not getting a sense of anything supernatural, so it may be an older roost.”
“Surely we wouldn’t be picking anything up if that were the case, though?”
“‘Wouldn’t’ and ‘shouldn’t’ aren’t words I often use in conjunction with the supernatural world.”
I eyed the mine’s entrance nervously. “So what are we going to do?”
“Investigate, of course.”
“If you get flesh stripped, Eli is going to kill me.”
He chuckled softly. “Aye, he will, but it won’t come to that. I’ve a blessed silver knife with me and a couple of freezing potions ready to go. And it’s still daylight, which gives us the advantage.”
Not if we went deep into that mine, it didn’t.
On the off chance that things were about to go ass-up, I sent a quick text to Aiden just to let him know where we were and what we were doing, then followed Ashworth across the clearing. The nearer I got to the mine, the more my gut churned. The entrance wasn’t particularly large—at five-eight, I couldn’t be considered tall, but I had to bend down to look into it.
Ashworth’s expression was intent as his power ran before him again, a wave that tested and probed the interior of the mine. “There’s definitely been some sort of supernatural entity using this place, even if they’re not currently here.”
“Do you think it’s worth setting a trap?”
He nodded. “But not here, at the entrance. She’d probably sense it too easily.”
“If she’s going to sense it out here, why wouldn’t she sense it inside?”
“Because I’ll bind the remnants of her own energy to the spell. It’ll camouflage it long enough to entrap her.” He swung his pack around and pulled out a flashlight. “You keep watch out here.”
He disappeared inside before I could argue. I squatted on my heels, my back pressed against one edge of the mine’s entrance, a position that allowed me to keep an eye on his progress while also watching the clearing.
“It’s actually not that deep,” he said after a few minutes. “It probably only runs thirty meters or so into the hill, and she’s not nesting that far in.”
“Vita did say they don’t like being too deep underground.”
“Remember those teeth the victims were missing? They’re all here, from the look of it.”
“I suggest you leave them there.”
“Intended to.”
A wave of power washed over me as Ashworth began his spell. I studied the distant sparkle and wished I were closer to watch the spell unfold. I’d probably learned more in the few months Ashworth, Eli, and Monty had been here than I’d ever learned at school.
The spell’s power reached its crescendo and then quietly faded away as Ashworth incorporated the remnants of the Empusae’s essence and then tied off the spell. A few minutes later he appeared, sweating and dusty.
He straightened his back with a groan. “I don’t know how the miners of yesteryear survived working in conditions like that.”
“Many of them didn’t.” I pushed upright. “I guess we now just have to keep our fingers crossed that one or both of our traps catch these bitches.”
“And that they don’t kill anyone else off in the meantime. I did suggest to Aiden the council put a curfew order out for the forests immediately surrounding Castle Rock.”
“That might only push the Empusae into another area. Besides, we’re dealing with werewolves, who tend to think they can handle anything.”
“Byron aside, none of the other victims were wolves. I think these things have a penchant for human flesh.”
A possibility, given they’d torn Byron apart rather than eaten him. “The council have been averse to issuing such orders in the past—they’ve never wanted to panic the public.”
“There’s five bodies in the morgue. It’s time they worried about saving the public rather than panicking them.”
I agreed. I just wasn’t sure the council elders would.
Once we’d gotten back to the car, I sent Aiden another text and got a thumbs-up and a kiss emoji in return. By the time we got back to Ashworth’s place, the sky was ablaze with pinks and yellows. But with all that color came the distinct feeling of being watched. I glanced around casually, but couldn’t see anyone or anything that looked out of place. Nor was there any sort of shimmer to indicate Vita was out there—though there hadn’t been on other occasions, either.
“When do you want to exchange cars?” Ashworth grabbed his pack and jumped out of the SUV.
I hesitated. “Not tonight—it’d be too obvious. Perhaps we can do a swap somewhere out of town, and a little more private.”
He nodded.