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The gleaazed at us from behind the dark bushes and deadfalls, and I could hear the faint cadence of a beating dru streah the silence

The faint outline of the arrastra sat in the middle of the stream Stone rind the ore in order to release the precious gold that fueled the hopes and dreams of the miners Not that they would have found ht, but from what I understood, the hills had been rife with prospectors a hundred years back Though the Fae valued silver old, we understood the allure of precious metals

Camille and Venus fell silent The hairs on the back ofthe scene of Shawn’sin the forest "We follow the strealade ahead That’s where we found all of the bodies We’ve laid traps, we’ve set up guards to watch In fact, Shaas on guard duty, and sooing to liuards to the front of the compound," Menolly said fro for Zach "But Shawn convinced us that he’d be safe if he took another man with him Apparently Jesse had to take a piss, and while he was off in the bushes, the killer got poor Shawn By the time Jesse found him, Shaas dead"

Zach shook his head "We’ve reached our wits’ end The Council has finally admitted that we can’t handle this on our own If it keeps up, there won’t be a Rainier Pu ready to send the women and children to the Blue Road Tribe up on Mount Baker until we’ve caught the whack job who’s offing our people"

"Blue Road Tribe?" Caroup?"

"Bears, actually," Venus said "A Native Aed a formal alliance with them, just in case one of our mountains decides to blow We learned the hard hen St Helens erupted and deci to do this, let’s get it over with," Ajax said "I want to take my son home and lay him to rest" His voice was rock steady, but in that moment I understood why the older man was so distant If Shaas Zachary’s cousin, then Ajaxout in the snow, dead

Ca but then shook her head as Zachary led us out into the glen that opened up near the strea, but the rocks near the banks were slippery with snow and ice A large fire pit sat in the center of the glade, and the surrounding land had been smoothed out Zach hadThis area ust of wind blew past, and I could smell traces of blood I looked over my shoulder at Camille and Menolly It was obvious they could smell it, too The look on Menolly’s face was one of raw desire, and I was grateful she’d fed recently

Near the strea man Or what had been his body Hair the color of wheat was splattered with dried blood, and his skin was the texture of old leather, parched as if he’d been mummified His throat had been slashed, and his head lolled back I winced and looked away, not wanting to see the terrified look frozen forever on his face

A gust of wind sent a swirl of flakes into a frenzy, and then the clouds parted for an instant, and thedown on the freshly fallen snow and the face of young Shawn He and Zach looked a lot alike, but he couldn’t have been row up, never marry, father children, take a trade I sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep my composure

"Who could do this to him in such a short ti? That shouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes, and yet every ounce of moisture that was in his body seems to have been sucked out of his cells" Menolly knelt beside the body, shaking her head "Not even a vampire can do this"

"All the victiht maybe some odd natural process was at work, since we didn’t find the first few for a while," Venus said "You can see e’re so frightened Whoever is doing this has the power to sneak in, drain their victims, rip out their hearts, and vanish before we can catch theround, in the snow, and gently took one of Shawn’s hands in his own "I’ve tried dreabank that always obscures ical traps I’ve set have been in vain Nothing is working"

Ajax stood beside Menolly, staring blankly out at the rippling strea at all to help us--you’ll have e service to you and your sisters; I’ll pay any cost Just find out whoman broke down then, and tears coursed down his cheeks as he silently wept under the glittering moon

Camille squatted beside Venus and leaned close to Shawn’s body, sniffing his shirt "There’s sonize"

"We noticed that, too," Venus said "I thought I knew the scent of most of the creatures around here, but this one is new toI should knohere it’s fro as round

"It’s not the scent of any undead that I recognize," Menolly said after a moment "As for demons… almost a hint, but not quite What do you think, Calassy eyes "I wish Corpse Talkers worked on Weres, but unless he had Fae blood--even a few drops--it’s no use to bring one in" She glanced up at Zach, who shook his head

"No such luck Pure Earthside Were"

"Thought so," she said, going back to exaer and held it up to her nose, inhaling deeply "You’re right, Menolly--a faint s over the top of it This is very strange"

I looked around at the clearing My attention wavered, and I foundover to the bank where it dropped directly into the stream The shore ended, but the curve of the bank led up a steep incline to athe creek An inner nudge pushed me to examine the embankment, and the moment I touched the rocky face--what had probably been an ancient alluvial deposit--I knew that I had to climb it

"Where does this lead?" I called back over my shoulder Zachary and Tyler joined me, Menolly close behind the Shawn’s body for transport back to the enclave Ajax just continued to stare at the endless currents flowing by

Zach looked up "I don’t know I don’t think I’ve ever been up there"

"What about you, Tyler?" I asked

Tyler shook his head "I don’t think you should bother"

"Well, I think otherwise," I said "There’s soo with you, Kitten" she said She i the old Menolly, before she’d been killed and changed She lithely sca in with nails to find the barest of handholds

I took a deep breath I was athletic; I should be able to ," I said

"Are you sure you want to try that? You’ll most likely end up in the drink," Tyler said "Why not let o up first, to make sure you aren’t hurt?"

"No need I’ll be careful I don’t like water, but I love heights" I followed Menolly’s path, feeling uide my feet and hands The smell of frozen earth looainst the embankment One foot at a time, one hand at a tiht indentation Scra out on which to rest ainst the an to fall in earnest, all I could see were flakes of white and the dirt beneath I glanced up, but Menolly was nowhere to be seen; she was one with the embankment She could have easily floated to the top, but she chose instead to take the harder route--to test herself, to cling to the person she’d been in life rather than the vast, just a choice