With a space between us now, I pushed myself to standing then offered my hand. “Can you stand?”
He accepted and I helped pull him up, surprised by how much he used my hand for support. He was still clearly recovering from that dart.
Before I could ask about it, several dark figures raced into the back yard, weapons raised. “Freeze!”
I spotted the familiar look of enforcers as lifted my hands. “Hey, same team.”
“The suspect is inside,” Elias said, easily slipping back into the formal conversational voice he used when around the other enforcers.
They lowered their weapons. “Cain’s in the house, she’ll want to see you. And your tag-along.”
“You got it,” Elias said.
I lowered my hands. “Took them long enough to get here.”
“I suspect they weren’t in a rush to save you,” he said.
“Or you,” I added.
“That is problematic,” he said. “Especially in light of the new weapon we’ve discovered.”
I looked over at the dart I’d tossed on the grass. “What was in that thing?”
“I don’t know, but we have to find out. Before that weapon, there wasn’t anything in your realm that could kill me.”
“Iknewthere were multiple realms,” Heidi said.
“Heidi, is it?” Elias started walking toward my friend.
I moved in front of him, blocking his progress. “No.”
“She can’t remember this. It’ll be very confusing for her.”
“No,” I said. “She can handle it.”
“Do you have one of those things fromMen in Black? Is that how you keep vampires a secret?” Heidi whispered. “So cool.”
“Please,” I said. “I can handle her.”
“What about the stone?” he asked.
“We don’t tell anyone,” I say. “I’m going to find a way to destroy it. It’s the only way.”
“I’ll help,” he said.
“What about your work for the queen?” I asked. “And the enforcers?”
“I’ll figure it out,” he said.
“What if the queen is in on all this?” I whispered.
“We’ll deal with it. Together.”
“What queen?” Heidi asked.
“Elias, I don’t like to be kept waiting,” Cain said as she rounded the corner of the house.
“Sorry, Cain,” he said, moving away from me quickly.