Fen wrapped her up in warmth, pouring his love of her into her mind for a moment, before he had to turn his attention to business.
“She made us a protection circle,” Dimitri said as he stepped inside. He was dressed very similar to Fen, his weapons concealed but easily accessed.
“She’s worried and wanted us to be as safe as possible. We’re going to have to remember at all times we have more than one enemy. Should the pack become aware of what we are, they will turn on us,” Fen cautioned.
Dimitri nodded. “I had hoped to avoid them.”
“We know Mikhail is the target. I’m almost certain Abel has come here on a mission to assassinate the prince. It can’t be personal, Mikhail is far too young and I doubt Abel ever crossed paths with him. He would gain nothing from destroying an entire species.”
“But you believe someone else has something to gain?” Dimitri asked. “You’ve mentioned this before, but whom?”
“I don’t have that answer, and at this point, we have to deal with one thing at a time. Try to remember Abel as a young man. He was closer to my age than yours, but he would have been around. Anything might help.”
Dimitri frowned, trying to call up old, faded memories. He shrugged. “The only thing I remember of him, other than that he was a good man who answered questions when I asked him about various weapons, was the one time he took me out to the lake to show me how to fight in the water.”
Fen swung around. “The lake. He was obsessed with that lake. When anyone needed him in the old days, they would find him there. That’s where he is, Dimitri. He’s found a lair somewhere near the lake.”
“There’s a small island in the lake; it’s actually close to the shore and he might be able to use it,” Dimitri suggested. “It would be unusual for a vampire to do something like that. Wouldn’t he have to have a retreat, an exit? There’s not much on that tiny island, some trees and a few rocks.”
“I say we check it out,” Fen said. “He would have safeguards. No Carpathian will go to ground without safeguards and he was a Carpathian for centuries. He’ll fall back on what he knows best.”
“Let’s do this,” Dimitri said.
The moment both stepped from the circle, it disappeared as though it had never been. Before either could move, an owl settled into the tree above them. They spread out, moving quickly so that the owl was in the middle. Jacques Dubrinsky shifted, leaping to the ground to land closer to Fen.
“Tatijana sent me to you. She said you were going to hunt the
Sange rau
and you would need blood. She sent your message, that the prince needed to be guarded and we’ve got him protected. Have you sent word to the Lycans?” As he spoke he used his teeth on his own wrist and extended his arm toward Fen. “I offer freely,” he added, using the ritual between battle mates.
Fen took the proffered wrist, ingesting a small amount, making certain there would be enough to sustain his brother and yet not taking so much Jacques would grow weak.
While Dimitri fed, Fen answered. “No. The Lycans would handicap us at this point. They would do better guarding the prince with you. If Abel gets through us, I doubt he’ll stop trying to go after Mikhail. Better to have all of you there. We’ll have to fight as Guardians, not Lycan or Carpathian, and we can’t worry whether or not we’re observed.”
Jacques nodded. “That makes perfect sense.”
Dimitri politely closed the laceration on Jacques’s wrist. “Good luck this day.”
“Good hunting,” Jacques replied. He gripped Dimitri’s forearms hard and did the same with Fen before shifting and taking to the air.
They waited until Jacques was out of sight and then both brothers shifted to owls and took to the sky in the opposite direction, heading for the lake. The forest was thick, the canopy hiding the ground below, but twice, Fen sensed wolves below him. Not animals, but small groups of werewolves making their way toward Mikhail’s home.
We could be wrong,
Dimitri ventured.
He could be making an all-out assault on the prince’s home.
He has to believe the prince would never be left in his home. We already found out the safeguards wouldn’t hold up against Abel,
Fen said with confidence
. He knows the prince isn’t there. He wants everyone to think that’s what he’s doing.
I hope you’re right,
Dimitri said.
I’ve got this feeling . . .
One person with a feeling was bad, two was far worse. Fen believed in instincts. His gut told him Abel had made his lair somewhere near the lake. He would be sending what was left of his army as a diversion, but he would have another plan altogether.
Tatijana had a feeling as well.
We’ll have to be doubly careful. Abel knows that realistically, we’re the only ones standing between him and Mikhail,
Fen said
. His plans include us. He’ll want to wipe us out first.
He plays chess or at least he’s studied it. Take the King’s Queen, his best defense. In
this case, we’re his Queens
, Dimitri speculated
. He’s left with Bishops, Rooks and Knights.
Fen, in the body of the large owl, flew out of the forest into open air, flying over the meadows and farms. He saw the marsh below and in the distance, the glacier mountain where Bardolf had established a lair.
Dimitri, from Bardolf’s position, could see both Mikhail’s home and the lake.
You have to be right. Bardolf was his lookout. He used him for information. Bardolf would have told him if anyone was poking around the lake,
Dimitri agreed.
Reeds choked the shoreline of the lake on the west side. The island looked deserted and had little to offer in the way of shelter, but Fen knew better than to take chances. There was a mud bank to the left of the reeds with a suspicious looking slide on it, as if a heavy body had been dragged from the tall grasses growing on shore, down the embankment and shoved into the lake.
The lake seemed placid enough except the few ripples the wind caused. The water was murky, but tinged with blue. It was fed by the glacier and very cold, if Fen remembered correctly.
The island first?
Fen suggested.
Watch my back. Let’s see what he’s got.
The owl circled the island and then dropped down fast, talons extended, in hunting mode, as if it had spotted a mouse and was homing in for the kill. Several meters from the largest rock, the bird hit an invisible force field and bounced backward. Squawking, feathers floating toward the ground, it flapped its wings hard to get airborne again.
He’s down there all right,
Fen said.
And that hurt. He used silver against us. He’s managed to make it so thin it’s impossible to see.
We did that at the farm and again at Mikhail’s,
Dimitri reminded.
He stole the idea from us. So where on that tiny island is he? Where could his lair be?
Fen studied the island from every angle
. That might be part of his escape route somehow, although I can’t figure out how.
Or it’s simply a trap or diversion,
Dimitri suggested.
Dimitri, what if he’s in the water. Underneath the water. Is that possible? He was so obsessed with the lake and learning to fight beneath the water. Most of the others ignored him, thinking he was a little strange. After all, what vampire would choose the water as a battleground?
Fen asked, as he looked at the large beaver lodge built close into the reeds.
Dimitri studied the lake.
A beautiful trap. That would appeal to a vampire. He could kill anyone fishing, or bringing their animals close, he would have a wealth of victims to choose from. They would simply disappear beneath the water and no one would ever find them.
Fen indicated the slide
. A body could have been dragged along there, but why? He wouldn’t need to do that.
Unless they were alive and he wanted the adrenaline rush when he killed them. He might deliberately torture his victims just for fun,
Dimitri added.
Certainly that’s a favorite pastime of vampires.
Alright, we’ll have to check it out,
Fen said.
The minute I hit that silver, if he was close by, he probably knew that was no owl. He’s smart. Forget pretense. Let’s just straight up hunt.
The brothers dropped through the air fast, shifting just before they touched the grass-lined shore. The moment their boots stepped onto a clump of greenery, both felt the ground shift beneath them. Their boots sank just an inch, but it was enough to give the lurking mutated leeches the chance they needed to swarm up their boots to their legs, biting and sucking in a feeding frenzy.
Dimitri swore under his breath in ancient Carpathian. “I really detest these things. Did he have to put giant teeth in them?”
Both men leapt back away from the edge of the lake and the leeches swarming to the top of the muddy holes their boots had made in the grass. They began to peel the creatures off of them, killing them and throwing their bodies into the swarm.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about the giant teeth,” Fen said, “but more about what they’re injecting into our bodies.” He felt the difference in his bloodstream almost with the first bite. “Can you track the virus? The poison? It’s already in your bloodstream. It can’t get to your heart.” He was already circling the foreign strands he could feel with white energy to keep them from taking over his cells.
Dimitri nodded. “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t caught it. It’s subtle. I’ve contained it. It tried to spread very fast.”
“He was banking on us not catching on,” Fen said. “Can you feel that tiny trace of silver inside the strand? He sent in a silver needle to pierce the heart. Talk about subtle.”
“Would it work?” Dimitri asked.
Fen shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’d be in agony and probably wish we were dead.”
“We knew he’d have traps.”
This time when they approached the water’s edge, they did so without actually allowing their feet to touch any part of the shore. Fen gave a small sigh. “I’ve got an idea that might work. Let me try this.”
Tatijana, I have need.
I am here.
Visualize your dragon for me. It must be exact.
She didn’t question him, but immediately did as he asked. Fen sent her a telepathic salute and turned to his brother. “There’s nothing else for it, Dimitri, watch my back.”
He didn’t hesitate, rather simply floated over the top of the water a distance from shore, turned upside down and dropped his head and shoulders beneath the surface of the water, shifting as he did so. He used the head of Tatijana’s water dragon. It would have the best vision beneath the water.
It took a moment to adjust and then he turned his head, rotating around so that he could see as much as possible. Near the island, over by where the reeds were the thickest, was a strange underwater lodge built of tree branches and downed tree trunks—a beaver lodge—yet he doubted there were beavers in the lake. They’d been reintroduced to some parts of Romania, but this wasn’t one of them. The structure was huge, and part of it was above water, hidden by the reeds. If it was built like a beaver’s lodge, it would have multiple entrances and exits.
Fen, get out of there now!
Dimitri warned.
Fen backed straight out of the water, shooting into the air, using his mixed blood speed. The jaws driving at him from below missed him by a scant quarter of an inch. He felt the hot breath on his face and smelled decaying, rotten meat. The monstrous crocodile dropped soundlessly into the lake but not before Fen saw those eyes, ringed in red but with solid black pupils staring at him malevolently.
I think it’s safe to say there have never been crocodiles in this lake,
Fen said.
He definitely wanted you for dinner.
How did you spot him? I was looking under the water and didn’t see him,
Fen asked.
He was just under the surface, swimming out from the direction of the island. I could see the ripples in the water and then spotted his eyes.
Fen returned to shore, avoiding getting near the water’s edge. “That was a rush. It was definitely Abel. He simply took the form of a crocodile. He’s got some kind of den beneath the water and it’s tied to that island. It’s also partially in the reeds.”
“He’s going to have the advantage in the water, Fen. He deliberately showed himself to lure you in.”
Fen sighed. “I figured that much, but it has to be done.”
Dimitri shrugged. “Then let’s do it.”
Both men once more took to the air, the only safe place they had left to them. Fen looked down at the mass of logs, muds and sticks below him, studying the structure from every angle. There was a definite link to the island, but he still couldn’t figure how Abel could use the island for an escape. A good part of the structure had been constructed in the reeds, so that the giant green stalks hid a portion of the lodge.
Fen glanced up at the clouds overhead. Most had turned from gray to black. They spun and churned as the storm moved closer, the wind driving them overhead. He lifted one hand, directing the energy to gather into a great fireball. Lightning edged the clouds. Thunder rumbled. The fireball streaked down to smash in the middle of the lodge, blowing it apart. Logs exploded outward, twigs and mud scattering across the lake, into the reeds and even edging the island.
Below the waterline a room was exposed. Two bodies floated to the surface, bobbing in the aftermath of the explosion. Abel had made kills and anchored his victims in his lodge to keep his lair from being exposed. Neither hunter moved, both inspecting the damage below, looking for signs of Abel.
Movement near the edge of the reeds sent Fen plunging deep, rocketing through the water toward that telltale flash. Straight toward him, out of the reeds, hurtled a goliath tigerfish, one of the most feared freshwater fishes found in the world—but not in a lake in Romania. With thirty-two teeth as long as those of a great white, the monster opened its jaws wide and powered through the water straight at Fen.