Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) (15 page)

              As I looked, my hand hovered over a small, round mirror that had a dragonfly embroidered on its tiny silk case.

              I picked the mirror up. The dragonfly on the case was picked out in gold thread, and as I slipped the mirror out of its cover, I could see that the frame had silver and gold shards imbedded in it, and the back had a pattern of diamond shapes that were also tiny mirrors.

              Simon came to stand beside me. "Do you like that one?"

              "It's very pretty," I said. "And I was just thinking that I should start carrying a mirror. I must be the only girl in school who doesn't do that already."

              Simon smiled at me. "You don't need to check on your appearance. You always look good."

              "Thanks," I said, setting the mirror back down. "Besides, it's probably really expensive."

              "There's no price on it?" Simon asked.

              "No."

              "Well, it can't hurt to ask about it." Simon turned to glance around the tent.

              As he did so, a tall, willowy woman stepped inside, carrying a cup of coffee. She stopped suddenly.

              "Hello?" she said. "Is someone in here?"

              "Yes, hello," Simon said. "We were just looking at this mirror over here."

              The woman smiled. "Sorry, I can't see you just yet—it's a little dark in here. But I did think I'd heard something—it's good to know I'm not hallucinating."

              The woman moved toward a table and switched on a tall lamp. Then she continued on around the tent, switching on other lamps, and the ornate mirrors all around us sprang to glittering life.

              "That's better," the woman said. "Now which mirror were you looking at?"

              "This one over here," Simon said, indicating the small mirror in the dragonfly case.

              The woman stepped over to us and looked down at the mirror.

              She frowned. "Oh, that thing. How did that get in here? My daughter must have slipped that in—she helped me set up this morning."

              The woman sighed. "My daughter found that mirror at one of the sales we went to last week, and she was convinced it was valuable. It is very pretty, but it isn't actually worth very much. Those things were mass-produced. You can find them at any yard sale. It really doesn't belong in here with the other pieces—the other mirrors are real antiques."

              "How much do you want for it?" I asked.

              The woman demurred. "Oh, I don't really think I could sell that. It's not up to the standards of my other stock."

              "Will you take five dollars for it?"

              The woman waved a dismissive hand. "I don't even think it's worth that. Since it genuinely seems to interest you, how about two dollars?"

              I smiled. "You drive a hard bargain. Done."

              We completed our transaction, and the woman glanced at the mirror as she handed it over to me.

              "It is very pretty," she said. "I guess people always like something that shines."

              Simon and I left the tent, and I slipped the mirror into the pocket of my jeans—it was so small and slim that it wasn't even noticeable.

              "See?" Simon said. "It never hurts to ask."

              We found Simon's parents in the crowd—Mrs. Krstic had begun to get a little frantic when she couldn't find us—and the four of us continued on through the market. Mr. Krstic stopped several times to look at some antique train sets, but he didn't find anything that really appealed to him.

              We went shopping at the mall next, and Mrs. Krstic bought linens and towels. After that we had lunch. Then we went shopping again—this time in Elspeth Grove's revitalized downtown area. We went to a lot of boutiques, and Mrs. Krstic tried to get me interested in shopping for clothes, but I wasn't really in the mood—the day was wearing away, and I knew that I would see William soon.

              And then after we'd been through all the shops, it was time to go to the police station to file an official report to have GM declared missing. I called her just to be sure—first on the landline at home and then on her cell—but as I had expected, there was no answer.

              Filing the official report took us about an hour. Afterward, I felt strangely empty and alone.

              As we drove back to the Krstics' house, I fell into a sort of daze, and I was startled to look up and realize that we had arrived.

              "Are you sure you won't change your mind, dear?" Mrs. Krstic asked as I got out of the car.

              "Change my mind?" I said.

              "About going back to your house alone."

              "Oh, no," I said. Mrs. Krstic's words seemed to shake me out of my trance, and I quickly pulled my car keys out of my pocket. "I'll be fine. I really will be. I just need to spend a little time back in my own house. Thanks for taking me out today. I really appreciate it."

              "Mom's right," Simon said. "I think you should reconsider going over there. I've got a bad feeling about this."

              "I'll be back here later tonight," I said. "There's no need to worry."

              "I'm sure Katie will be fine, you two," Mr. Krstic said. "And you've got your cell phone, right, Katie?"

              "Katie's grandmother had a cell phone, too," Simon interjected. "That didn't stop her from disappearing."

              "It's just for a little while," I said. "You'll barely know I was gone."

              "Katie—" Mrs. Krstic began.

              I interrupted. "I've got my cell phone right here in my pocket, just like Mr. Krstic said. I'll be fine for an hour or two."

              "Be sure to call us if you feel troubled about anything," Simon said. "Anything at all. We'll come right over."

              "Thanks for your concern," I said. "I really appreciate your looking out for me. I'll be back soon. Really."

              I turned and hurried to GM's car. As I buckled myself in and drove off, I felt a sense of relief—I was going to see William very soon.

              I reached the house and parked in GM's usual spot. I stood for a moment, looking up at the house I had lived in for most of my life. Since my parents had died, it had always been just GM and me—it was strange to think of the house without her.

              I went inside and set my keys down on the table, and I realized then that I'd left my backpack in the Krstics' car—I only had the contents of my pockets with me.

              I figured that that probably didn't matter very much, and I went to make myself a cup of tea—doing that reminded me of GM. Then I sat down at the kitchen table and glanced at the clock on my phone. I didn't have too much longer until William arrived.

              As I waited, I took out the little mirror I had purchased earlier in the day. The little gold dragonfly on the silk case really was pretty, and the gold and silver frame of the mirror caught the light from every angle as I slipped it out.

              I found myself gazing into the mirror, and as I did so, I thought I saw a light flickering in its depths. The light seemed to draw me in, and I felt myself sinking.

              Soon I found myself in a universe of stars.

              I drifted through the familiar dream again until I reached the slab of stone with the white cloth lying across it. This time, I drew closer, and I saw that there was a hand lying on the cloth—a small, white hand like that of a young girl—

              There was a sudden, loud knock, and my eyes flew open. I was sitting at the kitchen table, and the mirror had slipped from my hand to the floor. I felt more than a little disoriented as I bent down to pick it up.

              There was another loud knock, and I realized it was coming from the door.

              I sighed in relief. William was finally here.

              I ran down the hall to the door and threw it open.

              "William," I breathed. "I'm so glad you're here. You won't believe what happened last night. I—"

              I stopped.

              "Hello, Sunshine," said a familiar voice.

              There was a man standing in the doorway, but it wasn't William.

              It was Anton.

Chapter 12.

I tried to slam the door, but Anton caught it and held it.

              "May I come in?" he asked. "Who am I kidding? We both know I'm going to come in anyway."

              Anton stepped in, and I was forced to take a step back. Anton was tall with dark hair and very dark eyes—and he was also a vampire. I had encountered him on a number of occasions—some of them dangerous, some of them more innocuous, but all of them unnerving. So, I supposed he could be considered friendly. But he certainly couldn't be considered safe.

              "What are you doing here?" I asked.

              "I'm hurt. Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

              "Where's William?" I asked.

              "He's indisposed."

              "What does that mean?"

              "It's a polite way of saying that he's unavailable to meet with you at this time."

              "I know what the word means," I said. "Why isn't he here?"

              Anton walked past me into the living room. "I believe I already addressed that."

              I followed him. "It certainly looks like you don't mind making yourself at home. Why did you bother knocking at the door since you were just going to come in anyway?"

              Anton pulled back the curtains and looked outside. I could see that the sky was rapidly darkening.

              "I'm not entirely without manners," he said. "Mostly. But not entirely."

              "Let me try phrasing this a different way," I said. "What do you want?"

              Anton moved sharply as if something outside had caught his attention. "Did you see that? No, I don't suppose you did. It was moving too fast for you to see it. It was nearly moving too fast for me to see it—I only caught a glimpse. Luckily, I have sharp eyes."

              "What do you want?" I repeated louder.

              Anton turned back to me. "Now, now, I heard you the first time. There's no need to get irritable."

              "Then what's the answer to my question?" I said.

              "What I want," Anton said, coming to stand beside me, "is for you to come with me."

              "What?" I said.

              "I want you to come with me," Anton said. "It's simple enough."

              "Where's William?" I said.

              "You seem a little obsessed with this guy," Anton replied. "Have you considered branching out a little—maybe seeing other people?"

              "William was supposed to meet me here," I said. "I'm pretty sure you know that. That's why you're here. You've come here to get ahead of him—to get to me before he arrives. Either that, or something's happened to him."

              "Those are both interesting possibilities," Anton said. "I'm glad you have your thinking cap on today. I always said you were pretty sharp for a mortal girl."

              "Anton, where's William?"

              "As I said, William will not be joining us this evening."

              "So, you're not going to tell me."

              "No, I'm not," Anton replied. "Not unless you can think of a way to make me tell you."

              He tilted his head and smiled. "Can you think of a way? No? Neither can I. I'm glad we settled that."

              From the kitchen, I could hear my phone ring.

              "I think I'll get that," Anton said.

              He began to walk toward the kitchen.

              "Anton, stop," I said. "That's probably my friend Simon. I've been gone a long time now, and he's probably wondering why I haven't returned yet."

              "Oh, well then, I'll set his mind at ease," Anton said.

              He reached the kitchen and picked up my phone.

              "Anton, stop!" I ordered.

              He answered the phone. "Hello? Who? No, I don't know any Katie. I'm afraid you have the wrong number. You should really stop calling it."

              "Simon, I'm fine!" I shouted. "I'm here! I'm okay—"

              Anton disconnected the call.

              "Anton, you've upset Simon," I said. "Now he's going to think something's happened to me."

              "I upset Simon?" Anton said. "You're the one who upset him with all your shouting. If not for you, he would've just thought he had the wrong number."

              "I really doubt that," I said.

              "Besides, something has happened to you," Anton said. "You're coming with me."

              My phone rang again, and Anton shut it off.

              He sighed. "I suppose your friend's going to call the police or something like that pretty soon. If you want to grab a book or a magazine for our trip, I suggest you do it now."

              "I'm not going anywhere," I said, "especially not with you."

              "Yeah, about that. I'm afraid that's going to be a problem. I really need you to come with me."

              "I can't help you with that," I said. "I'm staying here."

              "I suppose it wouldn't help if I told you that it's in your best interests to come with me?"

              "No," I said. "It wouldn't help at all."

              Anton nodded. "That's unfortunate. It really is."

              He looked up at me. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist."

              Panic surged through me as Anton reached out and grabbed my arm. I could feel the cold of his fingers through the thin cloth of my shirt, and his grip was like iron.

              "Anton, stop!"

              But he pulled me along with him, and though I struggled, I could neither break his grasp nor slow him down.

              "I'm not going!" I screamed. "I'm not going anywhere without her!"

              I began to kick at him. "I won't leave her! I can't leave her!"

              Anton released me then, and I was thrown off balance. I stumbled and fell.

              Anton reached for me, and I lashed out at him. "I'm not going with you!"

              "Relax," he said, kneeling beside me. "I was just trying to help you up. Who are you talking about? Who's this person you can't leave without?"

              "It's GM," I said. "My grandmother. She's gone missing, and I don't know what's happened to her. I can't go anywhere till I know she's safe."

              "Your grandmother," Anton said. There was a touch of disbelief in his voice.

              "Yes, my grandmother."

              "You really care that much about her?"

              "Of course I do. She's the only family I have."

              "Well, if it really means that much to you—" Anton began.

              I looked up at him. "What are you saying? Do you know something?"

              "I know quite a few things," Anton said. "Many of which I hope you never find out. How about this—I find your grandmother for you, and in exchange, you agree to come with me."

              "Do you know where my grandmother is?" I said.

              "I'm pretty sure she's in one of two places," Anton replied. "Do we have a deal?"

              "If you find her," I said. "
If
. And if I'm sure she's safe from harm, I will come with you."

              "I can work with that," Anton said. He rose and extended a hand. "If you will accompany me, I believe we can conclude our business here in fairly short order."

              "No tricks?" I said.

              "No tricks. I promise. Cross what's left of my heart."

              I looked into Anton's dark eyes for a long moment, trying to read their depths. Then I took his hand—it was cold and smooth like marble.

              "You should probably hold on tight," he said.

              Before I knew it, we were out the door and flying through the dusk. Houses and streets turned into a shapeless blur, and soon we entered a dark, seemingly solid mass of trees. We came to a stop that was as abrupt as our start, and it took me a moment to catch my breath.

              Then I looked around. We were standing in front of the cave near the Old Grove.

              "You all right?" Anton asked. "You look a little stunned."

              "Yes," I said. I glanced over at the cave. "You think my grandmother could be in there?"

              "Like I said, she's probably at one of two places. There are two spots around here where I've noticed some funny things going on."

              "But William already searched the cave," I said. "He didn't find anything."

              "Yeah, well, William's an idiot. And I have exceptionally sharp eyes. I don't miss much."

              "William's not an—"

              "Save your breath. There's no point in defending him. He's not even here."

              "I came out here to search the cave, too," I said. "I—"

              "You did?" Anton said. "Did you do that before or after William searched it?"

              "After," I said.

              "See? You thought William missed something, too."

              I started to answer, but I had to stop. I supposed Anton was right.

              Anton smiled. "That's what I thought."

              He turned toward the cave.

              "Wait," I said. "Before you go in there, there's something you need to know."

              "Oh, really? What's that?"

              "I came out here last night to search the cave, but I never actually made it. Someone stopped me."

              "Someone stopped you? Who was it?"

              "I don't know," I said. "He seemed to appear out of nowhere. I hit him with my car, and then he got right back up. I think he was a vampire."

              Anton frowned. "That does sound like something a vampire would do. What did he look like?"

              "I didn't get a good look at him," I said. "But he had red eyes—
really
red eyes. They actually glowed, and I could see them from a distance. I thought at first that they were taillights from a car."

              "That's not good," Anton said. "That's not good at all."

              "Do you know who it was?"

              "Yes."

              "Is he a vampire?"

              "Yes."

              "Then who is he?" I asked. "What does he want?"

              "I'll tell you a little later," Anton said. "Right now, I believe we're in the process of searching for your grandmother. I was under the impression that you wanted that to take priority."

              "Yes," I said.

              Anton nodded toward the cave. "Then let's go. We won't find out what's going on in there by standing out here."

              I hesitated. "You mean I can go with you?"

              "Of course," Anton replied. "I brought you out here, didn't I?"

              "But William never lets me go with him."

              "As I may have mentioned, William's an idiot."

              "He's not—"

              "It's not necessary to protest," Anton said. "Facts are facts."

              I started to reply, but Anton held up a hand and looked around sharply.

              "What is it?" I asked.

              Anton relaxed. "Nothing we need to worry about at the moment." He smiled. "Come on. You might want to take my hand. Just in case you get scared."

              I did indeed take his hand as we entered the cave—Anton could see in the dark and I couldn't.

              I had a little bit of light to see by at first, but very soon we were plunged into complete darkness. As we moved deeper into the cave, I found myself clinging to Anton's hard, icy hand. We were moving very fast, and I was completely deprived of my sight—and it occurred to me that I had placed myself entirely in Anton's power. I wasn't sure now that that was a wise thing to have done.

              I stumbled then—though whether that was from the unevenness of the cave floor or my own nerves, I didn't know.

              Anton steadied me. "Careful now. You don't want to get all banged up. It might upset your grandmother when she sees you." He paused. "Wait just a minute. Maybe this will help in case of emergency."

              Anton let go of my hand, and a moment later, he pressed a small, cool cylinder into my palm and wrapped my fingers around it.