Hell's Bells...Part 3

“Yes, Sweetie, you’ll get a chance to ride on Betsy.” Ravyn looked up from Alexa to the disheveled Naomi. “Go get the things you’ll need for the next day or so. We need to get you two to the safe house. Don’t worry about getting dressed, there’s a full wardrobe for you there. I’ll watch her until you get ready.”

Naomi nodded glumly and shuffled off back towards her room.

Alexa bounded into Ravyn’s outstretched arms with a giggle and a flop of the raggedy stuffed bear.

I shifted my balance and spoke up. “What do you need me to do?”

Ravyn hugged Alexa, inhaling deeply of her essence before responding. “Stick by close by me until we see the girls off. We don’t know what we are facing just yet, and I want to make sure Alexa is safe.”

She sat back down at her desk and reached out to the business phone. She punched a couple of buttons, activating the intercom for the Coop. Her voice came through loud and clear over the hidden speakers in every room of the large house. “Attention this is a Code 3 emergency. Secure all doors and windows. Rally point is the Library in zero-five minutes. I repeat, this is a Code 3 emergency, rally to the Library in 5 minutes. This is not a drill people.”

I arched my brown and nodded. “I’m impressed.”

She shot me a sarcastic look. “Hey there, some of us actually make contingency plans for when things to go wrong instead of winging it.” She stood back up and pointed to behind the door. “Grab the bag behind that door, would ya?”

I turned, moved the door enough to see the black rucksack that I had never noticed before and reached for it, just in time to hear the glass breaking in several places around the house and the screams of shock and fear that accompanied those sounds…

Alexa’s voice cut through the other sounds. “They’re here!”

Ravyn’s curses were far more colorful and imaginative than mine were…