Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

moved toward him. Nicolas signaled to Natalya and Vikirnoff to watch above their heads and below their feet, in the ground itself. Lara placed her feet carefully, all the while scanning along the snow-covered ground for the slightest movement.
    If we triggered an alarm, then we have to be close to an entrance. It will be something ordinary, easily Page 174

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    overlooked, but simple.
    Nicolas spotted a crack that ran the length of the overhang at the base of the mountain. The line was narrow, tiny really, no more than an inch thick running just under the overhang, nearly hidden in the shadow of the limestone cliffs. He scanned along the crack, inch by inch, but couldn\'t see where there could be an opening.
    From the air, Nicolas had noted the pattern of rocks, which looked, with its ice cap, like an undulating sea of blue beneath the glacier-a sure sign that far below melt-water had carved canyons and formed large ice caves beneath the surface. He might know a labyrinth of chambers was beneath the mountain, but finding a way in was difficult.
    It\'s here, Lara said with confidence. Very close .
    Now that she knew she was in the right area, she knew what to look for. No, not look. \"Feel\" for. Scent.
    Xavier had sealed the entrances, but they were there and she shouldn\'t be looking for an opening, she should be following the taint of evil, just as she had when she searched the women\'s bodies for mutated extremophiles.
    A short distance from them, deer moved out onto the meadow, but none approached the thicker grass a few yards from where she was standing. She touched their minds. Gentle creatures as a rule, interested in feeding.
    A few pawed the snow to reveal short stalks of grass beneath the white layer. Not one looked or scented the thick offering pushing through the snow.
    She closed her eyes and inhaled the night, taking in the information her surroundings offered. The night was crisp and cold. The snow had ceased to fall but the smell was there, a clean feel to the air until you went deeper. She caught the whiff of tainted magic and wrinkled her nose, turning in the direction where it was strongest before opening her eyes. She was looking at that patch of tall grass that poked through the snow, yet didn\'t tempt hungry deer.
    She took a couple of steps closer to the green stalks now rippling as if wind drove them-but there was no real breeze on her face. The ripples increased, until the grass undulated as if water ebbed and flowed around it.
    Something moved in the forest of green, a stealthy crawl that drew her eye. A bat emerged, using its wings as legs, coming out of the deep grass to creep silently toward the grazing deer. A second and third bat appeared, and then the ground seemed covered by them, a stealthy, dark-furred army, circling an unwary doe, cutting it off from the rest of the herd.
    Lara gripped Nicolas\'s arm as the bats swayed back and forth, walking on the tips of their wings, to close the net on the deer. Vampire bats just take a small amount of blood. They don\'t behave like that . As if they were stalking the deer for darker, more sinister purposes.
    Before Nicolas could reply, the bats rushed the doe, wings flapping, so that the circle appeared solid. She caught a glimpse of huge teeth, not like a vampire bat, but more like a shark, razor-edged and rows of them filling the muzzles. The sheer weight of numbers drove the doe to her knees and then down to the grass. Blood ran onto the snow. The herd whirled and raced away from the meadow, back into the forest.
    The bats swarmed over the doe, her sides heaving, her pitiful bleats tearing at Lara\'s heart. When she would have moved, Nicolas stopped her.
    There is nothing to do for her. Look at what they are doing.
    The bats tore great chunks of flesh from the deer to get at her insides, but even while some fed, others began to Page 175

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    use their teeth to pull the weight of the carcass across the meadow toward the taller grass. Behind them, they left a trail of blood. Several bats licked at the blood before hurrying to help drag the doe.
    Have you ever seen something like that before? Lara asked. She glanced at Vikirnoff and Natalya and they looked every bit as stunned as she was.
    Nicolas shook his head. They aren\'t vampire bats .
    A mutation then. Lara watched the deer carcass disappear into the longer grass. Dirt and snow boiled up, spewing like a small geyser. The grass shook.