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for many years.
    And Rowan had been accosted by many of them. She moved up toward his head, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, as if she could take away the pain he’d experienced. Several different sets of fang marks marred the skin under his jaw, and she fingered them thoughtfully. The sizes of the holes and the spaces between them were different. Three to four different sets of fangs, if she guessed correctly.
    Three or four different vampires had drunk from him. Draining his blood until he was too weak to fight, most like. Terrified him and confused him, sweeping in from the dark to attack him and then disappearing again. And suddenly she was wrapped up in a picture of it—a memory of the one time she’d seen a human attacked by vampires. The creatures did not believe in a fair, even fight. Though one vampire was more than strong enough to kill a human on his own, they still came in multiples, and snuck up on their prey. They rarely showed their faces. They flew toward a man or woman, using superhuman speed, ripped into their necks to drain their blood, and then fled again, to be followed by another, and then another …
    Rowan had died confused and frightened, and no doubt, in great pain, and the thought made Angeline sob out in dismay. How could his have happened so close to her own home, and without her knowledge? The hood would often find a way to warn her of any and all dangerous supernatural creatures in the area, and most certainly of any murders. But it had been silent—why?
    Further, who were these vampires that had attacked her friend? They would have known that the Red Hood lived in these woods, and must have come here anyhow. They’d attacked her friend—an innocent man who had been walking through woods he believed to be safe, and protected by the Red Hood—and then left the body for her to discover. Normally, vampires would have burned the body, or destroyed it when they were finished with it. They might even have taken Rowan, with hopes that he’d survive the bite and be reborn as one of them. But instead, they’d left him here. For her to discover.
    Her blood stilled in her veins at the thought. Yes, they’d entered her woods without a care for the danger it put them in. They’d come as close to her house as they dared, to taunt her with their power. And then they’d attacked her friend—in her own territory—and left his body behind. To show her what they’d done. To show her that they were not afraid of her, or her powers. To draw her out of her house and shelter, so to speak.
    It meant that Merlin had come not a moment too soon, with his warning. And though he hadn’t told her that the master vampire he sought was coming for her, she’d suspected that it was the reason for his visit. Now she knew. Rowan’s body in the woods was a message, meant for her alone: The master vampire had come for her, and challenged her with this death. He was threatening not only the Red Hood but her daughters, and the entire village she called home.
    Angeline straightened her shoulders and looked out into the forest, smiling a grim, resigned smile. Yes, she’d been challenged. And she would answer. Tonight. Before these monsters could do any further damage.

8
    A ngeline knelt by the body for some time, trying to find her way forward. She should bury the body, or at least destroy it so that the wolves didn’t come back for it. Then a thought occurred to her: What if the vampires had, in fact, turned Rowan, and he hadn’t awoken yet? She hadn’t dealt with vampires closely enough to know how long the transition took, and if she carried him home to his family and he awoke as a vampire …
    She would never be able to forgive herself.
    She pried open both of his eyes, her ears alert for any sound from the forest, and saw, to her relief, that his pupils were still large and round. Human eyes, not the sapphire-blue eyes that vampires had. She remembered that much from her original training. He was safe