“I thought you might say something like that,” Meg replied,
heading for the door to the tent. “But, Dante, I’m going to need a cut.”
She let the flap close behind her as she heard the vampire curse.
* * * *
Meg looked through Dante’s binoculars. They gave a close view
of Beck and Cian’s small fortress, even through the rain. Dante eased
down next to her and nudged her carefully. He pointed to a figure
standing mere feet from the green sanctuary. A black cat twitched
anxiously around her ankles. Kitty didn’t like the storm, it seemed.
294
Sophie Oak
It was Liadan all right, but she didn’t look the way she had before.
She stood on the ground with her hands at her sides. Her previously
pristine dress was soaked and caked with mud. There was a deer
walking toward her as though she had called it. In an instant, Liadan
was attacking the gentle creature, slitting its throat from ear to ear.
“She uses the blood to strengthen her spells.” Dante leaned close.
There was a shiver in his voice. “I wish she would use a spell to make
her not look like that.”
Damn, girlfriend was ugly. Liadan had shed the vestiges of her
public persona. Her face was withered and cracked. Her hair, though
still blonde, was gnarled, as though rats had nested in it. She had long
fingernails, and she used them to extract the blood she needed.
The hag began chanting something in a language Meg didn’t
understand. After a long moment, some of the vines protecting the
sanctuary retreated. Now Meg could begin to see the walls of the
structure. The minute Liadan managed to unveil the door, she would
be on the kings.
“She’s been doing it for days,” Dante explained. “She’s getting
close.”