Realm of Night (Mina Murray Book 3)

by L. D. Goffigan

  “I love you,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his. He smiled against my mouth and returned my kiss. As it turned increasingly passionate, all thoughts of vampires were indeed cast aside.

  LATER, sharp knocks at the door pulled us from our slumber.

  We hastily got dressed before Abe swung open the door. Seward stood there, his expression grim.

  “There is some sort of disturbance with the tracks beyond the next station,” he said. “The train is unable to continue on this route…an attendant just informed us. They’re going to stop the train and reroute passengers.”

  Abe and I nervously trailed Seward down the corridor to the dining carriage.

  The others were gathered with the attendant, a stammering young man who looked intimidated by Anara, Gabriel, and Emma, as if he’d somehow gleaned they weren’t human. He didn’t give us any further specifics, only repeating that there was a disturbance with the train tracks.

  My companions and I exchanged uneasy glances at his words. He didn’t need to give us specifics—we suspected there had been some sort of attack by ferals. Weeks ago, our own train had been derailed by ferals when we first headed into Transylvania.

  “We have no choice but to take another train—riding horseback would take even longer to get to Budapest, even with the delay,” Gabriel said, once the attendant left us alone.

  We nodded our agreement, though I dreaded any delay…Bathory could flee Transylvania at any time.

  We were not far from Vienna, and the train soon pulled to a stop at its main station. We took cabs to an inn on the quiet outskirts of the city. It was tiny and somewhat dilapidated, surrounded by buildings that looked abandoned or were under various states of disrepair. But it was the only one that could accommodate us at such a late hour.

  “I hope we are not delayed further,” I said to Abe, as I changed into my nightdress in the room we were to share for the night. “If other train stations have been compromised by vampires—“

  “We do not know if that is the case,” Abe interrupted, sliding into bed and rubbing his eyes. “This is not like last time. We have been to Transylvania before…we know what to expect.”

  Do we? I wondered, crawling into bed next to him. Though only a few weeks had passed since we were last in Transylvania, how could we be certain it was as we’d left it? It had been filled with mostly abandoned and isolated villages. The vampires who roamed the region had been Vlad and Ilona’s loyal followers. Were Bathory’s vampires situated there now? Had she been successful where Vlad had not—turning entire villages vampire?

  My dreams imitated my anxious thoughts, and were again dominated by images of vampires I’d confronted or killed—Skala, Vlad, Francois. But this time…I saw my parents as well.

  They were seated at the dining room table in our old home in London, facing me, their faces serene. I noticed that a small fire had started beneath the table. It was slowly rising to consume them.

  “You need to wake up, poppet,” my father said, before I could warn them. “Wake up. WAKE UP!”

  I awoke with a gasp.

  Though I was now awake, I could still smell the caustic flames of a fire. Panicked, I looked around. Wisps of smoke snaked into the room from beneath the door, filling the room.

  The inn was on fire.

  22

  INFERNO

  “Abe!” I cried.

  Abe immediately sat up, looking around the room in alarm. We scrambled out of bed, coughing as we inhaled the smoke that wafted into the room. I darted towards the window to wrench it open while Abe cautiously approached the door.

  “I can feel the heat—the fire must be spreading down the hall,” Abe said, picking up our bags from the floor and hurrying to my side.

  We were fortunately on the ground floor; we were able to climb out the window with relative ease. I prayed that the others had made it out safely as we raced around to the front of the inn. Fire was one of the few things a vampire could not survive.

  I spotted Anara in front of the inn. She was escorting the shaken innkeeper and his wife out the side door, while Seward helped a coughing young man out the front door.

  I did not see Gabriel or Emma, and panic shot through my veins when I realized their rooms were at the far end of the ground floor hall—the hall that was now on fire.

  I started to dash towards the inn, but Abe stopped me, pulling my body against his chest.

  “Let me go—Gabriel and Emma are still in there!” I shouted.

  “They would not want you to risk your lives for them!” Abe shouted, tightening his grip.

  “Abe—let me go at once!” I demanded, but Abe’s grip was firm.

  I stopped struggling when I saw Gabriel and Emma emerge from the side door, helping out a frightened elderly woman. Abe released me, and I raced towards them.

  After we shared a grateful embrace, the rest of our group gathered round. I turned to glance back at the inn. The fire had already begun to dissipate; the innkeeper had hauled out a stand pipe and hose, and pumped water onto the dying flames.

  “How did that happen?” I asked, studying the dying fire. Now that I knew the others were safe, my suspicion was aroused. “The fire seemed to start out of nowhere. It—“

  “Silence,” Anara interrupted, her entire body going rigid.

  I stilled when frosty eyes prickled my skin. My heart began to slam into my ribcage, and I turned. The sensation came from the alleyway that ran adjacent to the inn.

  Two vampires darted out of the alley, their fangs bared and eyes black. Their hungry focus was centered on the terrified humans behind us, but Anara and Gabriel shot into their path.

  As they began to fight in rapid movements, one of the vampires left the fray, leaping towards us. Abe and Seward shoved me and Emma behind them, but Gabriel whirled, catching the vampire by the throat and slamming him onto the ground. He started to snap the vampire’s neck, but I darted forward to grab his arm.

  “No—I want to find out who they are!”

  Gabriel’s breathing was labored with pent up aggression, but he nodded. He kept the vampire pinned to the ground as I kneeled over him.

  Next to us, Anara dispatched the vampire she’d been fighting. He let out an agonized hiss as she brusquely snapped his neck; he sank dead to the ground.

  “I recognize him,” I murmured, studying the vampire Gabriel held down, as Anara joined us. The vampire bared his fangs, struggling to free himself, but Anara helped Gabriel keep him pinned to the ground. He had silvery blond hair and blue eyes; a scar ran down the left side of his face. He was one of the vampires who’d stood next to Francois on the dais at the masquerade ball. “He was at the Night Masquerade.”

  The others exchanged worried glances—we all knew what this meant. We had somehow been followed from France without being aware.

  Setting aside my panic, I focused on the vampire’s eyes, gazing into their depths. But he shut them before I could begin to probe.

  “You will not defeat our queen, Ghyslaine,” he growled. In an impossibly fast movement, the vampire jerked his head to the left side. The movement made a sharp cracking sound; I realized with horror that he had broken his own neck.

  “Devils!”

  I turned. Amidst the commotion of the attacking vampires, I’d temporarily forgotten about the humans from the inn who now stood behind us. They were looking at us as if we were the monsters, trembling with terror. The innkeeper shoved his wife behind him, holding up his fingers in the sign of the cross.

  “Devils!” he shouted again. “Monsters!”

  In a flash of movement, Anara approached each one of them, speaking in low tones. I couldn’t make out her words, but the humans visibly relaxed, going completely still as they listened to Anara with rapt attention. She was putting them in a thrall, coaxing them into compliance through her words. I watched this with unease. I still found the vampiric ability to put humans in thrall eerie, even when it worked to our advantage.

  When Anara walked back to our
group, the humans simply turned and walked away.

  “What did you tell them?” Abe asked, astonished.

  “To find help. They will not remember us or what they saw here,” Anara said calmly, turning her focus to the two dead vampires strewn on the ground. She gestured towards them. “We can’t leave them here.”

  We decided to split into two groups. Me, Abe, Gabriel, and Emma would head to the train station while Anara and Seward would dispose of the dead vampires.

  The neighborhood around the inn was so abandoned that it seemed the fire had gone unnoticed. After changing our clothes in the partially burned-down inn, we had to walk for some time through the desolate streets before we found a main thoroughfare, where we spotted a lone cab clattering through the streets.

  We sat in the back of the cab in somber silence as it transported us to the train station. I noticed that Emma looked particularly pale; she was no doubt unaccustomed to the violence she’d just witnessed.

  “Are you all right?” I whispered.

  “Yes,” she replied, giving me a polite smile that did not reach her eyes.

  We arrived at the train station to find it mostly empty at this hour. We found benches near the entrance where we sat to wait for the others.

  “How did I not sense them?” Gabriel asked, his words taut with frustration. “If those vampires followed us all the way from France—“

  “They may have disguised their scent, or taken a different route,” I interrupted. “Do not blame this on yourself. We were fortunate—no one was harmed.”

  “After we were attacked in Matford, I vowed I would be more perceptive,” Gabriel said, not appeased by my words.

  “We’re getting closer to Bathory. That may not be the last attempt to thwart us,” Abe said. “Were you able to see anything in the vampire’s eyes, Mina?”

  “No,” I said. “But what he said to me is worrisome. That is the second time I’ve heard a vampire refer to Bathory as a queen. Does she intend to rule over vampires like royalty?”

  “How could Vlad and Skala have agreed to that? They didn’t seem to be the type who enjoyed sharing power,” Gabriel said, baffled.

  “Perhaps they didn’t,” I mused, as an unnerving thought occurred to me. I recalled Abe’s concerns about the vampires celebrating in Paris as if they’d already won. “Perhaps we have done Bathory a favor by killing them.”

  “What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.

  “From what we know about her…she has more loyal followers than Vlad or Skala. She could have sent scores of her vampires to stop us. But she hasn’t. What if…what if we are aiding her somehow? Killing off the other leaders so that she can hold onto power for herself?”

  A heavy silence fell; Abe and the others looked disturbed by my words.

  “Godsamme,” Abe swore. “I fear that you are correct, Mina.”

  Unease settled over me as I considered my deduction. Why would someone who commanded such a loyal following, who enjoyed sole power, ever want to share that power with anyone else? If there were no other vampire leaders, she could rule on her own.

  It was now apparent—we had inadvertently helped Bathory by killing Vlad Draculesti and Aurel Skala.

  23

  TRANSYLVANIA

  Hours later, the sun sank beneath the distant horizon as we rode on horseback into the Transylvanian countryside. Our journey from Vienna had been strained and silent; the encounter with the vampires at the inn and the recent revelation about Bathory heavy on our minds.

  I was riding with Abe, his arms protectively around my waist. Anara and Gabriel flanked us on both sides, while Seward and Emma rode at the rear of our group.

  I took in our surroundings as we entered the region. Though I knew it was unlikely that life would immediately return to the region with the death of Vlad, I still found its desolation shocking. We passed entire villages and farmsteads with no signs of human life; even the safer fortified villages and churches that dotted the countryside stood vacant. I rarely spotted any animals; it was as if life itself had abandoned the region.

  We were on sharp alert for any sign of ferals; even stopping periodically while Gabriel and Anara rode ahead to check for disturbances. But the countryside seemed to be completely abandoned.

  We soon arrived at a fortified village deep in the countryside, surrounded on all sides by thick patches of forest. The village was typical of the region, consisting only of a church and several cottages, enclosed by a high stone gate. We settled into the church for the night; it was the most secure of the buildings.

  “The other members of the Order will meet us here tomorrow. Until they arrive, no one leaves,” Anara said, locking the church door behind us as we filed inside.

  No one was going to argue with her. In spite of the emptiness of the region, the threat of danger seemed omnipresent.

  I looked around. The pews inside the church had been pushed to the sides; a half-dozen wooden tables with chairs were situated in rows where the pews had once been. We found several private rooms with small beds already nestled inside; the previous inhabitants must have stayed here as a last place of refuge before permanently fleeing the village.

  Once we were somewhat settled, I sat with Abe, Seward and Emma at one of the tables to eat a meal of bread, roasted vegetables, and ale that we’d purchased from an inn near the train station.

  “I thought vampires would have overrun Transylvania by now,” Seward said, taking a large sip of his ale.

  “They have gone to the cities,” Abe grimly replied. “Millions of humans to feast upon and transform.”

  “Why did we not consider that Bathory was the true leader all along?” I asked with frustration. “She’s the one we should have focused on—the most powerful one.”

  “We were only aware of Vlad when this all began,” Abe said, but he looked equally stymied.

  Weary from our journey, Abe and I retired for the night after we ate, settling into one of the rooms in the back of the church.

  “We should use my blood to poison her,” I told Abe, as he shrugged out of his shirt. “It took time for several vampires to wound Francois, and he’s just her child. She’s far stronger. If we attempt to use weapons on her—“

  “Are you suggesting that we use you as bait?” Abe demanded, whirling to face me. “We have discussed this, Mina. I will not allow you to put yourself in danger again—especially after what happened with Skala. Why must you be so damned obstinate?”

  I blinked, stunned by the magnitude of his anger. Abe was glaring at me, his entire body vibrating with tension.

  “I’m just proposing a sound way of defeating her,” I protested, my own voice rising in anger. How dare he try to order me about? “If we attempt to attack her outright—“

  “The only way she can ingest your blood is if you use yourself as bait. That is what you are proposing, are you not? I was powerless to stop you when you insisted on risking your life to kill Vlad—“

  “Did I not succeed? It was our best way to kill him at the time! I’m not proposing that I use myself as bait for Bathory—I’m not a fool! I simply want a way of killing her that lessens the risk of someone else dying! I have seen too much death, Abe. If I can prevent it—“

  “There may be more deaths—more loss. We are attempting to kill a powerful vampire! I do not want any of our friends to come to harm, but it is not up to you to protect everyone, Mina! We shall surround Bathory and kill her with a stake in her heart. Even the most powerful vampire cannot withstand that. We will not use your blood. You promised me you would not risk your life to—“

  “I won’t!” I shouted. “Abe, please understand, if there is a better way of destroying her, then –“

  “We destroy her together. I—I cannot bear the thought of losing you. You are the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of our lives together!”

  I froze as his words permeated my haze of righteous anger. I stared at him, astonishment replacing my irritation.

  “What—wh
at are you saying?” I stammered.

  Abe was silent for a long moment; his breathing ragged, his eyes filled with an array of emotions—love, frustration, fear.

  “This is not how I wanted to propose. Not during a row,” he muttered. After another moment of silence, he stepped forward to take my hands in his, his expression softening. “But I have already spoken the words. I was going to ask when this was all over; I suppose I cannot wait any longer. I love you so…I always have. Wilhelmina Murray, my heart…will you be my wife?”

  My eyes brimmed with tears as I gazed into the blue depths of his. Joy and love had completely taken over my senses; my anger of moments earlier was forgotten.

  Abe had proposed before, during the first iteration of our relationship, when vampires were nothing more than an absurd whisper of a rumor, and the future seemed bright with promise.

  Now, I smiled at the man I loved…the man I’d always loved. When Jonathan had proposed, a brief flicker of uncertainty had darted through me before I accepted. There had been no such uncertainty when Abe first proposed. I loved him to the very core of my being.

  “Abraham Van Helsing,” I whispered, raising his hands to my lips and kissing both his palms. “Yes. I will marry you.”

  The world around us temporarily faded away as our lips met in a passionate kiss. When we finally broke apart, breathless, Abe enfolded me in his arms.

  “I do not wish to resume our argument—not after such a passionate interlude,” he murmured. His tone was light and teasing, before it turned serious again. “You will not put yourself in danger, will you?”

  “No,” I promised. But I still longed for a different method of killing Bathory without a direct confrontation from our group. She was able to hold an entire ballroom of vampires in thrall. What would she be able to do to a smaller group of humans and vampires?