Free Encounters (The Elder Origins #3) by Bre Faucheux Page A

where apprehension would previously have compelled her away.
    “Bleak, is it not?” said Akecheta.
    “What would possess Caspar to come to such a place?” she asked, not really desiring an answer.
    “It must fit his temperament. Sinister, yet striking.”
    “Do the others still have a trace of where he is going?”
    “Yes, but we are making sure he is not luring us into a trap. We cannot take chances.”
    Jamison and Mahkah left to scan the regions as Madison listened closely to the area they had just travelled. She extended the depth of her perception and searched for Jayden. She hoped she could find him before night descended. The air around her was eerily quiet. The only sounds that resembled life were random animals moving about, and a village within a few hundred yards. She imagined the people there were building the foundational fortress nearby, although how they reached it perched upon the rocky hillside was still unclear to her.
    The villagers cooked their meat from their recent hunt and quietly made their way back to their beds. It was all too familiar. She had been fooled into thinking that the people of a quiet town were nothing more than humble kin before. She would n’t be so naive again.
    “How likely is it that they know?” she asked.
    “Likely,” said Mahkah.
    “And Jamison was quite clear that Jayden was nearby?”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “Then we should make for the village. Eventually Jayden will have to feed and he will go to find people,” she stated.
    “Where do you suggest we-,” Mahkah stopped speaking. Madison delved into his senses and knew that something had transpired. She listened harder around her and heard Jamison’s voice. He was calling for her.
    “Madison!” he yelled. His voice didn’t carry through the thick trees, and yet his voice was booming to her ears.
    She and Akecheta rushed to reach him. She led the way following the sound of Jamison’s voice. There was a cavern beneath the rocky mound where the structure was being built. Akecheta grabbed his son from nearby and followed her. Madison stopped just at the entrance to the cavern. It was pitch black inside. Very much aware that anything could be a trap, she hesitantly entered through the rugged opening. It was man built, but very old. Older she thought than anything she had seen in England.
    “Jamison?” she called. He appeared from within the darkness with a torch in hand.
    “What are you doing down here?” she demanded, her voice irritated that he had frightened her so only to look slightly bewildered in his face.
    “I heard coughing and hacking down here. I could not be certain, thus I had to see,” he said.
    “Coughing?”
    He stared at her, hoping she would make the connection. He took her arm and dragged her forward. Still annoyed by his apparent sense of urgency, she trudged a pace behind him. When she stepped deeper into the cavern, she saw that it had long tunnels running through it. Wood covered the ceiling and part of the walls. However aged it was, the craftsmanship was admirable. Every line was clean and the floor was furrowed perfectly with carved stone.
    Before Madison could see anything else, Jamison took the torch forth. Mahkah was a few feet away. Madison felt every nerve she had remaining magnify. If the sight did not shock her, the vast amount of blood was enough to knock her forward in eagerness for a taste. Jamison held her still, allowing her to take in the view before her.
    The walls were spattered with an ungodly amount of blood. Bodies lay to one corner of the back room, completely drained. And just inches from her feet, lay at least ten or more people, gasping for life.
    “They are going through the affliction, Madison, just as we did. They are becoming vampyrs,” said Jamison.
    “But who brought all these p eople here for them to drink from?” she asked.
    “Caspar,” said Jamison. “He arrived here last night and found more people in the process of changing. Perhaps he wanted