Fen indicated the slide. A body could have been dragged along there, but why? He wouldn't need to do that.
Unless they were alive and he wanted the adrenaline rush when he killed them. He might deliberately torture his victims just for fun, Dimitri added. Certainly that's a favorite pastime of vampires.
Alright, we'll have to check it out, Fen said. The minute I hit that silver, if he was close by, he probably knew that was no owl. He's smart. Forget pretense. Let's just straight up hunt.
The brothers dropped through the air fast, shifting just before they touched the grass-lined shore. The moment their boots stepped onto a clump of greenery, both felt the ground shift beneath them. Their boots sank just an inch, but it was enough to give the lurking mutated leeches the chance they needed to swarm up their boots to their legs, biting and sucking in a feeding frenzy.
Dimitri swore under his breath in ancient Carpathian. "I really detest these things. Did he have to put giant teeth in them?"
Both men leapt back away from the edge of the lake and the leeches swarming to the top of the muddy holes their boots had made in the grass. They began to peel the creatures off of them, killing them and throwing their bodies into the swarm.
"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.
Movement near the edge of the reeds sent Fen plunging deep, rocketing through the water toward that telltale flash. Straight toward him, out of the reeds, hurtled a goliath tigerfish, one of the most feared freshwater fishes found in the world-but not in a lake in Romania. With thirty-two teeth as long as those of a great white, the monster opened its jaws wide and powered through the water straight at Fen.
Lightning fast, it streaked toward Fen, the olive-colored back barely visible. All Fen could see was the dagger-sharp teeth coming at him. The aggressive, powerful goliath was known to attack and kill crocodiles. With barely any lips and teeth set into the jaw, the fish was deadlier than the smaller piranha and once its teeth clamped down on its prey, the cut was so clean it was almost surgical.
Fen, using his Guardian speed, managed to just slip sideways out of its way. The huge body drove passed him by a few feet before the enormous fish could stop its charge. Fen dove below it, coming up under its softer silver belly, reaching around it to take a good grip.