Hearing a screech from within the castle, their eyes widened.

"Is that?" Ris whispered.

Adley nodded, filled with fear. A minute or so later, Lyla appeared. She was running with the bag in her hand.

"Get in the truck, now!" Ris yelled.

The screaming continued, just one voice. It was a shriek that sent a shiver down their spines.

"What the hell is going on in there?"

"Lyla released Aneska. She's a sorcerer and one that's severely pissed off. We do not want to be here."

Lyla jumped when she reached the truck, grabbed by Adley.

"Go!" Diego yelled.

The doors were slammed shut, and Oscar put his foot down, speeding out of the estate. Lyla sat down on the bench next to Adley, Lennon at their feet, still out cold.

"He's going to hate us when he wakes."

Adley nodded with a grim look on his face. She sighed, pulling off the headgear.

"I didn't sign up for any of this."

"Yeah, life's like that when you're in his world." Ris offered. "But he'll get over it. Just have to weather the storm for a few days."

Diego watched on quietly, still fascinated that Lyla had changed her tune about vampires after losing Eloise to one. He didn't hold it against her. He didn't even think negatively about it. There was just a curiosity that he couldn't understand.

Curiously, her armour was misshapen. Lyla began unfastening it and revealed what was making her torso look odd.

"What is that?" Diego asked, reaching out.

Lyla slapped his hand.

"Do not touch the witch."

"Wait a minute," Ris drawled out. "We heard you in there. You released Aneska."

"No, I tricked someone into believing I did. We were being watched."

"By who?"

Lyla tilted her head, looking at Merissa with that, please tell me you're not that stupid look. Ris rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, okay. So, tell us how you made the screams without actually releasing her."

With a smug smile on her face, Lyla opened the internet on her phone and searched for the video she'd used.

"Charlton's got one of those home hubs in his office, searched this out and cranked it up loud. When I figured out that we were being watched, I knew that our leverage would be stolen if I just left her behind. And really, do we want to let her out?"

"No." Ris grumped.

She played the video, turning up the sound. It was a bird that sounded like a woman screaming.

"Hey, I've got them in my backyard," Diego said. "Really hard to see sometimes, but they're out there. That's some freaky noises, always gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"Yep. It was either buy me time to get out of there or to make them run. I'm hoping for the latter, but I don't like my chances."

She unclipped the empty chamber, putting both of them into the bag.

"They might go searching for her, but without a chamber, they won't be able to catch her. I want the world to think that she's out there, but they can't find her."

"What are we going to do with her?"

Lyla shrugged in response, unsure of what was right and what was the safest.

"She will bow down to a new master," Ris offered.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Adley said something. Lyla looked at him and saw a sympathetic werewolf.

"I seriously hope you're not suggesting that I let her go."

The werewolf smiled at the vampire sitting next to him. She'd heard him.

Shaking his head, Adley responded that he just felt sorry for her. Being trapped in a tiny box wasn't fair, and if she was released with Lyla as her master, then maybe she might be more subdued.

"I'm not sure if I want to take that risk."

Ris bit her lip with a wild smile on her face. She was listening to the banter going back and forth, no longer interpreting Adley's words for Lyla.

With a huff, Lyla resolved that the discussion about Aneska could not be concluded at the moment.

"So, what's been happening?"

"After we received your message, we sent a team to watch the club, the orphanage and Isaac's place. Nothing is going on. Well, that's what they said was going on. We figured you'd want to go after the other guy once this place had been dealt with, so we did a little on the road digging, managed to get our hands on the plans for the club. I've been looking at it on the way here."

"It's a labyrinth," Ris murmured.

Diego nodded, glancing at her for a moment.

"I'd wager that there's more to it than what the council knows about. The plans show that the basement area cuts off at the street sidewall and on the other side goes for several buildings. None of these buildings has access to the area, according to the maps. It's not accurate. We checked them all out and even the next one along, and they all have access points to the club basement. It would be safe to assume that it goes under the street on the other side. Unless you know differently?"

He looked at Merissa again. She pressed her lips tight with a smile.

"I do. The service pipes and sewer system run under that street, so the basement stops at the wall. Technically he shouldn't have access to the sewer system, but he does. That's his last resort escape route. It's also the route that Carson used when Gina died."

Lyla nodded solemnly.

"Lennon's sister died in a shoot-out at the club."

"Oh," Diego said softly.

"But she's not his sister. That file said that he was an only child. And, she had four fangs. Now that we know the meaning of it, it confirms that she was not his sister. I want to know why the orphanage lied about it."

The conversation ended when Lennon moaned about his head hurting. Adley thought that he'd hardly touched him, but the swelling had started to rise, and the bruise was already forming. He knew that Lennon was going to be really angry when he saw the shiner that was growing. Merissa offered a sympathetic smile. She knew that it wouldn't be much, but it was all that she could give at the moment.

*****************

Lesson Time!

A bird that sounds like a woman screaming? Couldn't possibly be true! Ah, my lovely readers, it is very much true. I know because I am blessed (or perhaps not blessed) to be kept awake at night by these darling birds. Between these birds, the frogs, the bats and the possums, it's a real circus at night!

These birds are known as the Bush Stone Curlew and if you're interested, you can read about them here > 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_stone-curlew

 and if you want to hear what they sound like, check out this video >  

https://youtu.be/qi1GX_VRaM0

and, if you love to look at baby things >

https://youtu.be/PLOr3bdre7A

We have a few living in our area and not that long ago, we saw a pair in the front garden of a house a few doors up from us. They are well camouflaged so finding them is not always easy!

Despite their eerie nocturnal cries, I do love spotting them.