I paused. I was having trouble forming my words.
"In case things don't go well with Anton?" Innokenti asked.
"No—"
I was determined to think as little as I possibly could about Anton's involvement.
"No," I said. "I mean if we succeed in luring the hybrids out, and one of them gets to me—is there anything I can do to protect myself?"
Innokenti considered the question. "Nothing comes to mind. We will do our best to protect you, of course. And William will certainly do the same."
"What about my cross?" I asked. "The one you saw the other night at the castle. You said it had special properties I might not know about. Will it help me with the hybrids?"
"Actually, I believe you should divest yourself of that particular object. I'm not certain how effective it is against a hybrid, but if there's any chance it will throw the hybrids off your trail, then you'll want to get rid of it. We don't want them to be confused."
"Oh," I said faintly. "I'll leave it at home then."
"Very wise."
I cast my mind about desperately.
"What about William's search?" I asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Innokenti said. "I don't know what search you are referring to."
"Last night you said he had been out searching for something that would help in the fight against the hybrids. An 'item' I think you called it."
Innokenti laughed—a sound that startled me.
"Ah, yes," he said. "William's quest. Are you familiar with the work of the great vampire philosopher and visionary Orpheo?"
"I'm afraid not," I replied.
Innokenti waved a hand. "Do not feel bad—few humans know of him. Orpheo has long since been turned to ash, but when he was alive, he was something like your Nostradamus. He is the author of a famous quotation—Sacer ignis exitus mundi. It translates as "The world will end in—"
"Holy fire," I said.
Innokenti seemed pleased. "Yes, 'holy fire,' very good. Orpheo predicted that there would be another war between the vampire and the Sìdh. His devotees even believe that he foresaw the resurrection of the Werdulac. Some further believe that this particular quotation should be interpreted literally—as in the world will end."
"What do you believe?" I asked.
Innokenti gave an elegant shrug. "I believe in fighting for my life." He gave me a sardonic look. "One romantic interpretation of this quotation is that the Werdulac may be defeated by a famous vampire sword known as 'Ignis Sacer'—as you said, 'holy fire.' William subscribes to this interpretation."
"What do you mean by 'vampire sword'?" I asked.
"It's a sword that drinks the blood of its victims and becomes stronger," Innokenti said. "It's supposed to be the most powerful sword the world has ever known. William, bless his innocent heart, has begun to search for it."
Innokenti's mocking tone was beginning to make me angry. "What's wrong with William looking for this sword?"
"Orpheo, like Nostradamus, was largely a fanciful man. The sword is not real. The sword is a dream. There is no magic talisman that will save us from the Werdulac on this night or on any other night. Nothing will help us here. What we have on our hands is a good, old-fashioned fight. We cannot place our faith in legends, no matter how attractive."
Innokenti suddenly glanced around. "I hope you'll forgive me, little one, I should not spend too much time out here in the daylight. It is possible someone will see us talking and report us to the Werdulac. We don't want to endanger our plans.
"This is what we will do tonight. We don't know exactly when the hybrids will attack the Festival, but I imagine they are planning to inflict as much damage as they possibly can. So they will want to wait until the festivities will be in full swing—when the most people will be out and about and a little, shall we say, incapacitated from merrymaking? I can't imagine that the hybrids would attack before midnight. You should go to the festival around ten o'clock, and then wander away from the crowd at around eleven to begin the staged chase. The hybrids should be stirring by then, and we should still be ahead of their attack."
"I can do that," I said. "I'll get away by eleven. How do I find Anton?"
Innokenti gave me a disturbing smile. "Anton will find you."
Innokenti moved then with startling swiftness, and in the next moment he was gone.
I spun around, looking for him.
The Wasteland was empty.
I figured Innokenti was gone, so I turned to go myself.
Then I heard a voice in my ear.
"Let us pray, little one, that you haven't sealed your own fate."
Chapter 24.
Time seemed to speed up after I returned home. All too soon, the day passed me by, and the sky began to darken.
Night fell with alarming swiftness.
After dinner, I sat up in my dark bedroom, looking out the window, watching the stars come out. I no longer feared the appearance of Timofei Mstislav—I knew he was under control.
Or he would be until he spotted me tonight.
My heart sank when I heard GM start bustling around in her room—I knew she was getting ready for the Firebird Festival.
She was excited about the festival.
I was dreading it.
The plan I was to follow tonight was what I wanted—what I had chosen for myself. But now that the time to go to the festival was nearly upon me, my stomach had begun to twist itself into violent knots. I knew that there was every chance that our side would lose tonight—that the hybrids would overwhelm us, and I would be lost to the Werdulac.
And then the hybrids would still attack the festival.
And even before all of that, I would have to deal with Anton.
I didn't trust him—at all—and it occurred to me that he might just kidnap me himself and turn me over to the hybrids. That way he could collect that precious reward of memories that he had told me about.
Fear flooded through me at the thought—the possibility of being betrayed by Anton tonight was a very real danger.
But I had to try. I had to do what I could—even if it meant the end for me.
Reluctantly, I turned on the light and began to get ready for the festival myself. Mindful of Innokenti's advice, I took off the charm that William had given me.
I felt strangely alone without it.
As I walked down the stairs, GM looked up at me expectantly.
"Katie, you will see something truly marvelous tonight. No one can celebrate the way we Russians can. There will be music and dancing and—"
GM stopped and looked at me searchingly.
"What is it, Solnyshko? What is wrong?"
I smiled and tried to appear as if I were really excited about the night ahead of us.
"Nothing's wrong, GM. I can't wait to go to the festival tonight."
"Yes, yes, something is wrong," GM said. "I can tell."
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, she put a hand to my forehead.
"Are you ill?" GM asked anxiously. "You were terribly ill the last time we were here. I hope this is not a reoccurrence of that sickness."
I thought back to the fever I'd had after Odette had poisoned me, and an involuntary shudder ran through me.
GM was watching me closely. "I knew it," she said. "You are ill. We will stay home."
"No, I'm not ill," I said quickly. I fought down the panic that was rising within me. I couldn't let GM keep me home. I had to go tonight. "I'm fine, really. I want to go to the Firebird Festival."
I pasted a smile on my face.
"You are sure about this?" GM asked, looking me over critically.
"Yes, I am. GM, please. I really want to go."
"All right," GM said after a moment. "We will go. But if you begin to look really bad, I will insist that we go home."
I tried to make my tone reassuring. "Okay, GM. That sounds reasonable enough."
I couldn't help smiling a little for real then. "You always think I'm ill. Or that I'm about to be."
"Everything will be fine," I said.
I really hoped that was true.
As we went out to the car, I glanced at my watch. It was just about ten o'clock.
I had one more hour to go.
The drive did not take long, and GM and I soon reached the main square in front of the Mstislav mansion. She slotted the car into a space in amongst a big jumble of cars.
GM slipped her arm through mine, and she smiled at me. I could see how excited she was. I suddenly wished that the evening could be exactly what she believed it to be—a clear winter's night with a simple, safe, small-town celebration. Little did she, or any of Krov's residents, know what waited in the dark to attack them and shatter their peaceful world.
The square was full of people eating, drinking, laughing, talking. There were live musicians, and somebody seemed to have brought a radio—two styles, one traditional, the other modern, clashed in the winter air, fighting pleasantly for the attention of the crowd.
The air was full of the aroma of food, and both electric lights and open flames illuminated the square, which was hung with hundreds of paper lanterns representing the Firebird.
"Later tonight there will be performances illustrating the folktales that are told of the Firebird," GM said. "Dances, plays, things like that."
A fair-haired man, his pale cheeks tinged red by the cold, handed both GM and me plastic cups filled with a dark liquid. He winked at us and disappeared into the crowd.
From the scent of the liquid, I guessed it was spiced wine. I looked around for a place to set it down. As I did so, I realized that I also had to find a way to get away from GM. At the moment, I would not be able to slip away without being noticed.
"I know what is in your mind," GM said.
I felt a flash of panic. "You do?"
"Yes, of course. You are worried about the wine. A sip or two will probably not hurt you. But make sure it is only a little."
I was relieved. I'd thought for a moment that she knew I was planning to disappear from the festival.
"No, thanks, GM," I said. "I don't want it." I really didn't. I needed my head to be clear.
GM smiled approvingly. "It is true what I always say—you are a good girl. Let's find a place to set these down. I am sure that on a night like this, no one will mind a few extra drinks sitting around. I think I see a spot on that table over there."
GM steered me through the crowd, and just as we were setting our plastic cups down, I spotted a tall, silver-haired man moving toward us.
It was Maksim Neverov. I was both elated and dismayed to see him. I was happy because I had a feeling he would provide the distraction I needed to get away from GM. But at the same time I was worried—Innokenti's hints about Maksim and my own half-formed suspicions suddenly hit me again. GM's seeing him during the day was one thing. Would it be safe for me to leave her with him on a night like this?
An even more disturbing question popped into my mind.
What if Maksim was in on the attack tonight?
Maksim saw the two of us and lifted a hand in greeting. GM saw him, too, and her face was instantly suffused with the same light that always seemed to appear whenever he was around.
GM looked happy to see him—truly happy. GM was usually very sharp—except where matters of the supernatural were involved. I wondered—could it be that she was deceived in him?
Perhaps GM couldn't see what she didn't want to see.
"Good evening, Anna. Good evening, Katie," Maksim said warmly. He bowed over each of our gloved hands in turn. Then his eyes lingered on GM. "I am truly lucky to find myself out and about on such a fine evening and in the company of two such beautiful ladies."
"Oh, Maksim," GM said, delighted, "you knew we would be here. There was no luck involved at all."
"Forgive me for reminding you, Anna, but you have disappeared on me before. I repeat that I am lucky."
"Oh, Maksim," GM said again.
Maksim and GM continued to talk, and it was clear to me that they only had eyes for each other. While their conversation went on, I glanced at my watch several times. All too soon, my hour was up, and Maksim and GM were still engrossed in one another. It was about time for me to slip away.
I had to hope that Maksim had nothing to do with what was planned for tonight—or if he was, that what I was about to do would be enough to distract him from his part in it.
Someone on the far edge of the crowd set off a few firecrackers, and Maksim and GM turned, laughing, toward the sound. They were so absorbed in each other that I figured it would be a little while before they noticed I was missing. And once they did notice, they wouldn't be too alarmed—at first.
I decided now was the time to disappear.
I ducked into the crowd and made my way toward the Mstislav mansion, which sat at the far end of the square. Once I was free of the crowd, I could see the mansion itself, looming pale and ghostly at the end of its dark, tree-lined drive.
I glanced back toward the crowd and saw four young men carrying a large flame-colored figure of a Firebird on a litter. Behind them trailed a line of girls in traditional Russian dress, carrying baskets and scattering handfuls of rose petals. The petals looked like feathers that had fallen from the great bird.
A cheer went up from the crowd as the Firebird came into view.
I hurried on.
Soon I had passed beyond the Mstislav mansion, and the warmth and safety of the festival were growing more and more distant every moment.
There had been no further snow since the early morning, but the day had been cold and none of the snow had melted. A thin coverlet layer of snow still blanketed the ground as I walked on toward the Wasteland.
I realized suddenly that I no longer had a flashlight—I had lost it somewhere in Zamochit Village. Even with the snow and the starlight, the Wasteland would be hard to cross in the dark. Not only that, but I didn't even know where the castle keep was that I was supposed to go to. I wondered with a sinking feeling how I was going to lead Anton on a chase if I couldn't see where I was going and didn't know where to go.
I glanced at my watch. It was five minutes past eleven.
Innokenti had said that Anton would find me, but I waited, and Anton did not appear. I looked around—I was at the edge of the Wasteland, and as far as I could see, I was completely alone. I found myself in the uncomfortable position of both hoping to see Anton and hoping he wouldn't find me.
Minutes passed, and I began to feel the cold more keenly. Suddenly, I felt something brush against my hair, and I turned around quickly.
No one was there.
I turned back and was startled to see Anton standing before me, grinning.
"Hello, Sunshine," he said.
I stumbled backward away from him in a panic.
"Relax," Anton said. "I'm on the side of the angels this time—however dark those angels might be."
I took another step back. I hadn't seen Anton since he had shown up at my house back in Elspeth's Grove. He had seemed threatening then, and here in the dark, in the cold, his eyes glittering, he was even more so. My heart was beating wildly, and I couldn't seem to find my voice.
Agreeing to put on a sham chase with Anton no longer seemed to be a good plan—or even a plan I could go through with.
"Tongue-tied?" Anton said with an unpleasant smile. "Like I always say, I have that effect on a lot of women."
I suddenly felt a strong desire to run, and I stifled a hysterical laugh—running was exactly what I was here to do.
Anton continued. "Since you're not in a very talkative mood this evening, I suppose it will up to me to sustain the conversation. I must confess, however, that I am disappointed that you have come back here. I had hoped you would take my advice and stay home. Since you have come here, I've been forced to keep an eye on you again, and it's been exhausting. There have been even more attempts on you in Krov than there were in Elspeth's Grove."
"You've been—been—"
"I've been looking out for you, yes," Anton said. "You know, this village is a dangerous place at this particular time. And you seem to have a knack for getting yourself right into the thick of all the trouble. Our meeting here is a good example of that."
I drew in a ragged breath and tried to force myself to be calm.
"You're here for real, aren't you?" I said when I was at last able to speak a complete sentence.
A look of genuine confusion flickered across Anton's face.
"I'm sorry?" he said. "I'm not imaginary if that's what you mean. I'm definitely very solid."
"I mean this isn't a trap, is it?" I asked. "A circumstance that sprang up that you'll take advantage of?"
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Anton said.
"You're not going to kidnap me and turn me over to the Werdulac, are you?"
"Oh, so that's what you're getting at." Anton seemed amused. "No, of course not. And if I were going to do such a thing I would hardly stand around talking with you. I would have carried you off already. You would never even have seen me coming."
"That's reassuring," I said.
"I told you," Anton said. "I'm with the good guys—such as they are." He gave me a sardonic smile. "Sorry—I'm afraid I'm always going to have to add a qualifier whenever I try to cast our little community of vampires as the heroes."
We stood for a moment in silence, and Anton glanced around.
"You many not know this," Anton said, "but the hybrids are on the move now. Their lead bloodhound Timofei Mstislav is already on the scent. We had better get this show started."
He paused. "Are you waiting for me to lunge at you, or what?"
The thought of Anton lunging for me sent a flash of panic through me that I had to fight off.
"Innokenti said we should go to the old keep in the Pure Woods," I said with as much calm as I could summon. "I don't know where the keep is."
"I should have thought that was obvious," Anton said. "You said yourself it was in the Pure Woods."
"I don't know where in the woods it is," I replied, irritated.
It was strange to be afraid of Anton and angry with him at the same time.
Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) Page 34