Roundtable Nights by Theophilus Monroe

Author:Theophilus Monroe [Theophilus Monroe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theophilus Monroe
Published: 2024-04-24T00:00:00+00:00

10. Vegan Vendettas

I stifled another yawn, my eyelids heavy like lead curtains. None of us had slept more than a couple of hours, and after what happened to Sloane, we were too afraid of the nightmares the mares might bring.

And the monsters that they’d materialize.

Sloane was taking a turn examining the Bestiary, brushing up on mare lore. It was a lot easier to let her read it for herself than play a game of twenty-questions. Especially when I knew most of the questions she’d have I wouldn’t have answers for. Everything any of us knew about these creatures was in the book or discerned from Merlin’s dream.

Emilie’s voice cut through the fog in my brain. “We can’t go on like this. One sleepless night is manageable, but if this goes on more than a night or two, we’ll be useless against whatever Blackwood throws at us.”

She was right. Already my thoughts moved like molasses, my reflexes dulled. And I hadn’t even missed a complete night’s sleep yet. If we didn’t rest eventually, we’d be sitting ducks.

“If it comes to that,” I said, “we’ll sleep in shifts. These mares, so far as we can tell, have to become visible to engage a host. That means if there is a mare that Blackwood is sending after us, he’ll be walking his little monster right into our trap.”

Emilie nodded, determination in her eyes. “But tonight, I don’t know if I could sleep no matter how tired I am. Too many thoughts running through my mind.”

I nodded to Emilie, hoping I looked more confident than I felt. We had a plan, flimsy as it was. Sleep in shifts, keep watch for trouble. Simple enough, except nothing was ever simple where Blackwood was concerned.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I fished it out, glanced at the screen. Ned. Of course. Blackwood must’ve figured out he was with us—probably from the cameras in his building.

I’d told Ned to go home after that ordeal and get some rest. I told him I’d contact him the next time a case came up with something we needed to track. That he texted me in the middle of the night could only mean one thing.

“It’s Ned,” I said with a sigh.

Sloane raised an eyebrow. “This late? Did he have a nightmare, too?”

I rubbed my brow, trying to make sense of his text. Between autocorrect errors and his backwoods lingo, it was a challenge. Thankfully, having lived in the Ozarks for nearly a decade, I could translate hillbilly. “He says he was attacked by an angry mob of vegans.” I paused, shaking my head. “Now they’re outside his house protesting his bacon.”

“An angry mob of... vegans?” Sloane looked at me with a cocked eyebrow. “Protesting outside a single bacon-eater’s house in the middle of the night? That can’t be real. It has to be the mare.”

“And it fits Ned’s—” I cleared my throat. “Unique psychological profile.”

Sloane shook her head. “Not my nightmare. I mean, what’s scarier? A mob of pissed off vegans or vampires?”

I chuckled.

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