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Three days later Mia wasn’t sure what to bring for this upcoming scouting mission that Tiber had finally relented and agreed to let her go on. He’d waffled a bit, but in the end, he wanted her with him.

And she could paint anywhere. Since she’d be basically stuck at whatever basecamp he set up with the small group of warriors that were following after the others who’d gone ahead, she didn’t want to get bored.

He’d told her that she could bring as much as she wanted, but she still had to be mindful about how much he could carry. Which… was probably a lot.

As she folded up another thick, wool tunic she paused at a sound downstairs. Jonothon had said he might stop by to help her.

“Jonothon?” she called out, stepping from her bedroom into the hallway.

Though soon, this wouldn’t be her place anymore because she was moving in with Tiber officially.

She’d miss this cozy cottage that had become her home for a while, but Neptune had made it clear Tiber’s place (and Ilmari’s presence) were far superior so at least her cat was happy.

When no response was forthcoming, dread settled low in her abdomen. Likely an overreaction, but after being threatened for months, then kidnapped by her ex a few days ago, she was allowed some paranoia.

Moving quickly, and only feeling a little paranoid, she unzipped the small cache of poisons Tiber had given her, then dipped the small blade he’d also given her into two of them because she couldn’t remember which was which.

Pink would paralyze and eventually kill and the green one… maybe kill? Craaaap, what did they do?

Feeling only a little foolish, she moved quietly to the window and looked outside to see if anything was out of the ordinary. It was midday so she wasn’t surprised to see the grassy area between all their residences empty. Everyone was likely working or in some cases, napping.

In about an hour people would start trickling outside to take breaks or eat, but until then… She moved away from the window, keeping the blade clutched down by her side as she weighed her options.

Someone was here.

Not Jonothon, or he’d have answered her.

Heart in her throat, she eased open the bedroom window even though it was freezing, and pushed the curtains outside. They flapped with the breeze, and she hoped that made it look like she’d climbed down from the second floor.

Which she would do if she could, but it was too high up. She’d break something if she tried to jump and then she’d be sitting prey with broken bones.

Trying to keep her breathing steady even though her pulse was racing, she moved to the other side of her room and heard a squeak on the stairs.

She ducked behind her open doorway as a shadow flitted past her door.

Clutching the handle of the blade tightly, she waited as the intruder stepped further into her bedroom. The footsteps were quiet enough, but she could sense the movement and took a chance to peek around the door.

A tall, hooded figure was standing by the window, peering outside.

Mia could either stay behind the door and hope she wasn’t discovered or try to sneak out of here.

When the hooded figure leaned out a bit more as if they were going to climb out, she decided to just go for it and eased out from behind the door without touching it.

She stepped silently through the doorway and into the hallway but must have made a sound because the figure suddenly turned.

All she could see was the glowing red eyes of menace before she sprinted down the hallway, screaming as she ran. With the window open, she could only hope someone nearby might hear her.

Otherwise, she was on her own.

As she reached the end of the hallway, the intruder barreled into her like a football player, sending her flying toward the top of the stairs with a scream of her own.

Her attacker was a woman.

Mia cried out in pain as she slammed against the stone wall, then slumped onto the landing with a thud, her bones bruised from the impact. Everything was hazy in front of her as she blinked, tried to regain her senses.

Fingers with sharp nails wrapped around her neck, wrenched her to her feet.

Mia struggled, trying to pry the claws from around her neck. The tall female’s hood slipped off her head, revealing the blonde who’d always been friendly with her.

Fjola!

Pain pierced Mia’s throat as she struggled to hold onto her blade.

“You killed the male I love,” Fjola snarled. “He would have come back to me, he always did! But you ruined it.”

Mia clawed at the woman’s hand, trying to kick out at her, but Fjola just laughed as she squeezed harder.

Shoving out with her other arm, Mia swiped at the vampire, slicing through the woman’s hood and tunic, making contact with her skin as she tried to impale her somewhere. Anywhere . If she could even just slow her down and get away.

Fjola looked down suddenly, laughed maniacally as she batted the blade out of Mia’s hand. It clattered to the floor with a finality she felt to her bones.

This was it. She was going to die.

“You can’t do anything right! I have no idea what he ever saw in you. And if I hadn’t helped him sneak back in with that vanishing spell…” She blinked suddenly and the grip on Mia started to loosen as the blonde stared at her, open-mouthed, her eyes now amber instead of the maniacal red.

Mia kicked at the woman again and this time, Fjola let go completely as she crumpled onto the landing with a groan.

Sucking in bucketfuls of air, Mia hurriedly crawled over her, trying to get to the stairs. As she managed to make it over the prone woman, she felt her strength returning with each clear breath.

Behind her, Fjola gasped wildly, clutching at her throat as she rolled onto her back. Her skin had gone a pale gray as she seemed to disintegrate in front of Mia.

She must have nicked her with the poisoned blade.

Forcing herself to move, Mia picked up the fallen blade but couldn’t stop staring as the female continued crumbling into nothing but ashes.

As she finally pushed up to her feet, her front door burst open.

She raced down the rest of the stairs to find Tiber racing in, eyes wide.

“She’s dead,” Mia managed to rasp out through her bruised throat as she dropped the blade. She didn’t need it anymore. “Poison.”

He moved faster than she could track, scooping her up and carrying her out of the house with a gentleness she hadn’t expected.

Later she would ask him how he’d known or why he was there, but for now, it was over. Or she really hoped it was.

And she’d saved herself this time.