A Different Path

Chapter Seven

They made good progress the next two days, and each night Felicity found solace curled up against Spirit's side as they slept. On the third night, they were within a few miles of the border and Felicity had just fallen asleep, snuggled against Spirit's side when she heard her brother's voice.

She cracked an eye open and saw a pair of familiar shiny black boots a short distance away.

"She's here; I can smell her, but where?" Gerhardt kicked the saddlebags lying on the ground just a foot and a half from Felicity.

She winced, desperately wanting those saddlebags within arm's reach along with their weapons. Pax, sensing the presence of vampires, snorted and shied away.

Felicity held her breath as her brother stormed back to his friends. "Three nights wasted hunting her down. No more, tonight we flush her out and deal with her. Mother and Father never need to know that we found her alive."

"How are we going to do that," Joachim asked. "She's clearly outwitted you." Gerhardt turned and Felicity caught a glint of moonlight on a shiny black claw. Joachim backed away.

"I'm tired of this," Fritz agreed, unaware of the malevolence twisting Gerhardt's smile. "I only came along because you said we could have our way with her."

"We'll kill the horse; that will slow her down," Gerhardt ordered, and Fritz, now understanding the ugliness of Gerhardt's intentions, unsheathed his dagger.

"Yes, this will teach the silly little cow a lesson," Fritz agreed.

Felicity struggled to stand, knowing that once she broke contact with Spirit, her brother would sense her presence. But her one thought was to save Pax, and she only had seconds.

"Felicity, think!" Spirit hissed urgently. "There are three of them!"

She stubbornly shook her head, inching her hand towards the nearest saddlebag. She was fairly certain it held the crossbow.

Pax flattened his ears and swished his tail as he pawed the ground. Moonlight glinted on Fritz's fangs as he clutched Pax's neck with the claws on his left hand while holding the dagger aloft in his right. A scream pierced the air as Fritz suddenly pitched forward, a silver dart protruding from his back. His body convulsed violently, a mixture of surprise and horror etched on his face, before the dart blasted a gaping hole through his chest, and the vampire lay still.

"Take that from the silly little cow," Felicity, gloved and heavily veiled, stood behind Spirit, the hand crossbow at the ready, a second dart already notched into the string. "One step towards that horse and this dart's for you. And don't forget, boys, I'm as fast as you are."

Fritz would be back. Being killed like this was nothing to a vampire, it took a lot more to extinguish one, but it would take him time, a very long time in this case, to come back from the grave.

How ironic that the stranger had come to Vereistenwald to hunt vampires. Ironic too that Gerhardt had tutored her in archery.

Gerhardt narrowed his eyes and took a step back assessing his sister's position, but Joachim was more reckless and leapt at her. The silver arrow flew and lodged itself in his throat.

Felicity smiled grimly. She was an excellent shot.

The vampire desperately clutched at his throat, his eyes rolling up in agony, but the exploding tip of the arrow had already caused irreparable damage for him. He collapsed in a pool of gore.

Gerhardt made a desperate lunge for his sister. Felicity hesitated for a fraction of a second; she didn't want to shoot her brother. But the snarl escaping him convinced her otherwise, the crossbow string twanged, as she released another dart. But the hesitation had cost her, her aim was not true, and the dart only pierced his shoulder. He screamed in agony as gouts of blood sprang forth from between his fingers as he grasped the stump trying to stem the flow. He would heal soon enough but for now he was in excruciating pain.