Down there alone in the dark confines of the caves leading towards the hot springs, she also noticed things most of the other vampires did not, like the incessant buzzing she kept hearing, and knew damn well it wasn’t any type of bug, at least not of the live, insect variety. No, this was something altogether different, and she knew it didn’t bode well for those she might not be able to stand, but still loved nonetheless. She knew they were preoccupied with trying to figure out what had happened to her great-great-however-many-damn-greats niece. But she was hoping at least one of the damn fools would be level-headed enough to stop, think, and fucking listen.
She, on the other hand, was listening to every damned thing. Like a few of them around fucking; others trying to talk sense into other idiots who were as scared as they were, and some gathering weapons which wouldn’t help them with shit if they didn’t even know the first place to look. Like the techno-mage—who left a nasty magnetic-like tangy aftertaste in her mouth—who she’d left barely alive in the middle of the walkway, hoping someone would have either smelled the blood by now, or heard her repeating the same damn word over and over. The only reason she kept the scrawny thing alive was so they would be able to question him and learn of all the listening and visual devices she knew had been planted all around not only these grounds but around the orphanage as well. Which was how their adversary knew each and every step they made as they made it. She had known the moment they had planted the first of the devices, smelling the electrical waves of magick and the hearing slight buzz from their equipment.
Hildegard knew all this not by torturing the poor sod, but by simply spying on him and his brethren. She’d both heard and smelled something off when they’d first come around planting their devices in the air above the castle itself. Flashing herself to the rooftops when she knew no one would be travelling in the caves, she’d cloaked herself within the shadows, grabbing him as the others flashed away and brought him with her to her dark and cavernous domain.
With her catching the mage off guard and grabbing him from behind, he didn’t have enough time to gather his wits to call out for help, or to pull in enough electricity to fry Hildegard’s brains. As soon as he and she rematerialized, Hildegard brutally and viciously bit down into his neck, not even allowing her fangs to elongate until after making the initial bite. Knowing the shock from so much pain would keep him speechless, Hildegard drained him of just enough blood to render the little prick unconscious, getting an electric jolt in the process. All she wanted was enough time to get back to her corner before anyone smelled the blood. She didn’t think it would take them this long. Too much longer and he’d probably bleed out on the damn ground, and all she’d done would have been for naught.
She wasn’t one hundred percent certain they had the orphanage bugged as well, but common sense said duh, why not there if they had the nerve to do so here?
Just as she was getting ready to say fuck it and start screaming like a blithering idiot, the triplets flashed in and literally fell on top of the damn boy, mumbling a quick, “What the fuck?” in unison when a slight electric charge smacked them on the butt. The three were now just as tall and beautiful as their mother, and sometimes just as fucking stupid. One of them glanced in her direction, and Hildegard hissed at her, then went back to her routine of rocking back and forth.
“Let’s get him up top to Aunt T,” one of them said right before they all flashed off.
Hildegard thought about giving up her ruse and helping the buffoons out. Then she thought, naw, she’d done her part, the rest was up to them. She needed a few more years or maybe a few more decades of solitude before having to deal with others again.
12
United We Stand
Flashing into the large study room where Grimm was being verbally accosted by the other families with missing children, Tia was torn between wanting to rescue him and wanting to simply spell everyone in the damn room to shut the fuck up. Both Chandler and Bran squeezing either hand made her think twice about doing either. Especially since her demon’s palm was soaked in sweat, which did not bode well for anyone. All the tension in here was palpable; rage, anger, and fear even a normal human could feel bouncing off the walls was making it difficult for him to keep not only his own emotions in check, but this form as well.
She knew damn well they shouldn’t have let him come down here with them, but he was bound and determined not to be left behind. Time was of the essence, and she didn’t want to waste any more of it by arguing she was right and he was wrong. Though now that she could feel him losing it, she was more than sure she had made the wrong decision. Some arguments really were well worth having.
And the scene in front of them was truly a disaster zone. Tia’s biggest relief was there wasn’t much furniture around to be destroyed if things did end up getting out of hand. Which they were well on their way to becoming. This room used to be the triplets’ playroom, otherwise known as their safe room, where they could entertain themselves without anyone worrying
