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“I’d presume so, though I can’t imagine either her or any of her people randomly roaming the woods.”
Having previously seen a couple of her feeders, I certainly couldn’t imagine it either. “Aside from the fact regular snakesare found in suburbia, I’m thinking the basilisk won’t really be bothered by the location of its prey. Where was the body found?”
“On one of the walking tracks in the Fryers Ridge Nature Conservation Reserve, which is closer to Taradale than Fryers Town.”
“Taradale is a midpoint between Blackwood and Castle Rock, isn’t it?”
“As the crow flies, yes.”
“As the snake slithers would be a more apt term,” I said with a smile.
He rolled his eyes at me. “It does suggest it’s heading for Castle Rock.”
Because if it was already in the Taradale area, there were only two small towns now between it and Castle Rock—Louton and Campbell’s Creek. Even if it had been called here to hunt Maelle’s people, it was doubtful she’d allow them to live in either. I’d gotten the impression she liked to keep them close and generally did so by providing them with “appropriate” accommodation, usually in the most desirable locations in Castle Rock. Being a “fully kept” man or woman was one of the perks of being on call to a vampire’s needs, apparently. Given Maelle seemed to have no trouble finding feeders, there were obviously plenty of people who had no qualms about becoming a blood bank for a blood sucker.
“Did you find anything further on killing a basilisk?”
“Nothing more than what we’ve already discussed, although you’d think that as a demon, what generally works on them would work on it.”
“Don’t know about you, but there is no way known I’m willingly getting close enough to a gigantic snake—or any kind of snake, for that matter—to stab it with a silver knife or throw holy water on it.”
“I agree, but we have one advantage over the basilisk—we’re capable of magic. It’s not.”
“The text said that?”
“Well, no, but it’s a snake. It has no hands, and it can’t speak.”
“It’s also a demon, and they can never be underestimated.”
He glanced at me. “You’re in one of your pessimistic funks today, aren’t you?”
“When it comes to things going wrong at the worst possible moments, said funk is more often right than wrong. Did the text mention anything about turning victims to stone?”
“No, but it did mention freezing and instant death if you meet its stare, so that might be what the woman who found him meant.”
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
He nodded in agreement and finished off the rest of his slice. I did the same as I watched the scenery zoom past and tried to ignore the slivers of unease that rolled through me. Slivers that were not caused by the possible presence of the snake but rather the sheer number of vibrations running through the old Ford. It was unnerving.
We finally turned right into a rather narrow and uninspiring road, and zoomed along until we neared an old bridge. A sign told us it was the “Main Channel,” and parked off the road just beyond it was Aiden’s truck and one other ranger vehicle. Monty stopped behind them, and we both climbed out.
Aiden was in the truck, talking on his phone, but Jaz—who’d not only become a very good friend but who was very much on my side when it came to my relationship with Aiden—leaned against the side of her SUV, her arms crossed as she watched us approach.
“I was hoping now that you were back from Canberra, things might settle down. Sadly, that hope was a rather foolish one.”
“Well, technically, thingshavesettled down,” Monty replied, amusement evident. “The earth has stopped heaving, and rocks have stopped demolishing buildings and roads.”
“The earth hasn’t entirely stopped heaving if the reports I’m getting out of the O’Connor compound are anything to go by, but I meant creature-wise. Demons I can cope with, but a gigantic snake that kills flora as it slithers past? That would be a big fat no thanks.”
“You don’t like snakes?” Monty said, his amusement growing. “That must make things difficult, given all three wolf encampments are situated in heavy bush.”
“There are such things as electronic snake deterrents, and I have a good dozen of them surrounding our house, trust me on that.”
I wasn’t sure such a deterrent would work on a demon snake, but I thought it better not to mention that. “Has the woman who found our victim said anything?”
Jaz shook her head. “She went straight home, as ordered. Ric is over there now taking her statement. I don’t expect we’ll get much more than what she’s already said, though.”
Ricardo Pérez was the newest member of the ranger team and had transferred here via the reservation’s exchange program—one designed to stop the problem of interbreeding—from a Spanish pack to be with his sister, who’d married into the Sinclair Pack. I’d yet to meet him, but he was, according to Jaz, the cheerful, unfazable sort.
