Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,6

shook my head. “Just a…rumour.”

He sat down across from me. “Wichtleins ur trouble. Mah grandfaither saw one once, doon the mines. Knocked three times befaur disappearing. He hud enough guid sense in ‘im tae get the hell oot of Dodge. Less than ten minutes efter the roof collapsed ‘n twenty three men were kill’t.”

That gibed with what I’d originally thought. “So they stay underground?”

“For the maist part. If’n ye see one on the surface thae, ye’d better skedaddle. ‘parently they on’y dae that when thair’s summat big abrewin.”

“What about tokens? Do they usually leave signs behind them?”

“Thay like tha mines and th’underground so often stanes.”

“Stanes?” I was momentarily puzzled.

“Aye, lass. Wee hard pebbles.”

Oh, stones. Now I got it.

Johannes regarded me gravely. “Stanes as smooth as silk and black as a witch’s heart. Find on o’ them and running for the hills willna do you ony guid. Cos then yer card’s marked.”

But I hadn’t found the stone – John had. I pursed my lips, worried. Perhaps I should go after him just in case. I knew he could take care of himself but a harbinger of doom directed at him in particular was not good news.

I thought of one more thing. “What about bits of material?”

“Material? Nae that Ah’ve heard, lass.” He leaned back and folded his arms and frowned at me with a serious expression on his weathered face. “You teck care of yersel’ min’?”

I nodded. I appreciated that he hadn’t asked my why I was suddenly so interested in wichtleins but the gnawing worry for John ate at me. “I don’t think I’ll be eating dinner after all, J.”

Concern flickered in his eyes. “Aye, mebbe best not, love.”

I stood up to leave. “It’s Mack.”

He looked puzzled. “Eh?”

“Never mind.”

I headed for the door, checking the straps on my arms that held my daggers as I left. I did briefly consider picking up a bow and some silver tipped arrows as well. The shifters wouldn’t go near silver, but it didn’t affect me and was a powerful weapon against anything not wholly of this world. Chances were I’d make a mistake and end up hitting John himself instead though. I was a mean shot but I knew enough of the vagaries of prophecies of doom that they were as likely to come about by your attempted actions to stop them as anything else. Perhaps it had been clear that the wichtlein’s token wasn’t intended for John though because he would surely have known what it portended and how it worked, and acted more appropriately concerned for himself. He’d certainly known enough to know that it was to be taken seriously. I mean, after all, he was calling the Brethren in for goodness’ sake. He wasn’t anyone’s fool.

Yet despite taking the sudden appearance of the stone seriously, John hadn’t appeared that immediately worried about his own safety this afternoon. He’d been laughing and joking around in fact. I paused. Or had he? I tried to think whether it had been both of us laughing about the repeated bunny adventures or whether it had just been me. Damnit.

I stopped to grab my trusty hunters’ backpack and leather jacket to stave off the cold night air on my way out. Hearing Julia moving about on the first floor, I called up the stairs to her. “Julia?”

There were a few thumps and I could hear someone cursing. Her head eventually peered down from above the shiny first floor banister. “Yes, dear?”

“Something’s wrong. Where did John say he was going to?”

My question hung in the air for a heartbeat and something flickered in her face. Fear?

“He didn’t say.” There was another moment’s silence before she cleared her throat. “Should I muster the troops?” Her voice was quiet.

I thought about it for a second. Perhaps I was just being paranoid. But if I wasn’t and John was really in danger then he’d need all the help we could give him. I’d rather look like an idiot and have him safe than risk the fact that he might be hurt. “That might be best. I’m going to head for the beach by the old cottages. Get the others to fan out from here and see if they can find him. “

Julia lifted back her head and roared. It was unbelievable that such a small woman could create such a racket. Almost immediately the sounds of shifters running for the hall could be heard. I couldn’t wait even for them though. The fire inside me was already rising with