“Let’s keep the party moving. They probably have guards. Maybe some human servants—though it has to be tough keeping humans on tap if there’s as many vampires in there as you said.”
“I didn’t see anyone alive outside of cages,” Glenna told her, “not when we looked before.”
“This time it’s live and in person, so if they’ve got any, that’s who they’ll send out. Hoyt you’d better take point, since you know the area.”
“It’s different, you see it’s different than it was.” Some of what he was feeling leaked into his voice, the emotion and the sorrow. “Nature and man have done it. That road above us, and the wall, the tower with the light.”
Looking up, over, he saw his cliffs, the ledge that had saved his life when he’d fought with what Cian had become. Once, he thought, he’d stood up there and called the lightning as easily as a man calls his hound.
It had changed, he couldn’t deny it. But still, in the heart of it, it was his place. He made his way through the rocks, over them, through the spray. “There should be a cave here. And there’s nothing but…”
He laid his hands on the earth and rock. “This is not real. This is false.”
“Maybe you’re a little turned around,” Blair began.
“Wait.” Glenna made her way over to him, put her hands next to his. “A barrier.”
“Conjured,” Hoyt agreed, “to look and feel like the land, but it isn’t the land. This isn’t earth and rock. It’s illusion.”
“Can you break it down?” Larkin thumped a fist against the rock, testing.
“Hold on.” Frowning, Blair slicked back her damp hair. “She’s got enough mojo for this, or has someone in there with enough, we don’t know what else she has. This is smart.” Blair tested the wall herself. “Really smart. Nobody gets in unless she wants them in. Nobody gets out unless she wants them out.”
“So we just walk away?” Larkin demanded.
“I didn’t say that.”
“There are more openings, pockets in the wall. Were,” Hoyt corrected. “This is a powerful spell.”
“And nobody’s curious—people who come here, live here—about what happened to them.” Blair nodded. “That’s powerful, too. She wants her privacy. We’re going to have to disappoint her.”
Hands on hips, she turned around, searching. “Hey, Hoyt, can you and Glenna carve a message into that big rock over there?”
“It can be done.”
“What’s the message?” Glenna asked her.
“Gotta think of one, since Up Yours, Bitch seems a little too ordinary.”
“Tremble,” Moira murmured, and Blair gave her a nod of approval.
“Excellent. Short, to the point, and just a little cocky. Take care of that, will you? Then we’ll get started on the rest.”
“What is the rest?” Larkin wanted to know. He gave the wall a frustrated kick. “A stronger message would be to break this spell.”
“Yeah, it would, but right now I’m thinking she doesn’t know we’re out here. That could be an advantage.” She heard something like a small blast of gunpowder, and turned to see the word Tremble deeply carved into the rock. Below it was another carving, of what she assumed was Lilith. With a stake through her heart.
“Hey, nice job. I really like the artwork.”
“A little flourish.” Glenna dusted off her hands. “I paint, and I couldn’t resist the dig.”
“What do you need to try the transportation spell?”
Glenna blew out a breath. “Time, space, focus, and a hell of a lot of luck.”
“Not from here.” Hoyt shook his head. “The cliffs are mine. The caves are hers. However much time has passed, the cliffs are still mine. We’ll work the spell from above.” He turned to Glenna. “We have to see first. We can’t transport what we can’t see. It’s likely she’ll sense us, and do whatever she can to stop us.”
“Maybe not right away. We won’t be looking for her this time, but for people. She may not realize what we’re doing, and give us the time we need. Hoyt’s right, it’s better done on the cliffs,” Glenna told Blair. “If we can get anyone out, we wouldn’t want to bring them out here in any case.”