by Smith, L. J.
35
“Nevertheless”—Damon’s eyes took on a steely glint—“without the amulet my assistant and I will not perform.”
“But—with it you will? I say, are you saying that you lost your amulet here?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Just around the time the party arrangements were being set up.” Damon flashed a beautiful, haunting smile at the young vampires and then turned it off suddenly. “I had no idea I would have your help, and I was trying to find a way to get an invitation. So I took a look around to see how the place would be laid out.”
“Don’t tell me it was before the grass was rolled,” someone said apprehensively.
“Unfortunately, yes. And I was given a psychic message, which told me that the k—the amulet is buried somewhere here.”
There was a chorus of groans from the crowd.
Then there were individual voices raised, pointing out the difficulties: the rock-hardness of the rolled grass, the many ballrooms with their many floral arrangements in soil, the kitchen garden and flower gardens (which we haven’t even seen yet, Elena thought.)
“I realize the virtual impossibility of finding this,” Damon said, taking the half of the fox key back into his hand and making it disappear neatly by passing it near Elena’s hand, which was ready to receive it. She now had a special place for it—Lady Ulma had seen to that.
Damon was saying, “That is why I simply said no at the beginning. But you pressed me, and now I’ve given you the full answer.”
There was some more grumbling, but then people began walking out in ones and twos and threes, talking about the best places to start looking.
Damon, they’re going to destroy Bloddeuwedd’s grounds, Elena protested silently.
Good. We’ll offer all the jewels you three girls have on you, as well as all the gold I have on me, as a recompense. But what four people can’t do, maybe a thousand can.
Elena sighed. I still wish we’d had the chance to talk to Bloddeuwedd. Not just to hear her speak, but to ask her some questions. I mean what reason would a beautiful blossom like her have to protect Shinichi and Misao?
Damon’s telepathic answer was brief. Well, let’s try the top rooms, then. That was where she was headed, anyway.
They found a case of crystal stairs—quite difficult to locate when all the walls were transparent, and frightening to ascend. Once on the second floor they looked for another one. Eventually Elena found it, by stumbling over the first step.
“Oh,” she said, looking from the step, which now showed itself through a line of red across its front edge, to her shin, which showed the same damage. “Well, it may be invisible, but we aren’t.”
“It’s not quite invisible.” Damon was channeling Power to his eyes, she knew. She’d been doing the same—but these days she wondered which of them had more of her blood in them: him or her?
“Don’t strain yourself, I can see the steps,” he said. “Just shut your eyes.”
“My eyes—” Before she could ask why she knew why and before she could scream he had picked her up, his body warm and solid and the only solid thing anywhere around. He headed up the stairs holding her so that her dress was out of the way of the blood droplets that fell freely into space.
For someone afraid of heights, it was a wild, terrifying ride: even though she knew Damon was in top condition and would not drop her and even though she was certain he could see where he was going. Still, left to herself and her own volition, she would never have made it farther than the first stair. As it was, she didn’t even dare wiggle much in case she threw Damon off balance. She could only whimper and try to endure.
When, an eternity later, they reached the top, Elena wondered who would carry her down, or if she would be left here the rest of her life.
They were confronted by Bloddeuwedd, the most enchantingly inhuman creature Elena had yet seen. Enchanting…but odd. Was there not a slight primrose pattern to her hair in back and on the sides? Wasn’t her face actually the shape of an apple-blossom petal as well as having the petal’s faint bloom?
“You are in my private library,” she said.
And, as if a mirror had cracked, Elena came free of the last of Bloddeuwedd’s glamour.
The gods had made her out of flowers…but flowers don’t speak. Bloddeuwedd’s voice was toneless and flat. It ruined the image of the flower-made girl completely.
“We’re sorry,” Damon said—naturally not at all out of breath. “But we’d like to ask you some questions.”
“If you think I will help you, I will not,” the flower-petal girl said in the same nasal tone. “I hate humans.”
“But I am a vampire, as you have surely already discerned,” Damon was beginning, laying the charm on thick, when Bloddeuwedd interrupted him. “Once a human, always a human.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Damon’s loss of control might have been the best thing that could have happened, Elena thought, trying to keep behind him. He was so clearly sincere about his scorn for humans that Bloddeuwedd softened a little.
“What did you come to ask?”
“Only if you had seen one of two kitsune lately: they’re brother and sister and call themselves Shinichi and Misao.”
“Yes.”
“Or they might—I’m sorry? Yes?”
“The thieves came to my house at night. I was at a party. I flew back from the party and almost caught them. Kitsune are hard to catch, though.”
“Where…” Damon swallowed. “Where were they?”
“Running down the front stairs.”
“And do you remember the date that they were here?”
“It was the night that the grounds were made ready for this party. Stone rollers went over the grass. The canopy was erected.”
Weird things to do at night, Elena thought, but then she remembered—again. The light was always the same.
But her heart was beating fast. Shinichi and Misao could only have been here for one reason: to drop off half of the fox key.
And maybe drop it in the Great Ballroom, Elena thought. She watched dully as the entire outside of the library rotated, almost like a giant planetarium, so that Bloddeuwedd could pick out a globe and place it in some contraption that must make the music play in various rooms.
“Excuse me,” Damon said.
“This is my private library,” Bloddeuwedd said coldly against the swelling of the glorious ending to the Firebird Suite.
“Meaning now we must leave?”
“Meaning now I am going to kill you.”
36
“What?” shouted Damon over the music, while adding: Run—go! telepathically to Elena.
If it had merely been Elena’s life, she would have been glad enough to die here with the thunderous beauty of Firebird all around her, rathr than facing those steep, invisible steps alone.
But it wasn’t just her life. It was Stefan’s life, too. Still, the flower maiden didn’t look particularly menacing, and Elena couldn’t summon up enough adrenaline to try making it down that hidous stairway.
Damon, let’s both go. We have to search the Great Ballroom outside. Only you’re strong enough….
A hesitation. Damon would rather fight than face that enormous, impossible green field outside, Elena thought.
But Bloddeuwedd, despite her words, was now spinning the room around them again, so that she, at the edge of some invisible walkway, could find the exact orb she wanted.
Damon lifted Elena in his arms and said: Shut your eyes.
Elena not only shut her eyes, but put her hands over them as well. If Damon was going to drop her, she wasn’t going to help matters by shouting “Look out!” as he did it.
The sensations themselves were sickening enough. Damon leaped from step to step like an ibex. He seemed barely to touch the steps in going down and Elena wondered—quite suddenly—if anything were after them.
If so, it was information she needed to know. She began to lift her hands and heard Damon whisper-snarl “Keep
them shut!” in a voice that few people liked to argue with.
Elena peeked out between her hands, met Damon’s exasperated eyes, and saw nothing following them. She clamped her hands back together and prayed.
If you were really a slave, you wouldn’t last a day here, you know, Damon informed her, taking a final leap into space and then setting her down on invisible—but at least level—ground.
I wouldn’t want to, Elena sent coldly. I swear, I’d rather die.
Be careful what you promise, Damon flashed his splendid smile down at her suddenly. You may end up in other dimensions trying to fulfill your word.
Elena didn’t even try to one-up him. They were out, free, and racing through the glass house down to the stairs to the lower floor—a little tricky in her state of mind, but bearable—and finally out the door. On the grass of the Great Ballroom they found Meredith and Bonnie…and Sage.
He was actually in white tie as well, although his jacket strained at his shoulders. In addition, Talon was sitting on one—so the problem might be taken care of fairly soon, as she was ripping the material and drawing blood. Sage didn’t seem aware of it. Saber was at his master’s side, looking at Elena with eyes too thoughtful to be mere animal eyes, but without malice.
“Thank God you came back!” Bonnie cried, running to them. “Sage came and he has a marvelous idea.”
Even Meredith was excited. “You remember how Damon said we should have brought a diviner? Well, we have two now.” She turned to Sage. “Please tell them.”
“As a rule, I don’t take these two to parties.” Sage reached down to scratch under Saber’s throat. “But a little bird told me that you might be in trouble.” His hand moved up to stroke Talon, ruffling the falcon’s feathers slightly. “So, dites-moi, please: Just how much have you two been handling the half-key you do possess?”
“I touched it tonight and in the beginning, the night we found it,” said Elena. “But Lady Ulma handled it and Lucen made a chest for it and we’ve all handled that.”
“But outside the box?”
“I’ve held it and looked at it once or twice,” said Damon.
“Eh bien! The kitsune smells should be much stronger on it. And kitsune have very distinctive smells.”
“So you mean that Saber—” Elena’s voice gave out for pure faintness.
“Can sniff out anything with the smell of kitsune on it. Meanwhile, Talon has very good eyesight. She can fly overhead and look for the glint of gold in case it’s in plain sight somewhere. Now show them what they will be searching for.”
Elena obligingly held out the crescent shaped half-key for Saber to sniff.
“Voilà! And Talon, now you take a good look.” Sage backed away to what was, Elena supposed, Talon’s optimal seeing distance. Then when he came back, he said, “Commençons!” and the black dog exploded away, nose to ground, while the falcon took off in grand, high, sweeping circles.
“So you think the kitsune were on this grass?” Elena asked Sage, as Saber began racing back and forth, nose still just above the grass—and then suddenly veered out onto the middle of the marble steps.
“But assuredly, they were here. You see how Saber runs, like a black panther, with his head low, and his tail straight? He has business in hand, him! He is hot on the scent.”
I know someone else who gives off the same feeling, Elena thought as she glanced back at Damon, who stood with his arms folded, motionless, coiled like a spring, waiting for whatever news the animals would bring.
She happened to glance at Sage at the same moment, and she saw an expression on his face that—well, it was probably the same expression she’d been wearing a minute ago. He glanced at her and she blushed.
“Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur,” she said, looking away quickly.
“Parlez-vous français, Madame?”
“Un peu,” Elena said humbly—an unusual condition for her. “I can’t really keep up a serious conversation. But I loved going to France.” She was about to say something else, when Saber barked once, sharply, to attract attention and then sat bolt upright at the curb.
“They came or left in a carriage or litter,” Sage translated.
“But what did they do in the house? I need a trail going the other way,” Damon said, looking up at Sage with something like raw desperation.
“All right, all right. Saber! Contremarche!”
The black dog instantly turned around, put its nose to the ground as if it afforded him the greatest delight, and began running back and forth across the stairs and the lawn that formed the “Great Ballroom”—now becoming pitted with holes as people took shovels, pickaxes, and even large spoons to it.
“Kitsune are hard to catch,” Elena murmured into Damon’s ear.
He nodded, glancing at his watch. “I hope we are, too,” he murmured back.
There was a sharp bark from Saber. Elena’s heart leaped in her chest.
“What?” she cried. “What is it?” Damon passed her, grabbed her hand, and dragged her in his wake.
“What has he found?” Elena gasped as they all reached the same point simultaneously.
“I don’t know. It’s not part of the Great Ballroom,” replied Meredith. Saber was sitting up proudly in front of a bed of tall, clustering pale lavender (deep violet) hydrangeas.
“They don’t look like they’re doing too well,” said Bonnie.
“And it’s not below any of the upper ballrooms, either,” Meredith said, stooping to get at Saber’s height and then look up. “There’s just the library.”
“Well, I know one thing without a question,” Damon said. “We’re going to have to dig up this flower patch and I don’t fancy asking Ms. Larkspur-eyes-Now-I-have-to-kill-you for her permission.”
“Oh, did you think they were larkspur, her eyes? Because I thought of bluebells, rahthah,” said a guest behind Bonnie.
“Did she really say she had to kill you? But why?” another guest, nearer to Elena asked nervously.
Elena ignored them. “Well, let’s put it this way, she’s certainly not going to like it. But it’s the only clue we’ve got.” Except, I suppose, if the kitsune meant to leave it here, but then took off in a coach, she added voicelessly to Damon.
“So that means the show can commence,” cried one of the young vampire fans, stepping toward Elena.
“But I don’t have my amulet back,” Damon said flatly, moving in front of Elena like an impenetrable wall.
“But you will in minutes, surely. Look, couldn’t some fellows backtrack with the dog to wherever the bad guys came from—came to the estate from, if you get me? And meanwhile we can be getting on with the show?”
“Can Saber do that?” Damon asked. “Follow a carriage?”
“With a fox in it? But of course. Actually, I could go with them,” Sage said quietly. “I could make sure that these two enemies are caught if they are on the other end of the trail. Show them to me.”
“These are the only shapes I know.” Damon reached out two fingers and touched Sage’s temple. “But, of course, they’ll have more forms, possibly infinite ones.”
“Well, they are not our priority, I assume. The, ah, amulet is.”
“Yes,” Damon said. “Even if you don’t land a blow on them, get the key half and race back.”
“So? Even more important than revenge,” Sage said softly, shaking his head in wonder. Then he added quickly. “Well, I will wish us good luck. Any adventurous types who want to go with me? Ah, good, four—very well, five, Madame—is enough.”
And he was gone.
Elena looked at Damon, who was looking back with blank, black eyes. “You really expect me to do—that—again?”
“All you need to do is stand there. I’ll make sure you lose as little blood as possible. And if you ever want to stop we can have a signal.”
“Yes, but now I understand. And I can’t handle it.”
His face went cold suddenly. Shutting her out.
“You’re not required to handl
e anything. Besides, isn’t it enough if I say it’s a fair bargain for Stefan?”
Stefan! Elena’s entire body went through some sort of elemental change. “Let me share it,” she begged, and knew that she was begging and knew what Damon was going to say.
“Stefan is going to need you when we get out. Just make sure you can handle that.”
Stop. Think. Don’t bash his head in, Elena’s brain told her. He’s pushing your buttons. He knows how to do it. Don’t let him push your buttons.
“I can handle both,” she said. “Please, Damon. Don’t treat me as if I were—one of your one-nighters, or even your Princess of Darkness. Talk to me as if I were Sage.”
“Sage? Sage is the most frustrating, cunning—”
“I know. But you talk to him. And you used to talk to me, and now you’re not. Listen to me. I can’t bear to go through this scenario again. I’ll scream.”
“Now you’re threatening—”
“No! I’m telling you what will happen. Unless you gag me, I’ll scream. And scream. As I would scream for Stefan. I can’t help it. Maybe I’m breaking down….”
“But don’t you see?” Suddenly he had whirled around and taken hold of her hands. “We’re almost at the end. You, who’ve been the strongest all along—you can’t break down now.”
“The strongest…” Elena was shaking her head. “I thought we were right there, on the verge of understanding each other.”
“All right.” His words came as hard chips of marble now. “What if we do five?”
“Five?”
“Five strokes instead of ten. We’ll promise to do the other five when the ‘amulet’ is found, but we’ll run when we do find it.”
“You would have to break your word.”
“If it takes that—”
“No,” she said flatly. “You say nothing. I’ll tell them. I’m a liar and a cheat and I’ve always played with men. We’ll see if I can’t finally put my talents to good use. And there’s no point in trying any of the other girls,” she added, glancing up. “Bonnie and Meredith are wearing gowns that would fall right off if you slashed them. Only I have a bare back.” She pirouetted in place to show off how her dress met only very high at the neck in a halter and very low in the back in a V.