Page 25 of Destined for Shadows
Cori rubbed her face. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“I could give ya a ride,” Bambi offered.
The thought of sitting in a car with the troll—who probably didn’t drive much faster than she walked—didn’t sit well with Cori. “Thanks, but I should probably call Melena. She made me promise to tell her if anything happened again.”
“She said the same ta me,” Bambi said, nodding.
Cori pulled out her cell phone, keeping an eye on her surroundings just in case Griff was still out there and planning an encore.
Melena answered on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing good,” Cori replied, then filled her in on the details.
“That bastard,” Melena cursed. “Give me a few minutes, and I’ll have someone there.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna call a friend to tow the truck in the meantime. It’s going to take a while to fix this mess—if I’m lucky.” Cori had yet to take full stock of the damage, but she suspected there was more she hadn’t noticed yet.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, but I promise I’m working on it.”
Cori paced back and forth, trying really hard not to let this latest catastrophe get to her. “It’s not your fault, but I appreciate the help.”
“Five minutes and someone will be there. Keep Bambi close until then,” Melena ordered, hanging up.
Cori immediately called an old high school friend to tow her truck who promised he could be there in twenty minutes. She didn’t tell the guy she knew who’d done it. Once again, she didn’t want to get into that conversation. If all went well, Griff would eventually be dead for good and then she could put the whole mess behind her.
True to Melena’s word, a double flash of bright light appeared almost exactly five minutes after they’d ended their call. Cori had barely put her phone back in her purse. She was surprised after her eyes adjusted to find Bartol and a man she vaguely recognized standing there. He must have been the nerou she’d seen outside yesterday on her way home.
Bartol stared at Cori for a moment and then over to her truck, taking it in. “Your ex is going to be dead after I find him.”
He said it with such coldness that she was a little shocked. That kind of emotion required having feelings about a person, but surely he didn’t care about her that much. She’d have to think more on that later when she wasn’t standing next to her ruined truck that her vampire ex-husband had defaced. “Not if I hack his head off first.”
Bartol’s golden eyes shimmered. It was almost as if he dared her to get in his way.
The nerou with the purple eyes walked around the vehicle and stopped at the spot where it had been spray painted. “And I thought I made people angry.”
“Who are ya?” Bambi demanded, glaring up at him.
“You can call me Tormod,” he said, starting to reach out a hand toward the troll before he caught her scent. He stuffed his fist into his jeans pocket instead. “Bartol is training me.”
She sniffed at him. “Ya got demon blood in ya, boy.”
“Every day except Friday.”
“Hmmph.” She waddled forward and poked him in the stomach. “I bet ya’d still taste just fine.”
Tormod’s eyes widened, and he quickly scooted away from her. “What…what is she?”
“A troll,” Bartol replied. Since his arrival, he’d been smart enough to keep his distance from her. “I take it you have not heard about them yet?”
“No.” Tormod shook his head.
“Well!” Outrage filled Bambi’s features. “I’ll be talkin’ ta Lucas about that tomorrow. Thinks he can be racist and leave us out of his trainin’ as if we ain’t important enough ta learn about.”
By the look in the troll’s eyes, Cori didn’t envy Melena’s husband at all for that conversation. Lucas would be lucky if he walked away with all his limbs intact, and hopefully, he wasn’t susceptible to rabies.
“Do you sense anything nearby?” Bartol asked Tormod.
“No.” The nerou’s brows knitted together. “At least not anything within the nearest block or so, but Emily’s range would be a lot farther if we could have brought her out here.”
