Timeless (14 page)

Alexandria stomped on the bug, hearing a squishing, crunching sound as its head caved in beneath her shoe. Then she heard another, fainter sound, and she closed her eyes, reluctantly in the dank surrounds encasing her, which were obviously infested with bugs and God only knew what other unpleasant creatures, and listened. She heard the drumming of her heart beating rapidly against her ribcage. She heard D'Artagnan's boots scraping on the stony floor as he crushed another bug, or possibly something far more sinister. Then she heard another sound. The sound of metal clanking against metal. Then another sound ... the soft sound of a girl whimpering. Alexandria's eyes shot open and she shrieked just as a large spider with long furry legs dropped down onto the centre of her head like a helicopter landing on a helipad. With both hands whirling above her head like rotor blades on high speed, she attacked the spider fiercely while spinning around in circles like a crazy person, trying to escape the spider and the long wisps of its adhesive web.

Eventually, the spider fell to the ground, where it instantly met a quick death beneath the toe of D'Artagnan's leather boot. Finally, free from the web and the monstrosity of a spider, Alexandria pointed. "That way," she said breathlessly, punching a determined finger into the darkness that stretched out before them. "And, if you don't mind me saying so, if I had to choose between a can of bug spray and your sword right now, the can of bug spray would win hands down, just so you know."

"We'll see," D'Artagnan said, grabbing Alexandria's hand and walking briskly down the tunnel, which was growing darker with each passing moment, as the distance between torches increased. Alexandria squeezed D'Artagnan's hand tighter. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you," he offered, noticing the nervous frown deepening on Alexandria's forehead. "I'm quite adept when it comes to saving damsels in distress ... with my sword," he added quickly, slicing through fingers of abandoned cobwebs. The sound of their shoes on the stony floor amplified in the long, narrow tunnel.

Deeper into the tunnel, the path took a sharp turn to the left, bringing them face to face with a heavy timber door.

"I hope you have a spell up your sleeve for unlocking doors,
Mademoiselle
," D'Artagnan said, studying the bothersome-looking brass lock on the door.

Alexandria let go of his hand, rested her palm against the door and pushed, surprised when the door creaked open a few inches.

D'Artagnan's eyebrows shot up, impressed by her talents. "That was very good," he said admiringly, pushing the door further open. He took a step into the pitch-black room. "Perhaps you could provide some illumination as quickly as you unlocked the door?" he asked.

"It wasn't me," she said, shrugging, a little disappointed. "The door wasn't locked.

"Wait here," D'Artagnan said. "I'll just go back down the tunnel and—"

A torch on the wall burst brightly into flame, bathing the long rows of empty wine racks in a flickering, ghostlike glow. "Now that was me," Alexandria beamed triumphantly.

"Well done, little witch," D'Artagnan said, an impressed expression animating his face.

Alexandria moved deeper into the room. "Is there anyone in here?" she whispered, pausing to listen for answers in the shadows. Nothing. "Hello. Are you in here? We are here to help you," she said, louder this time.

D'Artagnan sheathed his sword. "I don't think we're in the right place. I don't think anyone is in here."

Alexandria heard the clinking sound from earlier, and followed it into the shadows. "Is anyone in here?" she asked again, quickly brushing cobwebs out of her hair.

D'Artagnan grabbed the burning torch on the wall, and walked over to Alexandria, the fiery glow of the torch blooming around them, and there, hanging like a shackled rag doll on the wall, was an unconscious girl who, Alexandria thought with a sudden sadness, looked to be only a year or two older than herself.

"Help her," Alexandria shouted, rushing to the girl and hugging her around the waist, trying to share the burden of her weight.

D'Artagnan shoved the burning torch into an empty sconce on the wall, then tried to pull the chains out of the wall. "I can't do it," he said after a moment. "I'm not strong enough."

Alexandria struggled with the girl's dead weight. "Can't you cut through them with your sword or something?"

He shook his head. "We need the key. That's the only way these manacles are coming off."

The girl lifted her head a fraction, then let it fall against Alexandria's shoulder.

"I can't hear you," Alexandria whispered. "Say it again."

The girl's lips, cracked and swollen, moved again against Alexandria's ear.

"Over there," Alexandria said, motioning with her elbow. "There is a key over there somewhere, hanging on the wall."

D'Artagnan snatched the torch out of the holder, leaving the girls in darkness, then darted across to the opposite wall, his hands moving quickly over the stony surface, searching.

"Hurry," Alexandria shouted. "We have to get her out of here. I don't think she can hang on much longer."

D'Artagnan moved faster along the wall. A second later, something tore into his hand and he shone the torch on the wall. A large brass ring with a key hung on an old rusty nail jutting out of the wall. "I've got it," he said, lifting it off the nail and rushing back to Alexandria and the girl. He returned the torch to the sconce, then quickly unlocked the manacles at the girl's wrists and ankles, freeing her. "I've got her," he said, lifting the girl into his arms.

"Okay," Alexandria said. "Now how the hell do we get out of here?"

The white wolf stirred, alerted by a sound only he could hear coming from the woods. His ears pricking, he stood, listening and sniffing the air.

"What can you hear?" Kat asked, watching the wolf bound across the clearing and into the tall trees bordering the Witchwood property. "What, no goodbye?" she said, as he disappeared into the darkness off the woods.

"I should have known you'd be involved in this mess somehow," Nina said, her closed parasol swinging from her hand, the fair-haired runaway traipsing along after her like a lost puppy. "Sit," she ordered the man, poking him with her parasol. The man dropped obediently to the ground by her feet. She tapped him on the head unaffectionately. "Good boy. Stay." She hooked the parasol in the crook of her arm.

Kat stood up, still clutching D'Artagnan's hat firmly against her chest. A trickle of blood ran down the fair-haired man's throat. Kat stared from the man back to Nina. "Did you," she waved a hand towards his throat, "feed on him?" she asked curiously.

Nina scowled at her. "Don't be ridiculous."

Kat nodded, somewhat relieved.

"Now if he'd been Italian…" Nina said, glancing down at the man. "I do like Italian..."

Kat stared at her open-mouthed, not sure if she could believe the vampire standing in front of her. "Then what happened to his throat?" she asked, uncertain about wanting an answer one-way or the other.

"Injured running through the woods, I imagine. The smell of his blood is what attracted me to him in the first place. Of course, I knew he wasn't from around here the moment I saw him, which brings me back to my original question."

"It was actually a statement."

"What?" Nina said almost absently as she studied the newness of the brightly lighted gazebo beneath the old oak.

Kat took a breath. "You didn't ask me a question, you made a statement."

Nina shot her another warning glance.

"I'm just saying," Kat murmured, shrugging and taking a step backward. She looked at the gazebo, hoping that Alexandria and D'Artagnan would return soon, but it remained motionless.

"Where did you get that?" Nina demanded, motioning toward the pocket watch hanging around Kat's neck.

Kat grasped it protectively in her hand. "It belongs to Alexandria. We opened the portal with it. The two of us. Then that perv came out," she said, pointing accusingly at the man seated on the grass. A dreamy look drifted over Kat's face when she thought about D'Artagnan and she smiled.

Nina eyed Kat suspiciously. "So where's Alexandria now?"

Kat let go of the pocket watch and pointed toward the gazebo. "In there," she said. "But don't worry, she'll be quite safe. D'Artagnan is with her…" she drifted off, imaging how it would feel to have his hands on her.

"D'Artagnan? From the musketeers?" Nina asked. "How interesting."

Kat nodded enthusiastically. "Do you know him?" she asked dreamily.

"All the pretty girls know D'Artagnan."

"Isn't he the most gorgeous being to ever walk the—"

Nina rolled her eyes. "Yes, the most gorgeous thing … now snap out of it, stupid, and pull yourself together. Tell me, what else happened?"

Kat let out a long sign, and continued. "She heard voices … Alexandria heard voices, I mean. I never heard a thing. Anyway, they went in there ... it was a portal then ... to save her. The girl, I mean. To save the girl from ... well, I'm not sure from what, exactly, but Alexandria said—"

"Please stop blabbering," Nina said. "I need to think and I can't do that with you blabbering on like a lovesick schoolgirl."

"But I am a school—"

Nina shot her another steely glare.

Kat nodded. "Yes. Right. It is probably best I just stop talking." The pocket watch around her neck began to whirl. "It does that sometimes," Kat explained.

"Yes, I'm sure it does," Nina replied, walking back and forth for a moment, then said, "Give me your hand."

"What?" Kat asked, screwing up her face.

"Your hand. Give it to me."

"Why?" Kat whined.

Nina held out her hand. "You'll give me your hand if you want to see Alexandria again."

"What are you going to do with it? My hand, I mean," Kat asked, imagining Nina lifting her palm to her lips, her fangs growing long and sharp, then biting into her flesh.

"What about D'Artagnan? You want to see him again, don't you?"

Kat shook the images of Nina drinking her blood from her thoughts, and grasped Nina's hand. "Of course I want to see him again. Both of them. What do I need to do?"

"You can shut up, for a start."

"Can do," Kat said, then snapped her mouth shut, squirming at the coldness of Nina's hand. D'Artagnan's hand would be warm and caressing, she mused, sighing inwardly.

"For goodness’ sake, will you stop squirming, or would you like me to make you?" Nina hissed.

Kat froze.

The gazebo began to spin, slowly at first, then faster, until it began to shimmer brightly.

The fair-haired man stood up silently behind Nina and Kat, then turned on his heel and ran back toward the forest.

Kat spotted the running man out of the corner of her eye and spun around. "He's getting away."

"Forget him," Nina spat, pulling Kat back around to face the whirling orb. "I'll worry about him later. Right now, Alexandria needs us to help get her back. Now concentrate."

"And D'Artagnan," Kat added firmly.

Chapter 14 – Lavender, Speedwell & Rose.

Kat pushed open the back door of Witchwood just as Mindy and Andrew were walking through the front door.