Lilah (29 page)

‘Thank you for coming, Gabriel,’ he said ‘No,
don’t leave, Lilah. I would ask that you stay too.’ Lilah frowned. It was rare
for her to join a strigoi meeting. Several of the other strigoi had followed us
in and I was surprised at the number attending; the large library now full of
both elders and the reborn. Meetings were not often open to the latter. Some
greeted me with a hug and I was warmed by their friendship; something distance
had not broken. Though it was obvious from their disregard of Lilah they were
wary of her, even threatened in some way. I would need to learn more.

‘
I am afraid to say that we
have heard that there is a village several days’ journey from here.
Someone has leaked .our location and these people are believers. They are
Brodnici who know us better than any other race, and as some of you know, have
attempted to cull our numbers. A strigoi recently took the blood of a vagabond
and thus learned of their plan. How they know our location is still a mystery
but it is understood that they will arrive when the moon is less than half.
They know this is when we are not at our full strength.’

‘Then we capture one in the meantime to find
out where the rest are.’

‘No, we wait and read their thoughts as you
take their blood. Tracking them has never been successful.’

‘I do not understand,’ said a reborn. ‘How do
they know about us and why have we not found out about them before?’

‘The Brodnici is another reason you are taught
to be clever and cover your tracks. They have been tracking us since the dawn
of our existence but it has been half a century since we last encountered them
to such an extent that they could outnumber us. It is still a mystery how they
know
of us or how they are able to track us
. They are
cunning yet not so much that our own strigoi did not learn of their plan.

‘Though I have no proof, those villagers we
killed several years ago may have been recruited by the Brodnici and sent to
test our numbers while they prepared their own people and regrouped. We will
always have enemies, and many clever enough to mask their person and their
thoughts as ignorant townspeople. The Brodnici come and
go
and change their race. We must never become complacent.’

‘Why not find their source and completely
destroy them?’

‘They cover their tracks as well as any strigoi
to avoid being found by us. They are nomadic. Should you scout and return with
a location, it is unlikely they will be there for us to find, and never do they
stay together but spread themselves across towns. They are vast in numbers
across the east, living amongst townspeople and grouping in secret, sending
coded messages between their various locations.’

‘So we travel – all of us
–  in
the dead of night and we find them one by
one and kill them.’

‘Just finding one will unlikely lead us to the
rest. We could hunt for weeks and still have nothing.’ said Lewis. ‘The only
way to reduce their number is to wait for a hundred men to come to us and then
we kill them. When they don’t return it will send a message that we continue to
remain formidable. This may not deter them but it will take them years to
regroup for another attack.’

‘That does not sound so difficult,’ said
another.

‘They carry no magic but I can tell you that
there have been casualties in these uprisings in the past. They are usually
twice in number and not all of you are powerful. Your manual strength can ride
against them but if they choose to come at you with fire while you are
distracted with another, you could die.’

‘So we just have to wait then,’ said a
frustrated strigoi.

‘Yes. This will be the second attack within
years.
First the villagers and now the Brodnici.
It is
unusual and I hope that the betrayal has not come from within the coven,
whether by carelessness or whether intentional. If I hear of the one who has
done this, then that person will be cast to the darkness.’

There were looks between them, some eyes
settling on Lilah, which I found disturbing. I would tear out their throats if
one so even voiced her name. Lilah felt this too. I could not see why she was
much hated among the strigoi but it was important I learn the reason. Only
Giorgio my friend greeted her with any civility and she responded with a
genuine smile that reached her eyes.

We left and agreed that at dusk we would take
our places around the castle.

Lilah left us. She was thoughtful now, her face
frowning. I knew this was not what she wanted, that she would go to any length
to avoid this even suggesting to Lewis that they find a new place to live
instead of killing.

With everyone gone Lewis sat down to examine
me.

‘I heard that you lost your wife.’

‘It is ended. You can no longer call her my
wife.’

Lewis nodded smugly. ‘You have always been
impetuous and impatient and look where it got you. With a mad strigoi too
enticing and wild to be any good to anyone, not even herself. I warned you that
this would not go the way you wanted. You should kill her before I do.’

‘Did you really need me to come back for this?’
I said both offended and tired of the reminder of my folly.

‘We would probably succeed but many of the
reborn do not have the strength of you and the elders, and I need your support.
Despite our differences I know I have always been able to count on you.’

I nodded. I did not like the situation as it
stood but Lewis had taken care of us for many years. We owed him this service,
all of us.

‘I would prefer to stay at the castle
afterwards if you approve.’

The house that Arianne and I had shared was now
soaked with distasteful memories.

‘Your loyalty will always earn you a place
here.’

I had known Lewis a long time.
Always serious, always studious but there were subtle differences
to his character that were not there when we last spoke.
His gaze was
less intense, and despite the looming massacre he seemed weary and distracted,
and anxious to attend to his daughter. It appeared to me that the safety of his
daughter might be above that of his beloved coven.

As I retreated for several hours of sleep I
encountered Giorgio. I felt I could trust him and asked why the strigoi seemed
so hostile toward Lilah.

‘I don’t personally have any issue with her in
fact she is good company. But many dislike the way she refuses to have anything
to do with
us and views
us as if we are all infected.
When she counsels the other witches here she refers to our immortality as a
curse: a devil’s affliction. We are not superstitious but many are saying it
will not do any good to have her around.’

‘Does Lewis know?’

‘Yes, of course.
But he does not care. He is happy
that he does not share her with anyone. It matters not to him whether she
despises us.’

I did not like the sound of any of this but I
understood from Lilah’s point of view. It was not her choosing to live her days
here and she may still hold bitterness, believing that it was a trap from the
beginning. I thought of the unhappy existence she would have had here alone if
not for her daughter. Despite our torrid history, I still felt the need to
repay the debt to her father.

‘I would do no harm to her, but should Lewis
ever depart I would not trust some others here. They fear the child. One born
of such a powerful leader will no doubt be their master
one
day
. Even worse is the idea that Lilah may be her advisor. There are
several who vie for such a position of supremacy.’

This filled me with dread. I was shocked,
believing all the coven members were loyal.

‘Some say they may even wish to challenge
Lewis’s authority.’

‘Then they are stupid for there are few who
could match him.’

Lewis would kill them sooner or later if he
learned of such talk. I decided not to mention this. Many strigoi have talked
themselves
up in the past and I did not want my friends
blamed for careless banter. Giorgio himself may even be implicated. He was a
strong strigoi, stronger than many but no match for Lewis or myself. And Lewis
was not known for long trials, preferring to settle matters instantly.

Giorgio patted me on the shoulder. ‘I am hunting
now. Perhaps you will join me.’

‘No, Giorgio.
There will be enough blood later
on.’

‘But this blood will build your strength. You
will need it for the fight.’

There was truth in this. I was tired but this
new information had fueled my mind and sleep was now once again beyond me. I
joined him and we roamed beyond the forest to the borders of the north. Our
prey was easy –
simple minded
scavengers far
from their own country with such feeble minds they were easy to read. We would
both have been killed and stripped of every possession, had we been human.

After the kill, my body felt invigorated. It
was true that with each passing decade I did not feel the need to hunt as
often, and one feed could often sustain me for nearly a month. Lewis could go
for months, as for all the elders who had stronger blood than the reborn would
ever have. These fresh young strigoi hunted weekly, sometimes more. Like
Arianne, they were unpredictable at times. I did not trust some of them and
wondered whether it was necessary for Lewis to grow the coven. I believed that
we would be better protected by blending into human society like our German
friends, and as we had done in London.

If the books in Lewis’s library were to be
stolen and our secrets and weakness exposed to Brodnici or to other human
hunters, our skills alone may not be enough to fight our enemies. I did not
think that our history should be taught to witches and the reborn – such
books and secrets would be safer buried deep in the ground.

It was important that we never took our gifts
for granted; becoming so arrogant as to believe we were fallible. Our
fallibility was something that only a rare few knew about, and even less cared
to admit.

Chapter 14

Lilah

I could not sleep. Lewis told me to make
sure Oleander stayed asleep and did not leave my side. He also instructed me
not to watch from the windows but my curiosity was too great. I heard their
shouts as they exited the forest late that night arriving at the clearing and
taking various positions around the castle. I counted forty at the front and
knew there were others unseen surrounding the castle. Lewis had posted his
strigoi in various parts of the forest in readiness for ambush.

At first I was frightened. The faces of the
Brodnici looked fierce behind their fire torches. Their skin was darkened from
the elements, their beards coarse and hair matted underneath fur hats. They
were crudely dressed in leather vests and fur lined boots wound with string for
the long trek through forests and sodden earth. They had walked for days. There
were no villages close to the castle – not close enough for human steps
anyway.

They came in mass, roughly two hundred in
number and walked towards the castle. I began to feel fear and wondered why
Lewis had not begun his descent.

Several rushed to the front door and began to
bang. I heard the smashing of a window. Even the gargoyles at the front of the
castle did not fill them with terror. I feared they had broken into the house
and felt frustrated with Lewis. Where was he?

Their whispers rose up to my window, spoken in
a strange language and then there was silence. I checked on Oleander to see
that her eyes were closed and her breathing deep. When I turned back to the
window, appearing out of nowhere stood Lewis’s circle
;
all of them like ghosts with pale skin and long cloaks. I had not even seen
them come from the forest so fast were their steps born from air, which did not
exist to the human eye. They were randomly spread across the clearing of white
between the castle and the forest, and more frightening by their stillness.

It was several moments before
they were noticed by their adversaries
. I heard a shout.
Members of the Brodnici turned and crouched in readiness, suddenly wary but I
sensed not fearful. I could hear their quickened heartbeats amplified loudly in
my ears.

Gabriel appeared suddenly in his black cloak
lined with red satin. He looked towards my window, aware of my gaze.
Gabriel.
Another reason I needed to leave. Even the sound of his name on my lips left me
with feelings I had thought forgotten.

The attackers ran at the strigoi who stood
their ground. By the time they reached the line of strigoi they had vanished
again, their speed unseen by the barbarians. I was both fascinated and
repulsed. I knew this was a strigoi game, despite the seriousness Lewis tried
to evoke at the meeting. And I did not fail to notice that many of the strigoi
wore smiles when they left the meeting earlier.

The intruders twirled around waving their fire
torches searching for the missing strigoi. There were shouts in the distance
and then screams. The raiders stationed at the back of the castle had been
attacked. This put newly found fear into the Brodnici at the front, and the
sounds of dying made the back of my neck go cold.