I tried not to panic; after all, while the tires had been checked, it was possible that something had been missed, especially if the weakness was on an inside wall.
Possible, instinct whispered, but not likely.
I pulled to the side of the road and immediately locked all the doors even as the memories of just how little it had protected Byron stirred. In the twin beams of the headlights, dust stirred, but there was little else to be seen in the night.
And yet…
I grabbed my backpack then climbed out of the SUV and walked around to the back. It was once again the left rear tire—the one we’d just changed.
I looked around in alarm. While I couldn’t sense or see anything untoward, I had no doubt she was out there, somewhere close. Watching. Waiting.
I swallowed heavily and got out my phone. Aiden answered second ring. “If Joel hasn’t arrived yet to change your tire, I’m going to kick his butt tomorrow.”
“He’s been and gone, but I’ve got another flat.”
Something cracked in the trees to my right. I jumped around, magic dancing like fireflies across the fingers of my free hand. Again, there was nothing to see, but that sense of danger was growing.
“They’re new tires—this shouldn’t be happening.”
“I know, and I don’t think it’s an accident.”
“I’ll ring Joel immediately and get him back—”
“And put him in the firing line? No way, Aiden.”
He swore softly. “Then I’ll grab Ashworth an
d be out there in twenty minutes. Have you got your spell stones with you?”
“Yes.” But they wouldn’t do any good. The elder Empusae had already proven capable of breaking into my protective circle. I rather suspected that, after getting a feel for my magic, she’d be even more prepared the second time around.
“Then use them. Just keep safe until we get there.”
“I will.”
He hung up. I stared at the phone for several seconds, suddenly feeling very alone and out of my depth.
Which was ridiculous. I might be alone, but I wasn’t powerless. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and then carefully wove a spell around my fingers, one that was a demon net and tracker combined. This time, if my net did hit her in any way, a couple of threads would latch onto her feathers and give me a means of tracking her. Monty might frown at the way I mixed my spells, but as yet they hadn’t failed me.
I crossed mental fingers that this spell would not be the first.
I pressed back against the SUV and studied the trees on either side of the road. Aside from that sharp crack a few minutes ago, there was little in the way of movement or sound. But the fact that the cicadas were so quiet suggested something was indeed out there.
I flexed my fingers, the movement stretching the spell twined around them and sending a rainbow shimmer of light across the nearby shadows. Just for an instant there was an answering glimmer in the trees.
A glimmer that looked like eyes.
Eyes that were round and golden.
Owl eyes.
Empusae eyes.
Oh fuck…
Energy sparked around my other hand, enriched with the glittering threads of wild magic—the stuff that came from within rather than the stuff native to this reservation. Which had been strangely absent over the last few days, but I guess it couldn’t be everywhere. And it certainly wasn’t logical to expect it to handily turn up whenever I needed it—even if part of me wished it would do exactly that right now.
The eyes disappeared. The sick churning in my gut intensified. I remained still, every sense I had wide open in an effort to catch the slightest hint of movement or magic.