The vampire standing next to him jolted at the child’s sudden appearance. “Where did you come from?”
Sami didn’t have to answer because Rafael distracted the vampire by slamming him with a shoulder. Opting to help this time rather than watch, I caught the careening creature and poured my own magic into him. He burned from the inside within seconds, turning black and flaking away on the mild wind.
“What are you doing here?” Rafael demanded, his expression stern.
“I’m here to save you,” I replied.
Sami rolled her eyes. “He’s talking to me.”
“I am indeed talking to her.” Rafael moved so his tied hands were on display. “A little help please.”
Sami dubiously eyed the ropes. “Maybe I shouldn’t untie you.” Now that she’d rescued him, she was clearly ready to play. “I mean, I’m the big hero here. I deserve a reward.”
Rafael narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits. “Exactly what did you have in mind?”
“Oh, don’t ask her that,” I groused, making a face. “She’s going to say something totally inappropriate and gross us all out.”
Rafael’s expression remained impassive. “You act as if I haven’t heard the exact same thing from her mother.”
Now there was a point I hadn’t thought about. “I still don’t want to hear it. In fact—”
“Behind you!” Rafael bellowed, throwing himself at a surprised Sami.
I reacted out of instinct, jumping away from the girl in case she accidentally got clipped with incoming magic. Sami and Rafael hit the ground with muted oomphs, but I quickly focused on the area at my back rather than them. Emma was back on her feet, a deep gash on her cheek, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
This time I knew she wasn’t playing around. The arrival of Sami, the one thing Zoe might actually relinquish the book for, had Emma seeing a new way out of this. I threw a hard spell at her, muttering a curse under my breath, and grimacing when she slammed into the tree Mama Moon had been tied to only seconds before.
The older witch appeared to be completely recovered. And she was angry. “You shouldn’t have come for me, girl.” She grabbed Emma by the shoulders and released a torrent of fire magic, enough so that Emma screamed in pain as she writhed in a desperate attempt to escape.
She wasn’t my friend. I didn’t want to help her. Yet the pain coursing through her had me cringing, and I called out to stop Mama Moon without thinking. “Don’t kill her.”
Incredulous, Mama Moon fixed her eyes on me. “Why?”
“Because we’re asking you not to,” another voice answered from my left.
I swiveled quickly, my eyes going wide when Ezekiel appeared. Where had he come from? How had he been drawn into this fight? Were he and Emma working together from the start? Questions ran a relay race through my head, and before I had a chance to give any of them voice, Ezekiel took control of the situation.
“She’s my granddaughter,” he implored Mama Moon.
“What?” My mouth went dry and my heart hammered. “I knew you were lying. All that talk about your buddy Geoffrey and worrying about some little girl. You were lying from the start, working against us.”
The sigh Ezekiel heaved was long and drawn out. “No, little one, that is not true. I’m not only her grandfather, I’m your grandfather, too. I wasn’t lying. Nothing I said was a lie, except the part about being friends with your grandfather.”
I had no idea what I was supposed to say. No words would come to me. My sharp tongue, which was always my greatest weapon, suddenly failed me.
Apparently Sami didn’t have that problem. “What sort of grandpa lies to his granddaughter?” she demanded. Since I’d last bothered to pay attention to her, she’d freed Rafael and now stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
The vampire was still ready to throw himself in front of the girl should it become necessary.
“The sort who wanted to get a chance to know a long lost relative before revealing himself,” Ezekiel replied kindly, flashing a small smile for Sami’s benefit. “I’m a brave man by nature, although perhaps not as brave as you, but the thought of seeing my girl for the first time in more than twenty years filled me with fear.”
Sami flicked her eyes to me. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know if he’s telling the truth. My mom is better off figuring out stuff like that.”
“Speaking of your mother ...” Rafael gently nudged Sami toward the clearing. “Perhaps we should be joining her.”
That sounded like a good idea to me, but Ezekiel stopped them with a head shake. “The mage’s power is building to a crescendo. Your enemies will fall soon enough. It’s best if you wait here.”
Sami didn’t look convinced. “You’re not my grandfather. I don’t have to listen you.”
“I’m not your grandfather,” Ezekiel agreed. “However, if you belonged to me, I would be thrilled beyond belief. You’re a very courageous girl.”
“I’m mean, too,” Sami shot back. “You’ll want to keep that in mind in case you’re one of those dirty perverts my father keeps warning me about.”
Rather than be offended, Ezekiel grinned. “Fair enough. Just stay right there with your friend. This is almost over.”
Unbidden, the image of the Detroit vampires invaded my mind. I wanted a piece of them. I wanted to rip them to shreds. Odds were they were already gone. Still, part of me wanted to flee this place, and not simply because this was a story I wasn’t ready to hear, but also because I wanted my vengeance.
As if reading my mind, Ezekiel gently cajoled my eyes to him by clearing his throat. “You belong here, Allegra.”
“Is that my name?” The question escaped before I could really think about it. “Is that what name I was born with?”
“That’s who you are,” he replied. “You’ve always been my little Ally.”
The proprietary nature of the statement irked me. “No, I’m not your anything. I’m my own person. And you’re nothing to me.”
He looked pained.
