“I love you.” She dropped down beside him and kissed his lips.
Just past Anna’s shoulder, Tavis saw Voltar rolling over, and he realized what he was doing. Trying to reach the stun gun. He was only a few inches away now. Tavis tried to motion with his eyes and head. He didn’t know if Voltar could do any good with the thing since his hands were shackled behind his back, but he didn’t want to find out.
Tavis tried more furiously. Faelan, who had also seen what Voltar was up to, was also motioning. Voltar had the stun gun in his hands. He rolled to the side so that it was pointing at Anna. She turned and looked at Voltar just as a streak of light burst forth. Tavis had some movement in his legs, so he kicked Anna, hoping to knock her clear. A black mist got there first and moved Anna aside.
“That’s not nice, Voltar. Trying to kill your own daughter.”
Voltar looked confused.
“You don’t remember her mother,” Tristol said. “She was a warrior. You raped her in the back of a little bar.”
Voltar’s eyes widened, and he stared at Anna.
“Your own daughter, half human, and a warrior at that. So much for your pure race.” Tavis motioned for Tristol to get Anna to safety. For the second time, he grabbed her and vanished.
Voltar still had the stun gun in his hand. He didn’t speak. It was clearly taking all his effort to hold the stun gun in the awkward position, but his eyes were filled with hatred. He looked at Tavis, and then turned the stun gun toward Faelan. Tavis struggled to get up. He didn’t know if another hit would kill Faelan or just knock him out.
Again, he didn’t get a chance to find out. A noise that sounded like a herd of elephants came trampling through the woods. Matilda burst onto the trail holding the big cat. “Attack,” she said, and flung it at Voltar.
The cat leapt at Voltar and midway through the air shifted into a man wearing a long white robe as white as his hair. He landed on his feet as gracefully as a deer and knocked the stun gun from Voltar’s hand.
“Oh my God!” Matilda was gaping at the man.
Tavis and Faelan were both struggling to stand.
“Tavis!” Anna rushed out of the woods. “Oh God. I thought he’d killed you. Who’s he?” she asked, looking at the man.
“The cat,” Matilda said.
“Old Elmer,” Cody said, shaking his head. “Where’s Tristol?”
“He disappeared,” Anna said.
The other warriors arrived, and in the confusion, Old Elmer disappeared. Tavis and Faelan couldn’t stand without help, but with Anna supporting them, Tavis summoned a time vault, and he and Anna and Faelan put Voltar inside. His eyes flashed with hatred.
“I could have destroyed you,” Tavis said, “but that would have been too easy. You’re going to wake again to face Judgment, and before you’re destroyed for good, you’ll remember that your daughter is a powerful warrior. She’s carrying a child who will be a powerful warrior.”
Faelan leaned over the time vault. “This is for Liam and my father, a parting gift.” He stuck Voltar’s stun gun between the demon’s eyes and pressed the button. Voltar’s eyes bulged.
“Go to hell, Voltar.” Tavis slammed the lid.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I CAN’T BELIEVE he slept in my bed,” Matilda said. “I thought he was a cat. A powerful cat, but here he’s a man. I feel traumatized. I can’t imagine what other secrets you all have.”
“I told you, Matilda, none of us knew he was a man,” Nina said.
“Old Elmer,” Shay said. “My God, I’ve known him since I was a kid.” Old Elmer had lived in the woods behind her house for as long as she could remember, but he kept to himself. Every now and then he’d show up just when she was in danger and rescue her, or sneak and help Nina with projects like some kind of elf. But he didn’t look like an elf, not the little pixie kind. Shay had always thought he was more like Merlin or Gandalf with his long white beard. “How is this even possible?”
“Demons can shift,” Bree said.
“Old Elmer’s not a demon,” Shay said.
“Obviously, but if demons can shift, why not some…thing else,” Bree said.
“But what?” Shay asked. “What is he?”
“Maybe he’s a sorcerer,” Matilda asked. “He looks like a sorcerer.”
“No. Not Old Elmer,” Nina said. “We’ve known him forever.”
“We didn’t know he could turn into a cat,” Matilda said.
“We’ll ask him what he is when we see him again,” Nina said.
“Has anyone seen him since he attacked Voltar?” Bree asked.
“No,” Shay said. “Matilda, why were you there?”
“The cat and I were just sitting up here in the room thinking about vampires, and I had this thought out of the blue. Go into the woods. I thought it might have been God talking to me, but with all the craziness going on, I wasn’t about to go alone. So I grabbed the cat. When I saw that Voltar creature, I thought he was a vampire, so I sicced the cat on him. I guess it protects against demons too.”
“Old Elmer always did have a way of showing up when someone was in trouble,” Shay said.
“Like a guardian angel. Or a guardian cat.” Matilda patted her hair, which was still wild after her mad dash through the woods. “I wonder if he dates.”
“You look every year of your age,” Faelan said, hobbling toward the infirmary.
“You don’t look any better. I don’t know what was in that thing, but I never want to see one again.” Tavis hobbled beside him. They could walk, but not well.
“It must have been sorcery.”
“I’m going to check on Anna,” Tavis said.
“I’m going to find a bed.”
Coira was just coming out. “How is she?” Tavis asked.
“Physically, OK,” Coira said. “Mentally, not so well.”
“The bairn?”
“It’s too early for us to know, but assuming Bree’s right, and she usually is, there’s no sign of problems.”
“Good. Do you think she needs more bed rest?”
“I wouldn’t want to be the one to suggest it.” Coira rolled her eyes. “Anna wants out of there. Come on, sit down. I need to take a look at you. This bandage needs to be changed.”
“I have to see her.”
Coira patted his arm. “She doesn’t want company right now.”
She didn’t want to see him. “I don’t care. I’m not waiting any longer.” He went into the infirmary where Anna was resting.
She looked up when he came in.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She nodded. “You?”
“Aye. Why did you run off from the wedding?”
“I never went. I was reading Angus’s notebook and found out who my father was. That was what Angus was trying to call me about. Not that he’d found your time vault. I went for a walk to clear my head. Voltar found me. I’m sorry my father destroyed your family.” Her voice was bitter.
“I don’t know if you’re Voltar’s daughter or not, but I do know that I love you. And that’s my child. If I have to take a piece of Voltar to get the two of you, I will.”
Anna’s mouth trembled. “But I’m part demon.” Her mouth twisted with disgust. “The demon that killed your brothers and your father.” She touched her stomach. “This is part demon.”
Tavis leaned over the bed and put his hands over Anna’s. “This is part you and part me. Part of my father is in there too. Part of my mother. Part of your mother. I won’t lose you. I won’t lose my bairn. Voltar’s gone. I’ll be damned if I let him win after he’s dead.”
Anna stared at Tavis for the longest time. “I need to think. Then we’ll talk.”
Tavis nodded. “But don’t take too long.”