The Geomancer (45 page)

“You're awake?” He leaned over the bed.

Adele started to stretch, but aches shot through her legs and shoulder. Still, it was merely pain. She could heal from that. “Where's the Tear?”

Gareth pointed toward the windowsill, where a small lump rested wrapped in cloth and tied with twine. She reached out for it, so he handed it to her. She held it for a moment, feeling the hard edges under the rag. She was careful not to touch any part of the stone that might show through. While her fingers tingled, she didn't feel the terrifying disassociation that the Tear of Death caused when she touched it with bare skin. She would have to find a safe place for this object; a place only she knew. Perhaps there was a chamber in the Great Pyramid where she could hide it, and then seal it in. Until then, Adele would keep it close no matter how frightening it was to her.

“You've been asleep for two days,” Gareth said.

“Have I?” She sat up into the sunlight. “Have you been here that entire time?”

“Where else should I be?”

It brought a renewed sense of peace to her. She looked past him toward the window. “What's happened out there?”

He knelt in front of her. “The city is back under Lothaire and Caterina's control, more or less. Hallow has disappeared. Flay is gone, but she took nearly half the packs with her.” He lifted her face and looked deeply into her eyes, searching for something. “The Witchfinder's attack wasn't absolute. They're estimating nearly seventy-five percent casualties in Rotherford's army and among the humans for many miles south of Paris. Survivors of your army are retreating. Lothaire guaranteed their safety back to Lyon. Not that he could've sent more than a few hundred against them in any case.”

Adele groaned with the memory of climbing into the tower of Notre Dame after Goronwy's death and surveying the vast field of death to the south.

“Don't blame yourself, Adele. You tried to convince the generals.”

She looked up in alarm. “What about Captain Hariri and his crew?”

“They're alive. As are many more. Thanks to you.”

“Not just me. I couldn't have accomplished anything without you and Kasteel and the rebels. Millions of humans have you and your disciples to thank for their lives, although they'll likely never know it.” Adele sank back against the pillow. “That will be no comfort for the families across the empire when they find their sons and husbands and brothers have been killed.” She pressed his hand into her cheek. “We'll have to return to Alexandria immediately. Simon and General Anhalt can't be left to deal with this disaster. The sooner I can get a ship back the better.”

“Yes.” Gareth seemed hesitant and nervous.

“What's wrong?” Adele asked, searching his face. She attempted to move to the side of the bed, intent on standing up.

“Nothing is wrong.” He calmed her with a gentle touch. “You need to rest, to heal.”

“Just tell me what's the matter. Has something else happened while I lay here in a stupor?”

Gareth smiled at her and shook his head. “No, nothing has happened. I'm merely wondering if it is possible that we could delay our departure for Alexandria for a week?”

Adele paused. “We could, I suppose. Why?”

Gareth twisted his head as if making a decision. “I'd like to work with Kasteel. Just for a brief while, you understand. Help him. A week at most and we can go.”

Adele sighed in relief. “Of course. Stay here. It's important that you do. Take what time you need. I can go ahead to Alexandria. What I have to do there is no work for the Greyfriar in any case.” She smiled back at him. “So you think there might be something to Kasteel and his rebels?”

Gareth shrugged. “I don't know. But I
want
to know.”

“Good.” Adele walked slowly to a table, where she found some fresh bread and several green pears, obviously brought in by Gareth in case she awakened. Her stomach rumbled. “Teach them well. Your Holiness.”

“Hardly. I have no idea what I can do, but . . .” Gareth let the words drift away. He stared out the window. “I won't be a week at most, trust me.”

“Take the time you need. I'll miss you but I'll be very busy. The nation will be mourning the men lost here. And I have a great deal of work to do on geomancy. I just can't leave it to develop on its own; look what happened with Goronwy. I've got to plan and organize.”

Gareth went back to the desk and held up a small sheaf of papers. “I have something for you to read on the voyage.”

Adele paused with a chunk of bread in her hand. Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “Is it . . . ?”

He handed the sheets to her.

With a wide grin, Adele looked at the top page full of his recognizable handwriting:
My name is Gareth. I am the son of Dmitri. I was born south of Kiliwhimin in the Great Glen of Scotland. My father taught me to hunt humans and drink their blood. That is WHAT I am.

She turned to the next page to see a crumpled photograph of her and Gareth arm in arm. It was the picture she had taken in London and then ripped apart. Gareth had apparently collected the pieces and saved them all this time. He had pinned the two halves, creased and worn, together on the page to reform their first photograph as a couple. The picture still showed her looking haggard but happy standing beside Gareth in his unnatural state.

Below the repaired picture were the lines:
But this is WHO I am. This is who WE are.

Gareth took the page from her hand and held it out to stare at the photo. “Here is the evidence you sought all those months prowling our kirkyard with your camera. This is proof of what you've wrought and it's only a hint of what you're capable of. It's not about the Death Bringer or the Empress of the End. It has nothing to do with your magic. It's you, Adele. You will change the world because you accept the impossible.”

Blinking back sudden tears, Adele threw her arms around him. Through the window behind Gareth, Paris was coming back to life. Humans emerged from hiding while dark shapes flitted over the city.

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to our readers who wanted more Vampire Empire.

And thanks to Rene Sears—editor, colleague, and friend—who helped us to give our readers more Adele and Gareth.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHORS

Clay and Susan Griffith met at a bookstore thanks to
Uncanny X-Men
#201. They got married because of a love of adventure stories featuring heroes who both save the day and fall in love. Soon they were writing stories together. After years cowriting television scripts, comics, short stories, and novels, they remain happily married. When not writing or talking about writing, Clay and Susan are watching classic movies, playing Warcraft, and struggling to entertain the cat.

They still have that copy of
Uncanny X-Men
#201.

Photo by Vivian Cronin