Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series)

by Catherine Mesick

  "Let's say I was keeping an eye on it," Maksim said. "Terrance here was really the one in charge of the mission."

  "It's like I told you," Terrance said. "When I got to Elspeth's Grove, I found my contact was missing. But then the Order gave me Maksim's name. They said he was in town, and he might be able to help me."

  Maksim turned to me. "Incidentally, how did you know about the vampire in the basement?"

  "I—" I began.

  I stopped and then decided I might as well confess. "I searched your son's house. I was suspicious of you, and there were stories going around that you slept in the basement and wouldn't let anyone else go down there."

  Maksim's lips twitched in amusement. "So you thought you'd have a look for yourself?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "And you really thought I might be running the operation in the cave? I suppose you also thought you'd have a go at stopping me?"

  "Yes," I said.

  Maksim smiled. "You're nothing if not brave. By the way, I wasn't the one who staked that vampire. I never even learned his name. But I believe he was the one running the day-to-day mining operation, and I'm pretty sure he was staked by one of his own."

  "I didn't stake him, either," Terrance said. "He was already like that when we found him. Someone stole a bunch of my stakes—I think it was that tall, skinny vampire who was in the tomb here. He was there in Elspeth's Grove, too. I saw him on the night of the Black Moon Carnival—Maksim and I were chasing him. I think he's the one who did it."

  "His name is Sebastian," I said. "And that would definitely be like him." I turned back to Maksim. "So you didn't stake him. But why were you keeping a vampire in your basement? Isn't that incredibly dangerous, even for a member of the Order of the Hawthorne?

  Maksim nodded, as if to himself, and it was a few moments before he answered.

  "Yes, it is," he said at last. "But I had my reasons. First of all, you can't just leave a vampire body lying around—not even for the police. When you join the Order, you swear to protect humanity from vampires. And that includes protecting them from the knowledge of vampires, as well as from the vampires themselves. So when Terrance and I found a vampire with an elaborate necklace lying staked in the cave, I had to get him out lest anyone else discover him."

  "And you're the one who took David out of the police station the night of the Black Moon Carnival," I said. "That's why he woke up in your house."

  "And wrecked my son's car while I was out," Maksim said ruefully. "Yes. Was it a danger? A risk to my family? I confess that it was. But it was a risk that I had to take, and I took every precaution that I could to keep everyone in that house safe. And there's yet another reason why I brought those vampires into my son's house."

  Maksim paused and looked over at Terrance. Then he looked back at me.

  "This is something Terrance already knows. And I suppose you should know it, too. I will tell you this, Katie, because I have recently learned that you are the Little Sun of Krov. And you must swear to me that you will never reveal this information to any other soul—living or otherwise."

  "I swear it," I said.

  He sighed deeply. "I told you once that I couldn't tell you what was going on because it was a family affair. What I couldn't tell you before was this: although the nameless, staked vampire in my basement was likely the day-to-day manager of the mining operation, I actually believe that the true leader of the entire operation is someone else. I believe it's my son, Ivan. And what's more, I believe Ivan is now a vampire."

  I stared at him. "You believe Irina's father is a vampire?"

  "I fear it may be so," Maksim said. "That's the other reason why I had to keep an eye on both David and our nameless vampire. The Order has developed a—cure—we didn't have it back in my day. I had to see for myself if it truly worked. If the cure worked on them, it might work on my son—there might be a chance I could bring him back."

  "You said you believe your son is a vampire," I said. "Can't you tell?"

  Maksim smiled ruefully. "Not always. There's typically a feeling you get around them—it's a sense you develop. But when the person in question is your own son—"

  Maksim shrugged.

  "They got the Hunter, by the way," Terrance said. "Katie and her friends—they did it without me. And one of them is a vampire."

  Maksim's eyebrows rose, and he looked at me. "Really?"

  He paused. "I'm genuinely at a loss for words."

  "I'm not," Terrance said. "They saved my life. Without them I wouldn't be here now."

  He looked over at me suddenly. "What happened to the sword?"

  "The sword?" I said. "I think it's still down in the tomb—unless it was destroyed."

  "It wasn't destroyed," Terrance said.

  "I'll have to make arrangements to recover the sword from the tomb right away," Maksim said. "We can't afford to leave something that powerful out in the open."

  "While you're at it, would you do me a favor?" Terrance asked.

  "Of course," Maksim said.

  "While you're making arrangements for the sword, will you make some for Katie and her friends? See that they get home okay and that nobody causes them any trouble?"

  "Certainly I will. It's no favor at all—it was in my mind all along."

  "We can't just leave you in the hospital, Terrance," I protested.

  "My family will be here in a day or two," Terrance said. "They don't know what I do, of course—they think I'm in some sort of secret military organization, and I suppose in a way, I am. But you can hang out with me for a few days until they arrive. And that will give Maksim the time he needs to make any necessary arrangements."

  "I think that's an excellent idea," Maksim said. He turned to me. "Are you staying at a hotel nearby?"

  "No," I said. "We didn't really have time to check in anywhere."

  "What about your luggage?" Maksim said. "Did you leave that somewhere?"

  "We don't have luggage—not anymore," I said. "And our passports and other IDs are gone, too."

  Maksim nodded. "Fortunately, I have a few friends I can talk to about that—I should be able to arrange for your legal passage out of Russia in a few days. And I suppose your grandmother doesn't know you're here?"

  "No," I said.

  Maksim smiled. "Why am I not surprised?"

  The two of us stayed with Terrance until he grew tired. Then Maksim and I walked out into the hall.

  "Well, Miss Katie," he said. "How about we find your friends, and we all have some lunch?"

  "I'd like that," I said.

  He offered me his arm, and the two of us walked down the hall to the elevator. As the doors closed on us, Maksim glanced over at me. He seemed to be nervous.

  "By the way," he said. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mention any of this to your grandmother. I mean about my being in the Order. I have a feeling she wouldn't approve."

  "Not a word," I said. "I promise."

  A few days later, William and I had returned home. Maksim had indeed been able to come through with passports for us—although I wondered at first how he would be able to come up with one for William. But William assured me that he'd established a legal identity a long time ago, and his documents came through with no trouble. Maksim had also asked about Sachiko, but I told him that she'd gone home on her own—and he didn't ask anything further.

  As William and Maksim interacted over those few days, I'd wondered if Maksim suspected anything about William. But if he did, he didn't show it—his behavior around William was perfectly normal.

  I sincerely hoped that Maksim didn't know.

  Once I was home, GM was relieved to say the least—she'd been tearing the Eastern seaboard apart in an attempt to find me. She'd even tracked Anton and me to the airport and had obtained images of Anton from surveillance cameras. She'd discovered that we'd gone to Russia, and she was preparing to go there herself when I contacted her to let her know I was coming home.

  When I did get home, I couldn't te
ll her anything except that I'd been kidnapped and that William had helped me to escape.

  Anton, of course, could not be found—and I didn't actually know if he had survived his run-in with the Hunter.

  And GM had been through an ordeal of her own, although she didn't really know what had happened—no one in town did. GM and everyone else who had woken up in that auditorium had no idea that they'd been held in the sway of a vampire. They'd simply woken from their trances in bewilderment and had all gone home.

  There were vague rumors floating around that the entire thing had been a belated Black Moon Night prank—though how everyone had been enticed there was not adequately explained by any of the theories.

  After I had been home for a few days things settled back into a normal pattern—although William was now over at our house nearly every night. He seemed to be afraid to leave my side.

  GM wasn't too happy about that, but she tolerated it, and in a way, she seemed to understand. And at the same time, she still seemed to be distracted by something—just as she had been before I'd left.

  One night, about two weeks after I had arrived home, there was a knock on the door, and I went to answer it. GM was bustling around upstairs, and William and I had been watching TV in the living room.

  GM must have heard the knock because she was suddenly at the top of the stairs.

  "That's okay, Katie!" she called. "I'll get it!"

  But I was already opening the door as she spoke. I pulled the door open to reveal Mr. Fehr, my Social Studies teacher.

  He smiled at me from behind thick glasses and a heavy gray beard. "Good evening, Katie. I know I'm very early, but something went terribly wrong last time. I didn't want to take any chances."

  "You're here to see my grandmother?" I said.

  Mr. Fehr smiled. "Yes."

  GM walked down the stairs.

  "Hello, Ambrose."

  I stepped back. "Please come in."

  Mr. Fehr stepped into the house, and GM grabbed me by the hand.

  "Would you mind waiting in the living room for just a minute?" she said to Mr. Fehr. "I just need to have a quick word with my granddaughter."

  He smiled amiably, and GM pulled me down the hall to the kitchen.

  She stopped abruptly and turned to face me.

  "I'm sorry you had to find out like this," she said.

  "Find out what?" I said.

  GM sighed and looked around as if searching for an answer.

  "Before you disappeared," she began, "I started doing something that I kept from you."

  She stopped.

  "Is it something to do with Mr. Fehr?" I said. I thought for a moment. "Are you two dating?"

  "Shhh!" GM hissed. "Keep your voice down. And, no. We aren't dating. We're just—taking ballroom dancing lessons."

  "Ballroom dancing lessons?" I said. "That's your big secret? That's where you were going weeks ago when you wouldn't tell me what you were doing? You were going off to dance with my Social Studies teacher?"

  GM looked embarrassed. "Yes."

  "It's honestly not a big deal," I said. "And I told you before that I don't mind if you date people."

  "We're not dating," GM said. She sighed as she sat down at the kitchen table. "And I never really meant to keep it a secret. It just kind of—happened. I was just afraid something would go wrong, and I didn't want anyone to know about it if it did. And then it did go wrong—or at least it seemed to. And then I felt like a fool twice over."

  I sat down next to GM. "What do you mean twice?"

  "Maksim and I seemed to be getting along so well when we were in Russia," she said. "And then he seemed to just vanish. He's the one who contacted me first, and then he wouldn't answer my emails or phone calls—"

  GM's voice trailed off.

  "I have a feeling he may have been busy," I said.

  GM gave me a wan smile. "Maybe so." Then a light came into her eyes. "And then I met Ambrose."

  "Whom you aren't dating," I said.

  "Exactly. And we planned to go ballroom dancing, and he seemed enthusiastic about it. And the whole time I was afraid something would go wrong."

  "I remember that night," I said suddenly. "That night you were so disappointed. Mr. Fehr had disappeared—he got lured into that—prank. And the night he disappeared must have been the night he was supposed to meet you."

  "Yes," GM said.

  "You thought he'd stood you up," I said. "But he really hadn't."

  "No, he hadn't," she said. "The situation was beyond his control. It was beyond mine, too, apparently. It was so strange waking up there in that abandoned school. And then coming home to find you were missing—"

  GM stopped and looked up at me.

  "I'm sorry I kept this secret from you. I suppose in a way, I was trying to keep it secret from myself, too. I didn't want to get hurt again. I didn't want to look foolish if it fell apart again."

  "You could never look foolish to me," I said.

  GM brushed back a lock of my hair.

  "My dear girl. What would I do without you?"

  She tilted her head. "Why don't you come with us?"

  "Ballroom dancing?" I said.

  "Yes. You and your young man. The classes are open. Anyone can drop in."

  "I think I'd like that," I said. "I'll ask William what he thinks."

  Two hours later, GM, Mr. Fehr, William and I all took a ballroom dancing class, and after the class, Mr. Fehr drove us all home. And GM actually went into the house alone, and let William and me say goodnight on the porch outside.

  "I had fun tonight," I said and kissed William.

  "So did I," he said, and we kissed again.

  "What was your favorite part?" I asked. "The foxtrot or the samba? Or was it the—"

  "My favorite part," William said, "is this moment right now."

  We kissed again, and I felt the whole world melt away.