Get him over here. Kipa, you and your men take one last look through the entire complex and make sure we got all of the vrykos. Then let the medics know they can safely go in for the residents.” A raven shifter, Akron led a cleanup crew that took care of crime scenes.
I leaned against Herne’s side, feeling drained. He helped me out of the facility and back toward the parking lot. The events of the day were so convoluted in my brain that all I wanted to do was shut out the world.
“We need to wait until Yutani and Kipa return,” he said, “but you can sit in the car.”
I shook my head. “I’ll wait till they come back.”
And so we stood there, waiting, until Kipa and his men and Yutani returned.
“Akron’s on his way,” Yutani said.
“Did you ride with Viktor or vice versa?”
“I drove.” Yutani looked even more exhausted than I felt. He looked almost defeated. “I hate just leaving. What if he’s somewhere on the grounds?”
Kipa spoke up. “My men and I will search the grounds and the cemetery. If Viktor’s still around here, we’ll find him. And that way, we can make certain there aren’t any vrykos hiding in the bushes. We’ll meet you back at the office.”
Herne nodded his thanks, then helped me into the car. We headed out, with me silently staring out of the window, wondering where Viktor was, and if he was even still alive.
Chapter Twenty-Two
At the office, Herne and I took a shower together. We bathed silently, not talking about Viktor as though we might break a spell if we did so. But the half-ogre filled my thoughts as Herne soaped my back for me, rubbing my shoulders gently, offering comfort. As the water poured over us, he lathered me up with bath gel, then helped me wash my hair. We rinsed off and changed into the extra clothes that we both kept at the office.
I braided my hair back so that it would dry without my having to blow dry it, and headed for the break room. Angel was there, and she had ordered lunch. Steaming bowls of chowder were waiting for us, along with fried fish, biscuits, and coleslaw. Yutani went to take a shower while we sat down to eat. Angel was keeping his food warm in the oven.
“Yutani told me what happened to Viktor,” she said, sitting down across from us. “Do you think he’s still alive? What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” Herne said, shaking his head. “If anybody can survive being captured by a dragon, it’s him. But we need a location spell. We need some direction as to where Gyell took him, because there’s no way we can find him otherwise.” His worry was evident in his eyes. “I’ve texted my parents. They’re on their way.”
Angel turned on the TV. The local stations were covering the incident at the nursing home. All told, eight out of the twenty-seven residents had been killed, along with three staff members and three officers. Fourteen dead from one little skirmish.
“The United Coalition has to tell the nation about the dragons soon.” Herne shook his head. “I’ll ask my parents to talk to the UC. While the Coalition is working with us, I think they can work faster if they do.”
Yutani appeared in the doorway, looking clean and refreshed. “Lunch? Thanks.” He sat down and Angel brought him his lunch.
At that moment, Talia hustled in from her office. “I’ve been doing research on Echidna this morning. I think Ember may be right with her hunch. I think Echidna might actually be in Death Valley. There have been several sightings of dragons around there over the past decade. I’ve called in the help of friends I have down there to do some sleuthing. Hawk shifters—they can see from a long distance overhead. Maybe she could help us with Viktor, if we found her.”
“We really do need her, because things are just going to get worse from here on out. Why the hell Tartarus and Gaia had to go and create the dragon race, I don’t know, but I could have done without them at this point,” Herne said.
We had barely finished eating when there was a noise in the hall. Herne started to rise, but before he could fully stand, his mother and father came striding into the room.
“We didn’t want to bother you to open the door,” Cernunnos said, motioning for us to stay seated. “You said something