by Max Turner
“Yes, I can see another cave. Why does it look like that?”
“The cave appears distant because it is not actually here.”
“Then where is it?”
“It is back in the real world, the world of matter and light.”
“How do I get back?”
“You shadow-jump. You have seen Pestilence do this, eh? Jump from shadow to shadow.”
I had seen him do it. Vlad, too. I’d never understood how.
Baoh snickered, then stepped forward. As he passed through the opening, he stretched and shrank so that by the time he had taken one step and turned around it was as though he had been transported to a place that was a good hundred feet away. He waved. I raised my hand. A second later he returned. First his foot, then the rest of him grew large as he stretched back through the portal. He did it in one step. It was the most bizarre thing I’d ever seen.
“How do you do that?”
“I have the right blood,” he answered. “Were you so blessed, you would see shadows for what they truly are: not just areas sheltered from light, but doorways that lead from our physical plane of existence to where you stand now.”
“And where is that, exactly?”
“This place has many names. Most would mean nothing to you. I call it Lú-Yíng, the Shadow Road, although it is really a whole world unto itself. A place of perpetual darkness. The perfect refuge for creatures of the night.”
He reached his hand through the shadow-portal. I saw it emerge in the distant cave, a hundred feet away again, connected to an arm stretched so far it would have made Plastic Man jealous.
“So now you know the secret of shadow-jumping. One does not move from shadow to shadow. One moves from one world to another, using shadows as the door.”
“Can you teach me how?”
“There isn’t time. The Changeling’s servants have overrun all of Vlad’s strongholds. The Impaler is desperate. Without Ophelia, he will become his worst self. This has happened before. You know the consequences well enough.”
I did.
“The Changeling—you must face him, too.”
I couldn’t confront either of them on my own. “Are you coming with me?”
“I cannot. One does not survive as long as I have by taking sides.”
“But you’re taking sides now!”
He placed a finger over his mouth and glanced over his shoulder. “What happens in the world of shadows stays in the world of shadows, eh?”
“What about the Baptist? Could he help me?”
Baoh jumped as if I’d kicked him in the pants. “The Baptist? Don’t be crazy. The Changeling is the Baptist. Didn’t you know?”
I stood in silence for a moment, scanning his face for signs of uncertainty. “You must be mistaken. The Baptist has been preaching about the Messiah.”
“Yes,” Baoh agreed. “It is how he roots out those vampires who are in hiding. Especially the young. They know they aren’t safe from Vlad or the Changeling, so they stay underground. Disguised as the Baptist, he wins their confidence. Once they are comfortable enough to arrange a meeting, he sends the Horsemen to kill them.”
This must have been wrong. The Baptist was one of the good guys. He’d saved me from the Horsemen on the ship in Montreal, and he had helped me at Ophelia’s trial. “That can’t be right.”
“We cannot linger for a debate, Zachariah. We aren’t the only ones who travel through this world. And there’s nothing to drink here. You look like you could use a stiff one. I know I could. Come.” His dark body began to shift at the edges.
“Where are we going?”
“We need to find the right door,” he said. “I need to get you some help.”
His dark essence flared, then began to shimmer. Pale silver lines rippled through the fabric of his clothing. A second later, he rose off the ground and stretched out like a man taking flight.
“You have travelled as a night stalker, eh? Travelling the Shadow Road is not much different. The body will act as the mind wills. Hurry. Time is precious.”
I wasn’t certain what to do. I felt just as solid and heavy as I did in the real world. Only my appearance had changed.
“Imagine that you are weightless. A being of light and darkness floating in a world without gravity.”
He reached down. I took his hand. He pulled gently and I rose into the air.
“This way.” He nodded ahead, then started to drift, his body undulating as though caught in some kind of ethereal current.
I willed my body to follow, and it did, just as he’d said it would. A thrill rippled through me. I was flying again, just as I had the night of Ophelia’s trial.
Baoh led me past spires of rock into a tunnel so choked with ash my sight was limited to a few paces. He moved without hesitation, slowing only once to let a group of shadows flit past. They were small, globular shapes that stretched and flattened, then curled up slowly, flattening again at regular intervals to propel themselves through the ether.
“Denizens of the shadow world,” Baoh said. “These ones are harmless, but that is not always the case.”
Once they were past, he led me down another tunnel, then slowed and dropped to his feet. We had reached another opening, an irregularly shaped window through which I could see back into the normal world.
“So that’s a shadow?” I said, pointing to the opening.
“On the other side, yes. But to those who shadow-jump, it is a portal that leads to and from the Shadow Road.”
I moved closer and peered through the shadow-portal. On the other side was a cave. Lying on the rocks was a corpse.
“Is that a vampire?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Do what is right.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“That cave is near the Royal Palace. It will lead you to your friends. Go now and find them.”
“And what about that dead vampire?”
“You will need to find blood.”
I didn’t have any leads, and I’m not certain I would have used any to revive a stranger. “Who is it?”
Baoh didn’t answer. He was looking over his shoulder. “Pestilence is coming,” he whispered.
I glanced over my shoulder. A dark cloud was approaching.
“It is his essence you see—his evil.”
I have no idea how Baoh recognized him. There was nothing human about the thing that slithered closer. It looked more like a billowing eel than a person. I heard a gargling hiss as it wormed its way towards us. When it touched down on the ground, it assumed the familiar shape of Pestilence, although he retained a loose, ethereal quality that made me think of a ghost that was somehow both shadow and vapour. His face was large in proportion to his body and undulated at the edges as he eyed us both.
Baoh took a step back. Like Pestilence, the edges of him were shifting.
Pestilence laughed. Blood gargled in his mouth. It didn’t take long for me to figure out the source of his amusement. Baoh was planning to run.
CHAPTER 54
DUELLING SHADOWS
BACH’S BODY FADED until he was nothing more than a thin wisp of shadow outlined in silver. Then, like a cold breath on a winter day, he disappeared completely, leaving me alone with Pestilence.
You are not alone, Baoh said. Go through the portal. I will lure him from here. Do not linger. There are many creatures in the world of shadows more dangerous than vampires.
What about you? I asked.
Baoh floats like a butterfly but stings like a bee. He is not easily caught. We will meet again. Go.
Although I could no longer see him, I felt a gentle pressure push me through the opening. A weird stretching sensation followed, similar to what I’d experienced when he’d dragged me from the grave, only this was much faster. My feet were suddenly slipping on hard stone. Colour and light returned. I had to jump sideways to avoid a torch that was stuck in the floor. Curling tendrils of smoke
gathered in a sooty cloud just under the ceiling, drifting slowly in a draft from farther down the tunnel.
I turned back to the portal. It was like looking the wrong way through a peephole. The images beyond were so small I could scarcely resolve them. Two shadows—one black, one streaked with silver—coiled around one another like smoke, morphing through a dizzying array of shapes. The melee was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Snake versus crane. Crocodile versus shark. Urchin and octopus. Spear and rope. Spider and hydra. Mantis and fish. Wasp and lion. Fist and shield. Bear and dragon. Eagle and tiger. Each permutation lasted only an instant and left me with no real sense of who had the upper hand. For a full minute, I stared. Then the shadow etched in silver exploded into a train of butterflies that scattered in all directions so that only the black cloud remained.
Pestilence waited a moment, then his thin-fingered hands reached out of the shadows. I took a step back and gasped as the torch in the floor scorched my hand. I’d forgotten about it. As he pulled himself into the room, I grabbed it and shoved it at him. Light spread over the rock, closing the portal and trapping his legs on the Shadow Road. He hissed in anger and started squirming. The torch flickered in my hand. In his shifting shadow I caught a glimpse of something moving towards him. It was a butterfly. Following right behind, like a fish chasing a lure, was something that looked like a giant eel. It was larger than a whale, but moving twice as quickly; the squeamish, sinuous rhythm of its body was weird and otherworldly. Then I caught a glimpse of its head—a thick, tube-like opening, ringed with hooks and spines and rows of pointed teeth—and my whole body flared with a kind of terror I didn’t think was possible.
Pestilence’s shadow continued to shift as my torch flared in the drafty cave. It left enough of a door to the Shadow Road that he was able to wiggle forward, but not quickly enough. The worm-like creature lunged for the butterfly. Baoh swerved deftly aside so the mouth struck Pestilence instead. It caught one leg just as he was about to pull himself clear. The Horseman screamed and flailed. Bones cracked. Flesh ripped. His fingernails gouged tracks in the rock as he was pulled out of sight, leaving a profound silence behind.
It was a few seconds before I could move. My hands were trembling and my heart beat so fiercely it shook my armour. I held the torch in front of me like a sword, then gave every shadow in sight a light bath. After a moment, I realized how silly this was. If anything like that giant worm were capable of crossing into this world, human history would have been painfully short.
I waited, hoping Baoh would appear. After a few moments it was clear that, true to his word, he wasn’t taking sides. Twelve hundred years of habit was obviously hard to break. I took a deep breath, pushed that disappointment from my mind and turned my attention to the dead vampire on the floor. The corpse was tall and wrapped in a funeral shroud. I folded the top back to see the face, which I recognized despite his burns. Weathered features. Icy blue eyes. Long black hair streaked with white and grey, just like his whiskers. And without a trace of the Changeling’s mark on his forehead.
CHAPTER 55
THE RETURN OF JOHN ENTWISTLE
JOHN WAS LIGHTER than he should have been, a sure sign that it was going to take a lot of blood to bring him back. I picked him up and started following the draft, knowing it would lead to fresh air. The cave wound past other tunnels, then came to a dead end. I turned, thinking I’d try another branch, then saw several shapes moving towards me. They were vampires.
I set John’s body down and stepped in front of it, my hand on my sword. Three vampires became four, then five. The closest to me was Min. The bounty hunter was behind her. He turned back to the others, then spoke in a language I didn’t understand. “You have returned,” Min said.
“I have.”
Her luminescent green eyes wandered over me.
“Are you sure it’s him?” the bounty hunter asked her.
She reached out to shake my hand. When I took it, she pulled me sideways and used her other hand to draw out my katana.
“Same sword,” she said. “If he’s the Changeling, our hopes are already dashed.”
He looked satisfied.
“The Changeling hasn’t come for you?” I asked.
“No,” Min said. “But many others have gone missing. Our hope is they have fled, but we suspect he has killed them. Rumour has it he now searches for his Horsemen, but they are gone.”
“They’re more than gone. They’re dead. All of them.”
She pushed my sword back into the sheath and flashed a dangerous smile. “So you are the Messiah?”
I felt my face redden. “I’m just trying to stay alive.”
“We can help.” She glanced at the bounty hunter. “Others are waiting ahead. Hassan can lead you to them. I will keep watch.” She moved towards the shadows. I felt a newfound respect for her, knowing what might be waiting on the other side.
“Be careful.”
I picked up John’s body and fell in step behind the Arabian Elvis, Hassan. Although he was still dressed in black like the others, he’d smoothed his hair back in a coif that made him look more like his former self. He led me down a low-ceilinged tunnel to a wider space where a larger group was waiting. All of them had bound cloth around their foreheads or hands to cover their marks.
“Is it him?” one asked.
“He has the boy’s trappings,” Hassan answered. He reached to his belt and pulled out a curved dagger. “Hold still.” He raised the tip to my cheek, made a small scratch and sniffed the blade. “Happy ending. He’s a youngblood.” He winked at me. “Sorry … tough crowd.”
I understood.
“Who’s that?” One pointed to the corpse in my arms.
“Death,” said another.
Several vampires hissed.
Hassan backed up a step and drew his automatics. Two red dots from his laser sightings fixed themselves on John’s head. “Is that the Changeling’s first in command?”
“He was,” I said.
Other vampires rose from where they were resting and moved closer. I heard snatches of conversation. None of them were in English, but the gist of them was clear. They wanted his head on a platter.
“Fool, Fool, Fool.” Hassan’s purple eyes were intense.
I drew my katana and cut a small gully across Mr. Entwistle’s wrist. As I feared, the tissue was completely dry. “I’m going to need as much blood as you have.”
“To bring him back?” Hassan said. “That’s madness. He’ll kill us all. He bears the mark. We all do.”
“His mark is gone,” I said. “It burned off in the sun.”
He inspected John’s forehead carefully. “So it can be done!”
“It can.”
“And when he comes back, he will help us?”
“I hope so.”
“And if not?”
I considered my options. “If he’s still Death when he wakes up, then I’ll have to kill him.”
HASSAN DIDN’T TELL me where the blood came from, and I didn’t ask. We doused John with it, then poured it down his throat until two crimson ribbons spilled down the sides of his cheeks. The burns on his skin disappeared, then we hit that magical threshold and, presto, his eyelids fluttered, his chest heaved and his heart started up. A second later he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His fingers closed over a rock and he broke it in his hand. A low moan followed and he opened his milky-blue eyes. For a few moments he stared at the ceiling, then he raised his head just long enough to size us up.
“I take it I’m not in Kansas any more.”
The air was tense. Most present were nervous. Some were angry. I was guessing Tiptoft hadn’t been a gentle master.
“Do you have any of the good stuff, boy?”
“No,” I said. “We’ve given you all the blood we have.”
He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. “I don’t mean blood, damn it. I need a shot of whisky.”
CHAPTER 56
CATCHING UP
THE SUNLIGHT HAD b
urned the rune from John’s forehead, but when he looked at me, it was clear he had no idea who I was. Everything else was as it should have been. His voice, his mannerisms, his quiet confidence. He was surrounded by strangers, some of whom looked as though they’d just crawled out of the abyss, but he was as relaxed as a tourist in a spa.
“Do you know who you are?” I asked.
His eyes passed over us. “King of the Under-dwellers?” He thought about it for a few more seconds. “Well, I’m sure if it’s important, it will come back to me.” He reached up and grabbed my arm, then pulled himself to his feet. It took him a moment to adjust to his new elevation, then he patted the top of his head. “Where’s my lucky hat?” He reached for his silver flask—one he kept in the pocket of a coat he was no longer wearing. He looked at me and his eyes narrowed. “Who are you? And what have you done to me?”
No one moved. Hassan and the others were watching us closely.
“You died in the sun,” I said. “It removed the Changeling’s mark. We gave you blood and it brought you back. And here we are.”
He seemed to digest this slowly. His face was flat and his eyes were distant.
“We need your help,” I said.
He reached for his missing hat again, then looked down to where his coat pocket and liquor should have been. “Trouble with the coal miners’ union?”
“Not exactly.”
“Where are we?”
“Budapest. In the caves near the Royal Palace.”
“What is it with vampires and caves?”
I had no idea. At least it was dark.
“How long have I been asleep?” he asked.
“Less than a day. And you weren’t asleep. You were dead.” I turned to Hassan. “Last I heard, my friends were in Pest hiding under a pub. Can you find out where?”
He nodded curtly. “Consider it done.” He peered into the shadows and signalled with a flick of his finger. Min stepped into the light.
“Vlad is with them,” I added, “so be careful.”
He grunted an affirmative, then he and Min started barking orders in about twenty different languages. The horde dispersed in an instant. A few stayed back, including Hassan, who directed them to fan out in a protective pocket around John and me.