Page 52 of Toadstools and Vampire Kisses

My cousin’s eyes slowly open and turn toward me, glazed with pain. Terrible lashes score down his face and chest, tearing into his waist coat and shirt, leaving bloody trails that stream down to pool beneath him. The worst is the enormous wound in his side where a chunk of his flesh appears to be torn from his frame. I grimace at the sight, familiar with the work. Few things created the sort of wound as the dragon gauntlet—except perhaps a live dragon. I have seen this wound too often on Titania’s victims as she toyed with them, torturing them for whatever secrets they might hold.

Jack coughs, a weak smile stretching across his face as his eyes roll up the branches above. “Fuck, Reynard, I knew you would get here eventually.” He squints. “But, gods, you are uglier than I remember. What happened to you?”

“An interesting reaction that I will explain later, but you are one to talk. You are in pitiful shape, cousin,” I reply, my eyes following the direction of ruin and the droplets of Jack’s shed blood from the gauntlet through the torn path leading off to my left.

“‘Tis only a flesh wound,” he gasps, choking on a laugh and groans at my confused expression. “Seriously, Reynard, you need to invest in a television. You are so woefully behind on cultural references that it ruins my fun.”

“And this is fun?” I retort, pushing to my feet. Since he is well enough to jest, I am not too concerned that he will expire on the spot. My ear twitches as I hear footsteps from outside the maze, the scent of Connor and Jace accompanying them. Relieved that they are on hand to care for him, I give my cousin my best scowl as I step back. “Stay here and try not to bleed out before Connor and Jace can stem the bleeding. You will probably need to be sent into sleep while you recover,” I add, anxiously heading toward the path punctured through the wall. “How long since Titania passed?” I call over my shoulder, and my cousin groans as he shifts to look over at me.

“Not long,” he rasps. “She has at most a ten- or fifteen-minute start on you. Just hurry. I sent them ahead, but I couldn’t delay her long,” he mumbles, and I look back at him from the edge of the path to see his eyes sliding shut in pain. “I tried, cousin. I swear it.”

“I know. You did well.” I swallow back the painful knot of emotion lodged in my throat.

Jack is the only real familial connection I have had since my mother finally took my father’s life and then her own so that she would not succumb to madness without him. It was only by lucky happenstance that I heard of him living here in America and sought him out. I cannot lose my only family now. Jack will survive, and soon I will have Fran in my arms. I blink over at Jace as he bursts into the maze. He looks over at me in relief, but his face pales as he spies Jack lying prone on the ground.

“Take care of him. Do not allow him to die or risk my wrath,” I order as I step onto the ripped-out path.

“On my oath!” Jace shouts back seconds before Connor’s shocked murmurs join him.

My mouth thins as I strike down the path ahead as fast as I can. I slow when I catch a concentration of Fran’s scent and my ears prick as I draw closer to a hedge wall. Could she have found a way to hide from the queen? It seems unlikely since Titania would have picked up her scent trail as easily as me, but there is no doubt that my mate stopped here.

I draw closer to the barrier, and I hear a soft, tearful whisper from the other side that claws at my heart. Without hesitation, I rend the hedge with my new monstrous claws, biting back the pain that lances my hands from the hawthorns scraping over my palms, but I ignore it. It is the frightened screams that nearly undo me, however, before I tear through the rest of the barrier and step inside.

Children recoil, crying, and an older girl holding the hand of the smallest of them stares at me with shock, her face drawn and pale with fear. My eyes sweep over them compassionately as I urgently seek my mate among their numbers, and my heart sinks when my eyes confirm what my nose told me the moment I stepped in. She is not here. She had, in fact, never even followed them back here at all.

She had sealed the children in alone to protect them while she led them away. My heart aches with both worry and with pride for the mate that I have found. She would not have given in easily, but she would have led Titania on a merry chase. There may still be time yet if she managed all this. It means that she had a plan.

“Come, come, hurry,” I call to them, gentling my voice as I wave them through the broken hedges. “It is time to leave and go back to your parents. Hurry now.”

The oldest girl pauses, her eyes narrowing on me skeptically as she hesitates, blocking the way of the other children behind her. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

I nod. “Just follow the way back out. You will see a pair of males tending to my cousin. They will accompany you back to the house as soon as they can.”

The girl fidgets uncomfortably. “The vampire who was helping hide us, he’s hurt?”

“Very much so,” I confirm.

She sucks her lips in worriedly but nods. “I-I can help him. M-my gift is healing. I can’t completely cure him but c-can get the wound sealed at least. I-I think.”

I breathe out a long breath and nod my thanks. “If you can do that much, then Connor and Jace can supply him with a little blood to put him into sleep. I will be indebted.”

Her shoulders square, and she gives me a withering look that so much reminds me of Fran that I could weep right where I stand.

“We’re f-family now. This is the way of the Durmont coven,” she informs me, and I restrain my smile as she herds the children by me. Her eyes slide up to meet mine only briefly in passing, and she grimaces. “I do hope you aren’t stuck that way, but knowing Fran I’m sure she’ll love it anyway.” She rushes off behind her charges along the indicated path as I bite back a laugh at a time when I feel the least like laughing.

Perhaps my Fran will love it. There is only one way to find out—but first I must deal with Titania. I am not certain if I have the power to kill her. I am strong, perhaps nearly her equal, but she has had years while I have slept to train and expand her knowledge. As I proceed to run along the winding path, I fear that the playing field will no longer be quite as level.

My steps speed as an angry shriek splits the air just ahead of me, my wings unfurling slightly to catch the air to send me quicker. I ignore the pain of the branches tearing at me, locking it down as I often did in battle as a fury descends over me at the ferocious sounds of the queen’s anger directed my vulnerable mate. If she is this angry, at least it tells me that Fran is succeeding in keeping her away.

I race along the remaining distance as the path hooks sharply to the right, my wings widening further, as far as they safely can. An eerie, green light spills down the path mere seconds before I emerge into a square clearing. The disconcerting hue is like light shining down through pondwater, turning the world above a vibrant, unnatural green for the one submerged. Rather than dance as it once did in the pond, this light writhes like a living thing, masses of coils shifting on themselves that even Titania seems to regard warily. And at its heart… my mate, with a nest of plant life twisting all around her body. I can see long stalks of hawthorn bending and whipping through the air, no doubt the source of Titania’s vexation.

I grin at my mate, trying not to look too closely at the bloody symbol cut into her hand so I do not lose what sense I have, and turn to consider the vampiress snarling among the plants that are attempting to weave around her. With Fran’s safety resolved in my mind, it is satisfying to watch my once queen fighting desperately to keep the maze from claiming her. With every plant that creeps close, she snaps her gauntlet at it. The claws slice through vines and brambles like they are nothing, but they fall only to be replaced by more. As I watch, she attempts to twist the shadows with her magic only for the plants to twist abruptly, breaking them. Not even sending out her withering spells causes more than minimal damage. It is not a sustainable situation for either female, both expending considerable power in their deadlock, but a smile curls my lips as I leisurely stroll into Titania’s view. Her eyes widen and she faces me, her fierce expression lighting to one of panic.

Ah, the corrupt vampire queen does so enjoy her games and manipulations.

I smile as I draw closer, staying well outside the grasp of the plants. I don’t even try to hide my satisfaction that justice shall finally be reaped as I eye her, raising my eyebrows as she reaches for me.

“Reynard, thank the gods. Quick, help me!” she cries out fearfully as she slashes at another and another reaching plant. A startled expression crosses her face when I do not make any move toward her. “What are you doing? I am your queen! I will even forgive you for everything if you join with me now. You will rule by my side. Just do not let her do this to me.”

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