“You called in Rock?” Dragos began to pace along the edge of the clearing, his gaze glued to the interior.
“No. Mollie Ferguson.”
“You’re joking. A fire elemental? Here?”
“You have a better idea?”
“Unholy crap.” The vampires turned, and Parker couldn’t help but laugh. Selena was on, of all things, a broomstick. A shaken Mollie clung to her, pale and sweating. “Well. This is another fine mess you’ve dragged me into.” Selena winked and hopped off the broom. Mollie squeaked and grabbed the handle. “Wuss.”
Mollie glared at her, sparks dancing along her skin. “How’d you like to walk back, witch?”
“Your ass would be walking back too, so I wouldn’t burn the ride.” Selena turned back to Parker. “Well?”
Parker ignored the way Greer carefully helped Mollie to the ground. “What do you see in the clearing?”
“An unholy mess.” Selena’s markings flared, her eyes glazing over. “Whoever put that trap in place knew her enemy. She’s expecting the dryads.”
“But not us.” Parker was all for striding in there and revving up his weed trimmer.
“Oh no. She’s expecting you too. That’s the other half of the trap, you see. It looks like it’s designed to kill them and leave you incapacitated.”
“And when I’m unconscious, she’ll feed me her blood, thus making a bond.” Parker grunted. “Right. Bloody hell. She’s got Mina.”
“Well. Fuck a duck. That’s not good.” Selena stared around. “There. I think the trigger is set over there.” She pointed toward the left.
“Wait.” Mollie moved in front of Selena. “What are the odds she expected a witch?”
Selena blinked. So did Ash, who grabbed her arm and kept her from moving forward. Selena scowled at Ash but spoke to Mollie. “What do you see, Mollie?”
Mollie shrugged, uncomfortable at being the center of so much attention. “I would think if she knew about Selena, she’d know you might call her or another witch in for help. So I’d set a trap for the person brought in to disable the trap.”
Then Mollie surprised them all. She straightened and stepped forward confidently, sparks dancing across her skin. Not one dropped to the ground. She headed straight for where Selena had pointed. “She might have expected Selena, but I doubt she’s prepared for me.”
Greer placed himself firmly at her side, earning a surprised glance from the fire elemental. “Don’t even think you’re going over there without me.”
Mollie shrugged, but Parker could hear the way her heart beat faster. “If you like.”
Parker shared a look with Amara. “You think she’s right?”
“I think I have no idea, but better safe than sorry.” Amara began to follow them.
“I have a better idea.” Dragos peered into the clearing. “What say we spring the trap?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Dragos grinned. “I never said you would be the one to spring it, now did I?”
“You might want to double-check with Mollie before you do that. If the thing she’s doing blows up in her face because you entered the grove, Greer will hunt your ass down, mayor or not.” Focused on the clearing, she missed the look that crossed Dragos’s face. The vampire’s beast was close to the surface. If Dragos didn’t do something soon to save his sotiei, the beast would take over, taking the choice out of his hands.
“Amara has a point. Let Mollie make sure the witch part of the trap is disabled before you go in there.”
“What about the wolves?”
Good question. “Noah?”
There was no answer. Parker tried to find the scent of the wolves, but the only thing he caught was the people around him and the forest itself.
“Well. So much for hunting with us.” Parker was ticked. Apparently Noah’s word wasn’t as good as he’d thought it was if he’d left them.
“Parker and I will go to the other side of the clearing.” Amara grabbed his arm. “Ash, Selena, you wait here. Selena, you’ll have to make sure Ash isn’t captured by the trap. Protect him. One dryad, one other, okay?”
Selena made a face, but Ash looked more than content with Amara’s decree. “And I’ll make sure the witch remains safe from everything else.” The silver sword tapped against his leg.
“I seriously need me one of those,” Amara muttered. She turned and started circling the clearing.
“Somehow I don’t think you do.” Parker floated next to her, keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary. The fact that Amara couldn’t see anything meant something could sneak up on her. He refused to allow anything to harm her.
“Why do you say that?” Amara gestured, and tree branches lifted, giving her clear passage through the forest to her destination.
“No reason.” A shiver of awareness drifted down Parker’s spine. “Shit.”
“Parker?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.” He was missing something, but what? What was it that was… “Oh shit.”
“What?”
“Mina.”
Amara whirled toward him. “What about Mina?”
“I can’t smell her.”
“So?”
Parker lifted his head and inhaled. He was right. Mina’s scent was missing. “Either Terri has become better at masking scent, or Mina isn’t here. And you know what else I’m not smelling?”
“What?” Amara was already racing back toward the group at full speed.
“Rotten vegetation.”
“Shit. Dragos, it’s a trap within a trap!”
But it was too late. The vampire had entered the clearing, and all hell broke loose. Thorny vines whipped up, impaling the mayor on all sides, ripping through clothing and flesh like they were tissue paper. Dragos screamed in rage as his beast took over, all human thought subsumed by the need for survival. He misted free of the vines, but they continued on, reaching toward him, flying up at the same rate Dragos did. Within seconds the vines were above the tree line, thrashing around like the arms of a leafy Kraken.
“No!” Amara stomped her foot and roared a challenge before wading into the mess.
“Amara!” Parker dashed forward, terrified that she’d set off the second half of the trap, the one meant to kill the dryads, and flew right into a cloud of pollen.
And down he fell, passing out within seconds as the pollen seeped into his pores.
Amara heard Parker’s cry but knew he’d be right behind her. There was no way Parker would stay out of this fight, not if she was in it. So she waded in, ripping vines from the earth, mashing them into pulp with her bare hands. Fire flared off to her right as Mollie entered the fray, vines dropping before her with scary rapidity. The controlled, flamethrower-like bursts sliced through the weeds, cauterizing the wounds. Then that fire raked the ground, burning out the roots until there was nothing left.
Dragos used his claws as scythes, cutting the weeds one by one. He screamed in rage, his beast completely in control. He bled from numerous cuts, but the flow was sluggish. Amara was terrified what he’d do once the battle ended. She hoped she wouldn’t have to battle the ancient when this was all over. He’d make a beeline for either one of the humanlike women, intent on feeding from them—or the Throne, intent on finding Mina.
Silver flashed; the dryads had entered the fray. The vines fell faster than they had on the roadway. Selena stood at the edge of the clearing, her feet braced apart, her eyes white, her markings glowing brightly. She chanted, low and lyrical, and everywhere her blind gaze fell, the vines did too, shrinking until they were nothing more than what they’d been before Terri had tampered with them.
“Parker!”
Mollie’s shout brought Amara’s attention back to her mate, who was calmly walking across the clearing, the weeds arching out of his way, not once touching his flesh.