Slowly green displaced the dull dead grey of London. Adele made it out of the city. She would never have believed she could make it this far. The green called to her, lightening her footsteps as the hours passed. It was clean and alive, so unlike the city behind her. She touched the leaves and trunks of the trees, relishing the feel of living things beneath her fingertips. It seemed like ages since she had been around such things. She pushed her way though hedgerows and groves, sometimes with the tree canopy so heavy she walked through a tunnel of green. She kept to heavy cover and skirted the edges of open fields. Patches of berries helped her stave off growing hunger.
In the growing dusk, Adele spotted ancient stone monoliths, worn short and smooth with time, in the middle of an overgrown field. The two parallel slabs of stone immediately fascinated her. Against all reason, she dared the open ground to walk over to the grey monoliths. She placed her hand on cool stone and felt an unexpected sense of warmth and protection.
Shadows crossed over the field in front of her-vampires hunting, silhouetted in the sky. Adele almost bolted for the forest's edge, but it was too late for that. Any movement would betray her presence, though there seemed no way they could miss her.
She shrank between the two stones, praying, cursing. She could feel her heartbeat through her hand pressed against the monolith. The vampires paused in their flight, their pale forms like wraiths floating in the air directly above.
Exhaling slowly, Adele held herself motionless, melting into the stone and vines. She gazed up into their eyes as they looked down, but to her amazement they could not see her. They turned away and drifted to the west, leaving her to stare after them in disbelief. There was no rational explanation. She had not been hidden; she was in the open.
There in the stillness of the glade, she felt a vibration through the stones, humming from below the surface. It wasn't her heartbeat. It was something else-a power of some sort. And it had kept her safe. Perhaps this was the energy that Selkirk tapped to walk unseen among the vampires. Somehow, she had the same ability. Perhaps Greyfriar did as well. He seemed like a creature of shadow. When last Adele had seen him, he had been fighting for his life against Flay. And she had left him. Her heart sickened at the memory. He had come for her across the whole of vampire territory. He had dared bloody London. For her.
So had her Intended, of course, but he had an army at his disposal, and more than likely he was more interested in not losing his claim to a powerful throne. She could never be sure of the senator's motivations. Not like Greyfriar. He had no claims on her or her throne. He had placed his life on the line over and over again. He spoke to her not of politics but of books and simple people. He never gave up, even when all odds were against them.
The strange power of the stones rumbled to a halt and was silent beneath Adele. Immediately she missed its presence. It had spoken of things she had almost forgotten: warmth, safety, and relief from her weary reality. But again, she was alone and unprotected. She had to move on.
Greyfriar, please don't be dead, she pleaded.
Greyfriar's map led her to the outskirts of little Canterbury.
The town was so much smaller than London. Buildings were overgrown, covered in vines, and trees grew out of collapsed roofs. The tower of a great central church rose out of the red-roofed morass like a mountain above the jungle. There was something orderly and clean here. The air didn't stink of blood and offal. Her feet didn't crunch over the skeletal remains of long-discarded meals. Adele felt comforted as she walked under the bright starlight. And the sky was empty of dark figures.
As she made her way into the outskirts of the wise old town, Adele recaptured the same sense of security she had felt clinging to the monoliths. She had a strange awareness that some vague protection seemed to waft from the ground, from the grass-choked cobblestones under her sore feet. Perhaps it was just the fact that less blood had been spilled here than elsewhere. Perhaps it was just the knowledge that she was not under the eyes of vampires that gave her an irrational sense of freedom.
Adele didn't know where to go. There were no notes on the mapjust a mark under the word "Canterbury." It made sense, though, to choose the main landmark, the church tower, as a rendezvous spot.
When Adele reached the magnificent cathedral, she began to feel a sweet heaviness in the air, ancient and inexplicable. Pleasure tingled through her. She entered the massive church slowly and was nearly overwhelmed by a surge of emotion that felt like a sheet of warm water rushing up. She couldn't understand it, but she knew it was natural, something that she was meant to experience. It brought a peace and contentment she had expected for so long and had been missing, although she had never experienced it before. At the same time she was burning; every nerve was shimmering. Adele dropped to her knees and clutched her hands before her, hoping for some guidance to help her understand this thunderbolt that racked her exhausted but energized frame. She was enveloped by the glory around her and she was lost.
Then Adele found herself standing in the sunlight with her hands on the peeling wooden door frame for support. She had no idea how long she had been inside the cathedral. The young woman staggered out and settled on the stone steps in magnificent exhaustion and tried to collect her thoughts. Her clothes were drenched in perspiration, and she could feel tears still running down her dirty face.
A hand reached for Adele. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and recoiled, but the gloved hand snagged her cloak. Her blade glinted.
"Don't struggle, Princess."
Greyfriar!
She gasped and fell against the swordsman as he knelt at her side. "You're alive!"
He took her hard by the shoulders, holding her for a long moment without speaking as her fingers curled in the material of his thick jacket. They both silently rejoiced they had found each other. Then his masked head tilted as he regarded her soaked, shaking frame. "What happened to you?"
Adele wasn't able to discuss the "event" in the cathedral because it didn't seem real now that she was again beside him. Back in a world of masks and swords and guns and blood. And she was more concerned by the distress she sensed in him. He was tense and stiff, as if in pain. His voice was strained, even though the sound of it exhilarated her.
She shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. Lack of food. Light-headed."
Greyfriar released her and stood back. "I'm grateful you made it here. I'm sorry I couldn't find you in London." He handed her a canteen.
Adele drank greedily, then wiped her mouth and eyed him with a slightly curious smile. "You sound as if you didn't expect me to make it without you."
"No, not at all."
"You just tossed me a knife and a map and sent me off. Didn't you think I could survive alone?"
"Yes, Princess. Of course. I'm just grateful that you did survive. Were you followed?"
"Not so far as I could tell. I saw a few vampires along the way. I thought two surely saw me, but they didn't. I was standing next to some stones. Like monoliths."
Greyfriar nodded. "That was fortunate. Vampires don't like those places." He indicated the towering church behind them. "This place too. They never come to Canterbury if they can help it."
"Why?"
The swordsman shrugged and ran a trembling hand over his masked face. "I don't know. The place disturbs them."
Adele touched his arm. "Are you okay? You don't seem well to me. Did Flay injure you?"
He pulled farther back. "Nothing to worry about. Come. I know where you can hide and rest. But only briefly. We must move fast if we're to keep you out of Flay's hands again."
"Of course. Lead on." Despite his apparent illness or injury, she couldn't hide her joy, so happy she was to see him alive.
They left the center of tranquil Canterbury and returned to the rolling green ruins. Adele didn't feel as safe away from the cathedral, but she noted with relief that Greyfriar seemed to have recovered his energy and stamina. He moved with his normal lithe ferocity.
Soon they top
ped a low rise, and Adele drew in a sharp gasp at what lay before them. A farm. A small house with a few rude outbuildings surrounded by freshly plowed fields. A couple of cows and pigs wandered the dirt yard around the house. And beyond it were more farms just the same. There were humans working. This picturesque glade could have been anywhere in the world. The Nile Valley. Cyprus. Adele couldn't believe it. The humans of the far north were ignorant animals. This village was impossible.
At the farmhouse, Greyfriar knocked gently on the door. An old man with silver hair opened it. The man's crinkled eyes widened in surprise and delight, and he opened the door even wider and gestured for his guest to enter quickly. He was dressed shabbily and was very ill kempt, but his humanity remained.
"Greyfriar! It warms my heart to see you again and that God has kept you safe." The old eyes paused on Adele for a moment, and even in that brief span of attention, she felt as if her whole soul had been weighed and judged. He smiled kindly at her and then returned his gaze to the swordsman.
Greyfriar said, "It is good to see you well too, Alphonse." His voice lowered even further, as if he was ashamed to ask a favor of this man. "I need shelter and food for my companion."
"I figured as much. It is rare that you travel with anyone." Alphonse turned to Adele. "Greetings. Our humble abode is at your disposal."
"Th-thank you," the girl replied with a small bow, feeling as if she was doing a poor job of hiding her shame at a lifetime of dismissing poor gentle souls like this man as cattle.
"We don't have much in the way of food, but it is yours to share." He waved a hand behind him, and a small frail form came into view. She was an elderly woman whom Adele assumed was Alphonse's wife, with snow white hair to match his.
The woman said to Adele, "Come, little one. You look done in. Sit here. My lord, you're injured. Look at the blood on your clothes. You need tending!" She glared at Greyfriar. "Men!"
Adele smiled at the silent swordsman as she collapsed onto a threelegged stool. "No, I'm fine. Very little of this blood is mine. What may I call you?"
"Nina."
The old woman disappeared for a moment and brought back a steaming bowl of soup. Soup! The wafting aroma encircled Adele with soothing warmth. She briefly wondered what it was made of, but when Nina slid a spoon in front of her, Adele dug in with relish. It was a vegetable soup, thin but delicious.
Nina held up a second bowl for Greyfriar, but Alphonse waved her aside. After all this time, the swordsman had never eaten with them, as if he knew they had little enough and had no wish to place more burden on them. Greyfriar inclined his head politely toward Nina, acknowledging her graciousness. Nina smiled and returned the bowl to the pot bubbling on the fire.
The old woman sat beside Adele and observed the young girl as she ate. A hesitant hand reached out and touched the once-fine cloak that hung in tatters over Adele's shoulders.
"I'm sorry about my appearance," Adele said through a mouthful of soup.
"I've never seen anything so fine as that garment must have been. Are you a free human?"
Before Adele could answer, Greyfriar informed Alphonse, "She needs a change of clothes."
"You are being hunted," the older man said.
Greyfriar nodded. "She was in the Tower in London."
Nina's hand flew to her mouth. "They could follow you here."
Alphonse looked sharply at his wife while he said, "Of course they could. And it doesn't matter. They have asked for help and they shall have it."
Nina straightened a bit, ashamed, and glanced askew at Adele. Then, drawing a gentle sigh, she announced, "I'll get some clothes."
When she returned, she handed them to Alphonse. He patted her frail old hand and then offered the bundle to Adele.
"They aren't pretty, but they will serve to hide you, make you one of us.
The clothes were rough homespun, like the attire of practically every human she had come across since entering vampire territory.
Adele pulled Greyfriar aside and whispered, "We must go."
He replied quietly, "We'll go soon enough. You need to rest."
"No! We have to go. Flay will come again. I won't have these people killed because they harbored me."
"They know me. They accept the risk."
"So did the people in Riez," Adele snapped. "The risk is too high."
"These people live with the constant threat of vampires, Princess. They could be struck down any day. Helping you will give their lives a purpose. You must see that."
Adele rubbed her face in exhaustion. She nodded against her will.
"Change now and then rest," Greyfriar told her. He stared out the window, as if anxious to be gone. "We'll only stay a few hours. Then we will be on our way."
Nina showed Adele where she could change behind a blanket stretched across a corner of the cabin. When the princess emerged, she was dressed like any other human in the north. If Greyfriar hadn't known her to be royalty he would have thought her only a mere farm girl except for her poise and the determined expression on her face. Even dressed in rags, she was powerful and beautiful. She regarded him curiously, a silent smile in her eyes. He half expected her to twirl for his inspection.
Adele placed her original garments on the table. "Nina, you may have these if you wish. Perhaps you can sell them. A little money could-"
"Burn them," Greyfriar commanded.
"What?" Adele retorted with angry surprise.
"Flay will have her hunters out. They know your scent."
"Hunters?"
Nina's whisper was laced with so much fear it sent chills up Adele's spine. The princess looked at Greyfriar with fearful curiosity.
"Hunters are raw vampires," Greyfriar explained. "Throwbacks. They have changed little since the dawn of time. They are more primal than clan vampires. They are true to the animal nature of the race. They are trained to track and kill prey."
Adele flashed back to the tunnel under the Thames. That creature had behaved more like an animal, but it had the same twisted sickness she had witnessed with vampires.
"What do they look like?" Adele's voice was no louder than Nina's now. "I think I saw one."
Greyfriar immediately turned to her. Even through the smoked glasses she knew she had alarmed him.
"I doubt it. If you had seen one, you'd be dead."
"I killed it in the tunnel. Under the Thames."
"You came through a tunnel?" He stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulder.
"I-I was trying to lose Flay's soldiers. There was someone, something in there along with the ..." She glanced at Nina and Alphonse nervously, but couldn't find the words to describe the encounter. The very memory of its touch and breath made her ill. "It was hairy and ... like an animal. It didn't speak. It just growled."
"You say you killed it?" The disbelief in Greyfriar's voice was evident.
"Yes." Adele straightened determinedly, pushing back her dark memories in the face of Greyfriar's impertinent doubts.
"You ... are amazing."
That shocked her. "What?"
"You killed a vampire when your ship crashed. And now a hunter. I know of no human who has managed that."
"She killed a vampire?" Alphonse's response was a mix of awe and dread.
"Indeed." Greyfriar squeezed Adele's shoulder. "Get some rest."
"What about you?" Adele was worried about him. He never seemed to rest when she rested.
"I'll rest in a bit. But I want to check the area first."
She couldn't control the swell of anxiety that flooded her as she watched him leave. She felt safer with him than without him; bad things happened when he wasn't around.
Greyfriar walked beside the freshly turned fields, observing the valley's farmers as they settled for the night. One young man was putting away his herd, two cows. His farm was near the edge of the woods, where it was dark and remote. He was ideal.
Greyfriar slipped into the woods and removed his glasses, relishing the moment when he could look upon th
e world with unshaded eyes. It was much brighter, with much more color. He unwound his head wrap, letting the breeze dry his heated skin. Then he pulled off his gloves and unstrapped his human weapons.
The young farmer was in the process of closing the gate of his cattle pen and had his back turned to Gareth. A cold hand fell upon the man's shoulder, and he spun around and saw the marked features of a vampire. There was no scream from his throat, almost as if he were expecting it.
Gareth's fingers brushed along the man's jaw. "Do not be afraid. You will not die tonight, but I need sustenance." Gareth wished there was some other way, but the fight with Flay had drained him, and there was still a long flight ahead. He could not protect Adele if he did not feed.
The human cast his eyes to the forest's edge, and his throat lay exposed in the moonlight.
"Close your eyes."
The human swallowed hard, and Gareth watched the man's Adam's apple bob wildly for a second. Then Gareth took the man's hand, bared his fangs, and sank them into the wrist. The man shuddered as his energy and life's blood was siphoned. Gareth kept his wits about him, monitoring the victim's heartbeat, taking only enough to see him and Adele safely away. When they reached Edinburgh he could feed more fully, spreading his hunger over more of his flock.
Finally the farmer's heart raced, struggling to pump his draining blood supply. He grew limp in Gareth's arms. The vampire prince released his hold and drew back his fangs. He took some blood and rubbed it over his chest and arms to renew his olfactory disguise. Then he lifted the unconscious human, entered the lean-to, and placed the man in the straw meant for his cattle. The man moaned slightly as Gareth closed the makeshift gate behind him to keep other predators from the farmer.
Wiping the excess blood from his lips with the back of his hand, Gareth strode back into the forest to his human clothes. Adele would wake soon, and then they would move on. Soon he would have to reveal himself to her, and he knew what her reaction would be.
The Greyfriar (Vampire Empire, Book 1) by Clay & Susan Griffith;Clay Griffith;Susan Griffith Page 19