Page 395 of Hunters and Prey

I held up my hands. “Look, all I did was escape.”

Her gaze dropped to my stomach where the hay had slipped a little, leaving me lopsided. Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. The whole room had gone silent now, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Vesper was positively vibrating with the need to act, but I held up my hand. These were innocent people. My people. Hurting them was a last resort.

I pulled the hay from under my shirt and dropped it on the ground. “You need to know the truth.”

She shook her head. “Nah, I really don’t.”

She nudged her companion and jerked her head toward the drone. He nodded and slowly drew his sawn-off pistol.

Oh, shit.

Vesper’s body rippled, ready to take on the change.

And then the man shot the drone. It exploded midair, the metal clattering to the ground.

“Any enemy of Draco City is a friend to us,” the shooter said. “Hey, Fred,” he called over his shoulder. “Get these fine folk another jug of ale to celebrate fucking the Bloods.”

A cheer went up. “Fuck the Bloods.”

“Fuck ’em hard.”

My eyes burned and pricked. Yeah, these were my people.

Icouldn’t stop thinking about the drone, about why it had come for me. It had to be because they expected to find me in the company of the Dreki, of course. That was the only logical explanation.

It had to be.

The farm came into view, and my pace picked up. I was home. We were at the gates when the doors were flung open and Helgi came running out.

I jumped the fence, and we met in a tangle of arms, laughing and crying at the same time. Her hair was mussed, her face streaked with dirt. Damn, did I look as rough as she did? Probably. Sod it, it didn’t matter.

She pulled back. “You made it.”

“Damn straight. And so did you.”

She shook her head. “It was crazy. We lost so many Skins on the way out. The fucking Bloods unleashed with the guns, and trust me, plastic plates make for shitty blades.”

“What about Bran and the mercs?”

“They made it.”

Her gaze slid over my shoulder to settle on Vesper. “Um, Anya, I think you’ve got the wrong guy in tow. Where’s Dante?”

“Long story. I just need to get inside, see Dad and the kids and—”

Helgi shook her head, her dark eyes soft. “He’s not here. They’re not here.”

“What? What do you mean they’re not here?”

“We got here and the place was trashed. There was no sign of your dad or the kids.”

Heart pounding in my chest, I pushed past her and ran into the house. Bran and co sat at the table drinking tea. The house looked tidy; immaculate, in fact.

“We cleaned up,” Helgi said from the doorway behind me.

He couldn’t be gone. He wouldn’t have just left. But the house had been trashed so there’d been a struggle, but with who?

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