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“Accurate,” Hawk said. “Lead on, Corbin.”

“Gotcha.” Corbin strode off, and if anyone looked closely at his shadow, or Hawk’s, well… He’d seen dragons who could totally blend in as humans. These were not those dragons. “Nice work, by the way, Orion. This is a great location to get to the basic coordinates we were given on foot.”

“Yay.” He wasn’t sure about any of this, for all he’d lied to Cullen that he was. He was used to picking up orphans or changelings and taking them back to the glade. And while he’d done his share of horning people and kicking and fighting and illusioning, vampires made every other kind of creature nervous and palm-sweaty.

They really were a scourge, as Hawk said.

Corbin marched, and he was wondering, since Corbin was so connected to the earth, if he could feel the vamps in it like a rotten spot in said moldy fruit. Like if it would be like a beacon to him. Orion could do that with the babies who needed saving. The magical beings who were lost and forgotten. They stood out to him like those spotlights that split the sky back and forth to advertise a movie premiere or a big sale.

Stopping, Corbin held out a hand as if to keep them from being thrown forward in a moving car. He kept his voice low when he said, “There’s a cave about three hundred feet ahead of us. If you look to the right of the big batch of brush…”

He squinted, and now that he was looking for it, the entrance to the cave was obvious. Hawk would probably just fit as a human.

“Strategy?” he asked, keeping his voice low as well.

“We get in, we get the elf, we get out,” Hawk said. “They’ll be sleeping, but they will have human guards, and as we know from Poe, they might be able to wake up if there’s an emergency and they can stay out of the light.”

Orion had met Poe and Cade in the dragonlands. Poe had lived in the human realm a long while.

“Well, you could lava them,” Corbin said. “If we were all out of the way.”

“If there is a way, then you can rest assured I will.”

“Good deal. I’ll go in first. I can also flashy thing them with my natural light,” Orion murmured.

“Onward, then.” Corbin moved much stealthier then, and he was like a vine that was moving, or a leaf that was twitching, even in his human clothes. It was pretty cool.

So he moved on, and Hawk made no sound behind him. Honestly, dragons were amazing hunters. Unicorns were more the run in and glow types.

Maybe that was why all the old tapestries showed them in a pen, even if their horn was buried in something.

They made it to the mouth of the cave, and Hawk stopped them, easing up to the front to check, presumably, for guards.

Suddenly Orion heard something ringing in his head that was a touch dizzying.What was that?

What was what?

Did you not hear it? It’s like a bell, I think? Something weird…

Hawk arched one eyebrow.Look, if you’re going to panic, we’ve got a real problem. You’ve got to relax.

I’m not panicking. I hear something.

Corbin was moving into the mouth of the cave and just leaving them behind.

What’s he doing?

He heard Corbin’s mental snort, and he told himself he was just worried because he was confused when he could hear this noise that he couldn’t ignore.I’m doing my motherfucking job.He’d never heard that tone from Corbin—this chilled, almost rumble, like two stones were creaking together inside Corbin’s head.Contrary to popular belief. I’ve been doing this for a very long time.

Hawk met his eyes. He could see the hint of shame there.Oh, I’m in so much trouble when I get home.

They followed Corbin deeper into the cave, his personal light illuminating the walls.

He could hear it, that noise. It was a bell. A light little bell—not like a tinkling, but not deep. Not a huge bell, just the tiniest little ringing bell that was calling to him, and he noticed his light was getting bigger.

What is wrong with you?Hawk stared at him.

I don’t know!