Blood of the Maple

sotiei was, he continued the affair with Kate.

The stinky, probably evil Kate.

“Shit. If Iva were here, Mina would be fucking unstoppable.” Greer was growling, his silver sword shining despite the darkness underneath the canopy of leaves.

“Greer.” Ash’s tone was sharp, his glance full of censure.

Greer didn’t answer, but he stopped talking about Iva.

Parker didn’t give a fuck who Iva was; he scented his sotiei, and she was close, which meant they were nearly to their destination. “Amara.”

“Parker?”

“Who else? Can I look through your eyes?”

“You could, but you won’t see anything.” He could hear the disgust in her tone. “It’s like there’s this dark miasma around the area. I’m blind to anything in the clearing.”

Hmm. Parker flew toward Amara’s scent and landed lightly behind her. “I’m here, love.”

It was a good thing he had fast reflexes, or he would have found himself halfway back to Maggie’s Grove as she swung at him haymaker-style. “Damn it, what did I tell you about sneaking up on me?” She put her fists on her hips and tapped her foot.

“That it keeps you on your toes?”

She rolled her eyes and turned back to stare into the clearing. “Why can’t I see anything?”

Parker stared into the perfectly normal-seeming moonlit clearing. “What are you looking for?”

“Terri. Duh.”

He slapped her bark-covered ass and resisted the urge to shake the sting out. “Smart-ass. Fine. What do you see in there?”

“Pure darkness.”

His brows rose. “Interesting.” Dragos landed next to him and did a bit of staring. “What do you see in there?”

“A moonlit clearing.”

“Greer? Ash? What do you see?”

“Darkness. It’s like a hole has been cut into the forest itself.”

Ash nodded his agreement. “Greer’s right. There’s a blackout curtain around the entire area.”

“I wonder what the witch and the elemental will see.”

“You called in Rock?” Dragos began to pace along the edge of the clearing, his gaze glued to the interior.

“No. Mollie Ferguson.”

“You’re joking. A fire elemental? Here?”

“You have a better idea?”

“Unholy crap.” The vampires turned, and Parker couldn’t help but laugh. Selena was on, of all things, a broomstick. A shaken Mollie clung to her, pale and sweating. “Well. This is another fine mess you’ve dragged me into.” Selena winked and hopped off the broom. Mollie squeaked and grabbed the handle. “Wuss.”

Mollie glared at her, sparks dancing along her skin. “How’d you like to walk back, witch?”

“Your ass would be walking back too, so I wouldn’t burn the ride.” Selena turned back to Parker. “Well?”

Parker ignored the way Greer carefully helped Mollie to the ground. “What do you see in the clearing?”

“An unholy mess.” Selena’s markings flared, her eyes glazing over. “Whoever put that trap in place knew her enemy. She’s expecting the dryads.”

“But not us.” Parker was all for striding in there and revving up his weed trimmer.

“Oh no. She’s expecting you too. That’s the other half of the trap, you see. It looks like it’s designed to kill them and leave you incapacitated.”

“And when I’m unconscious, she’ll feed me her blood, thus making a bond.” Parker grunted. “Right. Bloody hell. She’s got Mina.”

“Well. Fuck a duck. That’s not good.” Selena stared around. “There. I think the trigger is set over there.” She pointed toward the left.

“Wait.” Mollie moved in front of Selena. “What are the odds she expected a witch?”

Selena blinked. So did Ash, who grabbed her arm and kept her from moving forward. Selena scowled at Ash but spoke to Mollie. “What do you see, Mollie?”

Mollie shrugged, uncomfortable at being the center of so much attention. “I would think if she knew about Selena, she’d know you might call her or another witch in for help. So I’d set a trap for the person brought in to disable the trap.”

Then Mollie surprised them all. She straightened and stepped forward confidently, sparks dancing across her skin. Not one dropped to the ground. She headed straight for where Selena had pointed. “She might have expected Selena, but I doubt she’s prepared for me.”

Greer placed himself firmly at her side, earning a surprised glance from the fire elemental. “Don’t even think you’re going over there without me.”

Mollie shrugged, but Parker could hear the way her heart beat faster. “If you like.”

Parker shared a look with Amara. “You think she’s right?”

“I think I have no idea, but better safe than sorry.” Amara began to follow them.

“I have a better idea.” Dragos peered into the clearing. “What say we spring the trap?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Dragos grinned. “I never said you would be the one to spring it, now did I?”

“You might want to double-check with Mollie before you do that. If the thing she’s doing blows up in her face because you entered the grove, Greer will hunt your ass down, mayor or not.” Focused on the clearing, she missed the look that crossed Dragos’s face. The vampire’s beast was close to the surface. If Dragos didn’t do something soon to save his sotiei, the beast would take over, taking the choice out of his hands.

“Amara has a point. Let Mollie make sure the witch part of the trap is disabled before you go in there.”

“What about the wolves?”

Good question. “Noah?”

There was no answer. Parker tried to find the scent of the wolves, but the only thing he caught was the people around him and the forest itself.

“Well. So much for hunting with us.” Parker was ticked. Apparently Noah’s word wasn’t as good as he’d thought it was if he’d left them.

“Parker and I will go to the other side of the clearing.” Amara grabbed his arm. “Ash, Selena, you wait here. Selena, you’ll have to make sure Ash isn’t captured by the trap. Protect him. One dryad, one other, okay?”

Selena made a face, but Ash looked more than content with Amara’s decree. “And I’ll make sure the witch remains safe from everything else.” The silver sword tapped against his leg.

“I seriously need me one of those,” Amara muttered. She turned and started circling the clearing.

“Somehow I don’t think you do.” Parker floated next to her, keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary. The fact that Amara couldn’t see anything meant something could sneak up on her. He refused to allow anything to harm her.

“Why do you say that?” Amara gestured, and tree branches lifted, giving her clear passage through the forest to her destination.

“No reason.” A shiver of awareness drifted down Parker’s spine. “Shit.”

“Parker?”

“I have a bad feeling about this.” He was missing something, but what? What was it that was… “Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Mina.”

Amara whirled toward him. “What about Mina?”

“I can’t smell her.”