Winter's Light (19 page)

‘I’m all good,’ Winter replied, unsure whether or not Elena was trying to be funny. There didn’t seem to be any hint of humour in the woman’s coldly beautiful features. As they backed down the driveway, she dared a look back at Sam, arching her right eyebrow quizzically. He shrugged in response, seeming to find Elena’s hostility towards Winter amusing.

She sighed. This was going to be a long journey.

‘Put on your seatbelt,’ Elena said, jerking the car into gear. She only had a second to comply before Elena stamped down the accelerator, pinning Winter to her seat. Soon they were careening through the heart of town towards Owl Mountain and the exit to the freeway. Just as Winter was beginning to think that Benedict might be the lesser danger when compared to Elena’s reckless driving, she happened to look up and notice the position of the sun.

In the brief time they’d stood talking on the front lawn, the sun had drifted further towards the mountain. It seemed eager to be hidden from sight, sinking quickly. Too quickly.

Chapter 30

Illuminated by the twin headlights, the road flowed out of the night and beneath their car, twisting and turning like a grey river. The last car Winter had seen passed them more than half an hour ago and since then they’d travelled this route alone. Through the passenger window, black hills swelled against the starry sky. There were no house lights to be seen, no glow of civilisation on the horizon. No signs of life. Just a queasy darkness that seemed eager to push up against the car windows and steal inside.

Winter had no idea where they were, and only the vaguest sense that they were travelling east, away from the ocean. They’d pulled off the freeway just before Shereneck after glimpsing an ominous trail of red tail-lights receding into the distance ahead of them. Scanning the radio, they’d caught a news broadcast announcing the details of an accident further along the freeway. A semi-trailer had jackknifed, spilling its goods (non-toxic apparently) across all four lanes and bringing traffic to a halt. It might be hours before the lanes would open up again.

Luckily, there was an exit before they hit the bulk of the traffic and Elena had made the executive decision to take it, estimating it would be quicker to detour through the country and join the freeway later on, rather than risk sitting in traffic for the next couple of hours. It seemed like a logical choice at the time, though now they were far away from the hum of the freeway and the company of other cars, Winter felt uneasy.

This dark road could be leading them anywhere. Elena seemed confident she knew where it was taking them, but she was a foreigner and hadn’t once stopped to refer to a map. Winter hoped Elena’s internal compass was better than her own.

In the backseat, Sam continued to snore softly. He’d fallen asleep shortly after they hit the freeway. One minute he’d been sitting up straight, talking about the last time he’d seen his aunt five years ago and the next he was sprawled out over the two seats, head lolling against the window, a trickle of drool running from the corner of his mouth.

‘You read about the creature, yes? Yuri told me of his diary,’ Elena said, abruptly breaking the silence and gesturing to Sam’s notebook lying on her lap. Winter had only glanced cursorily at the book, unable to concentrate because of her anxiety.

‘His name is Blake.’

Elena glanced at her from the corner of her eye. In the blue dashboard glow her tattoo looked like a spidery black tear stain.

‘You cared for him.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘It’s none of your business,’ Winter answered stiffly.

Elena’s left eyebrow lifted slightly. ‘Here you are putting yourself in the hands of those you don’t trust. Travelling halfway round the world, facing a danger you can’t possibly comprehend. And for what? For love?’

The scornful way Elena phrased the last bit infuriated Winter even more. She was about snap back when she realised that this was precisely what Elena was trying to do. Just like Yuri, she was enjoying goading her into an argument. Instead, Winter said quietly, ‘Yes.’

Elena’s arched eyebrow relaxed and the woman adopted a thoughtful expression. ‘You are not the first to fall in love with a Dark Traveller. They have a . . . glamour about them that is difficult to resist.’

It was now Winter’s turn to look at her curiously. ‘You sound like you’re speaking from experience.’

A small frown creased Elena’s forehead, a single line marring her perfect face. ‘There was a time when I thought I loved a man. Stephan. He came to my village as a teacher. He was tall and had long black hair down to his shoulders. Like a girl. A beautiful girl. Except for his mouth which was strong.’

‘He was a Demori?’ Winter prompted when Elena stopped. She was much less irritated at Elena’s sardonic nature now, the woman’s story was too intriguing.

‘He had green eyes. Unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I looked into those eyes and I was gone. Lost.’

Winter knew the feeling well. Remembering that first day she’d lain in Blake’s arms in the church clearing, she felt a wave of heat suffuse her body and was grateful the weak dashboard light hid her face.

‘He courted me for two weeks,’ Elena continued, her tone hardening. ‘A game they like to play. There is no sport in a kill without seduction.’ She glanced over again. Winter kept her expression neutral, not letting Elena’s words provoke a reaction.

Sam stirred, mumbling something unintelligible. Both of them waited to see if he would wake up and when he didn’t Elena resumed speaking.

‘One day Stephan took me to a spot outside of town. Near a lake. A surprise picnic. Foolishly, I thought he meant to propose to me. Only two weeks and I was ready to be his forever. No, I lie,’ she paused, a humourless smile twitching the corner of her mouth. ‘I was his from the first day. The first minute. The first moment those eyes found mine.’ She fell silent, drifting on the currents of memory. ‘He would have had me then, taken my life, taken my soul, if it weren’t for Yuri. He’d been following us, following Stephan anyway. Yuri and the Bonnaires saved me.’

Winter wasn’t so sure about that, but kept her misgivings to herself. At least she now understood the nature of Yuri and Elena’s relationship. He’d saved her life and she’d rewarded him with love. Or if not love then enough gratitude to be his wife. Either way the bond between them had been cemented with the death of a Demori.

‘Your tattoo,’ Winter said, taking advantage of the small crack in Elena’s icy façade to ask a question that had been plaguing her since they’d first met. ‘What does it mean?’

Elena’s eyes, which had clouded over at the memory of Stephan, suddenly grew clear again. Her expression hardened.

‘It is not a tattoo. These are —’ She broke off, distracted by something on the road. ‘What is that?’

Chapter 31

Following Elena’s frown, Winter only just caught the streak of white as it flew through the darkness ahead. A rabbit, perhaps? No, it was far too big to be a rabbit.

‘It looked like a —’ another animal darted through the glow of the headlights, ‘— cat,’ she finished, breaking out in goosebumps. Something was wrong. One cat running across a deserted road in the middle of nowhere might not have been weird, but
two
? She was about to warn Elena when another cat materialised out of the darkness, this one alarmingly close.

‘No!’ Winter cried out as Elena wrenched the car to the left, swerving away from the cat and sending them off the gravel onto the grass shoulder. Winter was thrown painfully forwards then backwards, the seatbelt biting into her chest before the station wagon skidded to a juddering halt. A troubling ticking sound came from the engine.

‘Is everyone okay?’ Her heart was pounding and there was an acid taste in the back of her mouth, but she wasn’t badly hurt.

Elena was pressing her right palm tightly against her forehead, her gaze a little unfocused. At some point her head must have hit the steering wheel.

‘I . . . yes. I’m okay,’ Elena answered, her voice trembling.

‘Is the car damaged?’

Even in her semi-shocked state, Winter knew they should be moving. As long as they stayed motionless, danger threatened. She could feel this danger gathering strength in the air about them, like a storm ready to erupt.

Elena shook her head. ‘No. I think – I think the immobiliser cut the engine when the keys were knocked loose.’

Winter didn’t know what an immobiliser was but hoped Elena was right.

‘What the hell happened?’ Sam said groggily from the back. Winter swivelled in her seat, wincing as her neck muscles twanged, a result of the whiplash. Sam was blinking at her in confusion, rubbing his broken arm with his left hand.

‘Are you hurt?’

Sam nodded with a half-smile. ‘I think I broke my arm.’

Winter relaxed a little. If he could joke he couldn’t be too badly injured.

‘Did you see them?’ Elena asked her.

‘The cats?’ Winter didn’t like her dazed expression. How hard had she hit her head? ‘Yes, I saw them,’ she answered slowly but firmly so Elena would understand the urgency in her tone. ‘Don’t worry about the cats. We have to get going. Now. Can you drive?’

It took Elena a few seconds longer before the fog finally left her eyes. ‘Yes – yes, of course. We must keep going.’

‘What’s the matter, Win?’ Sam asked, worry creeping into his tone.

‘We saw . . .’ she began to answer him but trailed off when his face paled.

‘Sam? What’s going —’

Her blood ran cold as a shadow skittered across his face. Whirling around, Winter saw a cat on the bonnet of the station wagon. Not just one – two. Now three. Four! More cats joined the group, a steady stream, materialising out of the long grass.

‘Start the car,’ Winter said too loudly. Why hadn’t they driven away by now? In her periphery, she noticed Elena fumbling around.

‘The keys!’ she cried out in frustration. ‘They fell to the floor. I can’t —!’

‘Find them quickly!’ Winter impulsively moved back in her seat away from the windshield. The entire bonnet now groaned beneath the weight of a dozen or so cats, with still more heaped on top, crawling over their brothers and sisters in an effort to get closer to the glass.

Above them the ceiling thumped – a small depression forming. They were on top of the car! Glancing fearfully out the window she saw more cats circling past the front wheels. The air rang with their whining, broken voices, rising in pitch as the cats grew more agitated. They wanted to get inside.

‘Got them!’ Elena said triumphantly, raising her head from the car floor. Her face fell when she saw the cats squashed up against the glass, a seething mass of fur and claws and shining eyes. There was a cracking sound as the windshield began to yield to the weight of the animals. Jagged lines etched their way down from the corners.

‘Just drive already!’ Sam shouted. Winter heard him scrabbling around in his duffle bag, followed by the sound of the crossbow clicking as he loaded.

‘I’ll hurt them,’ Elena protested, the note of genuine concern in her voice baffling. The idea of running over a bunch of cats made Winter’s stomach turn, but the situation was dangerous and they needed to escape.

‘I don’t care! Squash ’em!’ Sam clearly shared her self-preservation instinct.

‘There is another way,’ Elena said with quiet confidence. Confused, Winter watched Elena close her eyes. After a few seconds she opened them again, staring at the cats through the windshield with a startling new intensity.

What was especially odd, the cats – the ones whose heads were visible amidst the tangled limbs and swishing tails – stared back. Held in Elena’s gaze, the twitching mass grew still. Multiple pairs of glinting eyes rolled towards Elena in unison. She began to murmur in Russian, words Winter didn’t understand but they affected her all the same. The words twisted inside her mind like snakes, making her feel dizzy.

Sam cried out, ‘Whatever you’re doing, do it faster!’

Tearing her gaze away from Elena, Winter looked back and gasped.

Benedict had arrived. He was standing further down the road, staring at them through the rear window’s dust-covered glass. A slow smile spread across his face as he watched Sam frantically try to manoeuvre himself into a firing position. The Demori’s shining emerald eyes darted from Sam to Winter, and his smile faded. Benedict’s expression became animated with a frightening, animalistic hunger. Trapped in his gaze, Winter heard his voice in her head, whispering the promise,
You will be mine
.

Slowly, Benedict began to approach the car, taking his time, savouring the kill. Winter turned to Elena in a panic, ready to rip the keys from her hand and take the wheel. But she froze in shock – something astonishing was happening. The cats were leaving. The heaving pile of fur and claws dissolved before her eyes as the cats leapt and scurried away from the windshield and off the bonnet. Elena started the car as the last cat jumped free.

‘Go! Go!’ Sam urged.

Her heart in her mouth, Winter looked back and saw Benedict almost at the car. A deep frown marred his features now he saw they were about to escape. He launched into a run, his body splashed with a red glow as the brake lights flicked on. The engine roared into life and the car lurched forward, tyres kicking up dirt.

Elena frantically spun the steering wheel, driving them back onto the road. There was no sign of the cats as they tore off into the dark.

‘He’s still coming!’ Sam warned, his attention glued to the rear window. Benedict was chasing after them over the gravel with unnatural speed, his teeth bared in an ugly snarl. Elena pressed down on the accelerator and the station wagon shot forward with renewed vigour. Mercifully, Benedict began to recede into the night, disappearing in a distant explosion of green sparks as he left the periphery of their tail-lights. Despite the fact he was no longer visible, Winter, along with Sam, continued to watch through the rear window. Her heart thudded in her chest and she felt very queasy. Any second she expected to see Benedict come flying out of the darkness and leap atop the car.

‘He is gone,’ Elena said, eyes flicking up to the rearview mirror. Her cheeks were flushed pink but apart from that she didn’t look too rattled by the experience. Sam lowered the crossbow, swivelling around to face the front again. Winter felt the car slow as Elena eased off the accelerator.

‘That doesn’t mean we should slow down,’ Winter said, growing alarmed again. Benedict moved with terrifying speed.

‘Either that or we run out of gas,’ Elena replied with a shrug.

Sam lent forward through the gap between the front seats, trying to see the dashboard. ‘Is there a chance of that happening?’

Winter watched Elena check the fuel gauge twice, as though she wasn’t sure she’d read it correctly the first time.

‘Probably not.’ It was a less than encouraging response.

‘Great! That’s just great.’ Winter slumped backwards in her seat, staring worriedly at the road ahead.

She could just see it now – the engine spluttering as the fuel tank ran dry and the car rolling to a stop in the middle of nowhere. The wave of cats would descend upon them again followed by Benedict, only this time he wouldn’t waste time gloating over the kill. He would peel the roof off the car like it was a can of tuna and scoop them out one by one. Thinking about the cats, Winter shuddered – all those hairy bodies pressing against the car trying to get in. She shot Elena a curious look. ‘What happened back there? With the cats.’

Elena hesitated before answering. ‘You asked about the mark on my face. It’s not a tattoo, but a brand. I received it when I was a small child.’ Her voice thickened slightly with an emotion that might have been anger. ‘My father gave it to me. When he discovered I was . . . different.’

‘Different how?’

‘He caught me one day talking to our cat, Yaga.’

Winter shrugged. ‘So, what’s weird about that? Kids talk to their pets all the time.’

‘True. Except Yaga talked back to me.’ Elena paused, smirking at Winter’s confused frown.

‘In my village, behaving in such a way is considered blasphemous. An affront to God. My father was a pious man, he would have killed me if not for my mother. She begged him to let me live. So he branded me instead with the sign of the
vyed’ma
.’

‘
Vyed’ma
?’ Winter’s frown deepened at the vaguely sinister-sounding Russian word. ‘What does that mean?’

Elena’s eyes never left the road.

‘Witch.’