Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

“I wouldn’t worry too much about the giant teeth,” Fen said, “but more about what they’re injecting into our bodies.” He felt the difference in his bloodstream almost with the first bite. “Can you track the virus? The poison? It’s already in your bloodstream. It can’t get to your heart.” He was already circling the foreign strands he could feel with white energy to keep them from taking over his cells.

Dimitri nodded. “I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t caught it. It’s subtle. I’ve contained it. It tried to spread very fast.”

“He was banking on us not catching on,” Fen said. “Can you feel that tiny trace of silver inside the strand? He sent in a silver needle to pierce the heart. Talk about subtle.”

“Would it work?” Dimitri asked.

Fen shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’d be in agony and probably wish we were dead.”

“We knew he’d have traps.”

This time when they approached the water’s edge, they did so without actually allowing their feet to touch any part of the shore. Fen gave a small sigh. “I’ve got an idea that might work. Let me try this.”

Tatijana, I have need.

I am here.

Visualize your dragon for me. It must be exact.

She didn’t question him, but immediately did as he asked. Fen sent her a telepathic salute and turned to his brother. “There’s nothing else for it, Dimitri, watch my back.”

He didn’t hesitate, rather simply floated over the top of the water a distance from shore, turned upside down and dropped his head and shoulders beneath the surface of the water, shifting as he did so. He used the head of Tatijana’s water dragon. It would have the best vision beneath the water.

It took a moment to adjust and then he turned his head, rotating around so that he could see as much as possible. Near the island, over by where the reeds were the thickest, was a strange underwater lodge built of tree branches and downed tree trunks—a beaver lodge—yet he doubted there were beavers in the lake. They’d been reintroduced to some parts of Romania, but this wasn’t one of them. The structure was huge, and part of it was above water, hidden by the reeds. If it was built like a beaver’s lodge, it would have multiple entrances and exits.

Fen, get out of there now! Dimitri warned.

Fen backed straight out of the water, shooting into the air, using his mixed blood speed. The jaws driving at him from below missed him by a scant quarter of an inch. He felt the hot breath on his face and smelled decaying, rotten meat. The monstrous crocodile dropped soundlessly into the lake but not before Fen saw those eyes, ringed in red but with solid black pupils staring at him malevolently.

I think it’s safe to say there have never been crocodiles in this lake, Fen said.

He definitely wanted you for dinner.

How did you spot him? I was looking under the water and didn’t see him, Fen asked.

He was just under the surface, swimming out from the direction of the island. I could see the ripples in the water and then spotted his eyes.

Fen returned to shore, avoiding getting near the water’s edge. “That was a rush. It was definitely Abel. He simply took the form of a crocodile. He’s got some kind of den beneath the water and it’s tied to that island. It’s also partially in the reeds.”

“He’s going to have the advantage in the water, Fen. He deliberately showed himself to lure you in.”

Fen sighed. “I figured that much, but it has to be done.”

Dimitri shrugged. “Then let’s do it.”

Both men once more took to the air, the only safe place they had left to them. Fen looked down at the mass of logs, muds and sticks below him, studying the structure from every angle. There was a definite link to the island, but he still couldn’t figure how Abel could use the island for an escape. A good part of the structure had been constructed in the reeds, so that the giant green stalks hid a portion of the lodge.

Fen glanced up at the clouds overhead. Most had turned from gray to black. They spun and churned as the storm moved closer, the wind driving them overhead. He lifted one hand, directing the energy to gather into a great fireball. Lightning edged the clouds. Thunder rumbled. The fireball streaked down to smash in the middle of the lodge, blowing it apart. Logs exploded outward, twigs and mud scattering across the lake, into the reeds and even edging the island.

Below the waterline a room was exposed. Two bodies floated to the surface, bobbing in the aftermath of the explosion. Abel had made kills and anchored his victims in his lodge to keep his lair from being exposed. Neither hunter moved, both inspecting the damage below, looking for signs of Abel.