The Font (10 page)

Shoulders hunched even further down.  “Then I am.  How long ago did you separate her from
that monstrous bastard
?”

Elisha thought about how much he should tell their reluctant host and decided disclosing what Heriolf already knew would be safe enough.  “Last night.”

The old man dropped into a stained recliner, its armrests bowed out drunkenly as if they might drop off at any second.  A foul odor of old sweat emanated from the cushion as his scrawny weight bore down on it.  He grabbed a glass smeared with greasy fingerprints and took a large gulp from its clear contents.

His grimace told Elisha it wasn’t water he drank.  The old man said, “You haven’t had her long enough to weaken him yet.  He can follow her trail, you know.  Scent her like a dog.  Her blood is in him, and the source of it calls.”

Sebastian looked around, as if searching for somewhere to sit.  The disgust in his face as he looked at the broken and filthy remnants of furniture that decorated the trailer mirrored Elisha’s
.  He
checked to make sure Naya wasn’t touching anything in the refuse-strewn room.

Sebastian returned his attention to the old man, having found nowhere to perch.  “What is she to have this powerful blood?”

“She is partly human, but there’s a lot of
the Old People’s
blood in her too.
  She might be as much as half elf.
”

Elisha blinked and looked for telltale signs of humor in the creased face.  He saw none.  “Elf? 
You mean t
hey’re real?”

The swamp rat took another swig from his glass.  “They were.  If there are any pureblood elves left, they’re back in the Norse country where they originated.”

Sebastian said, “That’s where Heriolf came from.”

“He knew of them from old, hunted them as a young vampire for the power they gave him.  He told me they either died out or went into hiding about seven hundred years ago.  All that’s left are mixed breeds, like her and
me
.”  He squinted at Naya.

More than one Font.  That could be very bad for the vampires.   Keeping his voice even, Elisha asked, “You are one too?”

The old man sneered at him, apparently not caring that Elisha could tear his head off without trying.  “Barely, so don’t think you’ll get a rush of power from my blood.”

Naya’s voice was quiet.  “
If I’m not pure elf either,
why is my blood so potent?”

Elisha started.  She’d pulled out of the glamour again, very quickly this time.  Sebastian gave him
a
wide-eyed
look
surprise.

The old man looked her up and down, and Elisha had to restrain the urge to punch him for it.  “Because both your parents had a hefty dose of it. 
Since
Heriolf
had fed on
so many back in Europe, he
c
an
smell elf like a shark scents a drop of blood in the water.  His
past
mistake w
as that he
kill
ed
those he fed from, rather than making them immortal.
A mistake he plan
s
to rectify with you.”

“By turning me into a vampire?”

“You cannot be turned.  Drinking regularly from Heriolf will not change you into a vampire, as it does those with pure human blood. 
For someone of elf descent
,
it
only
halts the process of aging. 
Shortly after landing on America’s shores,
He
riolf
learned that with a young man w
ho had the Old B
lood.”

Elisha asked, “What happened to
that man
?”

The
elderly
wreck
emptied his glass.  “He despised Heriolf and decided he’d be better off dead than his blood slave.  So he fell on a stake he fashioned himself.
”  He laughed without humor.  “You have to appreciate the irony of an elf slave committing
vampire suicide.”

Sebastian stepped closer to the old man.  “How did Heriolf find Naya?”

“He found her parents first.  He might have taken them prisoner, except he discovered they had a child.  And he figured with them out of the way, he could keep the girl, make her a companion, woo her into letting him feed from her for all her existence.  A willing victim, you see.”

Naya mused, “So when they died in the accident—”

The old man’s harsh cackle cut her off.  “You are as naïve as you are lovely, my dear.  Their death was no accident.  Heriolf killed them
and
then had his human servants
take
you
in
.”

Elisha felt a pang for the stunned look on Naya’s face, the expression verging into a childlike vision of hurt.  “But the
people who
fostere
d me
were abusive.”

“Of course they were.  That way
Heriolf
could
come to your rescue,
become your protector,
and
make you loyal to him because he guarded you from all harm.”

Naya swayed suddenly, as if she might faint.  Elisha was at her side in an instant, holding her tight to him to keep her on her feet.  She stared up at him, her forest green eyes bright with tears, and he felt a wave of sympathy for the girl.

He couldn’t imagine the pain of discovering her life was nothing but a lie, that she’d
felt affection, if not love, for
the man who had wrecked her very existence.

“What else do I need to know about her?” Elisha asked.

“She’s partially immune to your powers.  Vampire glamour doesn’t last long on
us
.  And unless you stick your cock in someone else before you take her blood, you’ll find it hard to resist her sexually. 
Those of the Old Blood are bewitching to your kind. 
Sucking leads to fucking, whether you like her or not.” 
He leered at Naya, and Elisha wanted to punch him in the face. 
A
t least he now knew why he’d not been able to keep from ravishing the poor girl.
  Not that it lessened his shame for doing so.

Elisha said to no one, to everyone, “We’ve heard enough.”

The old man sighed.  “Good.  Go ahead and kill me now.”

Elisha shook his head.  “You have been forthcoming with the information we need.  I have no reason to take your life.”

The old man bent over, shoved some yellowed newspapers aside to reveal a plastic milk jug.  He poured more rotgut into his glass.  “It’s over anyway.  Heriolf will track her here tonight or the next.  He’ll know I told all.  I’m a dead man.”

Sebastian stared at him.  “Then leave.  Run and hide until he is dead.”

“
Heriolf won’t be destroyed
unless you kill her.  Only by making it so he can never drink from the girl again will you defeat him.”

This time the suggestion that he kill Naya made something in Elisha go sour.  And not just because she was a victim, a pawn in Heriolf’s ruthless search for power.  Elisha could feel her in
side
, as if her blood had made her a part of him.  Everything in his soul rebelled at the thought of taking her life.

“How long before Heriolf’s power fades?” he asked, turning the discussion down another avenue.

“Five nights from the last time he drank from her. 
I see you have a soft place in your heart for the poor lass, but I assure you that u
nless you kill her now he will regain her. 
Heriolf is crafty
.  H
e’s without conscience and he is determined to rule forever. 
Now either kill me or get the hell out of my home.”

They left the old man to drink himself blind.

* * * *

             
Heriolf stood in Naya’s bedroom at the large open window from which she’d been taken.  He looked over the moonlit landscape, an overgrown tangle of trees and kudzu that kept the mansion mostly hidden from the sight of the living.

Heriolf could sense her bright passage from the night befor
e … as well as the passage of another
.  Someone that had ta
sted
her blood and then taken her away.

             
He didn’t dare approach her bed.  If he knew the other had enjoyed more than Naya’s blood, he would not be able to restrain the rage that even now threatened to make him blindly destroy everything and everyone near him.  Because it was unthinkable the bastard had claimed the virginity Heriolf had coveted, had put off taking with anticipatory relish
while he raped other victims to keep his Naya pure
. 
The traitor didn’t dare.

But Heriolf couldn’t confirm that, couldn’t answer that question, not when he had to keep control so he could find Naya.  He had to find her soon, because he could feel the strength she gave him fading already and minds were becoming more difficult to read.

             
Behind him, Lyndon spoke hesitantly.  “We await your orders, my lord.”

Heriolf turned to face him and his
five
remaining guards.  He looked at each, probing their thoughts and found their loyalty remained.  It wasn’t so much loyalty to him
personally that kept them faithful
, but the knowledge that his fall would take them down too.  Their actions on his behalf these past years had made them as vulnerable to being put to final death as he, should he be made weak enough to be put in that position.

Heriolf was satisfied well enough with that.  As long as they would continue to fight for him, it mattered not why.  It was enough to know there were no conspirators among their number.  But standing framed in the open window, he believed he felt hostile eyes out there in the night, the stares of his enemies waiting to pounce on him.

To his men he vowed, “I will find her.  Let those we discover who have taken her be destroyed.  Tear their hearts out.  Cut their heads from their bodies.  Burn them to ashes so they may never rise again.”

“Yes, my lord.”  They all bowed to him.  The weight of the watching eyes outside mattered not.  He would find Naya, bind her to him forever,
and
then destroy all who would take his throne away.

Heriolf lifted into the air and floated out the window, his aide and guards following close behind.  They flew, dark birds of prey, chasing that bright trail only Heriolf could sense, the trail that would lead him to Naya.

* * * *

Elisha and Sebastian took Naya deep into the southern pine woods
.  They
land
ed
in a small clearing near a stretch of train tracks that gleamed in the bright moonlight.  She’d kept quiet during the flight, trying to come to grips with the revelations of the old man in the swamp.

Heriolf had killed her parents to get to her.  His protection was a lie.  Her life was a lie.

She barely noticed the well loved pine-scented aroma mixing with the dry leaf smell of the vampires.  The companionable groans of the boughs in the breeze, usually a sound that almost resembled friendly conversation to Naya
,
also made little impression.  She was dimly grateful for the deep pile cushion of the pine needles beneath her slippered feet.

Sebastian gave her a glance that
seemed
sympathetic.  To Elisha he said, “I should check on Heriolf to see if he’s following her trail.”

“Be careful, my friend.  Don’t let him discover you.”

The dark vampire flew off into the night.  Elisha turned to Naya, and he gently rubbed his palms over her arms. 

“I can hear everyone’s thoughts but yours.  Was Heriolf blocked from your mind as well?”

“Yes.”  The single word was an effort, dropping heavily from her numbed lips.

“I am sorry you found out the truth this way.  About your parents.  About the man you trusted as your guardian killing them.”

Anger blazed, blessedly beating back the deadening horror that had seized her.  “Are you?  Does it really matter to you?” she spat.

“It does.” 
Elisha’s
voice was as soft as the fingers now caressing her cheek.  

Naya
couldn’t help but lean into the touch, needing any kindness in the wake of the terrible revelation.  “Why?”

His eyes were
gentle
, not trying to draw her into his spell for a change.  “Maybe it’s because I’ve had your blood.  Maybe because I know the pain of losing family too.  I don’t know anything for sure when it comes to you, Naya.  You muddle my thinking.”

Before she recognized what he was about to do, he kissed her
.  H
is strong arms clos
ed
around her slight body as if he was
her
protector, not abductor.  In that wondrous embrace Naya’s nascent fury died and she melted against him.  Her fists clutched beneath his cape, gathering handfuls of his shirt and pressing him close.