Dark Slayer Page 0,68

left. She realized he was allowing the wolves to guard her back and he was taking up a position on her weakest side. Very few would discern that she had a weak side. She practiced all the time, using either hand to throw, shooting the crossbow with either hand and generally working to make both sides even, but she just wasn't quite as quick with the left. He had a good eye for assessing an enemy.

Or a partner.

They were getting used to sliding in and out of each other's minds. From a warrior's point of view, that was a huge asset; from a woman's maybe not as much.

"Why?" Razvan sounded genuinely curious.

She flicked him an under the lashes glance, assessing his expression, but as always he had that same mantle of calm surrounding him. "This is not easy for me. I have unexpected feelings that I have no idea how to cope with." The admission was truthful because she could do no less than be entirely candid with him. He was honest and she needed to meet his integrity with honor of her own.

His smile not only encompassed her, flooding her with warmth, but it made her feel like part of something else-something bigger than herself. "That makes two of us."

The farmer stepped out from his house and into the snow. There was blood on his arms, defense wounds, Ivory saw. His wife came out and stood slightly behind him. The farmer looked very nervous.

Ivory smiled at them to reassure them. "He is gone from this world and we will erase all evidence of his passing."

"You are hunters," the farmer greeted, his voice neutral, neither welcoming nor rejecting. "There have been persistent rumors. We have never encountered a creature so evil." His eyes skittered back and forth, indicating his nervousness.

Behind him, hidden mostly from their view, his wife shuddered. Ivory looked at the small dwelling. Strings of garlic hung in the window. A cross was carved into the door. The farmer's fingers drummed against his thigh over and over.

Razvan stepped up, a casual movement, but slightly in front of Ivory. He bowed slightly toward the farmer. Ivory could feel the stillness in him. His eyes moved over and around the cabin, continually scanning around them. He had been perfectly relaxed before, but now, he felt coiled and ready to strike.

Something is wrong. She kept her expression serene, but she went on alert.

I do not know what is wrong, Razvan mused. Something. Something is off. He paused.

Ivory opened her mind to encompass the farmer and his wife. As a rule, she could easily touch minds and do a quick read, but there were a few people resistant with barriers. A quick, light touch yielded nothing. The wife stayed slightly behind the husband, her face in the shadows. It would be peculiar and unlikely not to be able to read either of them, yet both minds were as if a clean slate.

Both? Razvan questioned. The insects. None are near the house. Yes, they are going about their business, but not even an ant is near the dwelling. He glanced toward the window of the little farmhouse. Inside, Ivory.

Ivory kept smiling, but her mind expanded further, reaching into the house to find the children. A boy and girl. Both terrified. Where was the threat coming from? Why hadn't either of them sensed it? Only a master... She broke off the thought, her heart thudding. She kept her eyes level with the farmer's. If she was right and a master vampire was in that room with the children, if the farmer realized she knew, so, then, would the vampire.

Only a master could keep his presence unknown, she explained. He would control both of them and the children, too, to keep them from betraying his presence. He must have been recruiting the newly turned. A master will often use a lesser vampire as a pawn.

Ivory steeled herself. It had to be Sergey. There wouldn't be more than one master in an area, not even related. They might have formed a coalition, but no master vampire's ego would allow him to be too long in the presence of another without serious infighting. She would have to face him again, unless she was lucky enough that he ran when he realized there were two hunters, not one.

She gripped her crossbow in preparation. What we have to do for a meal is ridiculous.

The fingers tapping on the farmer's thigh turned to a fist. He shuddered and reached for