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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.
Panting, I sprawled on the ledge and looked around, trying to figure out where we were. A good ten feet wide, the lip of the outcropping extended only a few inches from the embankment. Standing below, it would be almost impossible to see that there was a ledge up here, even during the day. The stone shelf continued back a few feet to the side of the mountain, which was covered with vines and brambles. I peered closer. There, beneath the snow-covered foliage, gaped the mouth of a cavern.
"A cave?" I asked.
"By the look of things, the opening's been covered for years by vegetation," Menolly said. "But see, here the brambles have been moved. And there," she added, pointing to a small opening. "Something's definitely tampered with it. We should take a look inside."
She brushed the snow away from the leaves, and we slowly pulled aside the branches blocking the way. A few came willingly, and I could see that she was right. Their stems had already been bent and broken.
I peered inside. "I wish we had a light. I can see to some degree, and so can you, but it would be nice to know if we're missing anything."
"Stay here and don't go in without me," she said and lightly stepped over the edge. Like a kite caught in the wind, she was buoyed up by a gust and then began to fall like a feather in the breeze. Menolly couldn't really fly, not unless she was trying to turn into a bat, but she hadn't mastered that part of vampirism to any great use, yet. However, she could float and hover.
Unless she was startled, she would drift slowly to the ground. There were limitations to the ability, and she was still learning how to use it, but it came in handy. Like when she anchored the Yule tree to the ceiling, or when I climbed the curtains and she had to haul me down by the scruff of my neck, no less.
A few moments later, she reappeared with Camille holding on for dear life, her arms wrapped tightly around Menolly's waist. They landed with a soft thud in the accumulating snow.
Camille turned on her flashlight and pointed it toward the cave. "What have we got?"
"I'm not sure," I said. "Let's see what we find."
And with that, I ripped back the branches and stepped into the cave.
Something sticky landed against my face, and I jumped, startling Camille, who was right behind me.
"What happened? Are you okay?" she asked.
I brushed my hand over my face. It was covered with silken strands. Shit.
"Yeah, but I don't like this," I said, stepping fully into the room.
Camille followed, her light flickering around the room, and Menolly brought up the rear. The cavern glistened in the beam from the flashlight, shimmering under the weight of a thousand spiderwebs. Pristine, crystalline in color, they'd been woven into a frenzy of patterns, a chaotic vision in silk. There was no symmetry here, only a kaleidoscope of beauty gone mad.
"Spiders," Camille whispered. "Are these…"
Menolly slid through the webs, brushing them off like she might brush away a gnat. In the center of the cave, she leaned down to look at something, then motioned for us to join her. I found a stick to bring down the webs as Camille and I made our way over to Menolly's side. She was kneeling beside what looked like a dried husk, only it was far too big for corn or any other vegetable.
"You'd better ask Zachary if they've had any other members of the pride go missing lately, ones who haven't been accounted for," she said.
"Uh," I didn't want to ask but I had to. "Is it—"
"Yes, it's another body, like the others. I think we can safely say that we're looking for the Hunters Moon Clan, and that they're turning the Puma Pride enclave into their private feeding grounds."
* * *
CHAPTER 8
I stared at Menolly, trying to comprehend what she was saying. And then it all flashed together. The Hunters Moon Clan members were feeding on Zachary's people. What better way to conquer your rivals?
