"I only just found out myself," Branden said. "It's about the Neverovs."
I looked up sharply. "What about the Neverovs?"
Branden seemed pleased by the effect he had produced. "You know how David's body disappeared and nobody's found it yet? Well, the word is that some older guy was seen pulling a huge bag out of the backseat of his car and carrying it into the Neverov house the same night that David's body disappeared. And they believe the old guy was Irina's grandfather."
"So what if he carried a bag into the house?" Simon said.
"You don't understand," Branden said. "It was a big bag—one big enough to contain a human body. And he threw it over his shoulder to carry it in."
"So what?" Simon said.
"So it's suspicious."
"Who saw it?" Simon asked.
Branden waved his hand. "Sources."
"Why would Irina's grandfather take David's body?" Simon asked. "What could he possibly want it for?"
"You're just mad because you didn't find out first," Branden replied.
"No, I just think it's ridiculous," Simon said. "And you didn't answer my question. What would he want with David's body?"
Branden shrugged. "How do I know why he took the body? And get this—"
He glanced around the cafeteria and then leaned forward. "The servants at the Neverov house say that the grandfather sleeps in the basement behind a locked door every night."
"The servants?" Simon said scornfully. "Irina's family doesn't have 'servants.'"
"Fine," Branden said. "The staff—or whatever you want to call them. But the guy sleeps in a locked room in the basement—and it's all the way at the back of the house. That's weird. The staff thinks it's weird. They think he's weird, too. Sources say that they're afraid of him."
"There are those 'sources' again," Simon said. "You don't really know if any of this is true. And even if it is, who cares where he sleeps?"
"Why is he in the basement?" Branden said. "Why is the door locked? What's he up to in there? I'll tell you what—nothing good."
Simon simply shook his head.
"And you know what else?" Branden said.
"No," Simon replied. "But I'm afraid you're going to tell me."
Branden pressed on, undaunted. "There's been a rash of bicycle thefts lately."
"Bicycle thefts," Simon said.
"Yes. Thieves have been going around spraying liquid nitrogen on the locks and then just smashing them. It works way better than a pick or a saw. Anyway, some bikes were left here at the school last night and—"
Simon interrupted. "There are always bikes left here overnight."
"Yeah, well, they weren't here this morning. The locks were frozen with liquid nitrogen and then shattered. There were shards of broken locks all over the place where the bikes used to be. The cops think there's a ring of thieves behind the whole thing. And do you know who's behind the ring?"
"Well, you seem to know a lot about it," Simon said.
"I was looking for a serious answer," Branden replied with dignity.
"I suppose you want me to say Irina's grandfather," Simon said. "But that's ridiculous. I don't believe for thirty seconds that he's going around town stealing bicycles."
"Maybe he isn't," Branden said. "But I bet he knows who is." He took a big bite of his sandwich. "Russian mob, I'm telling you."
Simon and Branden continued to argue, and I was left to think over what I'd heard—apparently, I wasn't the only one in town who had suspicions of Maksim Neverov.
I couldn't wait for the day to end so I could see William and tell him what I'd found out.
When the final bell of the day rang, I hurried out into the schoolyard, and I soon found William walking by my side.
"Do you have any news for me?" I asked.
"I do."
"I have news for you, too," I said.
I told him about where the necklace had come from—and about Maksim, the suspiciously sized bag, and the basement.
William frowned. "The thing about the bag isn't really evidence—it may not be true. And even if it is, there may be a perfectly innocent explanation. Did anyone actually see what was in the bag?"
"Not so far as I know," I said. "But the thing about the necklace is true. And you have to admit that it's weird for the Neverovs to have a relic of the Werdulac's."
"I don't know that the necklace ever actually belonged to the Werdulac," William said. "But it is of his era. And yes, it is strange for the Neverovs to have had it in their possession. At the same time they may have come by it innocently—and apparently they didn't want to keep it. They did give it away as a prize for a carnival. That makes it seem like they didn't know what it was."
"Fine," I said. "We'll say for the sake of argument that it's possible those things are coincidental. But what about Maksim's sleeping in a locked room in the basement at night?"
William shook his head. "Again, that could just be a rumor. And even if it is true, it doesn't point to anything I know of. It would be more suspicious if he was sleeping in a locked room during the day. We both know what that would indicate."
"Yes, we do," I said. William clearly had something on his mind, and this discussion wasn't getting us anywhere at the moment. "So what did you find out?"
William stopped walking, and he was silent for a moment.
At last, he looked up at me. "Do you think your grandmother would mind if you were a little late coming home today?"
I considered the question. "Probably not. She doesn't really have any reason to worry about me at the moment. Why? Is there someplace we need to go?"
"I'd like you to come to my house."
I was stunned. "To your house? But you've never let me go to your house before."
"I know," William replied. "But I think it's necessary now."
"Why?"
"Do you want to go?"
"Of course I want to go," I said.
"Then I'll tell you when we get there."
Chapter 7.
Most people would think it was strange that I was in love with William, and he was in love with me, and yet I had never been to his house. In fact, I only had a general idea of where it was.
Though we'd known each other since October of last year, William still tried to maintain some distance between us—he said it was better for both of us. Better for him because he was doomed someday to get his heart broken, and better for me because it wouldn't do for me to get too attached—I was only going to move on someday anyway. So I did see William sometimes, but not as often as I would have under ordinary circumstances—not as often as I would have if he were actually the high school student he appeared to be. And it was only after our encounter with the hybrids last year that he had actually given me his cell phone number. Although to be fair to William, he'd once granted me the ability to call him from anywhere by an incantation, but that power was now blocked by the Sìdh.
I had a feeling that William saw himself more as my protector than anything else—that's all he would allow himself to be.
So going to William's house was a big deal. And it probably meant that he was very worried.
I called GM to let her know that I would be a little late, and as I had predicted, she wasn't unduly concerned. I was free to go to William's house.
I did know that William's house was in the Old Grove—and that it was probably not too far from Bryony's grandmother's house. And sure enough, as William and I pulled away from the school, I could tell that we were headed toward the Old Grove. Once we reached the grove itself, William turned onto a small, two-lane road, and we drove in amongst the trees. We passed a small, likely looking housing development that I was familiar with, but William continued on beyond it. Before long, he turned onto a simple dirt road, and we drove up to a modest, ranch-style house. We pulled into the car port next to the house, and William parked the car.
"Well, this is it," he said.
We both got out of the car, and I stood for a moment looking down the dir
t road. Last year I had come to the Old Grove looking for William's house when William himself had gone missing. And while looking for the house, I had encountered Anton—a vampire who was sometimes on my side and sometimes against me. At the time, Anton had been against me, and he had been trying to kidnap me. I'd tried to bluff him by telling him that I was headed to meet William at his house, and Anton had then replied that I was headed the wrong way. As I looked around now, I could see that Anton had been correct—I had indeed been headed the wrong way that day. In fact, I hadn't even known that there was a road beyond the housing development—I never would have found this house on my own.
William let me into the house, and I found myself standing in a large room with a row of windows all along the outside wall. But the shades were drawn, and the room was fairly dark. William switched on a light, and I could see a couch, two chairs, a few small tables, and a row of bookshelves lining the inside wall. The room was furnished in yellows and oranges, and I felt an attempt at cheerfulness. I assumed the room was a living room—but somehow, it didn't feel lived in at all.
There was a closed door on the opposite end of the room and another closed door at the end of the row of bookshelves.
William moved toward the door by the bookshelves.
"Let's go into my workroom."
We went in through the door, and I had just a glimpse of a shining yellow kitchen—but there was another door close at hand. William opened it, and after flicking on a light switch, he led me down a flight of stairs.
The stairs led to a large basement with an exposed cement floor—but any resemblance to an ordinary basement ended there. There was no washer or dryer or family game room. Instead, there were two long work tables and a wall lined with tools. And in between the tables there was a startling array of what I could only call inventions—I could see gleaming machines and gadgets, and there was a steady hum and whir of moving parts.
As we walked deeper into the room, I looked around in wonder—I was surrounded on all sides by devices, big and small, many of which I couldn't identify.
"Did you make all of these things?" I asked.
"Yes," William replied simply.
"I can see now why Innokenti wanted you to work on weapons for them. You're really good at this stuff."
"Speaking of Innokenti," William said. "One of the things I want you to see is over here."
We walked to one of the long tables, and William picked up a crossbow.
"Is that one of the crossbows you used back in Russia against the hybrids?" I asked. "The ones that shoot a disc of fire?"
"Yes," William said. He held it out to me. "I want you to have it. Don't worry—it's not loaded at the moment."
I eyed the crossbow uncertainly. I remembered only too well the night on which William and the vampires from Rusalka Castle had used the crossbows on the attacking hybrids. The disc projectile that they employed was designed to decapitate the hybrid and then burst into flame. The crossbow was most definitely a dangerous weapon.
"Wait a minute," I said. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on here. You said you had news for me."
William hesitated. "Yes."
"What's your news, then?" I said. "Did you find out who the Hunter is?"
William set the crossbow down. "No. And that's what worries me. I contacted Anton, but he won't answer the question directly—he keeps skirting around it. He did tell me the Hunter is a vampire. But that's all he would say. And everyone else I contacted at the castle was equally reluctant to talk about the Hunter. That worries me."
"So that means that they don't know much about the Hunter themselves, or that they do know something, but they don't want you to know."
William nodded. "And I think the second possibility is the more likely of the two. So I'm going to have to go out of town tonight—to find some other vampires and find out what they know. I won't be able to keep an eye on your house and this town like I usually do. But this weapon should be effective against a vampire—even if it won't kill one outright. It should at least slow him down."
I nodded. Vampires were indeed notoriously hard to kill. A stake through the heart could sometimes kill one depending on the circumstances—even a vampire needed a heart to live. But that method was by no means reliable, and a vampire could often heal itself. The best way to kill one was to cut off its head and burn the body.
William continued. "We know Sebastian is still out there—though we can hope he's still too timid to come after you. And then there's the mystery vampire who's been leaving you messages—whoever he is, his motives are still unclear. And then there's the Hunter. I don't know who he is, where he is, or what he can do. But his name doesn't inspire confidence."
William held the crossbow out again, and I accepted it from him. It was heavy and its parts rattled as I handled it.
"Come over here, and I'll show you how this works," he said.
He led me to the back of the room where he had some targets set up—dressmaker's dummies on stands.
"You'll be shooting at these dummies," William said. "Don't worry—this room is largely fireproof. And the dummies are flame retardant, too."
He showed me how to load the discs into the crossbow and how to fire it. I took a few test shots—and I discovered that it was surprisingly difficult to make contact with the targets. But I kept trying, and my aim got better.
"You're actually a pretty good shot," William said after a little while. "I would say you're a natural."
I practiced for a little while longer, and then William got out a fire extinguisher and put out the few small flames that had sprung up around our corner of the room.
"I think you've got a pretty good handle on this," William said, coming toward me and taking the crossbow from me. "You're more than capable of using this in an emergency now. I want you to take this home with you. And I'll give you the discs, too."
I was a little startled. "You want me to take the crossbow home in my backpack?"
"Yes, of course. I did say from the beginning that I wanted you to have it."
"I'm not entirely sure it will fit," I said. "And what if GM sees it? What do I tell her?"
"Tell her it's a science project. Please, Katie, this is important. You need to be able to defend yourself in the event that you're in danger, and I can't get to you. This crossbow could save your life."
"I understand," I said. "I'll take it with me. It's just that this is a little strange for me. I haven't had a lot of weapons training."
"I can understand your reluctance," William replied. "I wish this wasn't necessary. I just want to do everything I can for you. In fact, I've got something else for you over here."
He led me back over to one of the long tables, and he set the crossbow down. Then he picked up a glass sphere and held it out to me.
"Whatever you do, don't drop this. That is, don't drop this unless you absolutely have to."
I took the sphere carefully and looked it over. It was light and felt fragile, and I could see a pale yellow mist swirling within its glassy depths.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's a light bomb I developed," William said. "You throw it down on the ground, and it releases a tremendous burst of light—it's like a blast of sunlight. Sunlight, as you know, won't kill vampires, but it does make them weak. And it floods their keen senses—overwhelms them. Any vampire you use this on will be stunned for quite a while. I'd like you to take this with you, too."
"Sounds like just what I need," I said.
William took the sphere back from me and then slipped it into a foam-lined box, which he closed and latched.
"I've got one more thing to show you," he said.
William led me over to a tall, solid-looking metal cabinet. He opened the door, and I looked inside. The cabinet looked very solid on the inside, too, and there was just enough room for two people to fit into it.
"Very nice," I said.
"There are vents in the door here," William said, "and there are vents on
the back wall down at the bottom, too. So air circulation is no problem."
"Air circulation?" I said. "What's this cabinet for?"
"It's a panic room," William replied. "If you can't get to the crossbow or the light bomb for some reason, you can go in here and lock the door. With any luck, you can wait any vampire attackers out. Vampires can tear through most common metals you'd find in a house or a car—but this is a special alloy I've developed. A vampire would find this much harder to get through. You can put it in your room."
"I can't take this with me," I said. "I appreciate it. I really do. But I'd never be able to explain this to GM. And I don't know how I would even get it home."
"I can take it in the car," William said. "That's no problem."
"GM would never let us take this through the door."
"We could sneak it in—overnight."
"She'll still see it," I said. "She'll pass by my room and see it standing there, and then she'd probably throw the whole thing out the window."
"Even if she knows what it's for?" William asked.
"Especially if she knows what it's for."
"All right," William said in resignation. "We'll leave the panic room here for now. But if you change your mind, just let me know. I'll bring it right over."
"Thanks," I said. I glanced at him. "You're really worried, aren't you?"
William looked at me. "I just don't know how to keep you safe."
"We'll figure it out," I said. "Both of us."
William and I worked on fitting the crossbow, a padded bag full of discs, and the box containing the light bomb into my backpack. Ultimately, we had to take all of the books out, and even then, the handle of the crossbow still poked conspicuously out of the top of the bag. The crossbow was just too big—there was no way I could zip the backpack closed over it. William tried draping a cloth over it, but somehow that just looked more suspicious. In the end, William and I left the crossbow the way it was, and he drove me home.
As I let myself into the house, GM met me at the door.
"So that was the young man again, was it?"
"That was William, yes," I said.
"You said you were going to see a friend."
Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) Page 8