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Ben turned to his old friend. “You don’t happen to have another set of clothes, do you?”
Deor shook his head. “Left it in my other fur coat.”
“I have something.” The offer came from the woods where Dreda hurried toward us followed closely by Cal and Edouard. She opened her bag and drew out a pair of clothes. “I thought you’d be needing this after your temper tantrum.”
Ben smiled and accepted the bundle. “Much obliged, Aunt.”
He hurried into his clothes as Deor’s ears twitched. He turned and scuttled to the edge of the woods just as some of his brethren arrived.
“Where is the beast?” one of them asked him.
“Flown into the sky during the last lightning shot,” Deor informed them as another large strike struck overhead. “I don’t believe it will bother us again.”
“But how did it come to be here?” another wondered.
“If I might intercede on this conversation,” Cal spoke up as he moved to join them. “I have an important matter to attend to with your king.”
Another wolf narrowed his eyes at him. “Who are you?”
“Emperor Callidus the Third of the Ortusia Empire.”
A dead silence fell over the crowd as the werewolves gaped at his imperial majesty.
Deor stepped up to fill the void. “He tells the truth. Our king is expecting him for an important matter and we must ensure his safety.”
“There is also a matter of dealing with those of the mountain clan,” Cal added as turned to Deor. “They attempted to interfere in official business by murdering me in the Pit of Sacrifices.”
Deor’s extra-bushy eyebrows crashed down. “I see. This is disappointing, but not unexpected. We’ll deal with them when we can. For now, let us hurry to Eall.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
I turnedto Cal and Ben and held out my broom. “Anybody want a lift?”
Ben nodded at Dreda. “My aunt will need it to keep up.”
Dreda glared at him. “I am not so feeble as-Ben!”
Ben had lifted her into his arms and set her on the broom which I had laid out. “Keep as close to us as you can manage.”
I nodded and climbed aboard. Dreda grasped the handle and glared at her nephew. “You will get such a spanking when we get home!”
Ben smiled and bowed her head. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The others climbed aboard the backs of the wolves and I hopped into the air. The wild interior of the woods proved too dangerous for my inexperienced hand, so I flew us low over the canopy. The storm smacked us about with its wind and rain, and I began to wonder if I would ever know what it felt like to be dry.
“What a terrible storm this is,” I heard Dreda mutter. “I will have to give a good slap to whoever made it.”
I turned my head around to catch her attention. “It was the Matriarch.”
Her eyebrows crashed down. “That crone? I should have known. Working for our foes, is she?”
I nodded. “The Belmonte family.”
A bemused, crooked smile slipped onto her lips. “So that’s the game. That family has always fancied themselves higher than they are.”
A sudden gust of wind nearly threw us into the tree branches. I pulled up just in time to avert disaster but another blast tossed us backward and into a full circle. My hands slipped on the wet wood and I was temporarily blinded by the rain as it pelted my face with more fury than before.
“We have to get down!” I shouted at Dreda before I dove into the trees.
