Tora, be extremely careful when you rise. Not only are Castello and hisfanatical friends here, and Castello is a demon hybrid, but something else is lurking around my home. It feels like at least four watchers.
There was a small silence. Silke was certain Tora was reaching with all her senses, the immense gifts she had been born with, to find the hidden spies.
Let me feel what you’re feeling.
Silke heard the speculation in Tora’s voice as it moved through her mind. If Tora couldn’t find the spies, that meant demon for certain. No vampire would be able to escape her detection. Demon was probably better than vampire, but Silke had to draw the demon from Raik that very evening. She had another powerful demon in the village she had to consider how best to rid the world of. If there were four more and they were watching her home, she was still a suspect. She had hoped to divert Castello’s interest in another direction to give her time to recover from the fight with the serpent. Now, if there were others…
She opened her mind to Tora, and the Carpathian woman merged without hesitation. Silke had learned her decisiveness from Tora. She had always admired that quality in Tora. Like Silke, her mind worked fast, going through options to find the best one. Once she determined what to do, she didn’t hesitate or speculate further. She acted.
I do not feel them on my own. The taint is so faint it is nearly nonexistent,Tora said.You have grown so sensitive. That’s a good thing. I doubt a demon would be able to escape your attention as they can mine.
Please be careful when you approach the house, Tora. They are close. Too close. I feel as if they can see what I am doing.
Are you safe?
You wove protections around the house. When you come, please do so again. I’m worried for Fenja. She doesn’t want us to worry about her, but her health is declining and she insists on helping as many of the villagers as possible. I’ve been doing my best to take her place so she doesn’t feel as if she has to travel to the various homes when she doesn’t feel up to it.
Don’t forget that moving around is good for her,Tora warned.
Tora was closer. Somewhere in the village, most likely feeding. Silke tried not to worry about her. Castello would love to get his hands on her. Lilith had been unable to penetrate the safeguards surrounding the forest. She didn’t know who the guardian of the gate was, but from experience testing the other gates, she knew the guardian would be a Carpathian female.
Lilith’s spies had been unable to uncover the identity of the slayer. She couldn’t afford to go to war without knowing who the slayer was, and it appeared she was sending as many spies as she could to the village. Silke wasn’t as concerned for herself as she was for Fenja and Tora or even those residing in the village. Everyone was at risk unless she could eradicate the threat. That was on her. She was the demon slayer.
You’ve got this, Silke.Tora affirmed her belief in Silke.And don’t worry so much about Fenja. I had already planned to heal her tonight.
You can’t wear yourself out. I have hurt my ankle and need it healed or I won’t be able to fight any demons. They’re crazy fast. At least that slippery little serpent was.
I’m well rested,Tora assured.I’m very close to your house. Moving around outside of it and examining the roof as well. Is there any change in the way the demons feel to you?
Silke had known Tora was very close. She became tuned to Tora’s presence over their years of growing up together. She felt she could find her should anything ever go wrong and Tora needed help.
With Tora right outside her home but concealing herself from demon spies, Silke allowed her slayer senses to take over, searching for any changes in the demons. Shockingly, the energy was even lower than before, as if they knew they were hunted and had gone as quiet as possible. How could they know Tora was close?
What form did you take? Could you have done something to give yourself away?
Silke forced herself to stand, catching up the backpack containingher tools for fighting demons. If nothing else, she would provide a distraction to allow Tora to get into the house unseen.
“Fenja, stay out of sight. I’m going to open the door so Tora can come in. Anything out there will be concentrating on me and, hopefully, fail to notice her coming inside.”
At the moment, I’m in the form of a bird. When you are going to open the door, I’ll shift to molecules and drift in, unless any of the demons try to get inside. Then I won’t care if they see me because we’ll have to destroy them.
Silke made her way to the door and stood with her hand on the knob.She could barely feel the presence of the four demons. Their energy had been low even before Tora had approached the house. Somehow, although she was in the form of a bird, they must have sensed her presence. In all the years they had trained and battled together, no demon had ever sensed Tora close when she didn’t want to be seen. Again, this was something new and worrisome.
Silke had to figure out what was happening and how the demons were evolving, and she had to do so quickly. Tonight. She had ideas, but they were still forming in the back of her brain.
Ready when you are,she told Tora.
At door now.
Silke opened the door and stepped into the doorframe, deliberately taking her time looking around the front yard. As she did so, Tora slipped inside, brushing against Silke to let her know she had safely made it into the house. Silke unhurriedly closed the door and leaned against it. “Did you feel them at all?”
Tora materialized, crouching down beside Silke’s ankle. “No, not unless I was merged with you. Then I could get a sense that something not right was out there watching the house.” She let out a low whistle. “You’re lucky this isn’t broken.”
“Hurts like it is,” Silke admitted.Can you fix it and still have enough energy to help Fenja?
Yes, of course. And I’ll be fine when we get to Raik. I fed well tonight.
Chapter
