Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) (32 page)

              "But then he was destroyed," I said.

              "He was," Sachiko replied. "And then, over the long centuries, the Hunter's body—like the Werdulac's—began to heal itself. The Hunter, who seems not to have been as badly damaged as the Werdulac, actually recovered first. Now he is free, and he wants your soul to take the place of his wife's in the next life. In doing so, she can return to him and finish the life that was stolen by the Werdulac."

              "But why me?" I asked.

              "Because it will ruin the Werdulac's plan. He needs you to die in order to reignite his war with the Sìdh. They can't be released unless you are killed, since you have Sìdh blood. But the Hunter isn't going to kill you. He's going to draw out your soul on April thirtieth, and exchange it for his wife's soul. Your soul will go on to the next life. Her soul will go back into her body. And your body will be placed into her protective spell, still alive. Your body will not die. The Sìdh blood that flows through your veins will continue to flow through it. Technically, you won't be killed. And the Sìdh won't be released. And the Werdulac will be deprived of his revenge."

              "That's horrible," I said.

              "Yes, it is."

              "How will the Hunter draw out my soul?" I asked.

              "By using the emerald necklace that he has—there was one for each member of the Werdulac's family. Vampire alchemists created them to contain a reflection of the souls around them—that's how they make the wearer invisible to vampire senses. But when the Hunter sought out the vampire sorceress to help him save his wife, the sorceress altered his necklace with dark magic. She augmented it so it can contain a soul instead of just reflecting one. She gave him a vessel in which he could trap another in order to set his wife free."

              "I was told by—someone—that there was another horror in the Hunter's tomb," I said. "Is that what he meant?"

              "Whoever told you that knew what he was talking about," Sachiko said. "The Hunter's wife is in his tomb, perfectly preserved. The Sìdh created that tomb—their trap for the Hunter—carefully. There are certain sensitive spots on this earth through which the souls of the departed can return. They placed his wife's body at one of those spots and lured him there with the promise of her recovery. Then they sprang their trap, and the Hunter was burned and buried right there on the spot. And the Star of Morning was the key. I just don't know how it was used."

              I sank down to the floor. "I'm going to need to sit for a minute."

              "Understandable," Sachiko said.

              "This is horrible," I said. "This is worse than horrible. This is a nightmare."

              "It is."

              "Anton knew all of this?" I said after a moment.

              "Yes, he did," Sachiko replied. "But try not to blame him too much. He had his orders. And he likes you, you know. I believe he would've told you if he could."

              "Who else knows?" I asked.

              "Just the Russian court," Sachiko said.

              "Minus the queen?"

              "No, she knows. She's just not thinking clearly at the moment."

              "Why?" I asked. "Why is the Russian court keeping this a secret? Why are they letting everyone believe that the Werdulac sent the Hunter?"

              "I don't know for sure," Sachiko said. "But I think in a twisted way they're trying to protect you. The king and Innokenti—they know that the ancient Russian vampires are dangerous—all of them. But modern vampires can be short-sighted. If it were common knowledge that Hunter was after you in order to stop the Werdulac, there are plenty of vampires who would try to give you over to the Hunter—if only to keep themselves safe from war. But you can't bargain with the Hunter any more than you can with the Werdulac—they're both too old and too powerful. If you were turned over to the Hunter, and your soul was stolen, the Werdulac would not get a war with the Sìdh—that is true. In that case, the Werdulac would simply turn his attention to the brother who thwarted him. There would still be a war—only this time it would be the Werdulac against the Hunter. And a lot of vampire blood would be spilled in the process. We would lose that way, too."

              Sachiko reached out a hand to me. "We'd better go now. We have to go get that sword."

              She unlocked the door once more and looked out into the corridor.

              "It's clear," she whispered. "Come on."

              I followed Sachiko out into the hall, and we hurried along at a quick but human pace—I figured she didn't want to attract any undue attention by moving too swiftly. As luck would have it, such caution wasn't necessary—as we continued to move through the halls on our way down to the lower levels, we found that they were completely deserted.

              Sachiko's expression grew steadily more troubled as we hurried on and still encountered no one—but she said nothing and just kept going.

              At last we reached a long hall that stretched down to an immense set of iron doors, and Sachiko stopped and motioned for me to do the same. I imagined that under ordinary circumstances guards would be posted on either side of the doors, and the doors themselves would be locked.

              But at the moment, the doors were standing wide open, and the entire hall was eerily silent. Nothing stirred anywhere nearby, and I could see another, darker hall stretching beyond the doors.

              "This is the entrance to the Vaults," Sachiko whispered. "It looks like we don't have to worry about how to get in."

              She walked noiselessly up to the big double doors and peered inside.

              "It's dark in there," she whispered, "but then again, it's always dark in there. It's part of the system for preserving the artifacts that are stored here."

              Sachiko took a few cautious steps inside and then motioned me to follow her.

              I stepped across the threshold and found myself standing in a long, dim hall that was only faintly lit by the silvery glow that pervaded the rest of the castle. I could see that one side of the hall was lined with iron doors that were standing open. Sachiko peered into the first door, and I followed her.

              The door led into a large, dark chamber—darker even than the hall itself. But even in the low light, I could see that the room had been ransacked, and the room's contents now littered the floor—it was mostly piles of heavy, embroidered cloth.

              "Tapestries," Sachiko whispered. "Some of the old ones are rumored to have magic properties."

              Sachiko and I looked into the next chamber and found the second one to be in the same condition as the first—the chamber had been completely turned upside down. This chamber was lined with bare shelves, and wooden chests, which had presumably once rested on those shelves, now lay on their sides on the floor with their contents spilling out. Those contents largely consisted of books and metal drinking vessels.

              "Spell books," Sachiko whispered. "And cursed goblets destined to poison anyone who drinks from them. Or at least, alleged spell books and cursed goblets. They may actually not have any special properties. Kept down here just in case."

              "What happened in this place?" I whispered.

              Sachiko simply shook her head.

              We looked into the next chamber and found that that room's contents had not only been overturned but smashed. The floor was littered with broken wooden frames and shattered glass that crunched under foot.

              "Mirrors," Sachiko whispered. "The oldest ones are said to be accessible by the Sìdh. That's why they're kept down here in the Vaults. They're considered to be weapons."

              She picked up a shard of glass, and it glinted softly in the low, silver light. "It appears as if someone was looking for something. And I have a terrible feeling now that I know what it was."

              Sachiko grabbed my hand. "Come on."

              She took off with blinding speed, and the two of us streaked down the hall. We turned sharply to the right, and then we flew down a flight of stone steps into another dim hall. This one was also lined with open doors—which we hurtled past—and at the very end of the hall was yet another open iron door.

              Sachiko came to a sudden stop in front of this final door and released my hand. Then she stepped inside, and I followed her.

              The two of us were standing in a large, dimly lit chamber with a high ceiling. There were shelves and racks and cabinets—all of which were now bare. And the floor was littered with weapons—spears, swords, daggers—and other things I couldn't put a name to. Sachiko whirled quickly through the wreckage in the room, as if she were looking for something.

              After a few moments, she stopped searching and came to stand beside me.

              "It's just as I feared," she whispered. "Someone has been here first. Someone has taken it."

              "Taken what?" I said.

              "The vampire sword," Sachiko replied. "The Star of Morning. It's gone."

              "Are you sure?" I said. "We haven't looked through all of these rooms yet. Maybe it's somewhere else."

              "I'm sure," Sachiko said. "The chambers that are close to the Vault's main entrance are filled with things that aren't of much importance. They're quite old, but they're kept more for their historical value than for anything else—like the tapestries and the books. They
might
be dangerous, but in all probability they aren't. Those artifacts are kept down here just in case."

              Sachiko turned to look at the ransacked room. "But this chamber is the most secure one in the Vaults. It's where the truly dangerous items are kept. These things are actually weapons—powerful weapons. And this is the vault in which the Star of Morning is housed. And it is most definitely not here."

              I looked around at the implements of warfare that were strewn about our feet. "Is there anything else we could use? There seem to be quite a few other swords in here. Could one of these swords be powerful enough to help us?"

              Sachiko shook her head. "These things are powerful weapons. But nothing in here is powerful enough to stop the Hunter. We need the Star of Morning. It was designed to stop him."

              "So what do we do now?" I asked.

              "We find William. We save his life. Then we get out of the country and try to think of something to do."

              "I thought you said we had no chance without the sword," I said.

              "We don't."

              Sachiko grabbed my hand once again, and suddenly we were flying down the hall, headed back the way we had come. We reached the stone steps and soared over them, negotiated the same sharp corner we'd originally turned in reverse, and then flew along the main hall to the entrance to the Vaults.

              Sachiko hurtled past the open set of iron doors and kept going.

              Once again, we encountered no one on the way, and we sped on uninterrupted through the silvery halls. Eventually, we reached another set of tall double doors, and Sachiko came to an abrupt stop in front of them.

              These doors were wooden rather than iron, and unlike the entrance to the Vaults, these doors were firmly shut.

              I stared up at the tall wooden doors. "This is where they're holding William?"

              "Yes," Sachiko said. "This is the Queens' Chamber. And there are no guards posted out here—which is good. They're probably on the upper levels now. However, I don't think we can just waltz in. There's a heavy iron bolt that goes across these doors on the inside, and that bolt may be in place right now. And earlier there were guards posted inside the Queens' Chamber as well as outside—somebody has to operate the bolt. So it's very possible they're still in there."

              "Okay," I said. "So we have to get past the bolt and the guards."

              "Exactly," Sachiko said. "Stay behind me. I may have to break the doors down."

              She motioned for me to stand back, and then she put a hand out tentatively to one of the tall wooden doors. She pressed on it, and the door swung open easily, revealing darkness within.

              Sachiko paused for a moment, and we both listened intently.

              There were no sounds of movement within the Queens' Chamber.

              Sachiko's lips moved silently. "One down."

              She moved into the doorway slowly, one hand trailing behind her, to indicate that I should stay where I was. After a moment, she tilted her hand and motioned me forward.

              The Queens' Chamber was dark—very dark—but there was light streaming in from the open door, and I knew that Sachiko could see even without it.

              "Is anyone in here?" I whispered as quietly as I could, knowing that Sachiko's keen hearing would pick up the sound.