I had not gone very far when I felt a breeze rush past me, and suddenly Anton was standing before me, blocking my path once again. He was so close that I had to stop short to avoid running into him.
I quickly took a step back.
"It might interest you to know," Anton said, "that you're going the wrong way."
"I know where I'm going," I said defiantly.
"William's house is that way." Anton pointed.
I glanced swiftly in the direction he indicated, and then looked back at him. His eyes were still mocking, and I wished I knew if I could believe him.
It was entirely possible he was showing me the correct way. But it was also possible that he knew I didn't know, and he just wanted to run me around in circles for his amusement.
I shut my mind firmly against what the end of that amusement might be.
Stay calm, I told myself. Continue to think. You can get out of this.
"I know where I'm going," I repeated.
With a boldness I didn't really feel, I stepped around Anton and started to walk toward the party again.
Anton followed me, and we walked along side by side for a little while in silence—almost as if we were friends.
After a few moments, Anton reached over and lifted a lock of my hair.
"Just like sunshine," he murmured.
My breathing grew even more ragged.
"You still haven't answered my question," Anton said, releasing the lock of hair.
I forced my voice to come out evenly. "What question was that?"
"Would you like to know where William is?"
"I know where he is," I said.
Anton draped an arm over my shoulder casually, and I felt fear wash flood through me. His arm was heavy, and I imagined that I could feel the wintry coldness of his skin through the cloth we both wore. My heart began to hammer painfully.
Keep thinking, I told myself. Keep thinking.
"The thing is," he said, giving my shoulder a little squeeze, "that William's house is back that way, like I told you, so I don't really believe that you're heading there to meet him. However, it's possible that you were so dazzled by my good looks when you saw me that you completely lost your head, and in your confusion, you started off the wrong way. As I told you once, I have a devastating effect on women. In fact I can hear your heart pounding right now, you know."
Anton tilted his head and peered into my face, and my eyes lifted involuntarily to meet his. He smiled then.
I looked away.
Anton continued. "So, that is a possibility—I concede it. But I confess that I don't actually think that's what's happening here. I don't think you and William arranged to meet at all. I think you wandered away from that party up there at the gazebo—keep in mind that I can hear them—and you were hoping that you would run into William by chance out here. And right now you are hoping desperately to make it back to the party before I kill you. Am I right?"
I was feeling dizzy and light-headed, and I found that I was completely incapable of making any reply.
Anton tilted his head and stared into my face again, and this time I studiously avoided looking into his eyes.
"That's what I thought," Anton said.
He gave my shoulder another squeeze—a gesture that was almost affectionate. "Like I said, I can hear them up at the party. Several of them are starting to wonder where you are. But though I can hear them, they wouldn't be able to hear you if you were to cry out now. We're still too far away."
I looked at him, then, even though I didn't want to, and I saw that his eyes were alight with malice.
"Let go of me," I said, wincing at how reedy and thin my voice sounded. I shrugged off his arm and kept walking—with the blood pounding in my ears.
Anton stepped out in front of me and turned to walk backwards so he could continue to look at me. Though there were trees all around us, he never came close to hitting one—something I noticed with bitterness.
"I find this intriguing," Anton said, "and don't worry, I won't let you get close enough to the party to escape. But since I've met William here again, he's seemed very protective of you. However, he hasn't told you where he lives, and he hasn't told you where he's gone. That's very neglectful of him, if I may be so bold as to comment on your relationship."
"William hasn't gone anywhere," I said, but a new fear was beginning to steal over me.
Anton seemed very sure that William wasn't anywhere nearby.
What if he was telling the truth?
You can still call William, I told myself. Anton probably doesn't know that William has granted you that power. He'll come to you just like he did in the Mstislav crypt.
But what if he didn't? I glanced at Anton involuntarily, and another sharp pang of fear ran through me.
Anton's eyes glittered. "Oh, but William has gone, Sunshine."
"You're lying," I said.
Anton was triumphant. "William left with Innokenti."
I stopped, startled. "What?"
"I knew you didn't know." Anton's smile was superior.
"He wouldn't leave me," I said. "He wouldn't."
Without warning, Anton grabbed me by the collar and pulled me close. "He has left you. He did exactly what Innokenti wanted him to and went back with him to Russia. William isn't here to save you."
Anton began to drag me back the way we had come. "I told you I wouldn't let you get close enough to the party to escape."
I struggled ineffectually against his grasp. Keep thinking, I told myself.
"What about Innokenti?" I said in desperation.
"What about him?"
"He said that he wanted me to go back to Russia, too," I said quickly. "Innokenti wouldn't like what you're doing right now."
"Innokenti isn't here," Anton said.
We were moving much faster now, and the landscape around me began to blur. Unfortunately, I had been dragged by a vampire before—I knew that they could reach terrifying speeds.
I had a feeling he was dragging me back toward the cave. I didn't want to get dragged down into the darkness.
I had to stop him.
The speed at which we were traveling made it unsafe, but I reached out and tried to tear a branch off a tree—I thought maybe I could strike him across the eyes with it—but I came away with nothing but twigs. Digging in my heels certainly wouldn't work, and I knew that beating on that solid, preternatural body wouldn't work, either. I decided just to go limp—I hoped that Anton would be surprised enough to stop.
I closed my eyes and just dropped, relaxing all of my limbs.
Anton continued to drag me along for a moment, and then stopped. He let me fall to the ground, and I opened one eye. I saw a large rock lying on the forest floor nearby—it appeared be the best weapon I had to hand.
Anton touched me on the shoulder. "What's going on, Sunshine?"
I grabbed up the rock and swung it around quickly, hitting Anton on the temple as hard as I could. Anton blinked, looking startled.
I jumped to my feet and started to run.
As I did so, I spoke the words William had given me.
"Katie Wickliff summons you."
I was suddenly bathed in golden light. A tall form stood before me, his face obscured by the brightness that surrounded us.
"William!" I cried.
Hope rose in my heart. He had not deserted me.
I ran toward the figure in the light, but when I was close enough to see his face, I stopped.
The man standing before me was not William.
I looked back, panicked, to see where Anton was.
I was startled to see him standing, frozen, at the edge of the golden aura that surrounded me. He was caught in mid-stride, clearly moving to go after me, and a bright red trickle of blood sat motionless on his pale skin, arrested in its descent down the side of his face.
I turned back to the strange man in the center of the glow.
"Is he—he was chasing me—is he—"
I found mys
elf unable to speak clearly.
"You are safe," the man said. His words were perfectly clear, but he had a strange accent that I couldn't quite identify—although something about it was familiar. "He will not move until I allow him to do so."
"How—what—" I took a deep breath and tried to control the beating of my heart. "You did this?"
I gestured vaguely at the golden light that surrounded us.
"Yes."
"Then, you saved me from—from him."
"Yes."
"Thank you," I said.
A smile quirked at one corner of the man's mouth. "You're welcome."
I stepped closer to the man and looked at him closely for the first time. His hair was a dark gold—an unusual color that I couldn't remember having seen on anyone else before. His eyes were a very bright blue, and he was wearing clothes that were somehow both simple and antique. I didn't know quite what to make of him.
"Did you come in response to my call just now?" I asked.
"Yes."
"But I don't even know your name," I said.
"You may call me Cormac."
He held his hand out to me. "Come with me. Quickly."
I looked at his hand—the broad palm, the long fingers—there was something strong yet light about it. I felt a longing to go with him—to go wherever he and the golden light had come from.
I raised my hand to his and then pulled it back, reminded unpleasantly of the strange, ice-covered man I had seen coming out of the cave.
"Was that you?" I blurted out.
Cormac looked at me in surprise. "I do not know what you mean. What is it that you wish to know?"
The whole situation was making my head spin. I glanced over at Anton. He still stood motionless at the edge of the golden circle of light, his face contorted in anger with a frozen drop of blood upon it.
I turned back to Cormac. "I saw a man coming out of a cave in this forest. He was completely covered in ice. His skin was white, and he seemed to glow. He never once opened his eyes. He held his hand out to me just as you did now, and I felt compelled to go with him. The man disappeared when Anton showed up."
Cormac's gaze shifted to the frozen vampire. "That, I take it, is Anton?"
"Yes."
"I do not know who it was you saw. I was not in the cave. I suspect the man was part of a trap the vampire set for you—he may even be a vampire himself. Do not think of them. You are safe from them while you are with me."
I glanced at Anton again. "Won't someone notice him standing there like that?"
"No. No one can see any of us in here. We are completely shielded from human eyes."
"Human eyes," I murmured. Cormac was clearly not human—what human being could freeze a vampire like that? And he had come in answer to the call William had given me. I realized with a start that I was probably looking at one of William's people—I was looking at one of the Sìdh.
"Did William send you?" I asked.
"No. He didn't send me." Cormac's words were even, but there was something like distant anger in his eyes.
"But you do know him, don't you? William Sursur? It was his call that I used. You must have come in answer to it."
"I did come in answer to your call. And I do know of him."
Hope leaped in my heart. "Have you seen him? Can you take me to him?"
"I haven't seen him. And you won't see him, either. He's gone."
I was puzzled. "But you're like him, aren't you? You're one of William's people."
"I am not like him." Cormac's voice was harsh.
"But aren't you—"
"The one you speak of—William—suffers from a contagion." Cormac seemed to stumble over the name. "His condition is permanent. He can never return to us."
I felt anger flare up within me. I had heard talk like this from William—that he was cursed because of the vampire attack that had altered his nature. I disagreed with William's assessment of the situation, and I disagreed with Cormac's just as much. I was about to tell him so, when I stopped, arrested by the obvious sorrow in his face.
I decided my outrage could wait for the moment. I focused instead on what was most important—finding out what was going on with William. Cormac seemed to know something of his whereabouts.
"Why did you say that I wouldn't see William again?"
"Because you won't."
"Why did you say he's gone?"
"Because he is. William—" once again, the name seemed to come out with some difficulty, "will trouble you no longer."
"William doesn't trouble me," I said. "And he wouldn't leave me. He couldn't. He loves me, and I love him."
Cormac's expression softened then, and I could see sympathy register distantly in his eyes.
"You love the remnants of what William was. I am sure some small part of his original personality still survives. But he is altered now forever. These creatures cannot help what they are."
Cormac glanced briefly at Anton. "But that doesn't change their nature. They're predators, and their tempers are uncertain. They are often seized by violent urges—violent whims. William could kill you at any moment. If any shred of goodness remains to him, if any part of him is indeed capable of loving you, then it is for the best that he will never see you again."
Once more, William's own words were echoed by Cormac. But Cormac couldn't possibly know William well if he could believe he was anything like Anton.
I realized once again that I had to put my indignation aside—I had to focus instead on getting information about William from Cormac.
"Cormac," I began, "I have to—"
I stopped when Cormac suddenly turned his head sharply—he was looking at something in the golden light that I couldn't see.
"I don't have much time," he said urgently. "Come with me, quickly now."
I hesitated, unsure of what to do.
"Don't waste what I have done," Cormac said pleadingly. "Why do you think I came here to rescue you today when it is so hard for me to break through? Why do you think I planted that memory in the girl's mind?"
"What memory?" I asked.
Cormac held out his hand again.
"Come with me, Katie. I know who you are. I know what your purpose is, and I can help you to realize it. I can take you to a place where creatures like him," he nodded curtly at Anton, "will never trouble you again."
I felt a strange longing to find out what lay beyond that golden light—a light that seemed to promise warmth and happiness. But I felt an even stronger pull toward William.
"No, I can't," I said. "I can't go with you."
"Katie, please. We have to hurry."
"No."
Cormac looked stunned. "You are refusing? You choose to remain in a world of danger and death?"
"I'm choosing to remain with William."
Something I couldn't define flickered in Cormac's eyes. "Very well. At least I can take you to safety—for the moment. Do you have friends nearby?"
"Yes. There's a party in these woods. I have friends there."
I looked around in the golden glow, intending to point the way, but it was impossible for me to tell which way we were facing.
Cormac closed his eyes. "I have located them."
Without warning, the golden light that surrounded us intensified. The glare became so bright that I was forced to close my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was startled to see that I was no longer standing with Cormac in amongst the trees. Instead I was now back at Bryony's party, standing in the gazebo, surrounded by Bryony's party guests.
I turned around frantically. My first thought was of Anton—I figured that if the glow were gone that he might be free now too. But like Cormac, Anton was nowhere to be seen. I continued to look over the crowd. All of the partygoers looked relaxed, happy, unconcerned.
I felt a certain measure of relief—I figured I was safe from Anton at the moment, even if he were free of the golden glow. He was unlikely to risk attacking me in the midst of the party—he had said himself
that he intended to keep me away from it.
I knew I was safe for now, but I also knew I had to go home again.
And I knew that nightfall was inevitable.
I couldn't fend off an involuntary shudder, and I wrapped my arms around my body and closed my eyes.
"Katie! There you are!"
I opened my eyes to see Simon pushing through the crowd toward me.
I made an effort to smile as Simon came to stand beside me.
"Hey," he said. "Where have you been? It was like you disappeared completely."
I struggled to come up with a plausible excuse for my absence, but Simon rushed on without waiting for an answer.
"Are you okay?" he asked suddenly. "You're really pale. And you're shaking. Are you cold?"
I wasn't cold at all, but I could well imagine that I was pale.
"I'm fine, Simon."
"Are you sure?"
I knew there was no way I could possibly explain to Simon what had just happened to me—I wasn't entirely sure I understood it myself.
I looked into Simon's face—his expression was both good-natured and worried, and I felt cheered for a moment by his obvious concern.
"I'm fine. I really am."
"I'm not sure I believe you when you say that," Simon said. "Come and stand over here by one of the fires."
He bundled me over to a bright orange blaze, and I stood before it, until beads of perspiration formed on my forehead. Eventually Simon relaxed his vigilant watch over me and began to talk with other party-goers again.
Only then did I allow myself to face the harsh truth that had just been revealed to me—the truth that I had been afraid to test before.
William had not come to me at school during the week as he had said he would. In the forest, Anton had told me that William was gone. Cormac, who had clearly despised Anton, had also said that William was gone. And when I needed him, and I had called to him with the words he'd given me, he had not come to me—even though he'd promised me he always would.
Tears ran down my face, and I wiped them away quickly. I hoped that anyone who saw me would think that I was just blotting my overheated skin and would not recognize that I was crying.
The truth was that William had abandoned me.
Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) Page 14