"How many?" The last thing he needed was to drive into an ambush, though it seemed too late for regrets as he steered the car onto the dirt path. "There are things I need to know before we get there."

She shrugged. "There were many. Now, there is only one distinct scent. Two, three at most."

"One is still a possibility?" He downshifted, wincing at the scrape of the rutted road against the undercarriage of the vehicle.

"Of course. Better to be prepared for more, though." She reached into the back seat and pulled two stakes from Max's supply. "May I?"

"Help yourself. What happened to yours?" Max leaned forward. The windshield had begun to fog, a phenomenon he hadn't had to deal with since he'd become a vampire. Mortal passengers were such a pain in the ass. He rubbed the glass clear with his forearm.

"They are in the trunk. I have everything else. Holy water, my crossbow—"

He shushed her. "Is that it?"

Ahead, a ramshackle cabin with two windows and a bowed porch stood at the place where the track ended. Bella rolled down the window and sniffed, then gave a short nod.

Max raised his hand and lifted three fingers. She shook her head and replied with one finger. One vampire. No problem. Breathing a sigh of relief, Max eased the car door open. He didn't close it once he was outside. No sense in letting the poor sap know they were there.

Bella retrieved her weapons from the back seat and followed suit, waving to signal he should follow her.

Like hell he was going to let her charge in there unprotected. He jogged ahead, grabbed her shoulder and used her moment of surprise to push her behind him. He heard her cluck her tongue in annoyance, and he held up his hand for quiet.

The steps to the cabin were damp and broken, and probably prone to squeaking. Max placed one foot on the first step, his face frozen in a preemptive wince as he anticipated a loud creak, or worse, the whole thing splintering under his weight.

When it didn't, he motioned Bella forward.

The porch was only about four feet wide. The sagging roof didn't allow for much vertical clearance, and Max had to stoop. The door to the cabin didn't even have a handle. A beam of light projected from the hole where the knob used to be.

Are they making it easy on purpose? He pushed aside the feeling he and Bella were walking into a trap, and gave her a thumbs-up. When she replied in kind, he kicked the door in.

If he'd had any doubts they'd found the right place, they vanished the second they stepped inside. The furniture in the tiny room consisted of a kitchen table, a rusty utility sink, a minirefrigerator and a dirty cot with a stained pillow. A lone figure sat at the table, hunched over with his head in his hands.