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A gust of wind blew past, and I could smell traces of blood. I looked over my shoulder at Camille and Menolly. It was obvious they could smell it, too. The look on Menolly's face was one of raw desire, and I was grateful she'd fed recently.
Near the stream, next to a large boulder, rested the body of a young man. Or what had been his body. Hair the color of wheat was splattered with dried blood, and his skin was the texture of old leather, parched as if he'd been mummified. His throat had been slashed, and his head lolled back. I winced and looked away, not wanting to see the terrified look frozen forever on his face.
A gust of wind sent a swirl of flakes into a frenzy, and then the clouds parted for an instant, and the moon shone through, gleaming down on the freshly fallen snow and the face of young Shawn. He and Zach looked a lot alike, but he couldn't have been more than a teenager. Now he would never grow up, never marry, father children, take a trade. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep my composure.
"Who could do this to him in such a short time? You say his partner was in the bushes, peeing? That shouldn't have taken more than a few minutes, and yet every ounce of moisture that was in his body seems to have been sucked out of his cells." Menolly knelt beside the body, shaking her head. "Not even a vampire can do this."
"All the victims have been like this. At first we thought maybe some odd natural process was at work, since we didn't find the first few for a while," Venus said. "You can see why we're so frightened. Whoever is doing this has the power to sneak in, drain their victims, rip out their hearts, and vanish before we can catch them. Or even catch a glimpse of them."
He sat on the ground, in the snow, and gently took one of Shawn's hands in his own. "I've tried dreaming the murderer, but I can't seem to get through a fogbank that always obscures my way. All the spells and magical traps I've set have been in vain. Nothing is working."
Ajax stood beside Menolly, staring blankly out at the rippling stream. "If you can find out anything—anything at all to help us—you'll have my undying gratitude," he said gruffly. "I'll pledge service to you and your sisters; I'll pay any cost. Just find out who murdered my son." The big man broke down then, and tears coursed down his cheeks as he silently wept under the glittering moon.
Camille squatted beside Venus and leaned close to Shawn's body, sniffing his shirt. "There's some sort of scent here that I don't recognize."
"We noticed that, too," Venus said. "I thought I knew the scent of most of the creatures around here, but this one is new to me. And yet, it strikes a warning bell. I keep thinking I should know where it's from."
I sat down beside Menolly, shivering as my butt hit the snowy ground.
"It's not the scent of any undead that I recognize," Menolly said after a moment. "As for demons… almost a hint, but not quite. What do you think, Camille?"
Camille leaned down and stared into Shawn's glassy eyes. "I wish Corpse Talkers worked on Weres, but unless he had Fae blood—even a few drops—it's no use to bring one in." She glanced up at Zach, who shook his head.
"No such luck. Pure Earthside Were."
"Thought so," she said, going back to examining Shawn's body. She traced his lips with her finger and held it up to her nose, inhaling deeply. "You're right, Menolly—a faint smell of Demonkin, but there's something more—something over the top of it. This is very strange."
I looked around at the clearing. My attention wavered, and I found myself wandering over to the bank where it dropped directly into the stream. The shore ended, but the curve of the bank led up a steep incline to a mesa above. Pinnacle Rock, overlooking the creek. An inner nudge pushed me to examine the embankment, and the moment I touched the rocky face—what had probably been an ancient alluvial deposit—I knew that I had to climb it.
"Where does this lead?" I called back over my shoulder. Zachary and Tyler joined me, Menolly close behind them. Venus, Camille, and Morio were preparing Shawn's body for transport back to the enclave. Ajax just continued to stare at the endless currents flowing by.
Zach looked up. "I don't know. I don't think I've ever been up there."
"What about you, Tyler?" I asked.
Tyler shook his head. "I don't think you should bother."
"Well, I think otherwise," I said. "There's something up there."
Menolly stepped forward. "Let me go with you, Kitten." she said. She immediately started to climb, and it was like watching the old Menolly, before she'd been killed and changed. She lithely scampered up the bank, digging in with nails to find the barest of handholds.
I took a deep breath. I was athletic; I should be able to make it. "Okay, here goes nothing," I said.
"Are you sure you want to try that? You'll most likely end up in the drink," Tyler said. "Why not let me go get some gear and go up first, to make sure you aren't hurt?"
"No need. I'll be careful. I don't like water, but I love heights." I followed Menolly's path, feeling my way up, using my instincts to guide my feet and hands. The smell of frozen earth loomed rich in my nose, and I pressed my body against the embankment. One foot at a time, one hand at a time. Feel for a handhold. Here, a rock. And there, a slight indentation. Scramble for any foothold, a branch, a stone, a small twig poking out on which to rest my heel as I used sheer muscle to keep my body pressed against the mountainside.
As the snow began to fall in earnest, all I could see were flakes of white and the dirt beneath. I glanced up, but Menolly was nowhere to be seen; she was one with the embankment. She could have easily floated to the top, but she chose instead to take the harder route—to test herself, to cling to the person she'd been in life rather than the vampire she was now. No angst, just a choice.
We all made choices, I thought as I scrambled for a moment until my foot found an outcropping on which to rest. We all made decisions and lived with them. Aunt Rythwar had made a decision to turn her back on Lethesanar. Father was making a choice to stand by the Crown, not by the Queen. And my sisters and I had made the choice to stay Earthside and protect both this world and our own as best we could.
"I found a ledge." Menolly's voice cut into my thoughts.
"How much farther?" I called.
"Another three yards, and you're home free," she said.
And she was good to her word. A couple of minutes later, I reached over the stone ledge, and she grasped my wrist. With one heave, she pulled me up and over the edge.
