She didn’t know what that meant. She did know that Vlad wasn’t planning on waiting for Roger.
“How many vamps does it take to bring down that ward?” she asked Devon’s pack.
Devon now faced the vamps and backed up to stand directly in front of her. He let out a wicked snarl.
“Yes, the puppy has merit, I shall grant you,” Vlad said. “He might’ve made a worthy adversary one day. Alas, I must extinguish him tonight before he can grow into his mantle. Is not that the term he uses for my children? Extinguish? Such a callous word. So unfeeling.”
“They have plenty,” Rod mumbled from beside her, his hand on her arm. It was trembling.
“Anyone call Roger?” she asked quietly, not wanting the nosey parkers hovering in the shadows, continuously looking up at the sky, to hear her. For a wonder, she only felt the excitement of the coming battle. Because there would be one. If they’d come back with these numbers, Vlad had figured out a way through the ward.
“I did,” Yasmine said in a wavering voice. “He didn’t answer.”
“I sure hope you left a message.” Andy took off his shirt. “’Cause they are coming in soon, and we’re outnumbered. By a lot.”
“I’m going to light this bitch up like the Fourth of July,” Charity said with bubbling anticipation.
“I guess someone better turn off the oven,” Rod muttered. “Dinner is canceled.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Dillon asked Charity.
“Don’t know, but I feel great,” she replied. “I need some weapons, though. I’m going to do me some killing.”
Devon backed up another step and flashed Dillon a look, relaying something.
“Timmy fell down the well?” Charity said as Dillon took off down the hall.
“Have you gone insane?” Macy asked.
“They want her alive—she has nothing to worry about,” Yasmine muttered darkly.
“Oh yes, being captured, imprisoned, and sucked on against her will sure sounds like a treat.” Andy huffed as he slipped out of his sweats. “Should I change, Devon?”
He got a significant glance. It was apparently a yes.
Dillon jogged out of the house, also shirtless, holding a long, finely worked sword in a glittering scabbard. He pushed it at Charity. “This was hanging in the castle. It was a relic, but Roger said that when the time came, if it came, you’d know what to do with it. So…let’s hope the time has come.”
Charity reached for the artfully crafted blade as Vlad stepped out of the trees. The sun’s rays had dried up and ushered in nightfall. Yee-haw.
Her hand closed around the handle. It felt like shaking hands with an old friend. A sharp, shiny, dangerous old friend that stabbed people. Better and better.
“I feel like kicking some ass,” Charity said to nobody in particular.
“Shall we just let you handle it, then?” Rod started stripping down.
Vlad had spread his arms wide. A line of vamps stepped up with him along the ward.
“Oh no, we’re definitely going down if we don’t get help. There are way too many of them, and even though I feel more alive now than I ever have, I have no idea how to kill people. With magic.”
“Kill them with the sword, then.” Macy joined the boys in nakedness.
“Change, boss?” Rod asked, his eyes on Vlad.
He apparently got a no. How they could tell, Charity had no idea. Only Devon and Andy were in wolf form so far.
Vlad pulled something out of his pocket, though it was too small to see at the distance.
“He’s got magic,” Rod whispered. “A counter-spell for the ward. It must be. Let’s hope it doesn’t work.”
“With all the power he’s amassed, you shouldn’t hold your breath,” Dillon replied.
Nails grew slowly out of Vlad’s hands, nothing else about him shifting. From the awestruck looks on the faces around her, that seemed to be a pretty big deal. The ward dome sparked and more vampires joined Vlad at the periphery, some fully changing to do so. The entire dome lit up, reaching over the house, sizzling and sparking. Magic bowed then arched, a sound like crackling flames ripping along the base. Fissure cracks formed, working their way through the structure.
Devon started to growl. The hair on his back stood on end, his body tense and half crouched, ready for the attack.
“Godspeed, Charity. Give ’em hell,” Rod said.
Fur erupted beside her as the rest of the pack changed form. An ear-splitting crack, like thunder, rang through the fresh night. Fire crawled up the invisible wall, erupting into a huge fireball that curled into the sky.
Vlad and his vampires had overcome the ward.
“Kill the wolves; bring me the girl,” Vlad shouted as the vampires, far too many of them, whizzed toward the house.Chapter Forty-OneThe wolves braced for the coming fight, having made a half-circle around her. Charity tore the scabbard off the sword. A bright blue blade glimmered in the moonlight. It sang to her, asking her to play, demanding blood. Something inside her blossomed, happy to fulfill her end of that bargain.