"What about that beating noise?"
"I don't know."
Kat brushed aside a long green tendril. They were beginning to curtain the path, slapping and clawing at her clothes like live things. A soft thrum began to accompany the heartbeat dripping, and magic swirled through the heat, dancing like fireflies across her skin. Sweat dripped down her face and back, its cause not just the furnace conditions but fear.
"I suspect we're getting close to the soul sucker's hatching ground," Gwen murmured. "Be careful."
If she was any more careful she'd be standing still. "Did you ever find out how exactly this thing breeds?"
"No. The text Seline found turned out to be a false hope. All it really did was reinforce the belief that what kills a vampire will kill a soul sucker."
"If we can get it in human form."
"If," Gwen agreed.
The slope began to ease off, until they were walking on level ground. Kat slowed further. Light glowed up ahead, but it wasn't the greenish fire of the surrounding slime, more a sickly red luminescence.
Her stomach began to churn. Ahead something stirred as if agitated, followed by a sloshing sound. She stopped, not liking the feel of what lay ahead. Not wanting to discover the horror she sensed she'd discover.
But standing here shaking was achieving nothing. She grabbed a silver knife from her belt and edged forward. This close to that odd red glow, the mossy tendrils had become dry and harsh, so that it felt like she was forcing her way through a forest of dead fingers.
She pushed through the last veil and stopped. The cavern before them was small and round. Fire burned in several stone circles, and it was their sickly radiance that warmed the room. The thrumming she'd sensed earlier was stronger here and seemed to ebb and flow in time to the dancing flames. That odd sounding heartbeat had two echoes, and the noise set her teeth on edge. Magic flowed around her, through her, and the sparks skipping across her skin were almost painful.
The floor was sand rather than stone, and spotted with wide black globs she sensed were old blood. But from what? Heart suddenly in her mouth, she looked up.
And discovered not only the reason for the smell, but the way the soul sucker bred.
Men hung from the ceiling. They weren't zombies simply because they were still alive — and being eaten from the outside in by the creatures in the silky white sacks attached to each of their stomachs.
Kat's stomach finally rebelled. She staggered to the side and vomited. Gwen handed her the water canteen then moved further into the cavern. "They look like caterpillars," Gwen said, her voice a mix of horror and fascination. "But they have human faces."
Kat rinsed out her mouth and spat the water out. "I don't want to know."
"These men aren't in any pain. Quite the opposite in fact."
Taking a deep breath, Kat looked up. Her stomach stirred but stayed down. Her grandmother was right. They looked damn near orgasmic. She took another swig of water then capped the canteen and slung it over her shoulders. "If this thing is similar in makeup to a vampire, then maybe it has the same sort of sexual aura that a vampire has when it feeds on humans."
"Probably." Gwen shifted. "Wonder what it needed the kids for, though?"
She let her gaze roam across the men. There were five of them hanging feet first from the ceiling, but only two had the sacks attached. The other three looked asleep — and were dreaming of sex, if their expressions were anything to go by.
"You don't think — " She hesitated, glancing quickly behind her. Though she heard no sound and couldn't feel the approach of anything evil, she had a vague suspicion they were no longer alone under the mountain.
She backed towards Gwen, knuckles white with the force of her grip on the knife as she watched the cavern's entrance. "Could the ritual the mara is performing be one to help it ovulate?"
"Most likely." Gwen hesitated. "We're going to have to stake them, then burn their carcasses with the holy water."
Her stomach was on the move again. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to swallow that extra water. "What about the men those things are feeding on?"
"They're mostly shifters. Staking should kill both host and parasite."
"Then we'd better hurry, because I've got a bad feeling the soul sucker is headed our way."
"If she isn't, she soon will be." Gwen's voice was grim. "I'll handle this. You keep track of the mara."
Kat stepped out from under the human chandeliers, stopping close to one of the sickly fires. Heat caressed her legs, but it was more magic than actual warmth. But it had a different feel than the magic that throbbed all around them.
There was a grunt of effort from her grandmother, followed quickly by a high pitched, inhuman scream. The cavern seemed to shudder as if in pain, then fury rent the air. Kat pulled a small jar of holy water free from her belt and waited.