Mia's Return by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online Page A

a
cross-bladed motion much like a pair of giant shears. In the eight
months since the Grimoré war had begun, only Diego found much joy
in the constant incursions of the vampeen in the human cities and
spaces.
    Lindál and Zachariah worked grimly,
more a team than either of them realized, despite being physically
apart. They worked more effectively than Diego’s random slaughter.
Despite their combined inroads into the vampeen numbers advancing
down the alley between the trucks and Dumpsters, they were forced
to fall back steadily toward the lane the alley opened into.
    Lindál glanced at Zachariah. “This is
wrong,” he said. “They’re too strong.”
    “They’re fighting in formation, like
they’re trained. Diego, watch out!” Zack jumped forward and so did
Lindál, both of them dealing with a vampeen, protecting Diego’s
back.
    Diego whirled, surprised. “They’re
getting smarter,” he commented as he realized what the vampeen had
been doing. “Thank you, my mutant friend.”
    Lindál nodded his head stiffly.
    The three of them blocked the alley,
studying the vampeen as they snarled and drooled and gathered to
charge once more.
    “I’ve never seen them do that before,
either,” Lindál said. “Pull themselves together for a charge.”
    “Lindál, Zack, Diego,” Seaveth said
quietly. “We have your backs.”
    Lindál glanced over his shoulder.
Seaveth stood directly behind them, dressed ready for combat in
boots, leather pants and jacket. Behind her ranged a full elven
troop, in human garb. She had called the elves with her mental
shout and had them teleport her here, sensing something was
wrong.
    Snow touched Lindál’s face. He resisted
the need to turn his face up to it. Not now.
    “Who the hell is that ?” Diego
breathed, pulling Lindál’s attention back to the vampeen. Behind
the seething mass of vampeen was the shadow of a very tall man,
nearly seven foot high. He was dressed in black and had the whitest
skin Lindál had ever seen. The paleness wasn’t from a lack of
sunlight. It looked more like the guy had been immersed in liquid
for eternity. The paleness was unhealthy and made Lindál uneasy
just looking at it. The creature’s eyes were red-rimmed and red at
the core, with black irises.
    “Those that need a reference for me
have called me Helidoro, in the past,” the creature said. Its voice
issued from its mouth but the lips did not synch with its words. It
shifted in space, like it was slipping out of phase with the real
world.
    The elves behind Seaveth muttered and
Lindál felt his heart grow colder. Helidoro, the agent for the
Grimoré. His name had been written more than once in the ancient
manuscripts and books Zack had been poring over lately.
    “I see you know the name. Good.”
    “You have something to say, or you
would not have engineered this moment,” Seaveth said. “Speak,
creature.”
    Helidoro inclined his head. “It is a
wise queen who sees a moment for what it is. I bring you an
opportunity.”
    “And that is?” Seaveth said with a
chill in her tone Lindál had never heard before.
    “Stand aside. Let us take what we seek.
Offer no hindrance and we will leave you in peace, you and your
kind. If you do not, we will regrettably annihilate you all.”
    “What is it you seek?” Seaveth
asked.
    “The puny ones on this planet. Fodder
for our mills.”
    “I am one of them, Helidoro,” Seaveth
said.
    “Ah…but no longer.” His mouth stretched
in an expression Lindál realized was supposed to be a smile. “We
are aware of many things, yes? Just like his kind began as ’human’
too.” He lifted a long finger to point at Zachariah.
    “What is your purpose, Helidoro?”
Seaveth asked.
    “Purpose?”
    “Your role?”
    “Ah. In this case, to carry a
message.”
    “Our role, in any case and at any time,
is to protect humankind. We will not abandon that role. Tell your
masters that threats just make us more determined. They have to be
smarter than