"How many are here?" she managed to choke out.
"There's too many assorted body parts to get a good grasp on exactly how many there might be," Braith said. "We'll have to remove the bodies and parts to get a better idea."
Hannah shuddered at the thought but before she could become swamped in the horrific image removing all these bodies conjured up, her eyes fell upon a pair of faces she recognized instantly. Tears burned her eyes; she took an involuntary step toward the body of old man Turner and his wife, Lola. She almost fell as she took another stumbling step toward them but Jack grabbed hold of her before she face planted. She hadn't seen Turner in a few days, he'd been scarce around the tavern since his confrontation with Calvin, but he'd been fine the last time she'd seen him.
She should have heard that he and Lola were missing but as she continued to stare at their mangled bodies a new realization began to form. Their bodies were nowhere near as badly decomposed as the ones surrounding them. In fact, the blood from the bites on their necks appeared no more than a day or two old.
"He did that to them because of me," she whispered in dawning horror. "He knew we would find this place."
"Hannah..." Jack started.
"He did this to punish me."
His hands clasped her face as he tilted her head up to look into her eyes. "This is not your fault."
She wanted to believe him but tears continued to form in her eyes. She tried to look back at the bodies of her friends, but he kept hold of her face. "Don't look again Hannah."
"I could have ended up married to him."
His eyes became a volatile shade of red. "That was never going to happen," he snarled. "You'll never have to see or deal with that man again."
"They deserve better than this."
"They'll get it," he promised her. "We will make him pay for this."
"You can bet on that," Braith promised. "We're going in search of him as soon as we're ready. Calvin has just become the most wanted vampire in this country. For now, I think we've seen more than we needed to. We will identify each body and notify their loved ones when the bodies have been removed."
Aria was pale when Braith turned her around, she didn't fight him when he propelled her toward the stairs. Hannah thought Jack was going to lift her up and throw her up the stairs before they could even reach them. Instead, he picked her up with his right arm and hugged her against his side as he rapidly ascended the steps.
***
"What is that smell?" Lucas demanded as soon as they stepped into the kitchen area of the tavern. His hand flew to his nose as he took a step away from them. They'd chosen to enter through the kitchen for this very reason. If they'd gone through the front door the odor clinging to their bodies would have chased most of the patrons out, and none of them were in the mood to be seen right now.
All Jack really wanted was a bath or a dip in the lake to rid himself of the stench clinging to him but he knew that wasn't to be. "Nothing good," he told Lucas.
"Calvin has a good day head start on us," Braith said as he rubbed at his chin. "I need to know how many men he had and if any of them are still in this town."
"I asked around to see if anyone had seen Calvin, or any of his men, and it seems that they have all disappeared as well," Lucas answered. "His men may have mostly been Undesirables but they were all able to travel. He must have heard that you had arrived in town."
"How many men does he have?" Braith inquired.
"At least thirty," Hannah answered. "But it's rumored he has more men in other towns too."
"We need to stop him before he can get to those men."
"We can catch up to him," Jack's gaze slid to William and though he knew his next words weren't going to be well received, he spoke them anyway. "If we travel without humans."
William's jaw clenched as he folded his arms firmly over his chest. Timber's knuckles cracked as his gorilla sized hands folded into fists and Daniel took a swift step forward. "I think we've proven many times that we are useful in battle," Daniel stated.
"That you have," Braith agreed. "But we need to move fast, and even on horseback you won't be able to keep up."
William had been about to protest more but his mouth closed at those words and he exchanged a look with his brother and Timber. "We have to go tonight," Jack said.
"Wait!" Aria interrupted sharply. "We can't just leave my brothers here unprotected."
"Speak for yourself!" William retorted.
Aria shot him a fulminating look but her fury turned on Braith as he spoke his next words, "You're not going either."
"We're not going to argue about this right now Braith," she said.
"No, we're not," he agreed. "You are staying here with Xavier and the soldiers; you will not be running through the woods chasing this monster. I almost lost you once because I didn't refuse you and I won't take that chance again." Though some of the anger eased from her features, the stubborn set of her jaw remained. "You're staying here to help protect your brothers."
"Dead or not, I can still kick her ass," William asserted.
"I'd like to see you try," Aria said before turning to Braith again. "I'll stay, but I don't like it."
"I don't like it either," Braith told her as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her forward to press a kiss against her forehead.
Hannah turned away from the tender scene as Jack placed his hand on her elbow. He pulled her into the small pantry beside the kitchen and closed the door. His fingers slid over her cheek before he bent and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. She wanted to protest his leaving but she remained silent. She knew that he had to go and there was no way she could travel with him, though she doubted he would have agreed to let her go even if she could.