Travis came and sat down between Paul and Zev. He looked at the three men. “I’d much rather fight a vampire,” he declared with a small shudder.

“You’re not alone in that,” Paul agreed.

“We’ve got a mess to clean up,” Zev said. “Although I think I’m feeling a little sleepy.”

Jubal threw a handful of dirt at him. “Don’t even think about running out on us.”

Zev yawned. “Really. The sun is getting to me.”

“We’ll get to you,” Paul declared, making a move as though he might tackle Zev.

Zev was too fast, leaping to his feet, nearly skidding in the oil. “Fine. I’ll help. But you two made a mess.”

“We saved the day,” Jubal announced solemnly. “We were discussing medals of valor.”

Zev’s eyebrow shot up. “Medals?” he repeated, as if he wasn’t certain what that was.

“Of valor,” Paul said. “Trav can get in on it, too. We even designed one.” He looked at Jubal and the two of them roared with laughter.

Zev shook his head. “Young Travis, this is clearly a side effect of getting too close to one of the hellhounds. Their brains are addled.”

Travis nodded. “I can see that. We’d better leave them to it and clean up downstairs so the kids can get out of the safe room. They’ll be frightened.”

They turned away and Paul yelped in panic. “Wait! You can’t leave. You have to burn all this.”

Turning back, Zev laughed at the stricken faces of Jubal and Paul. Even Travis laughed with him. “I notice I get the work and you get the medals.” He called down the lightning and directed it over the bodies, incinerating them and the black, shiny blood that had spread throughout the yard.

“As it should be,” Paul muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Zev to hear.

A whip of lightning struck a few feet from Paul’s feet, getting the last of the blood from the ground. Paul practically leapt over the top of Jubal to get away from the sizzling tip.

“I’m telling Branislava on you,” he called out, using the last resort he had to even the odds.

19

An unholy mist crept through the forest, weaving through the trees close to the ground. Tendrils rose from the foot-high bank of fog, long tentacles inching through brush and leaves to wind like snakes and climb higher into the tree trunks. A strange odor of burning sulfur accompanied the dense vapor. The smell was faint, yet wildlife shied away from the creeping mist, whirling around when it approached and running as if their very lives were in danger.

A wolf sank down onto its haunches and lifted its muzzle skyward, emitting a long warning note. Another joined it.

To me now! Dimitri ordered the two alphas sharply. Hurry. Skyler, move it. We have no time. Zev! Fen! We’re surrounded. The wolves are calling, can you hear the warning?

Dimitri held out his arms for his wolves to leap aboard. They came running out of the deeper forest to leap at him. He felt the jolt as they shifted at the last moment. The little alpha female was getting it, but she still hit him harder than necessary. He reprimanded her automatically, reminding her to shift a little faster.

Skyler’s wolf Moonglow rushed toward them and she turned, arms wide, to make it easier for her to leap aboard. Dimitri kept his eyes on the fog as it inched its way toward the clearing where the ceremony to send Arno and his son Arnau off with honors was taking place.

He couldn’t describe it as mist any longer—the matter was far too dense and gave off an eerie, flickering, yellowish-gray glow. He signaled Skyler to start moving, back in the direction of the clearing. The fog was taking over the forest and he didn’t want her or the wolves in it.

Wolves began howling from various positions in the forest. Skyler gasped and reached for his hand. “The wild ones are warning us to get out,” she interpreted.

Dimitri lifted his head and howled back, emitting a series of notes and cries, perfectly pitched like a wolf, responding to the warnings of the wild wolves.

Ivory and Razvan came from the direction of the west, their wolves already riding on both of them. “Are you two all right?” Razvan asked, looking Skyler over carefully.

Skyler nodded. “One of my wolves, Frost, hasn’t returned yet. Dimitri called them in.”

“I’ve told the wild ones to get out of this part of the forest and avoid the fog,” Dimitri said. “They knew, they were warning us, but I wanted to make certain they understood how dangerous it is.”

Razvan indicated the yellowish vapor. “It appears to be climbing the trees. Look how it wraps around the trunk and goes up. It goes up the trees it touches before it creeps forward again along the forest floor.”

Ivory and Skyler stepped toward the fog, both determined to find the missing wolf. Dimitri caught Skyler’s arm to halt her.

“He’ll come back or he won’t, csitri, but you can’t get near that stuff. If every animal in the forest is running away from it, you have to heed the warnings.”

Ivory had halted as well, looking back at Razvan as if he’d communicated with her privately. Her long lashes hid her expression but she dropped her chin and shook her head. Razvan put his arm around her briefly as if comforting her.

“We can’t just leave him,” Skyler protested.

“You knew from the beginning we could lose the wolves,” Dimitri said, his tone gentle, but brooking no argument. “You can’t sacrifice your life hunting a stray. This fog is dangerous. We’ve got to go.”

“He’ll come back. He always strays too far, but he comes back,” Skyler said, leaning into Dimitri for a moment. “I’ve reprimanded him over and over but he just seems to get lost when he runs free, meaning he loses track of time and what he’s supposed to be doing.”

Insects poured out of the ground, running ahead of the fog as it continued to move toward the clearing. Ants, termites, beetles, every insect that sought refuge in the ground or fallen trees, turned the vegetation into a living carpet,

Dimitri tugged at Skyler’s hand. “We’re leaving now.”

Skyler hesitated. “Dimitri, the air feels heavier, almost as if there is a dark spell hidden with the fog.” She looked at her birth father. “Do you feel it?”

Razvan nodded. “Nature has been twisted and bent to another’s desire.”

“But more,” Skyler speculated. “It’s more than that. It’s darker. Evil. As if there are things wrought within the fog that come from another realm.”