Chapter 27
P aige grabbed Dewey and ducked behind the tiny pole projecting in the air as another multi-colored bullet whizzed past her. Dewey tugged his tiny weapon from the holster and raised it.
He twisted and fired over his shoulder wildly. Paige struggled to yank her weapon free from its holder. “Help me.”
Dewey fluttered in the air, reaching for it when another set of rainbow rounds peppered them and he dove for the icy floor.
Drucinda blasted her way across the cave and fired weapons held in both hands before she tossed one to the side, grabbed another from her leg holster, and continued shooting without missing a beat.
Devon and Thorn matched her level in returning fire at the shimmery vampires that flooded the cave.
A pair of light-skinned bloodsuckers raced toward Paige and Dewey.
Paige kicked her feet, trying to propel herself backward away from them.
She grabbed hold of the tent pole and swished it through the air in a desperate attempt to keep them at bay.
The darker-haired vampire hissed at her, his long, pearly fangs glistening with saliva.
“Uh, Paige,” Dewey murmured as he fiddled with his weapon, “my gun won’t work.”
“Yeah, well, at least you have one,” she answered, thrusting the pole forward again as the lighter-haired vampire advanced toward them. “I’ve only got a lousy tent pole.”
“And that won’t hurt us,” the blond said before diving at her.
Paige cringed, flinging her arms over her face to protect her. Drucinda stepped toward them, and with two quick shots took out both vampires. The blond toppled onto Paige, his unseeing eyes wide.
Paige groaned as she shifted his dead weight off her. After discharging three more rounds, Drucinda tossed her weapon aside, yanked Paige to her feet, freed the stacker from her back, and drew yet another gun for herself.
She offered Paige a nod before she returned to her work, kicking out a leg to down another vampire before she ended his life.
Paige swallowed hard as she aimed the weapon at a vampire across the cavern.
With her shoulders squared, she leveled the barrel and squeezed the trigger.
Multiple pointy wooden stakes flew from the weapon, which shot like an automatic assault rifle.
The force of the recoil sent the weapon flying back into her body.
With her arms flailing to keep her upright, her aim went wide.
The stakes smacked against the icy ceiling before crashing back to the floor around her.
She lost her balance battle a second later, splatting onto the ice on her backside. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she grumbled as she struggled to turn over and climb to her feet in her thick snowsuit.
Her boots slipped and slid across the slick surface, and she crashed back to the ground, smacking her chin and knocking her glasses askew. “Damn it.”
She straightened her glasses and pushed against the cold surface below her. A boot pressed into her back. She twisted to find a Transylvanian grinning at her as he leveled his weapon.
“I don’t think so, pal,” Devon said, grabbing the vampire by his collar and hauling him off her before he tossed him across the ice.
Paige clambered to her feet, keeping a tight hold of the staker. As her feet slid, her finger squeezed the trigger too tightly, sending another barrage of stakes across the room and blowing her backward onto her backside again.
Drucinda whipped her up to her feet again. “Watch what you’re doing, darling. The goal is to hit the vampires.”
“This stupid thing has a hair trigger.”
“Hardly,” Drucinda answered, her bicep flexing as she squeezed off several more rounds. “In any case, it looks like they are retreating.”
Paige swung to stare at the cavern mouth. Vampires burst into bats, flying into the snow outside and disappearing. She collapsed to sit, blowing out a long breath and sinking her head into her hands.
Devon hurried toward her, dropping to his knees and sliding across the icy floor toward her. “Paige, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“The only thing bruised is my ego, thanks.”
“What we should be thankful for is that I didn’t give you a more powerful weapon,” Drucinda answered. She snagged the piece of crumpled canvas from the ground and held it up. “Well, this won’t do. You’ll have to bunk with me and Thorn.”
“We can make the tent work,” Paige said as she struggled to stand again.
“Are you blind? Wait, don’t answer. You are nearly blind. But your glasses appear intact.” Drucinda thrust the fabric toward Paige, poking a finger through the hole. “This will not keep you in any way protected from the elements.”
“Plenty of room in my tent,” Devon said, with a grin.
Paige tugged the fabric from Drucinda’s hand and balled it before she tossed it away. “I’ll share with Drucinda.”
Dewey stowed his weapon in the holster. “I hate to rain on everyone’s ice parade, but should we even be sleeping? Those vampires are not going to slink off into the near night and leave us to the cave and the Bronze Ring.”
“I doubt it, though we can rest for a few hours.” Drucinda eyed Paige from head to toe. “You need it.”
“But the–”
“I have an ultraviolet perimeter. We’ll set it up so they can’t enter the camp.”
Dewey huffed and crossed his arms. “Umm, they can shoot through it to kill us, though.”
“I’ll mask us. I’m not an amateur.” Drucinda scoffed and rolled her eyes before she stalked to her tent and grabbed her magic bag. She rummaged through it before she pulled out the materials for the ultraviolet perimeter and tossed one component to Devon.
“I can help,” Paige said.
“All right, Strawberry,” Drucinda said. “Take this one and go to the other side of the cave. Drive it into the ice, raise the eye to match Devon’s, then turn it on.”
Paige nodded and trudged past the discarded tent. She wrapped her fingers around the pole and stabbed it toward the ice floor. It skittered off, bouncing back into the air. A few fragments of ice broke away. She cursed under her breath and tried again.
The spike at the bottom of the post refused to break through.
“Let me…” Devon called.
“No, I’ve got it,” Paige said as tension built in her temples.
Drucinda sauntered toward her, and Paige wrapped her fingers tighter around the pole. “I said I have it.”
“I have no doubt,” Drucinda said.
Paige chewed her lower lip as she lined up her aim again.
“If I may, though,” Drucinda said, holding out a hand, “you’re jamming it with your arms, which will get you nowhere.”
Paige flicked her an irritated glance. “Would you suggest I jam it with my feet?”
Drucinda fluttered her eyelashes and crossed her arms. “No. I would recommend that you brace with your legs before you dislocate your shoulder joint.”
Paige gritted her teeth and prepared to slam the pole into the ice for a fourth time. Reluctantly, she eased her legs into a squat to brace herself before she hurled the pole downward. It cracked into the ice, splintering it and driving down to wedge itself in the ground.
The corners of Paige’s lips turned up as she stumbled back a step, stunned by the result. “I did it. It worked.”
Drucinda grinned at her. “I knew you could do it. You just needed to understand how. Now, loosen the bolt and pull the optical eye in line with Devon’s, then flip the switch.”
Drucinda stalked back across the chamber as the ultraviolet light burst across the cavern.
She dug around in the bag and pulled a shiny yellow crystal from within along with a tripod holder.
With the crystal set on top of it, she tapped the center.
The image of the tents skittered before dozens of them appeared, constantly shifting.
The two actual tents were never among the representations visible.
“Now, we’ll be safe,” Dewey said.
“But how will we find the tent?” Paige asked, rubbing her temples as the image in front of her constantly changed.
“Just step past the crystal, and you’ll see them,” Drucinda said.
Paige inched her way toward the tripod, sidestepping another canvas covering that appeared as she walked. When she stepped around it, she found only the original two tents were visible.
“Neat,” she said, with a slight smile. “Let’s hope that does the trick.”
Drucinda unzipped the flap of her tent and tugged it open. “It should. We’ll get a few hours of rest before we begin our search.”
“I’m okay if you want to start–”
Drucinda narrowed her eyes, snapping her gaze at Paige. “These caves are filled with ice panthers. They are excellent hunters. We must be at our sharpest to survive them. Not to mention the vampires who assuredly will return.”
“Okay, I just didn’t want to hold us up.”
“You need to learn patience. It’s not always best to rush forward into things without preparing.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Paige said with a wrinkled nose as she ducked into the tent.
Drucinda tossed two sleeping bags inside, then wagged a finger at Paige. “Don’t give me lip. I almost was your substitute mother, and I certainly would have taught you these things.”
“I feel like the nuns did okay with the whole patience is a virtue message,” Paige answered as she poked at her glasses and unrolled the human-sized sleeping bags.
“You do realize they were not only nuns, right?” Drucinda asked as she climbed in after Paige.
Dewey buzzed into the tent, followed by Thorn. “What do you mean?”
“They are angels.”
Paige froze as she tugged her right boot off, her eyes going wide. “Like, angel-angels? From heaven?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Paige. Those kinds of angels don’t live on Earth.” Dewey rolled his eyes as he situated his tiny sleeping bag and snickered.
“Well, she said–”
“Earth angels,” Drucinda answered. “They’re similar to librarians, really, though they do not collect artifacts. They only protect the general population from the supernaturals.”
“So…” Paige slouched back, fiddling with her glasses again. “They knew? They knew about my mom?”
“Yes. They knew. They tried to protect her from the Lich.”
“Why did they never tell me?”