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“Ah.”
The watch tugged me left again, this time down Hargraves Street rather than Barker. Aiden silently followed, his hands in his pockets and his stride matching mine. He was close enough that his scent teased my nostrils but not so close that our shoulders brushed. I wasn’t entirely sure whether to be glad about that or not.
We moved out of Castle Rock’s retail area and into residential. The watch continued to lead us farther away, until we reached an area where there were no sidewalks and housing blocks gave way to acreage.
“If we continue down this road,” Aiden said. “We’ll end up on Stephenson’s Track.”
I glanced at him. “Is that a good thing or bad?”
“Neither, really. It simply skirts a large area of bush.”
“Are there roads through the area?”
“Calling them roads would be rather generous.” His gaze met mine, amusement creasing the corners of his eyes. “In fact, the back track to the O’Connor compound you were on would be a major highway by comparison.”
“I’m glad I have decent walking shoes on, then.”
The watch continued to pull me on, but the sensations rolling off it were stronger, suggesting we were getting closer to our target. We eventually reached a three-track intersection, and I paused. The pulse of foulness was now so strong my stomach was twisting, but I couldn’t see a building of any sort. Surely our vampire wouldn’t risk keeping his creature out in the open? This area might be wild, but the tracks weren’t overgrown, and that meant people still used them.
“Have you lost the signal?” Aiden asked.
“No. Quite the opposite.” I swept my gaze across the scrub again. “Are there any buildings near here?”
“Not really. Not in this area. But there are quite a number of old mine workings scattered about.”
“Ones that run horizontally into the mountain or down?”
“Both.”
“We might be looking at the former, then.” I took the left fork and the ground began to rise. My still-bruised legs didn’t appreciate this development and began to ache in protest.
I really, really wanted to stop. But that annoying inner voice—the one that had dreamed of bloody rivers and bodies ripped apart—suggested that would be a bad idea.
My skin began to twitch and shudder under the sheer force of wrongness coming from the broken watch. I tugged the right glove over my hand, folded the watch inside of it, and then held it out to Aiden. “You take this. Otherwise, I’m going to vomit.”
He took it without comment and tucked it into his pocket. The sense of wrongness immediately eased, but didn’t entirely go away.
“Can you smell anything?”
Aiden’s nostrils flared as he took a deeper breath, and then he shook his head. “Nothing that shouldn’t be here, at least.”
“The strength of the vibes coming from the watch suggests we’re close, so you should be able to smell him if he’s near.” I paused, gaze sweeping the area and my other senses on high alert. “I’m not seeing or sensing any sort of magic that would explain the lack of scent, though.”
“There’s an old mine not too far away. Maybe he’s so deeply underground it’s simply impossible to smell him.”
“Possibly,” I said. “But if he’s not there, I’ll try with the watch again.”
He didn’t say anything, just stepped past me and led the way up the steepening slope. I followed, suddenly aware of the rustle of eucalyptus leaves, the crunch of twigs under my feet, and the melodious chatter of the various birds. They were normal, everyday sounds for an area like this, and should have set my mind at ease.
But they didn’t.
I might not be touching the watch, but I didn’t need to. The sensation of wrongness—of death—was so strong it felt as if every breath was filled with its foulness.
After another ten minutes of walking through spindly trees and mounds of mine waste, Aiden stopped on the edge of a small clearing. Ahead, cut horizontally into the steep hillside, was an old shaft. The entrance was little more than five feet wide, and what looked to be old sleepers shored up the roof and the sides. There was no immediate indication that anything or anyone had been near this place for some time, although the rough, stony ground wouldn’t have held footprints even if someone had been. If it weren’t for the foul waves that continued to batter my senses, it would be easy to presume no one had entered this clearing for a very long time.
“Anything?” Aiden asked.
“He’s here.”
