“We’ve got to move, we’ve got to go. They could follow us, and if they want to, they can move fast.” She pulled Glenna to her feet. “Let’s move faster.”
“I’m woozy. Sorry, I…”
“Lean on me. Larkin—”
But he’d already chosen his own way. She shoved at her wet hair as she pushed Glenna toward the horse he’d become. “Get up. You and Moira. Hoyt and I are right behind you. Can you walk?” she asked Hoyt.
“I can.” If his legs were shaky, he still moved, and quickly as Larkin galloped off. “So much time passed. It’s dusk.”
“No, she made it. Lilith did it. She’s got more power than I figured.”
“No. No, not her.” Hoyt was forced to brace a hand on Blair’s shoulder for balance. “She has someone, something with the power to do this.”
“We’ll figure it out.” She half carried, half dragged him to the van where Larkin was already helping the other women inside “Glenna, keys. I’ve got the wheel.”
Glenna fumbled them out of her pocket. “Just need a minu
te, a few minutes to recover. That was…it was rugged. Moira?”
“I’m all right. Just a bit dizzy is all. And a bit sick in the stomach. I’ve never…I’ve never touched anything like that.”
Blair drove, fast enough to cover some distance, and kept an eye on the rearview for a tail. “Earthquakes, false dusk, a little lightning. Hell of a ride.” She slowed as the sun began to break through again. “Looks like she gave up on us. For now. Nobody’s hurt? Just shook up?”
“Not hurt, no.” Hoyt gathered Glenna against him, brushed the tears from her face with his lips. “Don’t. A ghra, don’t weep.”
“There were so many. So many of them. Screaming.”
Blair took two careful breaths. “Don’t do this to yourselves. You tried, you gave it your best. It was always a long shot you’d be able to get anyone out of there.”
“But we did.” Glenna turned her face into Hoyt’s shoulder. “Five. We got five out, then we couldn’t hold it any longer.”
Stunned, Blair pulled off to the shoulder, turned around. “You got five out? Where are they?”
“Hospital. I thought…”
“Glenna, she thought if we could get them out, we could transport them to a place where they would be safe, and be cared for.” Moira looked down at her empty hands.
“Smart. Really smart. It gets them medical attention fast, and keeps us from having to answer awkward questions. Congratulations.”
Glenna lifted her head, and her eyes were ravaged. “There were so many of them. So many more.”
“And five people are alive, and safe.”
“I know, you’re right, I know.” She straightened, rubbed her face dry with her hands. “I’m just shaken up.”
“We did what we came to do. More than.”
“What were they?” Larkin asked her. “What were they you and I fought back there? Not vampires, you said.”
“Half-vamps. Still human. They’ve been bitten, probably multiple times, but not drained. And not allowed to mix blood; not changed.”
“Then why would they fight us?”
“They’re controlled. The best term, I guess, is thrall. They’re under a thrall, and do as they’re ordered. I counted seven, all big guys. We took out four. She probably doesn’t have any more, or not many. It’s got to be tough to keep them under control.”
“There was a fight?” Glenna asked.
Blair pulled back onto the road. “The caves opened. She sent out the first wave, the half-vamps. Then she did her little weather trick.”