Leesil reached out to his dog. "Down, boy."

Magiere winced as well when she looked at Au'shiyn.

His eyes were still open, and one side of the man's throat had been torn away. There were no clean punctures or teeth marks to be seen. The flesh had simply been ripped to veins, and blood covered his clothing all the way to his abdomen.

"His windpipe is crushed," Leesil said, examining the unwounded side of Au'shiyn's throat. He didn't appear remotely squeamish or even moved by any of this, and pointed below the man's chin. "There's a pattern of bruises running around the back of the neck. Fingers. And look at the dark blotch running around front-a thumb."

Leesil walked around the table, his attention turning to the woman's body.

Her grayed, mottled flesh suggested it had been days since her death. She wore a well-made red cotton gown, now soiled with grime from the alley in which she was found. The front was shredded and the shift showed through, but it was spattered rather than soaked with her blood. A tiny red velvet cap was partially pinned to her disheveled hair.

She was small with black hair, and likely of fair complexion when alive.

Magiere looked to Chetnik back in the doorway.

"It's the merchant's daughter-in-law, isn't it?" she asked. "That one in your office the day we came to the barracks."

"I think so," he answered. "I won't be sure until the family identifies the body."

"The wound is different," Leesil broke in, as he leaned against the table's edge staring at her throat. "The teeth marks are clean, no tearing of flesh, and there's less blood on her. This was a feeding. Look at her hair and the bruises on her wrists. At the least, she had time to struggle. Or the creature played with her a bit."

Lanjov averted his eyes, and even Chetnik scowled at that final remark, but Leesil gave them no notice.

"It's unfortunate," he said, "that we don't know more about Chesna's state when she was found."

His gaze skipped back and forth between bodies, and he shook his head ever so slightly. Something bothered him, and Magiere stepped closer.

"What is it?"

"There are no other bruises or marks from a struggle on Au'shiyn, and from his color, the amount of blood on him, and the type of wound, it wasn't a feeding. He died fast, before he could even defend himself."

"They're unconnected?" Chetnik asked with some doubt.

"I'm not certain," Leesil answered. "There's something else wrong here."

"We already know we've been hunting two separate prey," Magiere added.

"Three," Leesil said. "Maybe."

Magiere looked over the bodies again, but couldn't see how he'd come to this conclusion.

"Why three?" she asked.

Leesil remained locked in contemplation.

"These two weren't killed in the same way." His voice was quiet, as if he merely spoke aloud to himself. "Chesna's dress was shredded as if she were… well, ravaged. But then why is Au'shiyn's shirt ripped? The woman had time to struggle but was used as food. Au'shiyn died quickly and wasn't fed upon."

He reached out with two fingers to carefully pull aside the shreds of shirt.

"Look at his chest. No wounds. Though his skin is spattered, it isn't thoroughly coated in blood. The shirt was ripped after the kill… likely after he was dead."

Lanjov stayed back, but Chetnik stepped closer. Magiere looked at the details Leesil pointed out, though it made her throat dry. She saw what Leesil described but still didn't see what it meant.

"Someone wanted a connection between Chesna and Au'shiyn's deaths," Leesil explained. "But was it the same attacker?"

"Perhaps it was the woman you chased out of the Rowan-wood," Chetnik suggested.

Magiere looked at Leesil's face, now beginning to catch up.

"No," she answered to the captain's suggestion. "Undeads as a whole are viciously strong, but that woman couldn't take a large man this quickly, not before he could defend himself."

"The bruises on his throat are too large for her hands," Leesil added.

"And I doubt brute strength is her way to snare victims," Magiere finished.

Leesil lifted his gaze to Magiere and nodded toward Au'shiyn's body. "Are you up to trying again?"

For a moment, Magiere was uncertain what he meant. Then she felt sick as she realized he wanted her to have another vision.

"I'm right here," Leesil whispered. "I won't leave your side."

Nausea still threatening, Magiere reached out and touched Au'shiyn's cold, stiff hand. She closed her eyes and waited, anticipating the shock of the world suddenly shifting around her as it had before.

Nothing came. Magiere exhaled, suddenly aware she'd been holding her breath.

Reaching across to the woman, she tried again. The result was the same.

"Maybe it's the place they died," Leesil suggested.

As Magiere turned to leave, Leesil pulled out a stiletto from his sleeve. In the same movement, he sliced a blood-soaked strip from Au'shiyn's shirt and turned toward the kitchen door. As they stepped out the front door, Chap sniffed yet another set of dark stains on stone steps. Lanjov and Chetnik had followed, but Leesil motioned them both to stay inside as he pressed the bloodied cloth into Magiere's hand. When she flinched, he held her hand closed around it.

"It might take both the place and object," he said.

She nodded and stepped down onto the front walk.

Magiere closed her eyes and felt herself walking to the side of the house. She opened her eyes again.

Dawn's light had vanished, to be replaced by the cold dark of night.

A coach pulled up, and she watched as Lord Au'shiyn stepped out. Along with the sights and the smell of damp night air, there was something more inside of Magiere. She could feel anger. Perhaps frustration of some need or desire unfulfilled.

She stepped from the shadows and followed Au'shiyn as he approached the front door, and felt her hands flex inside leather gloves. In the bottom of her view, the cloak she wore swirled around her, and she felt sharp canines inside her mouth. It wasn't the same as the familiar aching change of her own teeth.

"A word, if you please," she said as she stepped close.

Magiere heard the sound this time, but before she could focus on the deep voice that issued from her mouth, Au'shiyn turned in annoyance and recognition crossed his features.

"Oh, good evening. What brings you here so late?"

Magiere's right hand shot out and grabbed his neck so hard she felt her thumb crush Au'shiyn's windpipe. She tore the left side of his throat open with her teeth, and warm blood ran into her mouth. As with Chesna, she didn't drink.

Au'shiyn choked, unable to breathe. Magiere shook him and blood flowed from his neck to soak into his clothing. She reached out to shred his shirt and-

"Stop it!"

Strong hands gripped her arms, and she spun around as Au'shiyn's image whirled away. She felt herself jerked backward against something hard, as wiry arms wrapped around her. She thrashed to get free.

"Enough!"

The grip around her remained as light poured into the darkness.

Magiere found herself sitting on the porch with her back up against Leesil's chest. Remembering Au'shiyn's fight for air, she choked.

"Leesil?"

"Shhhhhhh," he said. "It's over."

Chetnik now stood in the walk, watching her suspiciously. Magiere curled away from him toward Leesil, leaning her head against the steps' railing.

"It's all right," Leesil said from behind her. "She'll be fine in a minute." Then he whispered in her ear, "Was it the same creature?"

Magiere relaxed at his familiar voice. "Yes… the same one… I think."

She breathed deep and, while hidden from Lanjov's or Chetnik's view, slipped her fingers into her mouth, making sure her teeth were normal. She rose out of Leesil's arms, bracing against the railing as she turned toward Lanjov. He looked embarrassed or revolted by her.