Free The Longest Night: A Drake Chronicles Novella by Alyxandra Harvey Page A

silence.
    The twinkly lights strung through the trees looked like frozen fireflies. In the backyard,
     Lucy’s solstice fire burned bright and cheerful in a ring of melted snow. Standing
     around the flames were Lucy, Nicholas, Solange, and Kieran. They were still as statues;
     the only movement was their wild eyes, flickering furiously and helplessly.
    “Hypnos,” Noah whispered from a tree branch, startling them. “And gasoline.”
    Aggie didn’t waste time cursing, though she thought of a string of words that would
     have shocked the proverbial pirates. “What happened?” she asked Noah.
    “I don’t know. I just got here. I was taking the high ground to see if I could follow
     the tracks in the snow.”
    “And?”
    “Too messy. Can’t tell.”
    Aggie motioned to Catelyn to take the left and for Paige to circle around the other
     side. She’d go straight to the center.
    Catelyn just stared at her. “Since when do we rescue vampires?”
    “Put it this way,” Aggie said, feeling a strange sort of pride. “You’re rescuing Lucy
     and Kieran. And the farm. This is our
home
. Are you going to let someone just attack it?”
    Catelyn finally moved and Aggie went to follow. Cal caught her elbow. “We need a plan,”
     he murmured in her ear.
    Aggie smiled at him, grim but confident. “I’ve got a plan. Courtesy of Lucy.” She
     ducked low along the hedges until she reached the tap at the side of the porch. She
     forced it open when the ice threatened to fuse it shut. She grabbed the hose and hauled
     it toward the yard, spraying water at the fire. The flames hissed and sputtered. Water
     clung to the snow in icy rivers. Solange shifted slightly, her dark hair falling over
     her shoulder. Gasoline stung the air, dripping from the end of her braid.
    Orange light flickered behind Aggie and she smelled more gasoline; this time it was
     burning.
    “Down!” Cal shouted a warning. Aggie dropped, twisting to the left. A flaming arrow
     flew past her right shoulder, singeing her sleeve. Cal leaped, moving so quickly her
     eyes stuttered to see him. He was a whirl of pale eyes and pale teeth clad in shadows.
     He plucked the fiery arrow from the air before it could slam into Nicholas.
    “Trap,” Nicholas croaked, fighting the lingering compulsion of the Hypnos. “Get out
     of here.” His eyes flared as he tried to move toward Lucy, but his body wouldn’t respond.
    Another arrow sliced the air.
    Aggie aimed the hose toward the back shed where the arrows were coming from. She turned
     the nozzle until the spray was a thin sword of ice water. There was a muffled shout
     and the farm dogs began growling and barking. They snapped at Fletcher’s legs, forcing
     him out of hiding.
    He was soaked and surrounded but he still had another arrow nocked to his bow. He
     held the tip down over a small fire burning in the metal barrel Lucy used to collect
     rainwater for the vegetable garden. It was partially hidden behind the shed, the light
     blending into the Christmas bulbs strung everywhere.
    “Gandhi, Van Helsing, stay,” Paige snapped. If they attacked Fletcher, he’d release
     the arrow and everything would burn.
    “Yeah, you keep them off me,” Fletcher said harshly. His hand trembled faintly. He
     hadn’t planned on getting caught.
    “You were wounded,” Aggie said, trying to hastily connect the dots before they turned
     into grenades and exploded in all of their faces. “I saw you. Cal
saved
you.”
    “A necessary evil,” Fletcher said. “To keep my cover intact. Until we were ready.”
    “We?”
Keep them talking
, Yen would have told her,
until they’re distracted, and then move in for the kill
.
You only need a second
. Of course, she’d been talking about vampires, not humans.
    “Whitethorn,” Fletcher said. The facade of the meek, quiet boy fell away. Fire traveled
     slowly along the hidden ropes. They burned blue, hissing as they seared through the
     snow. “It took me ages to get myself sent