Page 38 of The Curse of Eternity (Descendants of Helsing #1)

“Quit it.” Daphne’s voice captured both mine and Drake’s attention.

He still held me while Daphne patted down her hair, which Winston seemed to have unapologetically ruffled.

Ducking his second attempt, she spun smoothly, practically dancing out of his reach with a wide smile on her face. “You have too much energy!”

Distracted by their playfulness, I stifled a yelp when Drake physically pulled me upright. The living room became a blur, solidifying as Drake’s grasp fell away.

“Thanks,” I murmured, and he nodded like it was no big whoop. Straightening out the hem of my sweatshirt, I regained some semblance of composure and snatched my new weapon off the table.

“This here is my old pal, Drake, and his lady friend, Maria.” Winston extended a hand, indicating us, and Daphne’s attention followed, but her gaze fell to rest on my worn combat boots. “They’re the ones I called you about.”

“It is nice to meet you, Daphne,” Drake said, again inclining his head instead of offering a hand to shake. “I am immeasurably grateful for your assistance.”

“Yeah, me, too.” My head bobbed while Winston locked the front door before joining us in the living room.

“It’s no trouble.” Daphne shrugged, her focus flitting across the room but never landing on anything—until she spied Tina.

The tabby cat was stretched out on a threadbare pillow by the fireplace, and the changeling strode over in a couple of loping steps.

Scratching the cat under the chin, she said, “Actually, and not to disappoint you, um, Drake, but it’s not really my help you’ll be needing. ”

“Then whose?” Brow furrowed, I glanced from Drake to Winston.

“That’ll be Atticus, yeah?” Winston seemed to accept Daphne’s noncommittal nod. “Daphne’s new to the whole ‘realizing she’s a faery’ thing, so your tour guide is going to be someone more experienced with the Summerland’s landmarks.”

“I carry two items of substantial personal, and historical value,” Drake explained, addressing Daphne despite her attention being on the cat. “Will this suffice?”

“Oh, yeah,” Daphne replied, focused on Tina’s twitching ears. “Atticus is flat broke, he’ll take anything you’ve got at this point. Doesn’t matter how far you’re going.”

“And he’s really willing to help us?” I asked, dubious, and Daphne glanced up to meet my gaze for a brief second before hers fell to my borrowed clothes. “I always thought faeries didn’t like humans much…”

“They are none too fond of vampires, either—usually.” Drake smirked, but it slid away to nothing when he faced Winston. “This ‘Atticus’ appears to be in dire straits, indeed.”

Daphne explained, “He keeps losing at the gambling halls. Some kind of swindling game where they throw down dice, and then have to guess the numbers in each other’s hand.

Anyways, he’s motivated, all right.” She looked up at the small golden clock over the mantle, and her brows pulled together.

“We should probably go as soon as you guys are ready. He won’t like being left waiting. ”

“He’s here already?” Were we really about to do this?

“Yep, I just left him.” Daphne gave Tina a forlorn, final pet, and the cat stretched with a parting mew before resettling on the ottoman.

“And we can actually get to Romania through this—the Summerland?” I asked.

“Not if you run out the clock.” Winston moved past me, his hands in his pockets when he stopped beside Drake.

“You’ll have to time your arrival just right.

Wait until daybreak so the imperials will settle down for their nap before you enter the fortress.

It might take you a few hours just to get through the Summerland, which gives the two of you a short buffer window, but not by much.

” His intense gaze was unwavering, deadly serious, and Drake nodded before turning to me.

“Are you prepared?”

Holding in a sigh, I grasped the machete’s handle tighter as I slid its blade into the sheath. “Ready if you are.”

“Someone’s going to have to hold onto you while we’re walking, by the way,” Daphne said, her words directed at me when she passed.

“Why’s that?” I moved to follow, bracing myself for the cold when Winston opened the sliding glass door to the backyard deck. He stepped outside first with Daphne in his wake, and Drake managed to keep pace at my side.

“There’s a kind of power in the Summerland.

Faeries call it ‘manna,’ but it’s basically everywhere.

Even in the air you’ll be breathing.” Daphne shrugged, her black hoodie and dark green cargo pants blending into the night.

“Faeries are immune to it, but for most full humans it causes a kind of, like, drunkenness. Makes it hard for them to function.”

“Oh.” Before I could wrap my head around that, I was brought up short when Winston held something out to me.

“You might need this.”

The gray and blue plaid patterned jacket looked thick, comfy, and I reached for its fleece-lined sleeves immediately.

I stuck the machete’s sheath into my waistband, and the material bumped against my thigh while I shoved my arms through the jacket. “You sure? You might not get it back.” After wrapping myself up in the renewed warmth, I wasn’t sure I would give it back.

Winston chuckled. “I can get another one. Can’t find another unicorn for Drake if you freeze between now and the fortress.

” The jab warmed my face, but Drake didn’t seem bothered.

Concern crossed Winston’s features, instantly smoothing into firm acceptance.

Drake placed his hand on Winston’s shoulder, and the brief contact seemed to be all the goodbye the two needed.

Kind of like how I knew Everly would forgive me for doing all of this, even when I wasn’t sure if my family could.

“Lead the way, Miss álvarez.” Drake gestured to the shadowed woods ahead, beyond the reach of the glow from the house’s windows.

Retrieving a cigarette from his pocket, Winston lit it up by the time we reached the railing. “Godspeed, man. Give ‘em hell.” His whispered words carried on the breeze, and Drake turned to flash a parting smile.

“Earlier than they will have anticipated, I expect,” Drake replied, and Winston’s calm cracked into a smirk.

“Thank you—” I began, but my gratitude toward Winston was cut short when my legs were lifted out from under me.

Squealing like a sissy, I clung to Drake when he picked me up like he’d done inside the Cneaz’s manor, bridal style.

Then he leaped over the railing, and weightlessness took me for about fifteen feet before he landed on Winston’s sloping back lawn.

Bearing my weight, he straightened up while gazing at me with amusement.

Daphne hopped over the railing in a similar fashion before lithely hitting the ground—only to fall onto her rump.

A mildly disgruntled noise came from Daphne as she stood, patting off her backside, and Drake lowered my legs until my boots reached the grass.

“What was that for?” I huffed, and Drake lifted his shoulders.

“I prefer not to dither with prolonged goodbyes.”

“It’s this way, guys!” Daphne called, already at the treeline, and I swallowed down my complaint about being hauled around like a sack of flour.

The crunch of dead leaves underfoot seemed especially loud in the dark while we followed Daphne deeper into the woods.

Maybe I was reading into it, but it felt like Drake walked closer than usual.

Then again, how often did we actually walk anywhere together?

Run away from bloodthirsty monsters, sure, we’d done that a time or two.

Our hands brushed when I stepped over some overgrown roots, but the contact was brief—probably accidental. Clearing my throat, like it would dispel my awkward feelings, I said, “I’ll try to get you back in one piece.”

Surprisingly, Drake laughed, and I frowned when his composure returned, but his curious smile seemed strained.

“I apologize. I ought to be the one reassuring you, not the other way around.”

“It’s the twenty-first century.” I shrugged. “My gender doesn’t make me any less heroic.” No matter what Andrew kept implying whenever Olivia or I joined a hunt…

“Yes,” Drake murmured, still bemused, “I am aware.”

“This is it.” Daphne halted before a very wide and extremely tall oak.

Hands on her hips, she hopped from one exposed root to the next, not once glancing up at the barren branches coiling up into the black night sky.

Whispered words passed her lips, foreign and too quiet to overhear, then she placed one hand against the trunk.

A low rumble reverberated underfoot. The packed earth between the trunk and two intertwined roots suddenly caved in. Desiccated leaves tumbled into the fresh hole spanning three feet across, falling out of view, and I let out a low whistle.

“Interesting entrance…” I peered over the edge, and my stomach dropped at seeing nothing but darkness below.

“I hope nobody minds getting their hands dirty.” Quick as the squirrel I’d glimpsed out the window earlier, Daphne sat and scooted to the ledge. Lowering herself into the hole, she grasped the root system beneath the surface to descend. Her head was at ground level when she glanced up, expectant.

I sat, groaning when my hands touched the cold earth.

Dirt got under my fingernails while I found my footing above Daphne’s head before following her down.

Aside from the gritty earth, it really wasn’t too different from rock climbing at the local fairgrounds when Caleb and I were kids.

Breath held, I dug my hands into the soil below to grasp the next hold.

“I will follow swiftly.” Drake crouched at the ledge above me. Determination set the stiffness to his jaw, but his brow pinched with concern. Offering up a weak smile, I nodded and continued down.