Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
SLOAN
“My men are guarding the house now.” Kimberly sat in a massive chair behind an even larger desk in her office. “I’ve called all of them back. The sheriff’s office is empty now. They’re cleaning the backyard. We have to decide what we’re going to be doing now.”
“We?” Sloan caught the word the gargoyle had so discreetly inserted into her conversation. “You’re not pissed I beat the living crap out of you?”
Kimberly raised an eyebrow. She stretched with a wince as the bruises and cuts across her body reminded her of the hell she had just endured.
“A few hours in my stone form and I’ll be healed like nothing ever happened.
I’m not as fortunate as you to have an instant healing factor, but I manage.
” Kimberly drummed her taloned fingers on the desk in front of her.
By the many marks in the wood’s surface, this was a common occurrence.
“And I did say ‘we,’ any enemy of the crown is a friend of mine. By the looks of it, friends are going to be in short supply.”
“Thank you.” Sloan lowered her guard enough for her to take a seat in one of the two overstuffed chairs in the gargoyle’s office.
“Before we go on to make plans, I need to know if you’ve heard of a young man.
He’ll be traveling with two girls, one his own age and one a little younger.
They would have reached Term around the same time you caught the others. ”
“Can’t say that I have, but I can put the word out.”
“Thank you.”
“Do these lost souls mean something to you?”
“They’re friends, and like you said, friends are in short supply these days.”
“Agreed. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll want to bury your dead. You’re welcome to use my manor until we decide what’s to be done about the next attack.”
Sloan didn’t have to ask what the gargoyle meant.
She knew too well how the queen’s military operated.
If there was ever a move against the crown, it was met with a swift answer.
Within days there would be a much larger force sent against Term to stem the swell of insurrection.
Sloan shuddered at the idea of an army of vampire soldiers descending on the town.
But that was silly, wasn’t it? There would be no way the queen or her sister would be able to turn that many soldiers so quickly.
“I won’t leave you alone to fight the force that’s coming.” Sloan looked straight into the gargoyle’s grey eyes. “But neither is Term my home. If my other friends don’t show up, I’ll have to leave and search for them.”
“I understand.” Kimberly got to her feet with a wince of pain. “Term is not your responsibility, and I don’t expect any favors, but be sure a war is coming. The queen hasn’t been content to build wealth behind her walls; she wants more.”
“You won’t find any argument from me.” Sloan also rose with a similar wince. “I just can’t concentrate on a war now with the fate of my friends still in the balance.”
“You may have to.” Kimberly walked to the door. “I’m going to take a few hours to rest and heal. “I’ve already instructed my men to give you whatever you need. Mourn your loss and put your house in order. Tonight, we’ll discuss what needs to be done about the coming force from New Hope.”
Without another word, or even waiting to see what Sloan would say, Kimberly walked out of the room. She left the door open. Elwood’s sniffling could still be heard in the next room, along with Edison’s words to the small gnome.
“He was a great friend, Elwood, and we will always remember what he stood for,” Edison said, comforting his helper. “But chin up. We have work to do. He deserves a hero’s burial just as much as anyone who died in service to the crown.”
Sloan crossed a hall and walked into the room where she had first woken up from her head wound.
Edison was crouched down next to Elwood, wiping away the small droplets of sadness from the gnome’s face.
Sloan’s stomach twisted as she saw the red mark around Edison’s neck where she had twisted his collar.
“Edison,” Sloan began, trying to find words that didn’t exist. There was no excuse for her treatment of the inventor. “I’m so sorry, I had no right to lay hands on you. You’re my friend and?—”
“There’s no need to apologize.” Edison stood, raising his collar to hide the red marks around his neck. “I felt like doing the same thing. If there was any way to save him, I would have.”
“I know.” Sloan licked at her dry lips. She was barely able to think, let alone plan what was supposed to happen next. “We need to bury him. Ashley—is she all right?”
“More than you know.” Edison beckoned Sloan over to a window that overlooked the rear of the property.
He pointed to two figures: a woman and a wolf.
Everywhere around them the yard teamed with activity as Kimberly’s men cleaned up the dead soldiers.
All of them gave a wide berth to the woman and her wolf.
“I don’t know how much she’s capable of feeling since she doesn’t have a heart anymore.” Edison looked out through the glass as if he were speaking to himself. “I hope for both of their sakes there is something left in her that remembers her time with Aareth.”
Sloan held no regret in her heart for her hand in reuniting the pair. Her brief kiss with Aareth was nothing more than two lonely people looking for comfort, she knew that now.
“Let’s give them some time.” Sloan looked over to Edison. “I’ll prepare arrangements for the funeral. If you’re up to it, it would be great to get some answers as to what exactly is happening to me, and then what’s going on with Aareth.”
“Elwood and I are on the case.” Edison winked. “We’ll get to the bottom of why you’re able to stop a bullet with your skull, I promise.”