Pure (Book 1, Pure Series) (45 page)

           
Gleb intensified his struggles and let out a roar that seemed to shake the crypt.
 
I reached within myself to pour what was left of me into the clear fire.
 
William let up on Gleb for a moment, then gathered himself and slammed his shoulder into Gleb, driving him back through the smoke and up against the empty tomb.

           
With a powerful effort, William forced Gleb's head into the tomb.
 
Gleb began to shrink in size.

           
With a roar of his own, William picked up Gleb bodily and threw him into the tomb.
 
In the light of the clear fire, William and I watched as Gleb flailed, trying to grasp the edges of the tomb and haul himself out.
 
He screamed and gibbered and gnashed his teeth, but the flame that burned in his eyes flickered, and the energy that animated him failed.
 
The flame in Gleb's eyes went out, and he sank back into death.

           
William picked up the lid of the stone tomb and let it fall back into place heavily.

           
Gleb was finally gone.

           
My strength gave out at last, and I fell to the floor.
 
The clear fire vanished.

           
I felt William lift me up and carry me out of the tomb.
 
I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder.
 
I closed my eyes.

           
Where he was walking, I didn't know, but I could feel the fever and the pain in my limbs returning with even greater force.
 
I felt the world around me waver.

           
After a few moments, I heard gasps, and I opened my eyes.
 
William had brought me back to the Mstislav ball, and we were moving through a crowd of well-dressed people, all of whom were staring at us in shock.

           
I imagined that the two of us looked pretty bedraggled – I had probably ruined Odette's beautiful red dress.

           
William set me on a delicate-looking curving couch and sat beside me still holding me close.

           
I thought to myself that being in William's arms was the best place in the world to be.

           
Then everything went dark.

Chapter 20.

Two days later, I was reclining on the couch in the living room at Odette's house, propped up on some pillows.

           
The night of the Mstislav ball, I had been rushed to the nearest hospital.
 
GM had joined me there.
 
My fever had broken the next morning, and I had been pronounced fit and allowed to leave.
 
GM had brought me back to Odette's house, where she had fussed over me and worried about Odette.

           
Odette had not returned to her own house, and the last place anyone had seen her was at the Mstislav mansion.

           
"I can't imagine what could have possessed Odette to drag you to that ball," GM had said over and over again.

           
I had not told GM what Odette had become, nor had I told her that Odette was the one who had attacked Galina.
 
GM hadn't told me much about what had happened at Galina's, but from what I had gathered, the Leshi had been frozen by Odette, and then Odette had thrown Galina around just enough to shake her up and make her reach out for help.
 
Galina had not seen who had caused all the mayhem – Odette had been moving too fast.
 
GM had not described the events to me that way exactly, but that's what I had pieced together.
 
GM seemed to be completely unaware of Odette's involvement.

           
As for William, he had seen that I was taken to the hospital, and he had let people know that there were prisoners in the tunnels.
 
Then he had disappeared.
 
The police arrived at some point and freed Irina, Aleksandr, and James.
 
William must have freed the Leshi from the ashes – no one mentioned seeing a man with green hair and a green beard at the Mstislav mansion.
 
Irina, Aleksandr, and James had been questioned, and then allowed to go home – Irina and James had flown home this morning – and I was questioned at the hospital.
 
From what the police had determined Timofei had kidnapped the four of us and planned to kill us, and we had been rescued by William – our stories all matched.
 
William was still a person of interest to the police, but of course they had been unable to find him.

           
Timofei's body had been found down in the tunnels and buried in the Mstislav crypt.

           
The police had not believed Irina, James, or Aleksandr when they had told them about the horror that had kidnapped them – the reanimated Gleb Mstislav.
 
To them, Gleb was lying silently in his tomb just as he had for the last eleven years.

           
I didn't even mention him when I talked to the police.
 
I knew they wouldn't believe me.

           
GM and I were staying on in Krov for a few days.
 
I was feeling better, but I think she wanted to be sure that I was truly better before she moved me.
 
I knew she was also hoping that there would be news of Odette.
 
Irina, James, and Aleksandr hadn't been able to give a clear account of what they had seen of her down in the tunnels.
 
The current rumor was that Odette had been murdered by Timofei and her body hidden.
 
I wished I could tell GM that Odette was still alive – after a fashion – but my news of Odette would not have been comforting or believable to her.

           
I wondered if Odette was in the Pure Woods.
 
I wondered if William was there, too.
 
I felt a dull ache when I thought of him.
 
I hadn't seen him since the night of the Mstislav ball.

           
GM walked into the living room carrying a laptop.
 
"I have something for you, Solnyshko."

           
GM set the laptop down on a nearby table and turned it on.
 
"I know you don't have your phone with you, so I borrowed this from Aleksandr.
 
Your friends at home will surely know by now some of the things that have happened here, and they will just as surely have heard some wild tales that are not at all true – rumor is often swifter than fact.
 
I thought you would like to let them know that you are all right."

           
"Thanks, GM."

           
"Would you like some tea, Solnyshko?"

           
"No!" I said, far more sharply than I had meant to.

           
GM looked at me in surprise.

           
"I mean, no thank you.
 
No tea.
 
I don't think that alosa tea of Odette's is good anymore.
 
I think it's spoiled.
 
You should probably throw it away."

           
GM patted me on the knee.
 
"I will bring you some water, then.
 
You should continue drinking liquids.
 
I am sure you are not properly hydrated after your fever yet."

           
GM left the room, and I logged on.
 
I seemed to have about a hundred messages.
 
The messages from Simon and Charisse jumped out at me.
 
Simon seemed to be pretty panicked – he said he hoped I was okay.
 
Charisse said the same thing – and also that she was sorry about our argument.
 
She said she and Branden had decided not to get married – they'd realized it was a bad idea, and she'd give me the details later.

           
I felt incredibly relieved.

           
Quickly I wrote back to them.
 
I was really looking forward to seeing them again.

           
Looking over the other messages, I was also warmed by how many people were concerned about me.

           
GM came back into the room.
 
She set a glass of water down next to me.
 
Then she sat down in a nearby chair with a cup of tea, and I felt a brief flash of panic.
 
It subsided when I spotted the tea's pale amber color and realized it was only the chamomile she had purchased accidentally.

           
I looked back at the laptop screen.
 
While I was looking forward to seeing Simon and Charisse again, my thoughts drifted back to William.
 
Though he had taken care of me on the night of the Mstislav ball, he hadn't been looking so great himself.
 
I feared that his injuries might have proved too much for him.

           
A sudden strange hope rose in my heart – maybe he was okay – maybe GM had even seen him and just didn't know it.

           
I darted a glance at GM.
 
"GM, did anyone stop by at the hospital or here at the house and ask to see me?
 
Maybe while I was asleep?"

           
GM looked at me over the top of her teacup.
 
"I was wondering when you were going to ask about that.
 
I didn't know who he was, but I had a feeling that you would."

           
"He?" I asked eagerly.

           
"Yes.
 
How did you manage to meet a boy here in the last few days?
 
I could have sworn I never left you alone long enough for something like that to happen.
 
He never said anything to me, but I did see him haunting the halls in the hospital near your room.
 
And I saw him on the street here yesterday morning."

           
I caught my breath.
 
"How did he look?"

           
There was a knock on the front door.

           
GM rose.
 
"I'll get that.
 
I have a feeling you may get the answer to your own question."

           
I got up and followed her.
 
The mere possibility that William had been nearby had set every nerve in my body tingling.

           
GM opened the door.

           
William was standing on the other side.

           
"William!" I cried.
 
Only GM's presence stopped me from rushing forward into his arms.

           
"So, you are William, are you?" GM said.
 
"It's nice to know your name."

           
"GM, this is William Sursur," I said.
 
"William saved my life down in those tunnels."

           
"And Katie saved mine," William said.

           
GM didn't seem too impressed by our announcements – instead she seemed resigned.
 
Perhaps she thought the police were the ones who had done the real saving.
 
"You may as well come in, William," GM said.
 
"I am Anna Rost, Katie's grandmother."

           
GM and I went into the living room, and William followed us.

           
We all sat down.
 
I looked at William, and he looked back at me.
 
Neither one of us spoke.

           
"Oh, very well."
 
GM picked up her tea and rose.
 
"I'll be in the kitchen so you two can talk, but I will not be far away.
 
The two of you should keep that in mind."

           
GM left the room.

           
I looked William over.
 
His skin still had an unhealthy pallor, but he was no longer ashen.
 
The red marks I remembered seeing still ran across his face and neck, but they were much muted.
 
And the black circles under his eyes had disappeared.

           
"You look better," I said.

           
"So do you," he replied.

           
"GM – my grandmother – said someone was haunting the halls of the hospital near my room.
 
Was that you?"

           
"Yes."

           
"Why didn't you talk to me?"

           
"I knew I shouldn't."

           
"Why?" I asked.

           
"Why?" William repeated, disbelieving.
 
"Katie, you know what I am."

           
"I never wanted you to stay away," I replied.
 
"I was worried about you.
 
You looked bad to begin with, and then after you fought that creature—"

           
A shiver ran through me.
 
"I was afraid you were hurt or even killed.
 
I wanted to know that you were okay."

           
"I'm sorry," William said.
 
"It never occurred to me that it would matter to you."

           
"Of course it matters to me," I said.
 
"What changed your mind?
 
Why did you come here today?"

           
"I had to see you one last time before you left."