“Sandu said the vampires he destroyed were promised a portal, Luiz. Someone has done that. Nera commands an army of demons for Lilith. Nera could have promised the vampires the chance of going through the portal in return for aiding her.”
Several paths meandered off the main one they traveled on. Without thinking, Adalasia tapped him mentally on the left shoulder, indicating for him to take the tiny ribbon of a game trail. It was darker through a grove of trees covered in spiderwebs. She felt the movement of hundreds of the arachnids as they began to stalk the two living Carpathians.
She swept her sword from under her long coat and held it up high as she jogged, the flames running up and down the blade, flickering and pulsing in various colors of red and orange.
“Hear me, evil ones. If even one of you dares to drop down on my companion or me, or if a web is thrown over us, I will set this entire grove on fire. It will burn every single one of you. None will escape.”
As a threat, it was very decisive. She would set the entire grove ablaze if even one dared to drop on them. She was done with being inactive. She didn’t know who the spiders belonged to—this place or Nera—but she didn’t care. She kept moving fast, staying right behind Luiz, not changing her breathing in the least.
The spiders followed their progress through the grove, but not one came near them. No net was cast on them to delay them. Just as they emerged from the trees onto the edge of a clearing, birds screamed and dove at them, coming straight at their eyes with razor-sharp beaks and wicked talons. It seemed as though hundreds of raptors flew at them, attempting to drive them back into the trees or claw their eyes out.
Luiz threw up his hands, and the birds slammed into an invisible barrier. Feathers fell like rain. Shrieks filled the air as some fell to the ground, hitting the barrier so hard they broke their necks. He wove a complicated pattern and then indicated for Adalasia to run straight across the clearing to the trees on the other side. She didn’t wait, although it was difficult to force her body to take those first few steps out into the open again.
Overhead, the birds went into a frenzy, but she kept running, her gaze locked on the grayish twisted trunk of a kapok tree. She realized as the raptors scraped at an unseen barrier over her head and all around her that Luiz had created a tunnel. She had no idea how long it would last against the violent beating the birds subjected it to, so she ran with Carpathian blurring speed, cognizant of keeping her heart rate the same and her lungs breathing steadily.
She reached the thick grove of trees, took two steps in and halted, Luiz nearly slamming into her. “There is something here.” She felt the malevolence.
Behind them, the birds continued their shrieking, but they didn’t follow them into the dark forest. They couldn’t skirt around the patch of trees, not with the birds flying and darting back and forth, sentries to keep them captive.
Her skin began to crawl. The hair on her body stood up in protest. For the first time, she used the blood bond between the ancient and herself. It had seemed too intimate when she didn’t know him. Every instinct told her she needed to face this enemy alone. Hide yourself. He cannot know you are with me.
Luiz didn’t question her; he simply vanished. Even knowing he was close and the guardians were crouched there in her mind, she continued in the direction Sandu was pulling her in with great trepidation. Luiz’s physical presence with his immense power had been a protection she hadn’t realized she’d counted so heavily on.
She forced herself to walk at a brisk pace, scanning all around her. The deeper she went into the forest, the more confused she felt, as if her mind were becoming foggy. Things moved in the shadows around her, keeping pace with her. She caught glimpses of shapes slinking around the trees, great hulks of furred creatures. Twice, she saw glowing red eyes when the beasts drew her attention, and once, yellow malevolent eyes stared at her from the branches above her head.
The air was thicker beneath the heavy canopy, and it was much more difficult to breathe with the heat and humidity. Each breath she drew in made her feel as if she were choking on evil. Halting, she ignored the creatures surrounding her. She knew them for what they were: demons hidden in the bodies of forest animals under the command of something far more frightening than a mere wolf.
Whatever malevolent demon she was facing was fogging her mind. The confusion was making it difficult to get a firm lock on where Sandu was. Slowly, she turned in a circle, looking for his direction again. She didn’t dare take in deep breaths and draw in the poisonous air.