Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) (53 page)

           
I found a lot of interesting things in the shop—a Russian antiques store was very different from an American one.
 
And one item in particular caught my eye—a necklace.

           
Lying in a glass case was a slender silver chain with a graceful pendant—it appeared to be a stylized figure of a woman.
 
I asked to see it.

           
The figure was indeed that of a woman, and it seemed to be made of iron just like the charm William had given me.
 
The rendering of the woman was more elegant than my cross, but I wondered if it might offer the same protection against the kost.
 
Of course, we were dealing with a kost hybrid now, rather than a regular kost, and I was unsure whether charms of this type had any effect on such a creature.

           
And it was entirely possible that the necklace had no special properties at all.
 
But I figured any protection this charm might potentially offer would be worth it.
 
GM was very attached to her own cross.
 
But maybe she would wear this necklace too.

           
The pendant turned out to be inexpensive, and I bought it.
 
I also stopped and bought a powerful flashlight in a hardware store.
 
Then I rode home.

           
I had lunch first, and then I searched the house for wrapping paper.
 
I was lucky enough to find some in the attic, and I wrapped up my little box and placed it under our tree.

           
I stood back then and gazed for a little while at our decorated tree.
 
The moment was so peaceful and so pleasant that it was hard for me to believe that there were horrors waiting for me—horrors that hid during the day and crept forth in the night.

           
It was those very horrors that I would have to go out to meet tonight.

           
GM came home not long after I had wrapped her present, and then time seemed to speed up—the rest of the day flew by.

           
All too soon the sun set, and I found myself staring out the window in the back door—it was the same door that Timofei Mstislav had stared at so steadily on the previous night.
 
At any moment, I expected him to show up at our house to resume his grim vigil.

           
I knew he couldn't come in, but I didn't want GM to see him.
 
I didn't want to see him myself for that matter.
 
There was something inherently evil and unnatural in his shuffling yet powerful body that made him horrible to look at, even when he wasn't actively attacking.

           
And if he did show up, I wasn't sure how I was going to get out of the house to find to Innokenti.
 
I was not at all confident that I could get past Timofei Mstislav.

           
I continued to watch, but he did not appear.

           
I wondered how long my luck would last.

           
"What are you looking for, Solnyshko?" GM asked, frowning at me.
 
"You have been standing there for a very long time."

           
"Nothing.
 
Nothing at all," I said.
 
I wasn't sure I sounded convincing.

           
"Well, come away from the door.
 
It's time for dinner."

           
I ate, but I couldn't really taste anything, and I tried not to let myself think that this could be the last time I would ever have dinner with GM.

           
You have to survive at least till Christmas morning
, I told myself.
 
You have to give GM her present.
 
It's only three more days
.

           
I smiled a little at my own joke and tried harder to appear normal and unconcerned.

           
"The Firebird Festival is tomorrow night," GM said.
 
"If it is still what it used to be, it should be a beautiful, joyous celebration.
 
Would you like to go?"

           
I agreed to go, but I had a feeling that I did so a little too enthusiastically, as my reply caused GM to give me a very strange look.
 
But she didn't make any comment, and she seemed pleased that I wanted to go.

           
I supposed we talked after that, but at some point I had stopped listening.
 
It seemed to me that dinner passed by very quickly, and so did the rest of the evening.
 
Before I knew it, I was climbing the stairs to go to bed.

           
In a way, it was a relief to go to my room—it meant I could watch out my window for the arrival of Timofei Mstislav.
 
There was no doubt in my mind that he would return tonight.
 
But mercifully, he did not appear.

           
All too soon, I heard GM come up the stairs and settle in.
 
I knew that as soon as the house grew quiet, I would have to go out into the night.
 
I would have to find Innokenti while avoiding the vampires that were after me.
 
And if I succeeded in finding Innokenti and further succeeded in securing his help, I would have to go confront Timofei.
 
Because I knew he would never stop hunting me.

           
Don't go to sleep just yet, GM
, I prayed.
 
Stay up a few moments longer
.

           
But the house lapsed into silence, and I slipped out into the night.
 
The house, the yard, the street were all quiet.
 
There was still no sign of Timofei.

           
Even so, I was shaking as I climbed on my bicycle and rode in the direction of the Pure Woods.

           
The night was clear and cold and seemed somehow unnaturally still, as if the night itself were waiting with bated breath to see whether I would live or die.

           
I told myself not to think like that.

           
I kept riding and riding until I reached the vast expanse of the Wasteland.
 
I stopped then to turn on my flashlight—I would be out of range of the village's artificial light very soon.
 
I would go back to the Pure Woods and the stone circle.
 
I would try to find Innokenti from there.

           
My flashlight did not illuminate the road ahead of me quite as far as I would have liked, so I was forced to go more slowly as I rode on.
 
I stopped frequently, too, to send the beam from my flashlight sweeping out in an arc over the Wasteland.

           
I didn't want anyone sneaking up on me from that quarter.

           
I had just finished my latest sweep, when a flutter of movement caught my eye.
 
I felt panic rising in me, but I forced myself to swing the light back in the direction of the movement.

           
I drew in my breath sharply when I realized what was moving—there was no mistaking what I had seen.

           
There was a man, not far away, crossing the Wasteland.

           
Even though he was moving away from me, I knew exactly who it was.

           
It was William.

Chapter 20.

I jumped off the bicycle and let it drop to the side.
 
The terrain of the Wasteland appeared to be rough, and I figured that the bike would only slow me down.
 
In any event, William wasn't far away.

           
He was moving quickly, but surely I could catch him.

           
I ran across the blighted plain toward him.

           
"William!" I cried.
 
"William!"

           
But he did not turn around.

           
He continued to move ahead swiftly, and I ran after him, keeping him in the beam of my flashlight.
 
I never took my eyes off of him—I was sure of that, but without warning, he suddenly vanished.

           
I stopped and swung my flashlight around in an arc and back again.

           
William was nowhere to be seen.

           
I ran toward the spot where I had just seen him a moment before.
 
A tiny voice in my head warned me that this could be a trap—what if someone was showing me what I wanted to see?
 
But I ignored the voice and kept going.

           
"William!" I cried.
 
"Where are you?"

           
Just when I thought that I must have overshot the spot on which William had last stood, I felt a tingle run through my entire body, as if I had just run through a field of electricity.

           
The air around me rippled, and I suddenly found myself standing on a cobblestone street.
 
I spun around in disbelief.

           
The Wasteland had disappeared.

           
In its place was a narrow, poorly lit street lined by dingy houses.
 
I saw to my shock that a dark castle rose in the distance.

           
I was positive that none of what was before me had been here a moment ago.

           
And William was nowhere to be seen.

           
I took a few tentative steps forward, and my footsteps sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet street.

           
"William?" I whispered.
 
I had a feeling that this was not a place where it would be a good idea to make my presence generally known.

           
All the same, I didn't want to go back to the Wasteland.
 
I was positive I had seen William, and if there was any chance that I could be with him again—even for a moment—I had to take it.

           
And at the moment, everything seemed safe enough.
 
No one had pounced on me when I'd stumbled into this place—whatever it was.
 
In fact, the street before me seemed to be completely deserted.

           
I moved forward, clutching my flashlight.
 
I walked along the street, until it dead-ended in a building.
 
Then I turned onto the street that ran perpendicular to it.
 
I continued on, on zigzagging streets, into what appeared to be a town of some kind.

           
I decided to make my way to the castle in the distance.

           
I soon realized that the place was not as deserted as I had thought.
 
Shadows glided past me, and then melted back into the greater darkness.
 
Eyes peered at me from dingy windows and from around corners, and then disappeared.

           
I was just passing a row of shabby houses, when a door opened in one of them, and a young woman with golden curls looked out.
 
I turned my flashlight on her, and she drew back into her doorway in alarm.
 
I lowered my flashlight.

           
She looked out again, and she smiled at me shyly.

           
"I've not seen you here before."
 
The girl's voice was soft and musical.
 
"Are you lost, little one?"

           
I was wary of the girl before me.
 
I knew only too well that a pretty, innocent face could hide a heart full of treachery.
 
But the girl seemed awkward and a bit frightened herself.

           
"I'm looking for a friend of mine," I said.
 
"I saw him come in here.
 
Then he seemed to vanish."

           
The girl blinked, and a look of fear suffused her young features.
 
"He isn't a vampire, is he?
 
There are a lot of them around here."

           
"Well, yes, he is—kind of," I said.

           
The girl's eyes widened, and she drew back.

           
She moved to close the door.

           
"No—wait.
 
Don't go," I said.

           
She hesitated for a moment.
 
"Are you a vampire?"

           
"No," I said.

           
The girl stepped tentatively out onto her doorstep.