“Scratches?” She swallowed. Not Jake. Not him.
He shook his head. “No, no. Got lucky.”
She threw her arms around him, shuddering with emotion.
“Ren, I thought I’d lost you! Did the Lykae hurt you? Your dress . . . ?”
“No, he didn’t hurt me. He wanted to protect me.” To make me his own.
“Thank God.” Jacob leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.
She poured all her relief into that kiss, all of her hopes for a future with him. Make me forget the wolf.
Yet Jacob’s kiss was as chaste as a brother’s compared to the toe-curling chemistry she’d experienced with Munro.
Someone cleared their throat.
As she and Jacob drew back, her heart sank; they’d parted as easily as two opposing magnets.
Even his expression was puzzled. “How did you escape? Did you take down the wolf?”
Guilt flared as she recalled her questionable actions in that cave, right up to her last decision: Kneeling over him, the blade handle clenched in her white-knuckled grip . . .
When she nodded, Jacob didn’t look relieved—just the opposite. “We got a radio dispatch from the scouts. The newlings had them surrounded. The pack is on its way here tonight.”
“I know. I was at the outpost. The scouts are dead.”
“You shouldn’t have come back!” He gestured with his bad arm, wincing. “If that Lykae didn’t intend to hurt you, then you were safest of us all.”
She frowned at him. “I’m not missing this battle.”
Björn crossed his beefy arms over his chest. “There won’t be a battle. Too many to fight.”
“How many?” She gazed from one hunter to the next.
Jacob finally said, “The scouts counted thirty.”
Even with the promise of grenades, she’d worried about eleven! Those creatures must have turned unsuspecting humans. Or perhaps more of their number had arrived from the portals in the forest. Maybe Munro’s roar had brought more into that pack.
She considered not mounting a defense, testing the theory that newlings weren’t inherently vicious. But even if her hunters possessed the nerve to refrain from running or fighting, the villagers wouldn’t.
We have to stop our foes here.
Her battle plan had depended on a clear night, flames, and restocked ammunition, not a surprise tripling of enemy forces. But plans often changed, and circumstances flipped. Dynamic hunters lived to fight another day. So what could they manage with limited grenades, bullets, and time?
She addressed the crowd in a raised voice. “The number doesn’t matter as long as our defense is solid. This is what we’ve trained for.” Ren pointed to Björn. “The pitfall traps are finished across the field?” He nodded. “Can you get the trench fire to light in this rain?”
“With added petrol? Ja. In bursts.”
“It’ll have to do. Fill it to the brim and cover it with hay. Be at the ready with fire.”
Björn and his team hastened off to their position.
“We need to level the playing field, which means light.” Ren turned to Trish. “Get a crew and light up every vehicle.” Recalling Munro’s information about newlings, she said, “But don’t start the carousel till I give the order.” Trish and five other women charged outside.
Ren would bet the newlings had never seen a carousel. The lights and music should make them crazed; with luck, they’d run right into the camouflaged trench.
An idea came to her for more targets to distract the pack. Let’s excite our foes with the chase. “Olga, when the newlings are in sight, open the corral and release our horses into the forest.” She looked about to argue, but Ren said, “I’m sorry for it. Obey my order now.”
Olga nodded and hurried away.
“Sharpshooters, make every bullet count and have a sword at the ready. I need you on the Ferris wheel five minutes ago!”
Gunmen ran out of the tent.
“Anybody with empty hands, get bullets to the shooters. Save a rifle and some grenades for me, and someone grab my boots and sword.”
The rest of the hunters jogged off. Only Jacob and Puideleu remained.
To Puideleu, she said, “Your animals will be safest in their cages.” She’d thought about freeing them as well, but they might attack humans in their panic. “Will you radio the village? Tell them . . . tell them any lie you think might make them evacuate.”
“They’ve never believed anything we’ve told them before, but I will try.”
Nod. “Where is Vanda?”
“I left her sleeping. She doesn’t even know you were taken.”
“I need you to be with her. If she wakes, tell her I said I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.” Ren laid her hand on his beloved cheek. “Va iubesc pe amândoi.” I love you both.
With a meaningful look, he squeezed her arm, then limped away.
She and Jacob strode to the tent entrance. He stood beside her, her cherished right-hand man.
Over the strengthening rain, howls sounded. She faced him and murmured, “It’s showtime.”
FOURTEEN
Why can I no’ wake? Munro couldn’t lift his lids, much less his limbs. Despise magic!