I called out to Elizabeth, and within a moment she was there, in front of me.
‘Lili, you were right. She was here in the gardens, with the dogs. When I found her she wasn’t far from Henry’s tunnel so I took her there. It’s safe there. But something is very wrong. No one is walking through the gardens. You know there are normally all kinds of people walking through here on their way to the train station … but today, it’s like the gardens are off limits or something. They’re all walking around the streets.’
‘It isn’t just me then. There’s a haze, or something, isn’t there?’
‘Haze? Well, I don’t see a haze, but maybe that’s what you living people see. Whatever it is, there are no people in here. Ceylona’s safe for now, but I’m not sure she should be out walking … I mean, not even to go home with you. Maybe you should just go home on your own, and wait until whatever happens is over?’
‘Maybe I should, but I’m not going to. I’m not leaving Ceylona here, to face … whatever this is.’
‘Well, maybe we should ring Sam? Or I could go find him … tell him you’re here and that you’re both safe?’
‘No, please don’t. I’m sure he’d just tell me to go home, and I can’t. I can’t leave her here … alone.’
‘Okay then. Follow me. I’ll take you to Henry’s tunnel.’
‘How did you … I mean, how did Ceylona get in? I thought the cover was really heavy?’
‘It is, if you don’t know the secret to opening it that is. I just showed Ceylona what to do and the cover slid off—just like it always did for Henry when he was alive, and just as it does for Sam.’
‘Okay. There’s no time for explanations now. Just take me to her.’
~ Chapter Twenty-One ~
‘Ceylona! Are you okay?’ I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw her smiling face looking up at me shyly.
‘Yes, Mommy, I’m fine. But you look scared. You shouldn’t be.’
I couldn’t believe this was my little daughter talking to me. She was still so small and fragile looking, but she’d matured so much in the months that she’d been with Mladen. Even though she still looked like a child, her confidence spoke of someone much more mature.
‘Yes, Ceylona, I’m scared. Or at least I was scared. You frightened me, disappearing like that.’
‘Disappearing? I didn’t disappear. Only Elizabeth and Cassie can disappear. I just took Jackie and Zane for a walk, that’s all.’
‘Yes, I know, but you should have waited until Daddy or I could go with you.’
‘Why? I’m a big girl. Mladen said so. He says I’m very skilled for my age. And I’m almost four now. I’m not much younger than Ben and Henry.’
‘Oh, Ceylona, you’re a very skilled dhampira, I’m sure. But sweetheart, you’re still just a little girl. And it’s … not safe out here. Not today anyway.’
‘Yes … I could smell them. I was distracted, playing fetch with Jackie and Zane. But as soon as Elizabeth told me what was happening I could smell them. I’m a bit angry with myself for not noticing at first. I must pay more attention from now on.’
‘Yes, you must.’ I was amazed by her calm acceptance of the situation. She wasn’t frightened. She was annoyed at herself for not picking up their scent when she first arrived in the gardens.
‘Are you warm enough? Would you like my sweater?’ I asked, starting to take it off to hand it to her.
‘No, Mommy, you need it more than me. I’m fine.’
Oh, of course—she wouldn’t feel the heat or cold nearly as much as I did. I looked around at the tunnel, but it was so dark I couldn’t see the walls. Even so, I could tell it was amazingly spacious. And I felt safe in the knowledge that Henry had been an experienced miner so he’d known how to shore up the sides of a tunnel. I suspected we’d be safe down here for as long as need be. But it was damp, and the air smelled old. And as clean as Jackie and Zane were they still smelled like dogs, and in this damp environment it was just a bit overwhelming.
‘We can open the cover a little more, if you like,’ said Elizabeth, obviously hearing my thoughts. ‘It will be fine. There’s so much shrubbery—they won’t see us, and your scent won’t travel up out of here. Go ahead, Ceylona, open the cover a bit further so your mother can have a bit more fresh air.’
Ceylona reached up and slid the cover back another few inches. It helped considerably, as a bit of fresh air swirled down and into the tunnel. Elizabeth had been right—it was much more comfortable.
It wasn’t long before Zane started pacing back and forth; anxiously looking at Ceylona each time he got near her. But Jackie stayed at Ceylona’s side, sort of leaning into her the whole time.
‘He’s listening to the fight Mommy.’
‘The fight?’
‘Yes. It’s started. I can hear it too, but Zane’s ears are better than mine.’
‘Who’s fighting, Ceylona? Do you know?’ I asked, trying unsuccessfully to keep my voice calm.
‘Yes. They’re all fighting—Daddy, Crystal, Michael, Tom and Angelica. I can hear their voices and … other sounds they make,’ she said, looking at me cautiously. I could swear she was trying to keep me calm.
‘And what about Ben and Henry?’
‘They aren’t there. But there are a lot of others.’
I wasn’t sure if I felt relieved that Ben and Henry weren’t there, or not. I’m sure their help would have been appreciated, but they too were still quite young. I was almost afraid to ask, but I had to know. ‘And is everyone okay?’
‘I think so. But I should go and try to help them, Mommy.’
‘No, Ceylona. I’m sorry, but you’re absolutely not going,’ I said, with as much authority as I could muster. ‘It’s far too dangerous—you need to stay here with me.’ Dhampira or not, she was still my three year old daughter, and although I knew one day she’d be as much of a force as Crystal, it was not going to be this day.
‘Okay. I’ll stay here and protect you. It will be fine, Mommy, don’t be scared.’
I breathed a little sigh of relief. At least if she felt she was protecting me by staying, she wouldn’t be as determined to go. I tried to relax, but it was no good. I wouldn’t relax until it was over. And even then, it mightn’t end well. I cringed at the thought that Sam and the others mightn’t win this fight. They could be too outnumbered. I shook my head, refusing to entertain that thought. I had to stay positive. It would end well. It had to.
Elizabeth and Cassie, who had been standing quietly up until now, nodded to each other then looked at me.
‘We’ll go, Lili, if that’s okay with you? I don’t know how we can help, but we need to try—for Sam.’
‘Oh, yes, yes of course. I hope you can do something. Even if you can distract the ones he’s fighting it might help.’
‘Yes, we might try that. But somehow I don’t think that little distraction trick of ours will work this time. But we’ll try. You’ll be okay here, won’t you?’
‘Yes, please, just go. And tell Sam we’re safe. That’s all he needs to know.’
As soon as I’d thought the words they were gone. I stood there looking at Ceylona who had Jackie nearly glued to her leg, and Zane who was still pacing anxiously. I had to do something to distract Ceylona.
I asked her to tell me about what she’d been learning at school. I asked her do the ABC’s for me, and to count to one hundred, but she just looked at me like I was nuts. ‘That’s too easy, Mummy. Ask me something harder.’
So I asked her to do multiplication tables. It was working, a little—she had to focus a bit to get through them. She seemed proud to be showing me how much she’d learned in such a short time.
Suddenly, Zane stopped pacing, and he tilted his head to one side. Jackie whined, and leaned harder into Ceylona’s leg. Zane turned to look at Ceylona for just a quick moment, and then he was off. He sprung up the ladder and out of the open lid so fast that neither of us could stop him. Ceylona turned to me with a horrified look on her face.
/>
‘I have to go, Mommy. I’m sorry …’ she said, already in motion.
‘Ceylona, NO!’
I grabbed out toward her arm, but it was no good; she sprung like a cat and was up the ladder and out the tunnel as quick as Zane had been. Jackie turned and looked at me. Her head was down, and she was wagging her tail very slowly, like a dog that’s been caught doing something naughty.
I knew I shouldn’t follow her, but I had to do something. I raced up the short ladder and popped my head out the lid. Jackie was behind me on the ladder, and the warmth of her breath on my legs seemed to give me courage.
At first, all I could see was the haze, but as I focused on the area up the hill near Elizabeth’s bench I caught some movement. I fixated on that, and as I did, the haze seemed to dissipate. A few moments later, I could see clearly, but the movement was so fast it was all just a blur.
Then something happened. I don’t know whether time slowed down for my benefit, or whether some Guardian Angel sensed my panic and aided me, but somehow everything became clear. It was as though someone had hit the slow motion button on the remote. The whole scene opened up in front of me—the whole, dreadful scene.
Sam was to the far left, engaged in a ferocious battle with a very large evil looking vampire. Elizabeth and Cassie and a few other ghosts were circling the pair of them, but their efforts seemed useless. My heart skipped a beat as this horrid being dived for Sam, but Sam ducked away just before he made contact and the other vampire went flying past him. It was hard, but I had to tear my eyes away—I had to find Ceylona.
Next I spotted Tom. He was fighting two slightly smaller vampires. Tom appeared to be laughing, as if he was egging them on. I would swear he was enjoying it, and he looked very much in control of the fight. Erranase was to Tom’s right, engaged in a fight with another very large vampire, but he seemed to have the upper hand.
Then to his right I saw Crystal. At first I thought she was in trouble as she was surrounded by at least five, maybe six, large and terrible looking vampires. She stood in the middle and as I watched I realized she was in complete control. I’d seen something like this before—a martial arts demonstration where one man fought off numerous opponents by constantly moving. This was exactly what Crystal was doing. She was in constant fluid motion, her beautiful hair swirling around her like some commercial for hair conditioner. It was almost as if she was doing a ballet routine—kicking one, then flinging the next overhead, then slamming the next one into the one beside him. She needed no help.
A bit further to the right I spotted Michael. He had four vampires surrounding him, and although nowhere near as graceful as Crystal, he was similarly in control as the vampires attempted to overtake him.
Back behind Michael and a bit to his left I could see a woman who looked like Rebekah. But it didn’t make sense that it could be her, as this woman wasn’t fighting—she was just standing there, her face frozen in an ugly grimace, watching the scene before her. It was odd, but I didn’t have time to think about what this meant—I still needed to find Ceylona.
To the right of Michael there was one more fight taking place. Although the woman’s face was covered by locks of her long dark hair, I knew it was Angelica. She was in a terrible battle with the largest of all of the vampires, and looked to be in trouble. Her opponent was more evil looking than anyone I’d ever seen. He was dark—not dark skinned, just dark, as if he had this horrible aura all around him, giving off a dark light or something. No, that wasn’t right either—he wasn’t giving off a dark light, it was more like he was sucking all the light into him. And as soon as I thought this, I could almost see Angelica’s energy being sucked right out of her too. This had to be Zunios, but he was too far for me to see his features, just as he had been that other time.
And then I saw Zane. He was racing around them and even from this distance I could hear him growling and barking. He was running in at Zunios and nipping at his legs, desperately trying to help Angelica.
Then I finally spotted Ceylona. She wasn’t much more than ten feet from them, a bit further around to the right. She was crouching down behind a large shrub—watching the fight. I could feel her indecision even from here. I felt a rush of relief spread through me—she was safe, for the moment at least, and didn’t seem in a hurry to get any closer to this horrible dark vampire.
Jackie must have spotted her at the same time I did, because she ran to Ceylona’s side and stood there protectively watching her. Zane must have seen the movement as Jackie ran up, because he glanced in their direction for a fraction of a second, and in that instant Zunios struck. He reached out and grabbed the dog by the hind leg, crushing it and then slamming him to the ground. I could hear the thump as his body hit the ground, followed by the most horrible yelp. Then there was silence.
‘Nooooo,’ screamed Ceylona.
Zunios turned at the sound and seemed to rise up even taller, focused now on the small girl who had cried out. He turned toward Ceylona, but having taken his eyes off Angelica, she seemed to regain her strength. She jumped on him from behind, clinging onto him like a monkey. He couldn’t shake her off and it appeared to annoy him enough that he stopped heading toward Ceylona while he tried to dislodge her. It looked like Angelica was starting to overcome him. Or maybe I just wanted it to be so.
‘Run, Ceylona. Run, now!’ I screamed, but my voice was lost in the sounds coming from all around us.
Ceylona ran, but not away as I’d wanted her to. She ran straight to Zane and crouched down on the ground next to his lifeless body. Jackie was right there with her. I could see Ceylona’s wrenching sobs as she held the dog’s head on her lap—it was heart breaking to watch her.
Then something changed. Whether it was Angelica’s successful overpowering of Zunios, or Ceylona’s cries, or the same Guardian Angel who’d helped me to see, I don’t know. But I could tell the balance had shifted in our favour. Tom, Michael and Crystal all looked to be just tidying up their battles. The vampire fighting Sam now lay on the ground with his limbs strewn in all directions, and Sam was running toward Ceylona. I sighed with relief—he would be with her in a moment and he’d keep her safe. She’d be protected from any foul vampires that might still be lingering.
Then another thought surfaced. Sam was running to Ceylona. Ceylona was crying over the lifeless body of Zane.
‘NO … Sam,’ I shouted, but again I couldn’t even hear my own voice.
This time I ran. The fight was nearly over, but even if it hadn’t been I think I’d still have run to Sam. I ran as fast as I could, but just as the fight had seemed to be taking place in slow motion, so too was my running. By the time I reached him, he was standing with Ceylona in his arms. She was wrapped tightly around her father’s neck, and she was crying into his shoulder. I threw my arms around the both of them, relieved that they were safe, yet terrified at the same time.
‘Here, Sam, let me take her,’ I said, lifting Ceylona away from him. She quickly threw her arms around my neck, and I could hear her murmuring Zane’s name over and over between her sobs.
When I looked at Sam he smiled, relief written all over his face. And as relieved as I was too, that my darling Ceylona was safe, I couldn’t help but notice his neck—still wet with her tears.
~ Chapter Twenty-Two ~
We both turned to quickly survey the scene around us. Were we safe standing there? It seemed nearly over, but Sam put his arm protectively around my shoulders and led us off the path, behind a tree. From here we could watch, but be less noticeable.
Tom and Erranase had both destroyed the vampires they’d been fighting, and now stood near Crystal, watching her finish off the last of the group she’d fought. Angelica was standing over the now broken and crumpled body of Zunios. Michael was walking around kicking the remains, possibly ensuring there was no further movement from any of them. It seemed safe now. Everyone was safe, with one possible exception.
Michael walked toward us, calling out as he approached. ‘Quickly, the
haze is lifting, and people will most likely start to come in again. Crystal, grab those bodies and let’s get them out of here,’ he said.
Then he turned to Sam and me. ‘Get them out of here, Sam. Take them to our house … we won’t be long, we just have to clean up this mess.’
Sam took a step back and smiled at me as he reached to take my hand. I couldn’t tell … had he changed at all? Was he human? He looked the same as he always had—or did he?
‘I will always love you, throughout eternity. Never forget that, Lili, no matter what happens,’ he said—his voice soft and low.
A lump started growing in my throat—so fast I wasn’t sure I could speak. My mind raced with questions. Did he feel himself changing? Was that why he was telling me he loved me? Was he becoming human? Could he feel the change taking place? What would that mean? Could we have a normal life? Or was he going to die? How would I know? How long would it take?
‘Oh Sam … and I will love you throughout eternity as well,’ I managed to whisper.
He took my hand in his, and I was surprised by the softness of his cool skin. Had it always felt like this? Or was he changing already?
I swallowed hard, desperately trying to hold back my tears. I wanted to be strong for him—but it was taking all my strength just to stand there, holding Ceylona.
His eyes twinkled and his hand squeezed mine. Was it as strong as it always had been? Or was it weak, like that of an old man? My mind continued to race with the possibility that I might lose him—and then with the possibility that I might not. He could become a normal human. Crystal could have been wrong all this time.
I could barely see for the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I was afraid to keep looking at him, but I couldn’t turn around either, for Ceylona was still clinging to me, her arms clasped tightly around my neck. If I turned, then she would be looking right at him. So I started backing up instead, slowly, looking down at the ground. Then I heard Angelica’s voice behind me, talking to Ceylona.
Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) Page 21