Davina (Davy Harwood #3)(28)

“Your niece is a Mori. She will only hate you. She will never love you.”

Her words stabbed at Tracey, and she sucked in her breath. Closing her eyes a moment, the blonde vampiress choked out, “That is something I hope does not come to fruition. I have to try, Arwena.”

“Stop,” Wren hissed out, her hand clenched around the end of her own sword. She didn’t pull it out. Her hand fell to it out of habit. It was what she held when she was in battle. And right now, as her lover was leaving her, she felt very much in battle. She shook her head. They were being foolish. The human didn’t want them. She always thought she was better than the rest, that her powers made her more valuable, and perhaps they did. But, Wren knew her place was beside her leader. Her place had always been there, no matter whom he might’ve sent her to protect.

It was done. The three she considered family remained in one line, and she took a step backwards. She rasped out, “So be it.”

“Wren—”

She’d been about to turn and leave, but she stopped at Gavin’s words. She looked back. He added, his eyes looking bleak, “Be safe. Fast travels.”

Her entire body was tense, but she forced her head to nod. “To you, too . . .” She hesitated, then added, “Brother.” She looked to Tracey, who had a tear in her eye. Wren bowed her head to her, saying, “Sister, too.”

Sister.

Tracey closed her eyes, feeling the acknowledgement for what it was. Their relationship was done. Sister. Not lover. She murmured back, “To you, too . . . Sister.”

But it didn’t matter. Wren was gone.





ROANE


The wolves moved underneath them.

There was a path in the valley where they walked two by two in a line. They were in their human form, but there were others that panned out to the side. They melted among the trees and mountainside. Those were in their wolf form and as they moved past the trees where they were perched, their bows and arrows already readied and aimed, they weren’t sniffing for vampires above them. They were sniffing for the Christane wolves.

Lucas glanced over to Bastion, who was in the tree next to him. They’d been in position for two days now. His army and Christian’s were ahead of them. They were still trekking toward the Mori territories. Lucas and Bastion would catch up. They’d have to, and Roane had started to worry. He wasn’t sure if they dared stay any longer, hoping for a glimpse of their enemy from behind. It was the last morning they held back. He’d been about to suggest covering the fire and catching up to their group, when they heard the first scout behind them.

They turned, and a wolf was there.

The wolf hadn’t expected to find vampires. He recoiled immediately. He started to dash back to his allies, but Bastion and Roane moved as if one unit. Both leapt for the wolf. Bastion came from the left side. Roane was on the right and as the wolf turned back, prepared to meet their onslaught head-on, Roane didn’t let a battle ensue. He grabbed both sides of the head, rooted his feet in the ground and ripped it right off. As it came clear off, Bastion grabbed the body and threw it into the fire.

They had to move fast after that.

The body and head were both destroyed in the flames, but they needed to cover up the smell so Bastion gathered sage and dumped it on the fire. When it wasn’t enough, he dumped more. Roane knew they needed to leave if they were going to get in position before the rest of their enemy showed, so they lit the entire camp on fire. It would spread far and wide and leave no trace of a wolf at all.

A day later, as they were still moving to meet the oncoming army, the skies split open and down-poured. The fire would be doused. Lucas hoped there’d be no remnant of the wolf at all, and now, watching as the enemy wolves passed them, he knew they hadn’t found any body. Word would spread once they did.

He waited, frozen in place against the tree, as the last of the wolves passed by. Once they moved along, he and Bastion still waited half a day. It was nearing the time when they needed to jump back to the ground and start following behind, but Lucas didn’t move from his position. There was no reason to wait. They had sentries trailing behind, just like their own group, and those had already gone beneath them, but Lucas didn’t emerge from his hidden spot.

He knew Bastion was waiting. He would follow his leader’s movement.

Roane still waited.

Then, he shook his head. He was wasting time. His hand relaxed around the bow’s string where his arrow was notched and ready, but he sensed their presence. He didn’t hear them, see them, or smell them. They were like him, almost invisible to the senses, but he felt them.

Looking down, moving as if they were ghosts, was another army. They were vampires, like him, but they were dressed in black ninja-style robes. Some had their hoods pulled low over their heads with a gold lining around them. Others had their hoods back and their ears were adorned with gold chains. Roane knew of only one army that had worn similar gold colors like these—the Romah Family.

He looked over and met Bastion’s gaze.

They were severely outnumbered, and this army was the oldest and therefore the strongest there was. He hadn’t realized how many wolves Mother Wolf would send, but as the Romah Army kept going past them, and they had to wait up there another entire day, he knew his army with Christian’s would be overpowered. They didn’t have enough. They’d only be able to contend against them if they had Davy at her fullest strength.