She sighed, responding so sweetly.
Until they heard straining noises coming from the back.
Carrow pulled away with a sheepish smile. Then she called out, "Do you need some help, Ruby?"
In an exasperated tone, she replied, "I told you I could do this."
Hunched over and huffing with exertion, the girl dragged out the pack. She hauled it to his feet, then stood fully, placing her hand on her lower back. Her face was bright red from the effort. "I packed it for you!"
"Am I ..." He cleared his throat. "Am I to come, then?"
Ruby frowned, glancing from Carrow back to him. "Duh."
"What a great job, baby. Now, go grab a couple of lucky shells for our trip."
As soon as the girl had left, Carrow wryly said, "There might be a dead fish in there 'in case you get hungry.' "
Now that his panic had eased, his ire grew. "Where do you think you are going? The plan you laid out was for me to search."
"I had a premonition that something bad is coming here. I don't know when or how, and it could be hours or days. But we've got to leave. We'll keep to the trees to avoid the sun, and we can travel through the night, but we're running out of time." When he said nothing, she added, "Look, if you don't believe me, you can ask Ruby - "
"I will go with you."
"You will?"
He could see now that he had no choice but to go. Just as she'd said last night, the witch didn't have to wait to get home to leave him. She could do it just as easily here.
And he couldn't keep her and the little one prisoners forever.
Carrow's eyes lit up. "Y-you trust me?"
Malkom ... didn't. He'd finally realized he was incapable of trust - short of some kind of irrefutable proof that he was never going to obtain. But the alternative to leaving with her was losing her, so he would choose the lesser of two evils. He would make this leap. "I want to return to your home with you and Ruby."
"You're going to be so happy with us! I promise you."
While she was delighted, he was filled with misgivings. He'd been given too fine and good a female. One he could never believe would truly love someone like him. Fate's cruelest jest so far -
A clanging sound rang out. The pots hitting each other. Carrow's eyes went wide. His fangs sharpened.
"Ruby!" she screamed, sprinting outside.
Chapter 45
As Carrow ran for Ruby, Malkom faced off against the intruders at the neck of the peninsula, waiting for them to reveal themselves.
She'd just reached Ruby at the beach, snatching the girl into her arms, when the creatures swarmed into their sanctuary, a ravening tide of fangs and insatiable hunger.
Wendigos. With their dagger-like claws and emaciated bodies, their clothes ripped to shreds. Already their rancid stench pervaded the area.
There were scores of them. More than La Dorada had with her. Their sheer numbers overwhelmed Malkom's traps. How could there be so many of them?
The answer came to her as Malkom roared, charging them with a breathtaking ferocity.
They'd infected others, increasing their number.
To keep the beasts away from Carrow and Ruby, Malkom met them in the sun. Would he know they were contagious? "Don't let them touch you, Malkom!"
One scratch or bite...
"Help him, Crow!" Ruby's eyes were gleaming as she frantically tore at her collar. "We have to help him!"
Though he battled the Wendigos savagely - snapping their necks while dodging their claws - the sun was taking its toll on him. Soon he was surrounded.
I can't draw them over here, can't risk Ruby. "Stay here!" Carrow ordered her as she unsheathed her sword.
One of the beasts twisted its head toward them. It loped forward, fangs dripping. Twenty feet away, ten...
When it launched itself at Carrow, she ducked and sidestepped, swinging for the back of its neck. She beheaded it, but more turned toward them.
"No!" Malkom yelled. "No, here!" He provoked them to attack only him, yet still half the tide veered in Carrow's direction.
"You stay behind me, Ruby! If I get into trouble, run for the calm beach and get into the water. Do you hear me?" Carrow glanced back when the girl didn't answer. Ruby was slack-jawed.
A vampire had appeared behind Carrow - one with red eyes. Reeling in shock, she raised her sword. Just as she was about to swing, she realized he looked familiar. But she couldn't tell when he was shading his face, recoiling from the intense sunlight.
"Mariketa sent me to retrieve you. I am Conrad Wroth," he grated as his skin began to blister. "For hours, I've searched this island." He looked it, was sweating and dirty as though he'd traveled for miles. "I'm to tell you about the Mardi Gras float you hijacked?"
"Ah, Hekate, you're legit."
"Who is he, Crow?"
"He's been sent by Mari!"
The vampire's fangs had lengthened, his eyes darting. He hissed in pain as more blistering appeared. "I can't ... stay much longer, witch. And the beasts near."
"We can't leave without that demon over there!" Carrow pointed, but Malkom was so overrun they could barely see him. "Just bring him to us, vampire! Please." When he shook his head in a twisting, deranged kind of way, Carrow screamed, " Malkom!"
"Demon, over here!" Ruby cried.
As more Wendigos neared, Carrow raised her bloodied sword again, glancing over her shoulder. "Vampire, take the girl back to Mari! Send help to us if you can."
Another twist of his head. "I'm to return with you." Conrad snagged Carrow around the waist, picking up Ruby with his other arm.
At that moment, Malkom turned, caught sight of them. His eyes went wide, and he bellowed, "No, no!" He plowed toward them, but he was besieged....
"Malkom!" both she and Ruby cried.
Carrow reached for him, yet Conrad held her tight. When he tried to trace, she resisted him. "Malkom, hurry!"
The vampire's skin smoked, then caught fire completely.
Mariketa glanced around at the crowd that had gathered in the meeting hall at Andoain - a collection of factions from the fey to the Valkyrie, from the Lykae to the nymphs and more. Just about every species from the Vertas side was represented.
In the three hours since Mari had dispatched Conrad to retrieve Carrow, all these beings had heard about it. News traveling at a supernatural speed. Now anyone with friends or family thought to have been abducted had teleported, portaled, or driven here.
The gathering reminded her of a Super Friends meeting, except instead of the Hall of Justice, they'd descended on Andoain, with its ornate old couches, altars for tables, giant hearth, and even bigger karaoke stage. Nothing matched except for the coven's four professional-grade poker tables - and the spoof cauldrons.