time for Charles to die.
Duncan pulled Moira to her feet. “Come on.” He raced for the opposite side of the house, knowing the explosion had to be a diversion.
“Wait! What about Jaden?”
Duncan sidestepped her father. The fury on Sean Dunne’s face would frighten a lesser man. Duncan had faced leprechauns before, but he’d never been stupid enough to do it on their own land. What in hell was Charles thinking? He had to know this was a very bad idea. As Jaden would say, it was a move worthy of a Darwin Award.
He sped out the front door, knowing Moira could move much faster than he. “Jaden has the back. Unless I miss my guess, there will be more out front.”
She stopped struggling and joined him. “Ma!”
“I’m heading upstairs with Ruby. I’ll keep her safe.” The two women pounded up the stairs, much to Duncan’s relief. While the little human was feisty, she was no match for a redcap.
He barreled through the front door and skidded to a halt. There in front of him were three redcaps. They’d dropped their Seeming, much to his dismay.
“Oh, ew.” Moira wriggled her nose. “Those guys are hideous.”
The redcaps had thick, muscle-bound bodies and limbs both skinnier and longer than they should be. Their skin was the color of fresh toadstools and wrinkled like that of extremely old men. Gray beards partially hid their fang-filled mouths. Red eyes glared at them, filled with hate. Steely claws tipped the fingers of each hand, razor sharp and lethal. All of their teeth were sharp, their eyes too big for their faces and their noses long and pointy. On their feet were iron boots, and on their heads they wore caps dripping with fresh blood. They weren’t carrying their traditional pikes; instead, each redcap carried a gun.
Shit.
Duncan tried to push Moira behind him, without luck. She ducked and ran, heading around the porch. One of the redcaps took off after her, firing his gun. Duncan saw her weave her way across the ground, moving faster and faster until she was around the corner.
Duncan had to trust that Moira knew what she was doing. She knew this land almost as well as her father, and that bond would give her some power here.
He turned his attention to the two remaining redcaps. Both had lifted their guns. He had a split second to decide what he was going to do.
The echo of Jaden’s words gave him just what he needed to get moving. He dove into one of their minds, quickly reweaving what the redcap saw. Duncan now seemed to stand where his comrade did, while Duncan himself looked like the redcap’s ensorcelled partner.
As he’d hoped the redcap spun and fired on his buddy, hitting him in the head and killing him instantly. Duncan held on to the redcap’s mind, sensing its satisfaction at a job well done.
Well, shit. Their orders were to kill him. And the person he saw handing down those orders was his own uncle.
He snarled, gesturing for the redcap to follow him. They ran in the direction Moira had gone. The redcap’s orders as far as Moira was concerned were muddled. Part of the redcap wanted to kill her, to feast on her sweet blood. The other…
The other had Duncan seeing things through a filmy haze of rage. The urge to crush the redcap’s mind until nothing was left but a slobbering, mindless husk was nearly overwhelming. But he held on. If the other redcap had cornered Moira, he had plans. He’d use this redcap to destroy the other.
Then he’d crush the creature’s mind.
They turned the corner to find Moira fighting off the redcap. She was using her link to the earth to pull up
