Page 13 of Heart of Dawn
“We tracked you to the factory,” Daria continued, “and were in the process of formulating a plan. Things changed.”
Joe nodded, pulling a white marshmallow from his pocket—a vamp’s favorite food aside from blood.
“I’ll say,” I responded, rolling my shoulders. “Fucking zombies.”
Daria held out her hand to Joe. He placed a marshmallow on her palm. “We are in an underground storage facility close to where we found you.” She popped the sweet in her mouth. “Your pack are down the corridor.”
A jolt of surprise gave my energy a spike. I sniffed the air, picking up dirt, blood magic, the Gilmore family, and my pack.
Relief enveloped me with an exuberant hug. “I have to?—”
“There is a problem,” Daria said, cutting me off.
Of course there was. Hearing that got a growl rumbling deep in my chest, my instinct to protect my pack raked across broken glass.
“They are being kept in a room warded by blood runes,” Daria carried on. “We have tried breaking them, but you know how blood magic works.”
“The runes are bound to the caster,” I answered, agitated.
“Precisely. Unfortunately, we cannot seem to find the caster around the factory.”
“Shit. Any sign of Basil?”
She shook her head. “We cannot find him either.”
Basil got handed to some blood magi who’d be basking in his fae blood.
Blood magi loved fae blood, able to take control of their bodies and minds without breaking a sweat.
Dickheads.
Poor Basil. Yeah, he might be Ori’s ex, and kind of pissed me off whenever he opened his mouth, but I didn’t wish this on him.
I cracked my knuckles, my body getting stronger with each passing minute. The effects of being dragged from the mind walk too early were fading away.
“My guess is the rune maker’s shacking up with the blood magi holding Basil. What’s the situation with the biters?”
Daria took a few beats to answer. “The horde remains inside the factory. In stasis, awaiting fresh meat.”
“Great. What about any routes to avoid them?”
“There are some. We can show you when you are ready.”
I really needed that coffee and a kiss from Ori. “And Lance? Did you see him?”
“Yes. Running away,” Joe answered.
“Prick.” I got to my feet, stretching out the last remains of ache.
Ah, had to love those cracks.
“Are you sure you can stand?” Daria questioned, worry in her tone.
“Yeah. I’m good. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be able to hunt.”
Both vampires grinned with delight overthatword.
“I love a hunt.” Joe practically purred.
