And very pretty.
Ridley was leaning against a tree a couple of yards behind them, licking away at a lollipop. The Incubuses dematerialized, one by one.
“Who is that?” Liv noticed Ridley, oddly not that out of place with her pink and blond streaked hair, weird miniskirt with some sort of suspenders, and spiky sandals. She looked like a Caster Little Red Riding Hood, taking poisoned muffins to her wicked grandmother. Liv may not have gotten a good look at Ridley at Exile, but she was impossible to miss now.
Link's eyes locked on Ridley. “A real bad girl.”
Ridley sauntered toward us, overconfident as usual. She tossed the lollipop into the grass. “Damn, that really took it out of me.”
“Did you save us?” Liv was still rattled.
“Sure did, Mary Poppins. You can thank me later. We should get outta here. Larkin's an idiot, but Uncle Hunting's powerful. My influence won't last long on him.” Her brother and her uncle — a lot of bad apples had fallen off Lena's family tree. Ridley zeroed in on my arm, or rather Liv's arm wrapped around mine. She took off her shades, and her yellow eyes glowed.
Liv barely noticed. “What's with you people? It's always Mary Poppins. Is she the only British character Americans have ever heard of?”
“I don't believe we've been properly introduced, although I keep seeing you everywhere.” Ridley looked at me, narrowing her eyes. “I'm Lena's cousin, Ridley.”
“I'm Liv. I work at the library with Ethan.”
“Well, since I've seen you at a Caster club and now in a Caster Tunnel, I'm assuming we aren't talking about that hayseed library in Gat-dung. Which would make you a Keeper. Am I getting warm?”
Liv let go of my arm. “Actually, I'm a Keeper-in-Training, but my preparation has been quite extensive.”
Ridley looked Liv up and down and unwrapped a piece of gum. “Obviously not that extensive if you don't recognize a Siren when you see one.” Ridley blew a bubble. It popped in Liv's face. “Let's get going before my uncle starts thinking for himself again.”
“We're not going anywhere with you.”
She rolled her eyes, twisting her gum around her finger. “If you'd rather be my uncle's lunch, suit yourself. It's a personal choice, but I've gotta tell you, he has disgusting table manners.”
“Why did you help us? What's the catch?” I asked.
“No catch.” Ridley looked over at Link, who was recovering from the shock of seeing her. “Couldn't let anything happen to my boy toy.”
“Because I mean so much to you, right?” Link snapped.
“Don't look so wounded. We had fun while it lasted.” Link may have been hurt, but Ridley was the one who looked uncomfortable.
“Whatever you say, Babe.”
“Don't call me Babe.” Ridley tossed her hair and popped another bubble. “You can follow me, or stay here and try to take on my uncle by yourselves.” She stalked off into the trees. “The Blood pack will be tracking you the second I get out of their heads.”
The Blood pack. Great. They had a name.
Liv said what we were all thinking. “Ridley's right. If the pack is tracking us, it isn't going to take them long to catch up with us again.” She looked at me. “We don't have a choice.” Liv disappeared into the forest after Ridley.
As much as I didn't want to follow Ridley anywhere, getting killed by a pack of Blood Incubuses wasn't an appealing alternative. We didn't discuss it, but Link must have agreed, because we fell in line behind them.
Ridley seemed to know exactly where she was going, though I noticed Liv never put away the maps. Ridley cut across the meadow, ignoring the path, and headed for a cluster of trees in the distance. Her sandals didn't seem to slow her down, and the rest of us had trouble keeping up.
Link jogged ahead to catch up with her. “So what're you really doin’ here, Rid?”
“It's pathetic to admit, but I'm here to help you and your merry band of fools.”
Link stifled a laugh. “Yeah, right. The lollipops don't work anymore. Try again.”
The grass was higher as we neared the trees. We were walking so fast the blades cut against my shins, but I didn't slow down. I wanted to know what Ridley was up to as much as Link did.
“I don't have an agenda, Hot Stuff. I'm not here for you. I'm here to help my cousin.”
“You don't care about Lena,” I snapped.
Ridley stopped and turned to face me. “You know what I don't care about, Short Straw? You. But for whatever reason, you and my cousin have a connection, and you may be the only person who can convince her to turn around before it's too late.”
I stopped walking.
Liv looked at her coldly. “You mean before she gets to the Great Barrier? The place you told her about?”