“I hope she didn’t hear us mention a vampire,” Hekla said. “I can’t see that information helping our case. I mean, most people would think she’s nuts if she brought that story to the table, but around here, who knows? I've seen people believe some pretty superstitious stuff.”
“We don’t have time to worry about her. We have to save Titus.” I grabbed my keys and jacket, Hekla and Lucus on my heels.
“Do you think Kaippa has the missing woman too?” Hekla asked, sliding her clogs on hurriedly.
“I would guess so. I didn’t take her if that’s what you’re wondering,” Baccio said. “But at some point, I will need to feed properly.”
Lucus nodded. “We will need to develop a plan for our sustenance as well as Kaippa’s if we determine he should remain alive.” He held the garage open for us.
Baccio snorted as he made his way down the three steps, eyes on my motorcycle. “Are we to continually suffer for the mortals’ view of right and wrong?”
Lucus slammed Baccio against the garage wall, gripping him by the throat. My once-used snow shovel clanged to the ground. “Your opinion no longer matters. You have betrayed your kin and your alpha.” He shoved Baccio to the ground and put his foot on his neck. Damn. Lucus was spitting mad. And it was scary as fuck. “You will no longer speak out about any grievances, or I will end you myself with not a care for consequences.”
I slung my helmet on. “Baccio, you need to get on board with suffering us mortals’ views if you want to be on this team. How about animals? Can’t you feed from their auras?”
Hekla nodded brightly. “Yeah! And Kaippa could feed off them too. I can’t hate that. After all, I love a good cheeseburger.”
Baccio mumbled something that sounded like fae swearing.
Lucus held up a hand like he was requesting patience from his brother. “We cannot feed on animals because their auras are not nearly powerful enough. It’s better if I, as an alpha, take from you, then give to the trees where the rest can feed.”
“Fine,” Baccio consented. “I agree.” He climbed into the Volvo.
Lucus headed that way but stopped and faced me. “Coren, can you use your phone to contact Aurelio? He can join us so we make quick work of the vampire. Then we can begin to track the wyvern in earnest.”
“Yep.” I did so and heard right back. “Done. Ami’s getting him a ride.” Worry for Titus gnawed at my insides. “Kaippa won’t kill Titus, right?”
“I wish I could agree,” Lucus said. “But he is a vampire, and he has never followed any sort of moral code.”
I swallowed, thinking of Titus tied up and bleeding from a gash in his neck, his usual smile long gone. A chill swept through me.
I had a demon dragon to track, a friend to save from a rogue vampire, and the most powerful mage in history about to descend on me. So far, I couldn’t see how being the Yew Queen was going to put any of this to rest.
6 Coren
The pebble drive of Bellemeade Plantation was empty. No tour buses. No employee cars. Not even a delivery truck to serve the onsite restaurant.
Heading straight for the front door, we traded theories on how Kaippa had managed this scenario. We discussed his ability to confuse humans, to tempt and twist them into obeying his every demand.
Before we reached the stone steps leading to the wide front porch, Lucus paused and put a hand on a massive pine. I might have been mistaken, but I was pretty sure the massive roots shifted in the ground slightly as Lucus shut his eyes.
When he opened them, he looked at me. “The wyvern is moving. Possibly northwest.”
“It’s just coincidence that it’s traveling toward my house. Right? It isn’t like specifically hunting me, right?”
“It would seem much more plausible that the demon is driven to kill me and my brothers,” Lucus said.
Hekla smacked a mosquito that had been feasting on her forearm. “Yeah, because the curse was set up to torture you all.”
“Yes.”
I frowned. “So it’s just moving around. Keep checking on it, okay? Let’s all hope the demon is a super lame one who can’t track you guys and/or me and is maybe possibly dying.”
“It is crafted of dark magic and fae power because of your work. It will not die so easily.”
Hekla poked Lucus’s flat stomach. “She was trying to stay positive, dude. Give her a little leeway on the whole doom and gloom thing.”
I sighed, wishing I had more information. Much more.
Quiet, pensive, we made our way to the front porch. The old double doors swung open, and a musty scent rolled from the interior of the mansion. Lucus, Hekla, Baccio, and I walked in slowly. I thought maybe Kaippa would have some sort of guard, but the downstairs rooms—a library, butler’s pantry, dining room, and parlor thingies—were all empty and silent. We checked and re-checked each one as paintings of racehorses and dead people stared blankly from the walls.
I pointed up the stairs, and Lucus nodded, Hekla on his heels as we all climbed toward the second floor. Every step creaked on our way up.
In the foyer below, the front door swung open to show Aurelio. He waved a hand and hurried to join us.
I wanted to shout for Titus, to find him quickly and get him whatever healing he might need, but I had to play this carefully. Kaippa was a loose cannon. None of us knew how he’d react to being caught.
The first bedroom we entered held a sprawling four-poster bed and velvet curtains.
Kaippa lolled in the very center of the bed, propped up on eleven million pillows and wearing the smirk to end all smirks. He’d tied his black hair back, which made his aquiline nose more prominent. “Well, well, well. My long lost framily.” He smiled, showing inhumanely sharp incisors.
“What were you thinking, taking over a prominent historical location such as
