Page 55 of Blood of a Huntsman

The Whisper

Cat would have lied if she’d said she recognized the man at the border of Oldcrest; she'd never seen him. And if she had, she wouldn't have paid attention to him. He was one of thousands, a simple foot soldier of no consequence. But though she didn't know him, she could identify his energy easily enough.

"This place is sealed tight," Greer said. "It's held for over a thousand years against any intruder who hasn't been invited. There's no way this guy can get in."

Cat hated this. She'd planned to talk to Levi, but right now, it looked like she'd deliberately kept crucial information from them.

Which, admittedly, was exactly what she'd been doing. But only because she hadn’t realized that knowledge was relevant until recently.

"Maybe," Cat said. "Maybe not. Well, it might be easier to just try it rather than explaining. Greer, how are your shields?"

Greer grinned, somewhat cockily. "All right," she replied. Meaning, awesome, obviously.

"Okay, can you build one around you? As strong as you can make it."

The witch nodded, then tightened her hands into fists, calling her energy.

Cat had seen mages and witches at work, but never had she felt the air burst around her with quite so much force as the light gray mist that gathered around Greer, followed by a darker energy, black as night. It formed a perfect sphere and then disappeared.

But she could still feel it.

Magic generally came in colors. Calling one specific energy brought forward particles with a shape and tone. Only the strongest creatures could render magic imperceptible.

Come to think of it, Cat had never seen Greer practice any magic until today. And now, she was sure she never wanted to see it again. Greer was known as a gifted potion master, not a spell caster. Now Cat understood: the witch was studying what she hadn't already mastered.

The woman was terrifying.

Cat tried not to feel self-conscious as she called to her storm again, drawing it to her. Unlike yesterday, she didn't attempt to summon all of the lightning she could withstand. Just a small taste. But usually, that was enough. Cat wasn't a strong mage. The smallest effort zapped her energy.

Today, she found the summoning a little bit easier. Maybe practice did make perfect after all.

She gathered the energy in her palms and threw it right at the witch. A bright white blast flashed from her palm to Greer, and hit the shield for a fraction of a second. Just a fleeting instant.

Her bolt zapped the shield, cracking the wards open on impact. Black and white particles fell to the ground around a shocked, open-mouthed Greer.

The other vampires were silent, and she could feel all eyes on her. Some curious, others frightened. Most, suspicious. She tried to not let it get to her.

"I'm not a particularly powerful mage in my family," she told them. "But my brother could potentially destroy the shields around Oldcrest. So could my aunt, and some others. This guy"—she pointed to the witch beyond the shield—"is a weather mage, like your friend Gwen. Only right now, he's concentrating on the storm. He's testing to see if it could destroy the wards around Oldcrest. In a few minutes, he'll figure out that he can fracture the defenses just a little bit. And he'll report that to my aunt, which is all she needs to know if she's planning on ordering an attack."

"And is she?" Levi asked. "Planning an attack."

Cat looked down at her toes. "I don't know."

She heard Mikar snort. "I don't," she insisted. "If you think for one minute Drusilla lets me in on her council, you have no idea who my aunt is."

"I think the most pressing matter is what we do with this," Chloe said, eyes still on the mage.

Levi thought for a moment.

"If he never shows up, someone else will be sent in his place. I say we need a compelling voice to convince him of what he should say when he returns to his masters, don't you think?"

Cat winced. She knew Chloe didn't like her whispering. The ability to control someone else's actions was a gift most would kill for, but the young vampire was too sweet and honest to like it.

But she nodded before stepping forward, leaving the safety of their territory.

Cat had to admit she was rather surprised that Levi allowed it. That he let her put herself in danger. Most dominant ancients would have balked against it and attempted to coddle her because of her youth. Instead, he gave her room to grow, to learn who she was.

What she was.

"Hello there," she said sweetly, and though she was facing Chloe’s back, Cat imagined her friend was smiling. "Are you lost? I could show you the way."

The witch never had a chance.

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