Page 70 of Tin God

There were scents in the forest, but none of them spoke of humans or vampires. Deer, bear, and fox. The low hoot of owls calling as he passed silently through their realm.

It was completely dark; the moon and stars were covered by a dense cloud, and no light shone from the empty house save for a small security light at the end of the dock.

He heard the putter of the boat engine in the distance and flew to greet Carwyn and Buck, waiting on the rocky beach while they walked down the dock toward him.

The earth vampire had spoken to his mate, and Ben could see the slight ease in the set of Carwyn’s shoulders.

Ben lifted a hand in greeting. “How was the water?”

“Wet,” Carwyn muttered. He heaved a visible sigh of relief when his feet touched land, then froze. “Ben, what did you see from the air?”

He frowned. “Nothing. House looks good. No damage that I could see. Paths through the forest. Lots of mud and trees. Why?”

Carwyn’s knees hit the soil, and he dug his hands into the mud.

The hairs on Ben’s arms rose as the old vampire’s amnis stretched out, touching everything connected to the earth.

Ben’s instincts went on alert, and his feet lifted from the ground.

“Not you,” Carwyn muttered. “It’s not you. But he’s somewhere.” Carwyn stood up, kicked off his shoes, and sank his feet into the earth. “There’s a vampire here.Deepunderground.”

Buck frowned. “I don’t know anyone who lives out here. None of Jennie or Katya’s people?—”

“He’s none of Katya’s. He’s much older than Katya.” Carwyn started walking barefoot across the rocks, then straight into the trees and back into the forest, moving at a pace that didn’t match his size.

From Ben’s perspective, the vampire appeared to float through the trees, moving with so much speed that he appeared to be flying. He moved over the ground like a boat skimming over water.

Ben flew after him, leaving Buck alone on the rocky shore, Ben dodged through the canopy as Carwyn ran through the forest. He was as silent as an owl in flight, his body slipping through the dense underbrush, and the only way Ben could keep him in sight was watching for the bright red shock of hair appearing like a spark in the forest.

Carwyn had stripped down to his shirtsleeves, and mud streaked over his arms and legs. He stopped every now and then to crouch down, altering his angle before he moved again.

Ben had no idea how long they’d run before they came to a mound that rose in the center of the trees, ferns blanketing the steep rise of earth. A hint of old logs poked out from the edges of the moss and the dirt.

He landed next to Carwyn. “What is it?”

“He was hurt. Surprised by them. This place is old, and he came here to heal.”

“There’s a vampire in there?” Ben reached for one of the blades worked into his jacket.

“You won’t need that.” Carwyn spread his arms, and Ben gawked as the earth hollowed out beneath him, the mud and the rocks peeling back as Carwyn stepped down into their depths. “Stay here. He may not trust you.”

The earth was silent after it swallowed Carwyn, the ferns dripping water onto the churned soil and the moss gently creeping over the scarred ground as Ben watched the ground begin to heal itself.

Like most of the vampire world, Ben sometimes forgot how formidable earth vampires could be. They were the humble folk of the immortal world, living in isolated places and gathering communities around them, more enmeshed in the human world than most vampires and their retinues.

But as Ben watched the ground open up for the old vampire, he remembered how powerful the earth could be.

Minutes passed; silence reigned.

Finally the ground began to move again, the moss and ferns pulling back like a blanket tugged from a bed. The soil beneath Ben’s feet heaved up, and as he backed away, he saw Carwyn emerge from the earth with a blackened figure in his arms.

“I don’t speak his language.” Carwyn’s voice was a low growl. “Buck’s wife is Tlingit. Does he speak the language?”

“I don’t know. What happened to him?”

Ben could sense the vampire was alive but just barely.

“Burned,” Carwyn said. “Maybe by Zasha. Maybe by someone else. I have no idea.”

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