“Can’t stand them.”
Asher had never been bothered by them before, but he didn’t exactly relish the idea of being down here, surrounded by bones and rodents. And there weresomanybones.
He released Brie’s hand and started forward again. Careful not to step on another leg, which was what he crushed before, he crept carefully over the bones and toward the skulls. He played the beam over the pile of heads as he tried to understand how many were there.
It looked like there were close to fifty of them, and sitting on top of the pile against the wall was the newest victim. He’d seen a lot of horrible things in his lifetime, but his stomach roiled as he stared into the empty eye sockets of the woman.
Her brown hair cascaded over the other skulls; her skin had taken on a yellowish hue, and her mouth was open to reveal her tongue, but her eyes were gone. He didn’t know if the killer had done that or the rats, and he didn’t care.
Retreating, he returned to Brie’s side. It was time to find the stone and get out of this place; he’d had more than enough of it.
“Where do you think the stone is?” he inquired.
Brie clasped her trembling hands together, and her skin was deathly pale when her eyes met his.
“Beyond them,” she whispered. “What do we do about all of them?”
“We find the stone, get out here, and call the police. If whoever did this was here now, I’d kill them, but they’re not here, and this is a human matter. This istheirmonster to hunt; we have our own.”
Brie nodded, but she couldn’t stop twisting her hands together as she squeezed them until they hurt. That pain was the only thing keeping her from crying at the sight of all these poor people who hadn’t died an easy death.
“You’re sure this is the work of a human?” she asked.
“I don’t see Savages or demons piling their dead up in such a way, and if they did, there would be alotmore of those bones. Whoever has done this has been doing it foryears. There are a lot of bones here but nowhere near as many as there would be if this were the work of evenoneSavage. This is a human.”
And he would bet it was one of the humans living on a nearby farm or in town. A nearby farmer would most likely know this land the best.
Which meant they might have seen him and Brie driving out here. He didn’t think they would come to the tunnel, but if they did, they would be in for a shock when they came up against a hunter and a vampire.
“This is a monstrosity,” Brie said.
“True. We have to keep going,” Asher said. “Can you tell if we’re getting closer to the stone?”
“I sometimes get more visions as I get closer, like in Connecticut.” But she’d never been this rattled while on the hunt before. She had to get it together so they could get out of here. “I’ll find it.”
Asher extended his hand to her, and she gladly took it as they carefully picked their way through the bones and deeper into the cave.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
Asher didn’t botherto turn the light off again as they made their way deeper into the cave. He doubted there were Savages or demons here. If there were, they would have killed the fucker who was so proudly gathering those bodies… or recruited him.
Whoever had done this was exactly the type of person the Savages and demons wanted on their side. And Asher would put a bullet in the bastard’s head if he could.
They’d stumbled upon the worst of what was down here, so the light no longer mattered. Since there weren’t any more footprints in the dirt, he doubted humans had traveled this far into the cave.
He’d been born and raised to protect humans, yet he had no problem taking this one out. It would save the lives of countless others if he did, and to be honest, it would feelreallygood.
However, their bigger concern was the stone. He would make sure those bodies were discovered, their families deserved that. Asher hoped the humans found whoever did it, but he had to concentrate on why they were there.
Brie pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on. She directed it to the walls and studied both beams as they bounced around the stones. “Go slower,” she whispered.
It was the exact opposite of what she’d prefer to do, but they couldn’t walk past the stone. If they did, they could spend hours or days wandering down here, trying to locate it. She’d rather be thrown into a fire again.
Dirt and dust clogged her nose as they continued. The dripping water grew closer, and the horrible stench dissipated some, but she was sure it had ingrained itself into her nostrils and flesh. She couldn’t wait to get out of this hellhole and scrub herself raw, but she didn’t think there was enough soap in the world to cleanse her of this place.
Her beam landed on a large, jagged rock jutting up from the middle of the ground, and she stopped as a barrage of images assaulted her. Closing her eyes, she let the pictures unfold and followed their path as they guided her forward.
She didn’t have to open her eyes as she stepped around another rock and traveled a few steps beyond to where a stone stuck further out of the wall than the ones surrounding it. In her mind, she pulled the larger stone out of the wall to reveal a smaller one tucked behind it.
