Chapter 9

It was rare for Carwyn to look up to anyone, and he meant that literally. For the time period he'd been born into, he'd been considered a giant, particularly in Wales, which wasn't known for its towering men.

Did Carwyn suspect a Norseman or two had crept into his bloodline? Oh yes.

But Grigor Petrovich was truly massive. Carwyn had no problem understanding how Sasquatch stories were spawned if this man had been running around the Pacific Northwest at night for the past two hundred years.

"How long have you lived here?" Carwyn asked.

"Since Fort Ross was built."

"The Russians didn't live in California for very long. What made you stay?"

"My wife was here," Grigor said simply. "I'd already brought my daughter from Russia. And…" He paused and turned to look at Carwyn. "Much better weather here than in Alaska." He pointed down. "You're standing in poison oak."

"Damn!" Carwyn jumped to the side. "Is this a trail you're taking us to or—"

"I should call Alice." Grigor frowned and threw his head back, making a long, mournful howl that carried through the trees and made the hair on the back of Carwyn's neck stand up.

"Uh-huh," Natalie murmured. "There's no way anyone could mistake that for Bigfoot."

Grigor chuckled, and Carwyn saw Jamie and Ross cross their arms over their chests, their stance and silence evidence of their displeasure.

"Come," Grigor said. "We'll wait for Alice by the stream."

"Why are we waiting at all?" Jamie asked. "Pardon my impatience, Mr. Grigor, but my daughter is missing, and so far, we've just gotten further off track looking for her."

"There's a trail," Grigor said. "But we might need Alice unless you want to get very wet."

Brigid asked, "Is Alice a water vampire?"

"Yes," Grigor said. "Her people have lived here far longer than I have, and these men annoy her."

Brigid shot Carwyn a look. "So you know the men who took Summer and Daniel?"

"I didn't see them take your children," Grigor said. "If I had, I would have stopped them. It's not good for hikers to go missing. That just brings more humans here, and there are already enough humans." He tilted his head ever so slightly. "Alice is coming. We live here because there aren't many people, and the ones who come usually stay on the trails. We can't blame them for enjoying the wilderness. The rangers are the same. Good people."

"These other men?" A woman stepped from the shadows, dressed in a pair of jeans, a canvas shirt, and sturdy boots. "They're not the good kind."

"Alice." Grigor's face brightened.

The woman had an oval face and light brown skin marked by fine-line tattoos on her chin and cheeks. Her dark hair was tied back in two long braids that fell over her shoulders, and she wore a floppy hat on her head.

Brigid asked, "You're Katya's sire?"

"Yes." She propped one foot on a fallen log and looked at Natalie. "And your husband works for her, yeah? The dangerous dark-haired one."

"Why do you think he's dangerous?" Natalie asked.

"If he wasn't, my daughter wouldn't have hired him." She turned to the two Mackenzies. "I'm Alice. You're not from our mountains, but I can tell you're from mountains."

"We're from the East Coast," Ross said. "My niece—Jamie's daughter—went missing a couple of weeks ago. She has curly red hair and fair skin. Lots of freckles, and she's with her boyfriend. He's from Mexico and he's a soccer player."

"You're looking for her?" Alice asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"And the boy?"

"Sure," Jamie said. "We want to find him too."

Alice smiled a little. "I noticed them on the trail, you know? A beautiful couple. She loves him a lot."

Jamie was losing patience. "That's great, but if you could just—"

"The water doesn't know you here." Alice stepped over a fallen log and headed out of the small clearing where they'd been waiting. "Don't look at it for too long. And don't speak loudly as we're crossing. That goes for all of you but the redheaded girl."

Natalie's eyes went wide. "Why? I'm an earth vampire."

"But the water here knows you," Alice said. "The others? No."

Grigor didn't hesitate a moment before he followed. Jamie and Ross hoisted their packs and were right behind him.

Carwyn and Brigid exchanged a look. Carwyn shrugged and followed Alice.

"Why not?" Brigid asked. "We've still got a couple of hours before dawn."

"She is so cool," Natalie whispered. "That part about the water knowing people? I swear that's real. Baojia says little things like that all the time, then pretends he didn't."

"It does sound a little mystical for him," Brigid said.

"We're vampires," Carwyn said. "Are we really afraid of the mystical?"

Brigid hiked over hills and under the ancient bones of redwood groves, some growing in shapes that defied imagination, branching out like candelabra in the darkness. First they followed a trickling stream that led them to a creek that led them to a river.

She looked up at her mate. "Are you getting any hint of their scents?"

Carwyn nodded. "Bits and pieces. The fog and the rain degraded most of the trail, but any place Daniel bled, I get a stronger hit."

"How much blood?"

"Not enough to threaten his life as long as the wound didn't get infected. I'd say it was mostly superficial."

"Or it was wrapped," Jamie said quietly. "Summer knows first aid."

Brigid didn't have a response to that, and Jamie's expression was grim enough that she left him to his thoughts.

Alice stopped on the bank of a wide river with rocky banks. "They would have crossed here. There's a four-wheeler track on the other side."

Mindful of Alice's warning, Brigid only glanced at the dark, rushing water. Maybe it was her imagination, but the stream did seem to have a life of its own.

Alice stepped onto the rocks and spoke quietly as she slowly spread her arms. The water answered her call, rising in a wall as she continued murmuring.

It was hard not to look directly at it; Brigid would never tire of seeing other vampires manipulate their elements. It was like watching another martial artist work; she always learned something even if it was a different practice.

"Cross now," Alice said. "Remember, keep your eyes ahead of you except for the redheaded girl."

Jamie and Ross crossed first, followed by Carwyn and Grigor, with Brigid and Natalie bringing up the rear.

Natalie reached out and ran her fingers along the wall of water Alice held back as they crossed.

"It likes you," Alice said. "Your mate is a water vampire, so your amnis feels safe."

"He is." Natalie smiled. "And I grew up camping in these woods."

Alice's expression softened. "So you're old friends. No wonder."

Brigid didn't say anything as she walked across the streambed, and she didn't touch the water even though she was tempted. As she passed Alice, the older vampire looked at her pointedly.

"You smell of death."

Brigid blinked. "I smell of fire. That's my element."

Alice looked up and around at the dense forest, then back to Brigid. "Like I said. Death."

Warning received. Brigid nodded and continued walking, grateful to reach the far bank. There she could see the tracks from the four-wheelers and a clearing where they turned around.

"This road will eventually lead you to their trailer," Alice said. "But Grigor can get you there without me." She turned to walk back.

"Alice!" Natalie said. "You're not coming with us?"

She frowned. "Why would I?"

Grigor put a hand on Natalie's shoulder. "She doesn't leave the wilderness," he said. "She rarely comes this far. She doesn't like being away from the sea."

"I get it." Natalie stared at the departing woman who disappeared across the stream and into the woods on the far bank.

"I'll take you to their trailer tomorrow night," Grigor said. "But for the day, you can stay at my house."

Carwyn pointed at the stream. "But Alice just left. She doesn't live with you?"

"Oh no." Grigor started down the four-wheeler path but quickly detoured down a smaller track. "Alice has her own place near the river. We don't live together." He turned to look at Carwyn. "We've been mated a very long time. Space is good."

Brigid raised her eyebrows when Carwyn looked at her. She could read his expression in a blink. "Please," she said. "Do you really think I'd trust you not to cause some mischief if I wasn't keeping an eye on you?" She winked at him and followed Grigor.

"Thank goodness," Carwyn said. "I thought my evening-cuddle nights might be numbered."

They walked through another dense wood, this one teeming with wildlife. Numerous deer crossed their path before they darted away. Skunks waddled through the undergrowth, and birds called overhead. It was the most alive the woods had felt since they arrived.

"The animals here are used to me." Grigor answered the unspoken question. "I like having them around."

"What about when you hunt?" Natalie said. "Do you go farther away?"

Grigor frowned and glanced over his shoulder. "I don't hunt the deer."

"Oh? So what do you—? Oh." Natalie pressed her lips together. "Right."

Clearly Summer and Daniel's kidnappers weren't the only ones taking advantage of the hikers on the trail.

"I'm old." The corner of Grigor's mouth crept up. "I don't need to kill the humans. I'd have to kill a deer."

Brigid nudged Carwyn. "You know, when he puts it like that, I'm probably far more ethical than you are."

"Keep telling yourself that," Carwyn muttered. "I smell smoke."

"It's the chimney," Grigor said. "My servant is cooking for us."

Jamie said quietly, "That's fine of you, Mr. Grigor, but we did bring food with us."

"Not as good as my cook's." Grigor pressed through a thick stand of manzanita and disappeared from view. Ross hesitated for only a second before he followed.

Then Jamie.

Then Natalie.

Brigid and Carwyn brought up the rear. As she entered the glade where a moss-covered cabin took up most of the space, she was rendered speechless.

It looked like something out of a fairy story, the old redwood cabin sitting in a circle of larger redwoods like a child among elders. The roof was covered in wood shingles that were overgrown with moss. Light streamed into the clearing, the nearly full moon passing overhead like a solitary sentry.

In front of the cabin in a circle of stone, a figure crouched over a fire, poking at coals and singing a song that sounded like a sea chantey.

"…steady course to the haven" —he sang in a rumbling bass— "hew many—"

"Bj?rn."

The man looked up when Grigor said his name. "Huh," he grunted. "People." Bj?rn looked like he was roughly seventy years old and just as grizzled as Grigor. He stood and straightened shoulders that remained unstooped. "I'll add more meat to the stew."

"We're vampires," Carwyn said. "We don't eat much."

"Speak for yourself." Brigid pushed forward. "That smells amazing."

"Me too." Natalie walked over to the fire and stuck her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Bj?rn."

The old man seemed reluctant to shake, so Natalie pulled her hand back and looked around the glade. "It's beautiful here."

"You people staying the night?" Bj?rn's eyes landed on Jamie. "He's human."

The mountain man nodded. "I'm here looking for my daughter. She went missing a couple of weeks ago with her boyfriend."

"Bigfoot," muttered Bj?rn.

"We know it's not Bigfoot," Brigid said. "Grigor already told us about the humans taking hikers off the trail."

Bj?rn simply shrugged. "Grigor doesn't know everything."

"Come," Grigor said. "I'll show you to rooms, and you can decide if you want to stay here for the day." He spread his arm toward the forest. "You can always dig around, but I'd prefer you don't disturb the redwood roots."

"You go look," Brigid said. "I'll stay with Bj?rn."

Carwyn kissed the top of her head. "Behave."

"It's like you don't even know me at all." She sat on a log across from Grigor's cook and stared at him.

Bj?rn stared back. "I'm not afraid of your kind."

"Good." She stretched out her legs. "Do you have any gum?"

Bj?rn was clearly not expecting that question. "Gum?"

"Chewing gum. I know, terrible habit, but it's better than lighting things on fire. Any flavor will do," Brigid said. "Except cinnamon. Cinnamon's pure shite."