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Cord stopped in surprise. “I did not know she could do that.”
Tegan stopped too and looked at him. Even with his hood pulled low, it was like she could see right into his soul. “That’s why the Drakhyn made the first attack look so easy. There were no Vampyres here to detect them.”
Cord was momentarily stunned. “I never even thought about it,” he said incredulously. “Where are the Made?”
“No one did, and they are not here.” Tegan rubbed her hands over her arms. “It was Sloane who finally asked, and it was as if a curtain were lifted from our minds.”
“They spelled everyone to forget the Vampyres,” Cord said more to himself than her. “Drakhyn do not have that power.”
“No,” Tegan agreed. She looked around again. “But a Made could.”
“Little tiger?”
“The Queen of the Vampyres has that power.” She took a step forward. “She called him back there. My father hates that Court. When he answers her call, he gets taken. She comes here, and thenallthe Made are gone.”
Cord took a step into her space and looked down at her. Tegan’s hood fell back slightly as she looked up at him. “What are you saying, little tiger?”
“Kateryna Novikov is not innocent in this,” Tegan hissed. “She knows more than she is saying.”
“Vampyres hate Drakhyn,” Cord reminded her.
“Vampyres hate everything,” Tegan scoffed. “AndthatVampyre hates me the most.”
“By the Ancients.” Cord felt his Mark pulse. “I do believe you may be onto something.”
“What do we do?” Tegan whispered to him as she stepped even closer.
“You need to leave it with me.”
“No.”
“Tegan—”
“No!” Tegan glared at him. “He is my father!”
“Okay,” Cord sighed into the cold winter air as his hand rested lightly on her arm in assurance. “Okay, but do not be rash!”
Tegan rolled her eyes at him, and Cord fervently wished it was something that Sloane had not taught her. “Rash? Do not worry, Castor, I am notyou.” Tegan grinned at him, and he returned her smile easily as they both started to walk and talk, their heads bent together as they considered her theories.
Leonid had started off well, his walk through the trees almost leisurely, and then he had felt it. The anger rolled after him as the Darkness sought out its escaped captive. Leonid had picked up his pace then as he could hear the pursuit. Drakhyn were one with the Darkness, but they did not attempt to disguise their movements through it. Leonid was almost certain that a human toddler could make less noise than his pursuers. Against the other Akrhyn, Vampyres held the advantage in that they need not sleep. However, neither did Drakhyn, and as Leonid picked up his pace, he knew he had to outlast them before he was forced to face and fight them. Outnumbered but hopefully not out skilled.
He had been three days from Court when he was captured, and he had been travelling for the better part of a day when he knew his disappearance was noted by his enemy. Half a day was his only advantage, and he knew it was not just Drakhyn pursuing him.
The Darkness was coming too.
Leonid ran through the trees, but as the forest grew sparser, he was forced to the ground and left an easy trail for his pursuers. He did not slow down, he ran as if his life depended on it, because it did. He had considered why he had not been eliminated rather than held, and so he concluded he was needed for...something. What, he did not know, and he was not returning to the box to find out. So he ran. He ran through the white majesty of his homeland, and in a shorter time than he was expecting, he began to recognise the signs of his species and their Court. The Vampyre Court did not move, and the traffic to and from Court was well marked into the landscape and surrounding area, even buried under snow.
As the landmarks became more frequent, Leonid did not falter, for he was not safe yet. He saw the mountain at the dawn of day three and put on a burst of speed. He was so close. He knew he bore the marks of his journey—scratches and cuts from the trees, and the rough ground and snow had cut against his feet and legs. It had been a long time since he had seen his wife, and he had envisaged his return to be more elegant than bursting into the Court like a common beggar.
Drakhyn snarled behind him. Leonid put his head down and blurred, as Tegan called it. It was Vampyre speed, and although he could speed, it did require energy, so he had been conserving his energy for the home stretch. Had he not been pursued by the shade of hell, he may have laughed at himself for calling the Vampyre Court home.
Leonid’s feet faltered. He had not stumbled for hundreds of years, but then he had never been caught barefoot in the snow, running towards an inky black cloud. Leonid slowed. Looking over his shoulder, he assessed his options. Run back and around and hope to defeat the pursuing Drakhyn or run forwardthroughthe Darkness? Because he had no doubt, the Darkness was in front of him. A manifestation of apresence. He could feel the malevolence from where he stood.
“You want me so badly?” Leonid asked the nothingness. His eyes skirted his surroundings. The mountain was ahead, where the entrance to the Court was. He took in the markings of the passing of hundreds and hundreds of Vampyres over the centuries. They would not be known to any other, and Leonid was confident that the Drakhyn would not know they were surrounded by subtle signposts in the terrain that they wandered. Did the Darkness know? Leonid mused to himself as he backed up slightly.
“I do not think I want to runintoyou again,” Leonid told the mass in front of him. It seemed to be transparent in places. Or was it his imagination that he could see through it? Was it not corporealenoughor not corporealyet? Leonid looked to his right. He was too far away from the shelter of the trees there. His head turned, and he looked over his shoulder again to check the Drakhyn he could now see racing over the snow to get him. When he looked back, the Darkness had moved closer.
“No, you will not hedge me backward, monster,” Leonid told it with a small laugh at its cunning. “I cannot go through you.” Leonid considered his options. “I cannot go back, you know I lack the energy to fight your soldiers.” He could almost feel it gloat at the fact he was trapped. “But I wonder...if I cannot dig my way down?”
