“I smell an odd bitterness…and…a human scent. More than one…but one is more faded, and I think coming from inside, so they probably live here. While the other…”
“Newer.” Harlow frowned. “I do smell something bitter. As for the human… Did they come back already? And if they did, why wouldn’t they try to hide their scent?”
“Hmm…an unfamiliar human scent would be questioned… At the same time…maybe it wouldn’t matter. Or maybe the spell they are using to hide goes with them…while their scent stays behind.”
“Seems…kind of stupid to use a spell to hide your presence, only for it to not work once you’re gone, leaving all traces of yourself there.”
“It may be a practicality thing. One is harder to do, and likely costs more money. Which may be an unnecessary cost when they intend for everyone here to die.”
Foxx personally thought it was a cheapskate’s way to go. But…it could be a clue into their financials. Then again…the wolfsbane proved that they had to have some big backing…unless they spent most of their funds on that…
It was at the back of the house when they found something out of sorts. A side door at the back of the house was broken down, the frame cracked and splintered.
Taking a deep breath as they reached the damage, he frowned. “This bitterness… I think I smelled this metallic bitterness on the body of Santiago’s nephew. It’s just so much stronger now and clearer… It must be the scent of the poison…but...” He took another deep breath, his eyes flicking to the tree line. “The human’s scent is stronger back here as well. Harlow, I think…they really were here recently. Recently, as in, within the last thirty minutes.”
“Why would they come back this quickly?”
“I don’t know, but he has to be here still. His scent leads off that way… There are more houses there. We didn’t really get close enough to the others to check if we could smell anything, but…he must be here now… Let’s go!” Foxx hissed, taking off,using his nose to guide him. At the same time, he projected a minor illusion over them both, hoping it would be enough to hide them from whoever was here.
Between one blinkand the next, Foxx disappeared. Jerking back as he kept going, Harlow barked out, “FOXX?! What the fuck did you just do?! Where are you?!”
He stopped and look down, and…well, fuck… “Where am I?!”
Harlow blinked a few times, and slowly his body came back into view.
“Wow… Sorry, your brain must have got some wires crossed there,” Foxx said with a wince. “I pulled back a bit… I just wanted to hide us in case the human was looking in our direction. Though I pushed it around us, not at you… So, well, honestly, I didn’t hold back like I usually do, as I assumed that being a dhampir would give you added protection. Maybe your brain is still a bit scrambled from the change…as those protections should have gotten better too.”
“Fuck…maybe… Come on, let’s go, the scent is even stronger here.”
They took off again, Foxx slowing before they made it past another tree line. They stopped there, Foxx pointing, “There.”
He narrowed his eyes, spotting a man skulking near a small yellow house with a white roof.
“What the bloody hell is on his face?”
“Heat vision goggles…” He stared at the human in clear view. “So, he temporarily hides his scent, and I suppose, his heartbeat, but…not his body?”
“Apparently…” Foxx said, sounding disgusted. Oh, the vampire was judging. “The goggles…wouldn’t detect me… Vampires run way too cold for that… You, however, are a fucking space heater.”
“Something you seem to enjoy, mind you,” Harlow drawled.
The vampire shrugged. “Can’t say I don’t enjoy the extra body heat, but my enjoyment doesn’t change the fact that your warmth would make you very visible on those goggles.”
“Right…” He sighed. “And those goggles are probably why he risked coming back only three hours after the six werewolves were attacked. I recognize the pair he has on. It has a distance enhancer. He’d be able to leave before they ever spotted him.”
“He’s prepared for werewolves…but not vampires. As for you, he shouldn’t be able to see you on that thing due to me. Does he look like a hunter to you?” Foxx asked with a frown.
Harlow eyed the man. The human looked tall, lanky, with very, very pale skin, and messy, greasy-looking brown hair. The guy had a messenger bag on his shoulder, and was wearing an overly stained gray hoodie, with equally as questionable jeans. While the butt of a gunwashanging out of his hoodie pocket… Well, frankly, the man did not look like he could throw a punch without breaking something, let alone get into a fight with a paranormal creature and win.
“Not really hunter-ish… More…”
“Nutjob recluse who rarely sees the light of day, who likely read and believed every conspiracy theory that he could get his greasy hands on, as he waited for humanity to need him? Yep, that’s what I was thinking.”
He grinned at the detailed description. Harlow had just been going to say nutjob who didn’t know what a bar of soap was…but…he supposed the rest probably fit too. “So, he is probably helpless?”
“He has a gun…but I bet it has silver bullets in it. Like I said, he’s only expecting werewolves, and possibly other humans.”
“Which is dumb…because your species do get together sometimes. Not to mention, there are more than just werewolves and vampires out there. Either way, there are two of us, one of him, and he is human, so…”
