Page 45 of Tin God
“Seaplanes can go in the winter with a good captain and the right conditions, but not at night. This time of year, boats are about the only way to get around the area.”
“Damn.”
Buck smiled a little. “My Jennie don’t mind, but she’s a water vampire.” He pointed to a squat building in the distance, the only one with glowing gold lights in the windows. “I have all the information you were asking about laid out in the office along with what we know so far about the latest raid.”
Ben froze, and Carwyn nearly slammed into him. “Wait, there was another raid?”
Buck turned to them with a frown. “I thought Katya’s people had already contacted the captain of theLady. There was a raid we found last night—that’s what Jennie’s dealing with. We think it happened three or four nights ago.”
Ben and Carwyn exchanged a heavy look.
“They didn’t tell us,” Ben said. “Let’s get inside. We need to know more.”
“Skala wasn’t really a town.More of a village,” Buck said, pointing to a map spread out on the table. “Tucked back into an inlet not far from Annette Island, which is Metlakatla land.”
“Metlakatla is a Native reservation?” Carwyn asked.
Buck nodded.
“Tlingit?” Ben asked.
“No, Tsimshian,” Buck said. “Neighbors, but not related to the Tlingit.”
He asked, “And are the Native people here associated with the Athabaskan Confederation at all?”
“Why do you want to know?” Buck frowned.
“Just being… friendly.” Ben looked at Carwyn. “No offense meant.”
Buck’s expression shouted suspicion, but Ben tried to put him at ease. “Seriously. No offense intended. I apologize. You’re probably wary of outsiders right now, and I’m sure it seems like I’m prying.”
Buck took a deep breath. “You’re friends of Katya’s, so I should probably get over it. All this is real disturbing. Things are quiet around here. These raids aren’t like anything anyone living has seen before.”
Carwyn got Buck back on track. “Tell us about the latest raid.”
“Skala was run by an old wind vampire. He took a Tsimshian wife way back when, and he’s been living there for a couple hundred years with her people.”
“What happened?”
“Mike—Mikael, but he goes by Mike—ordered some supplies last week. Nothing special. Canned stuff mostly, but he didn’t want to fly into town and haul back that much stuff for his people, so he asked for a delivery. Pretty routine, but when my guys showed up yesterday, the village was…” Buck pursed his lips. “They said they never seen anything like that.”
“Any survivors?”
“We have to assume anyone there is dead, but there were no bodies that my guys saw. Some blood in the houses, but mostly just ruins. Buildings torn up. They said it looked like the foundations had been ripped up.” Buck glanced at Carwyn. “Only thing I know that can create that kind of damage is an earth vampire.”
Ben leaned on the table. “Do you have pictures?”
Buck shook his head. “It was nearing sunset by the time they got out there, and my guys were spooked. They rushed through the houses nearest the dock, looking to see if anyone needed help, but they knew it wasn’t a human attack. They wanted to get out of there quick before dusk. They didn’t even grab the supplies they’d already unloaded on the dock, just jumped back in the boat and took off.”
Carwyn sat down in the chair next to the table. “How long to get out there by boat?”
“Three hours at least,” Buck said.
“And by air?”
He nodded at Ben. “Faster. ”
“I could make it,” Ben said. “I could take a look around.”