Chapter 27

They sat in their truck, staring at the gate where Daxa said the SUV had disappeared. After the gate, the forest became too dense. The vampire could see no roads from the air, and she hadn't ventured far enough to see where the road might end.

"I wanted to wait for you," she said. "I'm guessing you'll want to head farther in on foot."

Baojia nodded and turned to Carwyn. "What are you feeling so far?"

Carwyn walked across the road, toed off his shoes, and sank his feet into the ground. "Nothing so far. She may still be driving or she may not be in an area where she can put her feet on the ground."

"She has to physically be touching the earth for you to feel her?"

Carwyn hated the incredulity in the vampire's voice. "At a distance? Yes. Once I get closer, I'll just… know. It's like a pull."

Baojia grunted. "Like after you sire a child?"

"A little like that, but more subtle."

"Right." He turned to Daxa. "We'll stay here and wait for Misha and the others. It's four in the morning. We have less than two hours to find the place and take cover before daylight." Baojia turned to Carwyn. "We're not getting her out tonight, my friend."

Carwyn scowled, but he'd been gradually coming to terms with that already. "She'll be fine. If she wasn't, something would already be on fire."

Baojia turned back to Daxa. "Right now, you go overhead, look for any signs of a camp or a cabin or anything like that. It'll be fairly big. Of course, if they decided to build Hupa-style, we might be screwed."

Carwyn remembered the traditional houses that Baojia had pointed out as they drove through Hupa territory. They were cedar planks built wide and low, half dug into the ground and often blending into the landscape so perfectly they might be impossible for Daxa to spot.

"I'm betting Ivan goes for big and luxurious," Carwyn said. "That fits his personality."

"You're not wrong." Baojia nodded to Daxa, who took to the air. "Why don't you go and explore while you can? We need to get our bearings and then find shelter before dawn." Baojia turned in the middle of the narrow asphalt road. "We're in a very remote area. Even leaving the vehicles here could rouse suspicion if he has human security."

"So drive back and hide the truck somewhere, but I'm going in." Carwyn walked across the road. "I'll find you before dawn."

"Good luck."

Brigid smiled and exchanged cautious pleasantries with the vampires in Ivan's lodge, but she didn't feel the need to socialize too much. Claire was a young vampire, out of her element and taking a risk. She wouldn't surprise anyone if she kept to herself a little.

The room she was shown to was an object lesson in vampire paranoia. There was an extravagant outer sitting room that hid an inner sleeping chamber that looked straight out of a science fiction movie, only with no electronics. It was a vault that could only be opened from the inside, complete with steel plates that secured a door it would take an explosion to bust open. Inside the chamber were luxurious couches and a large bed with linen sheets, a fully stocked bookcase, and a refrigerator packed with snacks and blood-wine.

It was meant to be reassuring. It was also creepy.

Brigid hadn't seen anyone in the lodge drinking that night, not even blood-wine. Clearly they were all saving their appetite for something more illicit the following night.

She unpacked Claire's clothing and put it in the drawers to kill time, then surreptitiously checked her electronics. It was as she expected, there was no connection at all. No Wi-Fi, no mobile network signal.

Except…

She knew Carwyn was close. Something in her blood told her he wasn't far away and that he'd been with her the whole time. She stared at the window in the sitting room, pulling up the solid shutter that closed over the clear window so she could see the forest.

The trees had been wreathed in fog when they drove in, but as Brigid looked past the clouds, she could see the waning moon that floated over the edge of the forest. It would be closer to a crescent tomorrow, and the woods would be even darker as they hunted. Even now, there were young, frightened new vampires who were probably in pain, confused and terrified over what had happened to them.

Brigid didn't want to lose a single one of them, but she knew it might not be possible to save them all.

But she could try.

A knock came at the door. "Miss McKee?"

"Yes?"

A steward opened the door a crack. "Pardon me for intruding, but the orientation will happen in the next ten minutes. Please join the other participants in the hearth room."

Brigid blinked. Orientation?

"Of course. I'll be right down."

She'd been hoping to sneak outside and ground herself, letting her amnis touch the ground where no one could see it, but she couldn't risk suspicion.

Brigid had less than an hour before dawn. What would Claire do? She wasn't the type to walk downstairs fully dressed and barefoot. She wouldn't even walk around her own house barefoot.

Unless…

Oh God.

Brigid quickly stripped out of all her clothes, wrapped a woven Turkish robe around herself, and slipped out of the room.

Ten minutes until the "orientation"? Well, let it never be said she didn't commit to a cover, because this was something only Claire would do.

She walked down the central staircase and out the front doors, spreading her arms wide and dropping her robe at the foot of the stone stairs that led to the meadow where the bonfire was burning.

Brigid strolled, as casually and as confidently as possible while wearing nothing but the blond wig that marked her as Claire McKee, across the gravel path and toward the fire, closing her eyes and spinning over the grass as she turned her face up to the moon and let the fog kiss her bare skin.

She heard the murmured reactions around her. Small bits of laughter and more than a few indications of sexual interest. Some of the older vampires were probably rolling their eyes. Nudity garnered mixed reactions in the vampire world, with older immortals generally having very loose interpretations of what was and wasn't considered "decent."

No one said anything directly, assuming—as Brigid hoped they would—that Claire was a superficial, silly vampire, looking for attention. She played with her hair and spun in the moonlight, her arms spread out to the sky.

Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God.

She was so naked.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the wee donkey—if her Aunt Sinéad ever heard about this, Brigid would die a thousand deaths.

She focused on her amnis, driving it down into the earth so Carwyn could find it and pushing the bonfire away with her mind so the flames weren't drawn to her like they naturally would be. If anyone found out she was a fire vampire, it would not be good.

She cut her foot on a stone and pressed her blood to the ground.

As if a bell had been struck, every vampire in the clearing turned their attention on her.

There you are.

Digging his hands into the earth, Carwyn felt Brigid's amnis threading through the ground, over rocks and around roots, searching for its mate. It was her amnis and his. Their combined essence held together by magic and mating.

Carwyn felt the instant her blood touched the living soil.

He grinned. "Gotcha."

"Madam?" A human steward held her robe out politely, his face a mask of propriety. "Orientation will begin in a moment."

Her foot was already healed, and the vampires around the fire were drifting away, no longer amused or attracted by her nudity. There were much more exciting prospects to anticipate.

"Okay." She allowed her face to beam. "I feel so natural here. So wild. There's just something about the trees."

The steward didn't blink. "Of course, Miss McKee. Can I get you anything to eat or drink in the hearth room?"

Claire waved a careless hand. "Oh no. I'm fine." She turned to the steward and dropped her fangs, hoping to get a rise out of him. "Are you participating in the hunt tomorrow?"

He blinked rapidly, but that was his only reaction. "As advertised, Mr. Balankin's hunts feature only newly-turned-vampire prey. Much more challenging, of course, than simple human targets."

"Just checking!" She slipped on the robe to hide her expression. It was what they'd suspected, but this was confirmation: Ivan was siring vampires to use them for hunts.

She walked to the house and schooled her reaction as she took a place next to the couple she'd met on the drive.

No one used their names, but Brigid had mentally named the woman Sultry Spice and the man Smug. She called the middle-aged vampire she rode with Grouchy Spice, and the old one, of course, was Scary.

Speaking of both smug and scary, Ivan was sitting in front of the massive fireplace that dominated the hearth room, speaking quietly with Scary Spice. Ivan's scarred face and growing beard contrasted sharply with Scary's pale, poreless skin, but there was something eerily similar around their eyes.

Interesting.

They clearly had a prior relationship of some kind, and Brigid made a note to watch Scary as much as possible.

In addition to her acquaintances from the drive, there were ten other vampires at the "orientation."

"Welcome to my home." Ivan's face revealed none of the tension he must have been feeling. "All of you have paid to come and experience the thrill of a true hunt." Ivan looked from one to the next. "To be who you truly are. To experience the primal, and to do it against worthy opponents."

The company remained silent, and Ivan continued.

"Tomorrow at dusk, your prey—newly fed on fresh human blood—will be let loose from their stables. You will hear a bell on the property, and then—only then—will you be free to leave your rooms. There are ten targets." He glanced at Smug and Sultry. "As I have been informed that a number of parties would rather hunt together."

He walked around the circle of vampires.

"There is no recording equipment here. No law that binds us. We are vampire. You may hunt however you like, but with only yourself as a weapon." He looked at Grouchy. "No weapons. No tracking devices. Only you." He looked at Claire. "And while the feeling of freedom is greatly coveted, I do recommend you hunt wearing sturdy clothes. There are thorny plants in this area, and too many blood trails could interfere with a pleasurable hunt for your fellow guests. What you do after you finish your hunt?" Ivan grinned at her, and Brigid had to steel her stomach to keep from puking. "That is entirely optional. I'm sure everyone will have energy to spare."

A few scattered chuckles around the room.

Brigid felt her stomach churn, but on her face, she tried to only show excitement.

"Tomorrow you will hunt as you should always hunt," Ivan said. "Of course, discretion is expected. Those who violate that discretion will face the consequences."

Brigid sensed Scary's cold eyes touch her, but when she looked at them, they were already looking at someone else.

Ivan clapped his hands together. "Now for a little housekeeping: What you do here is entirely voluntary, but none of the targets will be allowed to live past tomorrow night, so do not let their pleas persuade you. If you don't kill your prey, security will as they cannot be allowed to escape the property." He spread his arms. "For our own protection, of course. Simply realize that these new ones do not belong to you."

A vampire spoke from the corner. "But we paid for them."

"You paid for a hunt, Roland, not for a slave." Ivan chuckled. "There are cheaper ways to buy humans or vampires if that's what you're looking for." He smiled as if he'd just told a funny joke. "Now, as it's almost daybreak, I suspect all of you will want to retire." His eyes came to rest on Claire. "Especially some of our younger guests."

Fuck you, Ivan.

Brigid was so ready to kill this bastard.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.