Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(66)
Author: Kim Harrison

I heard his scramble up and over, watched his progress by following the eyes of the vampires left, listened and smiled at the pained huff of sound coming from the man he landed on.

"You two get the van started," the front vamp said, then touched his companion’s shoulder. "You’re with me."

The two vampires rushed me. Gasping, I flung myself over the railing, palms scraping on the cement. I landed on the vampire already down there, and he screamed in agony. "Sorry," I panted, then rolled off him. Twin splashes of sound told me the two vampires had followed me. Water soaked me, and heavy with it, I staggered up.

"Audric!" I shouted, then lunged to the small shadow hiding under the bridge. "Good boy," I said, pushing him behind me until his back was against the upward curving side of the bridge. He was shaking, and I vowed they wouldn’t touch him. Not if I had breath in me.

Kisten was shouting from somewhere, and over that was the faint wail of a siren. The vampires facing me here heard it too. They exchanged looks and grinned to show their fangs.

"Get my boy!" Sean yelled from the top of the bridge, and the two men with their feet in the water attacked.

"Oh, hell no!" I shouted, hitting the first one in the gut, but the second one had me.

Agony flamed in my arm as it was twisted backward, and someone’s breath was in my ear. "Got you now, witchy," that same someone said.

Feet almost off the rocky streambed, I hung in his grip, teeth clenched and straining. Before me, Audric fought like a child as the other vampire tucked him under his arm. This is not going to happen.

"Let me down!" I demanded, and the one holding me laughed. Right until I slammed my head back into his teeth.

Screaming, he threw me away from him. I hit the shore hard, my right palm catching most of the impact on a smooth rock. Pain flared to my skull. They were laughing. Audric was yelling in fear. Slowly I got up and turned around, one foot in the water, the other on the shore. Throwing me away had been a big mistake. Huge. Up to now, I was just a woman with a good roundhouse. Now I was a woman with a good roundhouse and a hell of a lot of magic.

"Idiot," I said, smiling grimly, and then I tapped the nearest ley line.

I was almost standing in it, which was good since it was hardly a line at all, weak from the manmade lake running right over it. I yanked on the line, demanding more, and the power surged as if the distant ends curled in on themselves, condensing. My fingertips tingled, and if my hair weren’t sopping wet, it would be floating from static. Something must have showed in my eyes because the one holding Audric paled. The sirens were getting closer, but they were not close enough.

"You first," I said, pointing. "Put him down or-"

He didn’t listen. I heard a van door open and someone shouting to hurry up. They both went for it.

"Consimilis calefacio!" I shouted, and a wave of steam rose up between them and the bank when a bathtub size portion of water flashed to boiling. I staggered at the draw of energy through me needed to do it, but they halted, shocked and surprised. Pushing myself up, I screamed, "Drop the kid, or I’ll turn your balls into apple dumplings!"

That they listened to, though I didn’t know the charm to heat living tissue. That would be a black curse, and despite what the papers said I was still a white witch. Audric cried out when they dropped him and he fell into the cool water that had replaced the evaporation. The vampires ran like bunnies on fire, up the steep embankment and out of my line of sight. The van peeled out with a scattering of stones, and I heard the wailing of an I.S. cruiser tear through the lot following it. Another followed close behind, and the distinctive sound of an I.S. radio added to the din.

"Audric!" Chrissie screamed, the heartrending sound tearing through me. She thought she had lost him. "Kisten, they have my baby. They have my little boy!"

I stumbled into the water toward Audric. Immediately my connection to the line, weak at best, dropped. Along with it went my strength. It was over. That fast, it was done. Smiling, I held my hand out to Audric, stunned and staring at me with wide eyes. "Come on, Audric," I said, holding my hand out.

Audric’s gaze went to the bridge overhead. "Look out!" he cried, and I jumped back, pulse jerking. Sean hit the shallow water in a belly flop right where I had been. Groaning, he levered himself up. Blood spurted from his nose and made a red stream. Gasping, I looked to see Kisten above me at the railing, smiling.

"Thanks," I said, shaking from the adrenaline spike, and he grinned wider.

"I’ve got your back, Rachel," he said. "Never forget that. I knew where you were the entire time." His eyes went to Audric. "Come on, Sport. Your mom’s about ready to have a cow."

I held my hand out to the little boy. Audric looked at it for a moment, then smiled. The soft feel of his fingers in mine was better than a letter of thanks from the head of the I.S. tower. He was going to be okay. They wouldn’t be back. The I.S. had showed, meaning we were under the grace of Piscary and were protected. Well, at least Chrissie and Audric were. I doubt very much that Piscary would let the I.S. save my butt, seeing as I was the one who put him in jail.

I pulled Audric up in a splash of water, and together we slogged our unsteady way to the opposite shore. "We’re down here!" I shouted, and Chrissie’s cry of joy was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

"Audric!" she exclaimed, sliding down the embankment and pulling him to her. His hand slipped from mine, and I felt an unexpected feeling of loss. I stood alone as she held him close, crying and rocking him as if he was back from the dead. On the bridge were two uniformed I.S. agents, weapons pointed at Sean.

The vampire pulled himself up out of the water, disgust in his every motion. Water dripped from him as he wiped the blood from his nose with a wet handkerchief, then he let it drop to float dramatically away into the deeper water. He glanced up at the officers, and waved bitterly to acknowledge their demand to get out of the water with his hands on the back of his head. Another officer waited at the shore, and the sound of the vamp-proof cuffs ratcheting close never sounded better.

"It’s a sad day when a master vampire uses a witch to keep his children safe," Sean snarled as he was led away, and my gaze shot to Kisten, still at the apex of the bridge. Sean thought I worked for Piscary?

I laughed, and the wary slant to Sean’s eyes grew deeper, more threatening.

Chrissie was making a very loud statement to the officer before her, using lots of adjectives and clutching Audric to her so tight that the little boy was squirming with little complaints. I slogged to the embankment, bone tired. Kisten was there, and he helped me up until I was leaning against the bridge support. I gingerly felt my arm for the bruise that was bound to show. So much for a quiet breakfast at the park.