He glanced at the seer and spun off, barking orders. Elara climbed the steps to the outer wall and then to the top of the flanking tower. From here, she could see the entire village. People ran, streaming to the castle.
She turned to Johanna. “Find Magdalene. Take her to the tunnels.”
Johanna took off at a run.
The village emptied as people rushed to Baile.
Come on, she urged in her head. Come on.
Iron Dogs poured out of the gate, forming a protective line, shielding the evacuees. On top of the keep and on the towers, the ballistae and catapult teams cranked the massive siege weapons. She heard chanting, almost in unison, as the artillery teams primed the sorcerous bolts.
Shapeshifters burst out of the woods, running at top speed toward the castle – Hugh’s scouts coming in.
Seconds crept by, echoing the beating of her heart. Come on.
Creatures streamed out of the woods, like an evil river, flowing in rivulets between the trunks to flood the grass. Vampires. Hundreds and hundreds of vampires, smeared with sunblock in green, blue, and red.
The Iron Dogs unsheathed their weapons.
She tried desperately to sort through the people running to the gates. Did they get everyone? Was someone missing? She couldn’t tell.
The vampires kept coming and coming, widening in a crescent, blending together into a monstrous mass, terrifying, stinking of magic that shouldn’t have existed. Endless.
Hugh was right. If they hadn’t had the warning, they might have panicked. Even she, with all of her power, had to fight a shiver. In a couple of hours the sun would set, and the monstrous horde would roll over the castle. Next to her Johanna squeezed her fingers into fists and relaxed them again.
The evacuees slowed to a trickle. Did they get everyone? Anxiety boiled in her. She tried to count the vampires to keep her mind focused. Three, five, eight, ten…
Hugh ran up the stairs and loomed next to her, his expression hard.
“You were right,” she told him.
“This day was a long time coming,” Hugh told her.
Beth ran up to the tower. “There is a phone call for you.”
“Is it Nez?”
“Yes, lady.”
“Right on schedule,” Hugh said. “See if you can piss him off. He doesn’t think clearly when he’s angry.”
“I can do that.”
“Oh, I know you can. Have fun, love.”
Elara turned and walked down the stairs, forcing herself to move slowly. The longer she took getting to the phone, the more time she bought them. Finally, she reached the front office. Lamar and Dugas waited by the phone.
Elara took the phone. “You’re two days early.”
“You have been fortifying,” Nez said with clinical precision.
“We had an agreement. You broke it. If you can’t keep a simple deadline, what guarantee can you offer that you will honor any other agreements?”
“I’m giving you this one last chance to avoid bloodshed. Consider the fate of your people. Consider the children’s lives. Once I clear the wall, I cannot guarantee anyone’s safety.”
“You’re not listening to me,” she told him. “Go back to where you came from and come back in two days. That was the agreement. You made it with me and I will hold you to it.”
Incredulous silence filled the phone. Lamar grinned.
“You will regret this,” Nez said.
“No,” she told him. “But you will. You’re full of it. You want to negotiate with me, but clearly you can’t be trusted.”
“You actually expect me to withdraw and come back in two days?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Do you even have the authority to negotiate, Landon?”
“I have all the authority.”
“It seems to me that you don’t. I understand that you negotiated with Hayville in Nebraska and then the town burned to the ground.”
Nez’s voice came out clipped, each word razor-sharp. “I didn’t burn Hayville. Your husband did.”
“Precisely. It didn’t matter what deals you made, because there is a higher authority above you that actually makes decisions. You are a servant, Landon. A glorified gofer. We are defending our home. You are just carrying out orders.”
Dugas clamped his hand over his mouth.
“I’m not even mad at you, Landon. Everyone has a job they have to do. But don’t waste my time again trying to negotiate. You have no power to do it.”
“I will take your castle,” Nez said. His voice sent a chill down her spine. “I will tear it apart brick by brick. Then I will make you watch as I personally cut the throat of every man, woman, and child that survives the assault.”
“Do you know why Hugh burned Hayville? Because you couldn’t do it. My husband is better than you.”
“You’re a stupid whore.”
“There goes the mask of civility. Roland had only two Warlords, but you are the twenty-third Legatus of the Golden Legion. Do you know why? It’s because Hugh is beloved by his soldiers, while you are reviled by the Masters of the Dead. Every man under his command would die for him, while the people who serve you can’t wait to stick a knife in your back.”
“I’ll make sure it takes you weeks to die.”
“Hugh is a better general, a better fighter, and a better man. You’re second best. You will always be second best. You’re replaceable. One day one of your helpers will kill you and take your place, and Roland won’t blink an eye, while Hugh is one of a kind. Oh and his dick is bigger than yours.”
A disconnect signal cut off the call.
Lamar clapped and bowed.
She dropped the phone back into its place and turned back to the wall. There were too many people between her and the tower for magic, so she hurried on foot, across the bailey, up the stairs, back to the top of the flanking tower, where Hugh waited. The entire clearing before the tree line was filled with undead.
“How did it go?” Hugh asked.
“He’s frothing at the mouth.”
“That’s my girl.” He grinned at her.
The last of the stragglers made it through the gates. The Iron Dogs had followed, and the massive drawbridge rose up, blocking the entrance.
A clump of vampires shot out from the main mass of the undead and fell apart, revealing two people tied to crosses, naked from the waist up. The one on the left, a woman, wore the black shreds of an Iron Dog uniform. The one on the right slumped over, his gray curly hair stained with blood.
Oscar.
Oh no.
Elara really pissed Nez off.
Usually Nez would have held back the hostages, waiting to see if he could use them as bargaining chips at the right moment, but instead he dragged them out into plain view, blinded by the need to hit back. Whatever she said to him, he wanted to punish her for it.
The lone Iron Dog on the cross glared at the vampires. Irina. She’d been out by the southern edge of the town, scouting to the rear. That meant the digging crew likely grabbed her. Nez would be digging in from the southwest.
Fury boiled inside Hugh. He hated to lose Irina, hated that her life was over, hated that Nez was the one who took it. If only he could get his hands on that bastard. Hugh stared at the woods behind the undead. Nez was out there somewhere, sipping coffee in his Matador.
None of the front scouting team had made it either. He saw the scouts from the East and West teams, but none from the North. That meant none survived.
Next to him Elara had gone completely still. Her eyes narrowed, measuring the distance between her and the old man on the cross. She was thinking of rushing the field. He put his hand on her shoulder, anchoring her in place.
“No.”
She ignored him.
“Elara!”
She turned to look at him, and cold shot through him. Her eyes were pure white.