Blood Father (Blood Curse Series) by Tessa Dawn Page B

seems to be fine,” he said, rolling his shoulders to realign his muscles.
    “Strength?” Marquis asked, moving immediately to the next item on the list.
    Nathaniel dematerialized from their watchful position. He reappeared at the trunk of a nearby tree—the ancient redwood was nearly thirty feet in diameter at the base, at least three hundred feet high from trunk to tip, and it had to be at least a thousand years old. Nathaniel wrapped his arms around as much of the base as he could and proceeded to rip it out of the ground as if it were nothing more than a dandelion cluttering a pristine garden. He stepped back swiftly and let it hit the ground with a resounding thump, careful to remain clear of the falling timber. “Feels the same,” he said, returning to Marquis’s side.
    Telepathy? Marquis asked next, speaking on the family bandwidth.
    I can hear you just fine , Nathaniel replied.
    Marquis nodded with satisfaction. “Mind reading?”
    Nathaniel reached out to touch his twin on the shoulder and bowed his head with respect. “Forgive me, Kagen.” With that, he burrowed into Kagen’s mind and retrieved his last several thoughts, recounting them to Marquis. “He believes we are somewhere near the southern border of the realm, perhaps ten or fifteen miles east of the southern pack’s territory, perhaps fifteen or twenty miles southwest of the Skeleton Swamps. Thane’s castle and the slave territory are much further away, on the northern end of the territory, perhaps one to two days’ travel by foot.” He placed the tip of one finger on Nachari’s shoulder next, even though the touch was not necessary to garner the information. “Nachari agrees. However, he also believes that we are no less than ten miles away, as the crow flies, from the lowest convergence of the Lykos River, where the main waterway curves sharply to the right, coming out of the Mystic Mountains before it heads back into the rocky gorge. However, it is his judgment that, even if we lose a little time, we should take a back route to the slave encampment, travel through the cover of the swamps, along the ternary rivers, and over the Mystic Mountains. We should avoid the most direct, exposed route. ”
    “Get out of my head, Nathaniel,” Nachari said quietly. “I can’t concentrate.”
    Kagen rubbed his brow and grunted. “Tell me about it.”
    “Very well,” Marquis said. “I’m satisfied with your report, Nathaniel.”
    Just then, Nachari shrugged his right shoulder brusquely and frowned. “I mean it, Nathaniel. Get out . And stop touching me.”
    Nathaniel took a judicious step back, his eyes widening in alarm.
    Nachari’s shoulder jerked again. “Stop . ” He reached up to swat Nathaniel’s hand away and drew back in sudden distress when his fingers came in contact with something black, wiry, and furry. “What the hell!” Nachari shouted, leaping to his feet. He began to dance an undignified jig, his deep green eyes nearly bulging out of his head, even as he began to squeal like a teenage girl. “Get it off! Get it off! Kagen, get it off me!”
    The humongous, man-sized spider reacted to the vampire’s frenzied emotion and erratic movement by leaping onto Nachari’s chest and trying to bite him in the forehead.
    “Shit!” Nachari yelped, backpedaling furiously.
    Kagen leapt to his feet and grabbed the spider by two of its spindly hind legs, the hairy limbs closest to the spider’s abdomen, and yanked for all he was worth. The legs dislodged from the body, but the spider kept attacking with the remaining six members.
    Nachari reached hastily for his sword. He withdrew it from the scabbard in a whistling chime of steel and brandished it so wildly he almost sliced himself in the nose before dropping the sword on the ground with a reverberating clang.
    “Calm down!” Nathaniel bellowed, approaching the frantic melee with mild amusement.
    Nachari gulped, beginning to turn pale. “You calm down!” He reached inside his