by K. T. Tomb
Nora nodded, the picture becoming clearer. Olena and Miko had been intimate. And now she was dead. Because of Andrik’s suspicions.
“Olena must have been involved,” Nora speculated. “I don’t think Alfred would have taken such drastic steps unless he was sure.”
“That’s the way I see it, but Miko won’t admit to it. He prefers to hold a grudge against me for bringing Olena to Alfred’s attention. Believe me, I wouldn’t have turned Olena over to Alfred if I’d have thought she was innocent.”
“And Alfred is that... efficient?”
“As a vampire slayer?” said Andrik. “Yes, he is the best. Please know this, you do not want to get crosswise with him. Mortal or not, his instincts are perfect, and his skill is second to none. You are dead if he decides it to be so.”
Andrik took in a deep breath. The shadow of sadness that passed over his eyes suggested that he hadn’t been entirely forthright in his admissions. She wondered if he’d had feelings for Olena, as well.
“Sometimes people are blinded by love and they can’t see the bad in the other person—”
“He didn’t love her,” Andrik snapped. “Not like I did.”
Nora’s eyes widened. And there it was. She waited a few beats to let him realize what he’d just admitted to her and then she pressed forward.
“How could you have turned over the woman you loved to be... eliminated?”
“I said that I loved her,” he admitted. “I didn’t say that she loved me.”
Nora knew the feeling all too well. Both men and women can play that game. Admittedly, she had fallen for the charms of one of her clients, only to never see him again. Well, that had been in the early days. Later, she would become as hardened as a stone.
For now, she decided not to press him further. She had a clear enough picture of the love-triangle which had existed between Miko, Andrik, and Olena. She had no doubts that Andrik had viewed what Olena did as a betrayal, not just to Her Majesty, but to him as well.
“Let’s get back to the mission,” she said quietly.
“Right,” Andrik responded. Without hesitation, he went over their part of the plan which Miko had laid out. “Before dawn, we’ll go to Fetesti, get checked into a hotel there and rest. Tomorrow, after dusk, we’ll fly to the other side of Balta Ialomitei to Cernavoda and then search along the bank of the eastern branch of the Danube.”
“I have another idea,” Nora suggested. “Not that I don’t think we need to follow your plan, but if they’re truly caching munitions on the island, wouldn’t they have to cross the western branch of the Danube to get onto the island?”
“At some point, yes,” he admitted, narrowing his eyes and staring at the map.
“You told me that Wallachia tends to support the status quo, right?”
“Yes. Where are you going with this?”
“At how many points can the Danube be crossed? Wouldn’t some Wallachian see the Russians at those points and report the suspicious activity?”
“They’re avoiding regular crossings,” he responded. “They would have to cross by boat.”
“Crossing by boat would require a landing on both sides of the crossing, right?”
“Yes.”
“Going directly across would draw all sorts of attention, don’t you think?”
“Where boats going up and down the Danube would not,” he grinned. “You may have just figured this out, Nora.”
She liked the lilt in his voice, the way he said her name. What she didn’t like was being hurt by men, and so she steeled herself and said, “But there is a lot of river between Galati and Silistra. And, from what I understand, a lot of boats. How are we going to find the right one or ones on all of that river? And which branch? The Russians could come up either one.” The island, after all, was nestled between two flowing branches of the Danube.
“We don’t have to search all of the river, Nora. We just have to find where they’re unloading,” Andrik replied.
Chapter Twenty-five
Fetesti certainly wasn’t Bucharest. The hotel was better than the apartment she had shared with Kate and Mary, but not by much. Nevertheless, all of the speculation and theorizing that they had done the night before had exhausted her and she’d fallen asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes.
She felt Andrik’s presence well before she awakened; she could hear his breathing as he sat beside her bed. Nora waited to see what he intended to do, but he did nothing. He neither spoke nor touched her.
“Andrik?” she asked. “Is there something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“What are you doing, then?”
“I came to wake you, but you looked so much at peace that I couldn’t bear to do it.”
“Admiring my face and body again?”
“Your hair... mostly,” he responded.
She’d known from the moment they’d met that Andrik had a little bit more than a passing interest in her, certainly more than merely welcoming her into MI-6, or helping to transform her and train her. She had been impressed by him from the beginning, too, and found him attractive. She had, admittedly, reveled in the intimate moment they’d shared during her transformation, but she wasn’t sure how she really felt about him. And she wasn’t ready to explore such feelings. She wasn’t even sure she could have such feelings again. She had spent the better part of a decade being used and abused by men, treated, really as a piece of meat. Burberry hadn’t been the only client to smack her around. One had bound her to a bed for days, threatening to kill her. She had escaped and reported him to the authorities. As far as she was aware, the crazy bastard had never been found.
For now, she was perfectly content being colleagues with Andrik. Partners just felt right to her. It felt important too. She truly felt like she was a part of something bigger than herself, and she was, too. Nora reveled in it. Mostly, she reveled in her new self. Her perfect and powerful self. Now, she considered what he had told her about Olena. She didn’t want him to go through that again. She didn’t want to be the cause of it either. She sat up, slid close enough to reach out and take his hands in hers.
“Andrik, I know that we’ve joked about your fascination with me, but I need you to understand something. I can’t have any feelings for any man right now. Not because I don’t want to, but I can’t. You know the vocation I was in. I’ve put up massive, impenetrable barriers against all men. With that said, I’ve learned to trust you, but please, please don’t fall for me like you did for Olena, because I can’t return the same feelings to you. I like what we are doing. I like being partners. I like being a team. I want to help where I can. I need this more than I need a man. But I could use a friend, and I need a partner. A damn good partner.”
He nodded, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Someone thinks pretty highly of themselves, do they now?”
“Stop. I see it in your eyes.”
His grin stopped and fell a little. “You have nothing to worry about, Nora. I am an agent of her Majesty first and foremost, a vampire second, and somewhere down the line, a man, too.”
“Have I hurt your feelings?”
“You have given me your trust, where no other of mankind could have earned it before. For that, I am flying as high as my owl wings can take me.” He smiled and pulled his hand free from hers. “There are so many things that you haven’t been trained for and yet, here you are. For now, I feel a need to protect you.”
“Protect me from what? All I’m going to be doing is running back and forth as a messenger between the two of you and Bucharest. I’ll be with you or with Miko most of the time. And, let me remind you, that I took care of myself quite well in Limehouse; in fact, you’ve already admitted that my strength is my crafty mind.”
“I’m still not sure about Miko, though, and this isn’t Limehouse.”
“We’re not going into that again. I think he checks out. Also, I think you’ve misjudged him.”
Andrik stood suddenly and it startled h
er, especially when she saw that dark shadow pass across his eyes. “Fine. Let’s get going.”
Nora got up from the bed, straightened her hair a bit, and followed him toward the door. He startled her again when he turned back toward her.
“Please try to remember that we are in the region with not only the highest concentration of MIs in the world, but the oldest ones as well. They use powers we don’t yet know about and they aren’t always kind to newcomers, especially English ones.”
“I’m in luck, then. I’m Irish.” She rolled her r, and patted him on the cheek as she swept past him.
***
They left Fetesti in their bat forms, thinking that two owls flying together through the streets might attract a little too much attention... from the undead in the area.
In spite of her earlier confidence, she couldn’t help wondering about the other persons and creatures she saw around her. Were they MIs blending into their surroundings as well? No doubt. Had she and Andrik attracted their attention? Hopefully not.
Once on Balta Ialomitei, they landed in a field and transformed into their natural state.
“What’s the plan?” she asked. “Upriver or down? Together or separate?”
“Together and down,” he replied without a great deal of enthusiasm.
Evidently, her talk had dampened his spirits. She considered trying to boost them and realized that there was probably nothing she could do, outside of flirting. Really, what else was she good for? Okay, now she was feeling down! Well, if he was going to worry about her, then he was going to worry about her. C’est la vie, as the French say.
“Stay focused on the mission,” she said in a low tone. And, dammit, she was good at a lot of things now.
“Right. Let’s go.” Without further ado, he changed into an owl and lifted off from the ground.
She transmorphed and followed behind him, but the flight wasn’t the same as it was before. Although the moonlight reflected off the moving surface of the winding river below—a beautiful sight by any stretch of the imagination—she didn’t feel the weightless freedom she’d felt before. She wondered what had happened to that peace she’d experienced after her ascension—and the thrill she’d experienced as she made new discoveries of her new powers.
She didn’t know, but she reminded herself to focus on the mission.
As the night passed, Nora was caught up in the search. Focused on the mission, she began to relax and took notice of the serene waltz of dancing cabin lights upon the moving river. By the time that the first glow of dawn began to break over the horizon, they had covered the river from Fetesti to Silistra and back again. They had seen nothing suspicious nor anything that drew their attention.
By the time the sun had fully risen, they were back in their rooms and were settling in to rest. There had been little conversation between them since they’d left the hotel the night before. Was he really worried about her or had her rebuff of his advances pricked him? She had no idea, but she had to remain true to herself and allow time to heal. She was, she knew, damaged goods. She drifted off to sleep with the slowly swaying lights of the rivers dancing through her mind.
***
“You ready?”
Nora’s eyes snapped open. It was Andrik, and he was here in her room again to start another evening of flying over the river. She sat up and stretched, surprised that time had passed so quickly. It seemed like it had only been a moment since she lay down. She couldn’t help but note that he was no longer staring at her with a twinkle in his dark eyes. No, he was business-like and short with her. Just as well.
“Same plan?” she asked. “Or do you want to search to the north this time?”
“Let’s try the north tonight.”
“And then tomorrow night we’ll split up?” Nora grinned.
“We’ll see,” he answered. “Maybe we’ll find the cache tonight.”
The plan they’d laid out with Miko had been for her to be with Andrik for three nights and, later, fly to Miko in the Gatali and work one night with him. That would allow her to gather information from both agents before returning to Bucharest to make her weekly report, which would be telegraphed to Alfred in London.
Despite Andrik’s iciness, Nora was excited to do her job.
No, she was exhilarated. This, she knew, was the life she’d always dreamed of.
Dreams do come true, she thought, and followed Andrik out of the hotel room.
Chapter Twenty-six
Miko was looking forward to the evening before him.
Nora would be coming to him soon and he had every intention of working his seductive prowess upon her. It wasn’t the same as seducing a mortal, of course; vampires were much more challenging, but he was up to the challenge. Since he’d departed from her in Bucharest, he had obsessed over her. Over and over again, her blazing, coppery hair haunted him to the point of madness.
He’d enjoyed the sweet fruit of mortals, they were a tasty snack and a delightful way to feed, but the delicious, savage and erotic pleasure of joining with another MI… ah, well, it was otherworldly. He imagined every inch of the pale skin of Nora’s curvaceous body. What would it be like to touch it, caress it, kiss it and drink in its delights?
In only a few hours, perhaps he would find the answers to his questions. Until then, he had unfinished business to tend to. It was business that wasn’t without its own pleasures. With the wings of a bat, he made his way across the Prout River, through a thick forest and to a stone monolith that rose up out of the slope of one of the walls of a narrow valley. Within that stone monolith was a cavern, within which he entered, dodging the thousands of authentic bats who were going out to find their nightly sustenance.
Miko came to the deepest portion of the cavern, alighted on its stone floor and quickly transformed back into his natural, MI state. Immediately, he heard the man’s cries struggling in the darkness, which, to Miko, was not darkness. He turned toward the sound, seeing his quarry in glowing infrared. He approached and delighted in the terrified screams as the man called out in the darkness.
“Please, please,” the man begged, his cold, Russian demeanor having been altered drastically by spending almost 24 hours within total darkness. Where he had once been a stern, disciplined colonel of the Russian army when Miko had obtained the opportunity to snatch him, the man was now to the point of madness. “I have a wife. I have children. Please, don’t leave them without a father. Please, I beg of you.”
“A father?” Miko asked. Had the man been able to see him, he would have noted the sneer. “All I see is a traitor.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know! Please!”
“Your tune has changed, Colonel.”
“Please. I’ll do anything.”
Miko grinned without warmth. He could hear the man’s pulse and smell his hot blood. Last night, the man had been belligerent and hostile. “Very well. I want you to tell me where you’ve cached the weapons in Wallachia.”
“We’ve cached no weapons in Wallachia.”
“Let’s try again. And please remember, you could very well die here alone, in the darkness, and never see your family again. A terrible tragedy, yes?”
“Please! I’m not lying to you. The weapons... they passed through Wallachia by way of the river, but they are not cached in Wallachia.”
“They’re not stockpiled on Balta Ialomitei?” Miko asked.
“No, we unload them on the other side of the river.”
“In Dobrudzha?”
“Yes,” the man replied.
“Impossible!” Miko snapped. The Russians would never be so bold and the Ottomans would never allow such a breach of their border security, even the border with Wallachia.
“There is a man there,” said the colonel. “He is a very powerful man. He has a place to hide them and he cannot be touched by the Ottomans. I swear that I am telling you the truth.”
“If what you say is true, then how do you unload the weapons?” Miko growled.
; “There is a hidden channel from the river. The boats follow it into Lake Bugeac. At the far end of Bugeac, there is a hidden dock where the Esechioi Forest comes all the way down to the shore of the lake. We unload there and the weapons are carried up to a large cavern deep in the forest.”
Miko knew of the lake and of the forest, but he had never dreamt that the Russians would be so bold or even be able to cache weapons so close to an Ottoman stronghold. They were less than ten miles to the south and east of Silistra. A decent-sized force from there, making use of the element of surprise, would capture Silistra without breaking a sweat. It was boldly brilliant and Miko couldn’t help but admire the Russians for attempting it. It would fail, of course, he would see to that, but it was admirable for them to try.
“Can I go now?” the man asked. “I’ve given you everything I know; everything you wanted.”
“Not everything,” Miko responded. The throbbing vein in the man’s neck had been too much for Miko to resist. He plunged his fangs deep into it and began to feed on the sweet, warm sap that shot deep into his mouth. The man struggled against his bonds and screamed—oddly, this was one of the most pleasurable parts of feeding for Miko—but he finally ceased to move and fell quiet as the flow began to stream into the vampire’s mouth rather than plunging forcefully. Miko satisfied his hunger until the last trickle and then rose up from his lifeless victim.
“I have to ask to be excused,” he chuckled. “I have a very important meeting to attend.”
Transformed into a bat once more, Miko left the cavern, retraced his path through the forest, back across the Prout River and entered into Galati. In a secluded alley he’d used many times for the purpose, he transformed to his natural form again and made his way back to the hotel, noting his belly was still full.
“The delicious Nora will be here soon,” he muttered to himself. “I must prepare for her.”