Dhampir - By Barb Hendee & J. C. Hendee Page 0,142

"I will care for you. I will take your sorrows and drain them away."

Her fingers brushed Magiere's chin and moved up to stroke her temple.

Chap growled from the open doorway.

Teesha's attention flickered briefly toward the dog.

The nymph faded from Magiere's visions. There was only the woman, the creature. Teesha. Magiere backstepped once as her sword arm pulled up and swung level.

Teesha's focus shifted instantly back to Magiere.

Realization didn't dawn on Magiere until she found herself looking down at the red-clad body lying limp across her bed. The head still rocked on the floor where it had fallen, neck stump dripping dark fluid onto the floor and into its disheveled hair. The eyes were locked wide, but the pale face was blank of expression.

Instead of triumph, loss and regret hit Magiere. Two single tears slipped out, not at the death of this creature so much as the death of the illusion Teesha had painted in her mind.

Chap sniffed at the head, then barked low and soft.

"Take Rose back to the stable and protect the children," she ordered him.

He looked up at her with a low whine of obvious disagreement.

"Do it!" she said.

Chap hesitated briefly, then left the room.

Magiere stood there for a long time. Finally, she picked up Teesha's head by its hair and walked back downstairs.

Chapter Twenty

Leesil waited tensely inside the shack with no idea the battle had already begun. The dwelling he crouched inside was not a home; Barely large enough for Karlin and himself to hide in, it must have once been a kind of toolshed. Now only spiders and a broken rake inhabited the place.

"It's well past sundown," Karlin whispered. "Shouldn't something have happened?"

"I don't know," Leesil answered honestly. "If they've discovered we're prepared, they may wait a long time."

"People will already be shaking from fear. Much longer, and they'll be exhausted."

"Exactly. Hence, the waiting if they know something is happening."

Leesil peered out a crack in the door, hoping to see something, anything, when he heard Rose scream. The sound shot through him like an arrow, and he burst out into the street without thinking.

"Rose?" he called and started for the stable up the street.

Another scream rang out, and in confusion, he turned toward the tavern. Karlin now stood beside him.

More screams echoed through the town around him.

Turning, he saw two dockworkers run from their hiding places in panic. Snarls and growls followed frightened cries, and Leesil stood dumbfounded, not knowing what he should do.

Wolves.

Long-legged, enraged animals were running in the streets and attacking Miiska's citizens. Some were even jumping through windows. Geoffry, Karlin's son, was holding off an enormous black beast with a makeshift spear. Leesil dropped his ax, grabbed Karlin's crossbow out of the man's hands, and fired, catching the wolf through the throat. "Get off the ground!" he yelled. The streets turned to chaos. His simple but well-laid plan shattered into pieces as more canine creatures appeared from around side streets to savagely rout his people from their hiding places. Thoughts of undeads disappeared as weapons and terror shifted toward new targets.

The wolves were not starving, mangy beasts. They appeared to be healthy timber wolves, except they had gone mad and were attacking anything human that moved. He and Magiere had some experience with wolves on the open road in Stravina, but he'd never known one to attack a person, unless famine or disease drove it to desperate action. Wolves avoided areas where people settled. But now, these tall, gray-and-black furred creatures ran down and savaged random citizens. Screams and snarls filled the night air. "Leesil!" Karlin shouted. 'The tavern's on fire."

* * *

Rashed sent the wolves ahead, following rapidly through the trees toward Miiska. This time it would be the hunter who was caught off guard, distracted by carnage, and he would be the one with well-prepared forces. While he did not consider wolves to be complex creatures, they became quite single-minded when he set them to a task for which they were suited. With one thought image, he showed them that task, ordering them to attack and kill anything that moved. They obeyed.

Reaching the edge of town, he strode in without hesitation, carrying a burning torch in one hand and his sword in the other. There was no time or need to hide in shadows now.

He felt no satisfaction when the screaming began. Random violence was distasteful and lacked honor. Even killing to feed was a foolish act that raised suspicion and depleted the local food supply. But the hunter had retreated