Read Online Three Slices by Chuck Wendig, Kevin Hearne, Delilah S. Dawson - Free Book Online

would serve if she could get in a lucky shot, but she wouldn’t get more than one.
    I couldn’t imagine that there would have been time to gather a large number of vampires here so quickly after sundown. We could be looking at two or three, no more—the surrounding population wouldn’t support any more. These had to have come from Gambela itself or perhaps Gore to the east. More would be coming in, though, if they thought they could delay me—and they could. They already had, because I couldn’t ignore them. My best option would be to deal with them as quickly as possible and then begin the tethering again, hoping that no more vampires showed up in the interim. Sighing in frustration, I halted the binding and stood, slapping at my jeans to get the dust off them.
    “I’d like you and Oberon behind the tree,” I said to Mekera. The trunk was easily wide enough to conceal them both.
    “They’ll know we’re there.”
    “I know, but they’re after me anyway and I want their eyes on the prize.”
    
    I know, buddy, but these guys are really fast and strong. If you try to fight them, you’ll get hurt, no doubt about it, and I don’t want that.
    
    I’ll do my best not to.
    They turned out not to be guys. The vampires were two women in loose-fitting robes that streamed behind them as they ran. But unlike the vampire that had ambushed us in close quarters, these two were far enough away that they could be dispatched easily. I triggered my charm of unbinding repeatedly as they approached, using it as a range-finding exercise. When it finally hit them about a hundred yards away, they both clutched their chests and did a faceplant. That allowed me time to unbind one of them, and once that was done, I made a macro out of it, changed the target, and unbound the other without ever having to draw my sword.
    Yes, the ancient vampire Theophilus had good reason to fear Druids. And had he left me alone and not declared that he wished to wipe us out for good, I wouldn’t be terminating all of his minions in an effort to get to him. My little mercenary scheme with the yewmen had only begun to balance the scales he tipped in the vampires’ favor long ago, and I had a long way to go before those scales were even, much less tilting in my favor. If those names and addresses locked up in a Canadian bank were of the vampire leadership—an offline, secure location for crucial information—then I could use them to wreak significant havoc. Especially if they included the whereabouts of Theophilus himself.
    “All right, you two,” I said, “let’s reset the clock. Camouflage back on. Fifteen minutes to departure. Let me know if you hear or smell any more coming.”
    Fourteen of those minutes were gloriously worry-free. Insects buzzed but didn’t buzz too closely to any of my orifices. Vultures figured out something had died nearby and were circling above the body of the thrall, a bit uncertain about our designs on it. And then a distant growl began, something unnatural that gradually became a motor.
     Oberon said.
    Mekera confirmed the Jeep sighting a moment later, and then its headlights stabbed into the darkness, leaving no doubt. I kept going with the binding, though, hoping we’d have enough time to slip away. The fact that they were coming in a Jeep rather than on foot suggested someone on board was not a vampire. More thralls, perhaps. Or it could conceivably be Werner Drasche in person. If that thrall had called us in at dawn, Drasche would have had time to fly here from most places in Europe.
    Oberon, get next to the tree now. We’ll be shifting before that Jeep gets here. Aloud, in between Old Irish phrases, I said to Mekera, “Get your stuff. Touch the tree. We’re shifting.”
    I didn’t see her do it since we were all in camouflage,