Zen and the Art of Vampires (18 page)

“The Brotherhood people you ran away from?” Magda asked, smiling at Ulfur.

Interest sparked in his eyes as he smiled back.

“Yes.” I straightened up and realized just how exhausted I was. No food and no sleep were quickly taking their toll.

“But you said that your vampire husband told you that they'd kill you when they find out you married him.”

“That's why I'm not going to tell them. All right, everyone, thank you for your hard work. I don't believe we're going to find out anything else here, however. I think it would be best if you all went into low-watt mode and stayed here in the library where you're safe.”

“Stay here?” Karl strode toward us, Marta at his side. “Shouldn't we go with you? In case you need us?”

There was an assenting murmur from all the other ghosts.

“No, I think you'll be safer here than with the Brotherhood people, at least until I know what sort of a reception I'll receive.”

“But—” Karl looked around at the others. “The Ilargi could find us. He could steal our souls while you're gone.”

“You've all managed to hang on to your souls for eighty years or more,” I pointed out gently. “I think you can handle one more night on your own.”

“I don't know, Pia,” Magda said, frowning at the computer screen. She'd taken Dagrun's place and was, I could see, conducting several Web searches. She pointed at a page containing a message forum. “This person here says that the soul eaters are attracted to an area by the light of the Aurora. Didn't you say that's another name for Zorya?”

“Yes,” I said slowly. “But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I only just took the job. I haven't had time to send out whatever cosmic Zorya signals there are.”

Magda eyed me for a moment before turning to Ulfur. “When did you first see the soul eater?”

“Three nights ago,” Old Agda answered. “He came to our village, sniffing around, but we were hidden in the cave and he didn't find us.”

“Three nights,” Magda repeated, her gaze back on me. “That's when we landed in Reykjavík.”

“Purest coincidence,” I said. “I wasn't Zorya then.”

“No, but you said the woman who was killed had a sister who was Zorya. When was she killed?”

“I don't know,” I said, suddenly uncomfortable. “She just said that her sister died recently, and she was called in to be the replacement Zorya.”

“Hmm,” Magda said, tapping her lip as she thought. “The Brotherhood people and the vampires hate each other. The Brotherhood killed your husband's girlfriend.”

“He's not really my husband,” I started to protest, but was shushed to silence.

“For all intents and purposes he is. They killed his girlfriend a couple of years ago, right? I'm sorry, but it's looking more and more like he, or your lover Alec, probably killed your Zorya friend.” She paused for a moment, then looked up at me. “Is there anything to say they didn't take out the previous Zorya as well? Anniki's sister, that is?”

I shook my head, my gut tight at the thought of Alec being involved in anything so heinous.

“So let's assume that just as the Brotherhood are picking off the vamps, so your hubby and his buddy are picking off the Zoryas. First your friend's sister—do we know where she was killed?”

“Here, I assume.”

“Gotcha. So Anniki arrives to take over as Zorya, and then your husband-to-be and his handsome friend show up. You don't think they're from here, either?”

“No, I'm pretty sure they're not. Their car was a rental—I saw the tag on the key chain.”

“So they show up, probably hot on the trail of the new Zorya, and at the same time, a whatchamacallit, Ilarki?”

“Ilargi.”

“Ilargi is seen sniffing around the local dead people.” Her eyes met mine, her gaze serious. “Pia, I hate to tell you this, but I think your husband is doing more than sucking blood.”

I stared at her in growing horror. “You think
Kristoff
is an Ilargi?”

Gasps reverberated off the walls of the library. A low murmur of concern started up as I tried to process that thought.

“Look at the facts. One, he wants to stop the Brotherhood. What better way to make them obsolete than to destroy the reason for their existence?”

“But they don't just exist to guide the dead. There's the whole thing about cleansing the world of evil.”

“That is recent,” she said, pointing to the screen. “According to the person here, the Brotherhood existed first solely to help dead people find their destination. It wasn't until the last five hundred years that they branched out to vampire killing.”

“But the latter seems to be their focus now. More so, I got the feeling from Anniki, than tending the dead.”

“Apples and oranges. If they don't have any dead to take care of, there's no reason for there to be Zoryas. And didn't you say something about the Zorya focusing their power?”

“Yes,” I said slowly, remembering the conversation with Kristjana. “The Zorya acts as a focal point. I didn't pay it much attention because I thought it was all a bunch of hogwash, but you may be on to something. Kristoff could have killed me if he wanted to, but another Zorya would simply take my place.”

Magda nodded. “This way, he takes you out of the running, thereby hamstringing the local group. It makes sense, especially if you couple it with him sucking down all the souls of the dead around here so there's nothing for you to do.”

“It's all conjecture,” I protested, although I had to admit I wanted to believe it. I wanted Kristoff to be the bad guy. “And it doesn't explain why they would want to kill Anniki rather than simply marry her.”

Magda sucked on her lower lip for a second. “What if she refused?”

“I refused. That did no good.”

“Exactly.” She pointed a finger at me. “What if Kristoff tried to get her to marry him, but she refused to the point that they felt there was no other option but killing her? When it came time to try the same thing on you, he was ready—you said he had friends waiting, and that he'd bribed someone.”

“Yes,” I said slowly.

“That makes sense. He learned via Anniki that he'd have to pull off some illegalities in order to get the marriage pushed through. Say what you will; he gets full credit for not wanting to kill you.”

“Thank you,” I said with a little grimace. “But we don't know that this is anything but guesswork.”

“Unfortunately, that's true. We won't know until we can find out more about Anniki and the Brotherhood.”

“Well, I'm about to do that,” I said, straightening my clothing and squaring my shoulders. “I fully intend to get some answers from the local Brotherhood group.”

“Brava, sister,” Magda said, standing.

“You really shouldn't come with me. I know you want to help, but we don't know how they're going to take my reappearance. If worse came to worst and they went ballistic, I wouldn't want you to get hurt.”

She patted me on the arm and gave me a cheerful smile. “I'm not a vampire, am I? So I'm perfectly safe. Lead on, Macduff.”

I smiled at her misquotation as we left the library, but my stomach was wadded up into a leaden ball. Magda might not be a vampire, but I was married to one.

Would I be able to get the help I needed without them finding out that fact?

“. . . and so you see, I just needed a little time to myself to sort things out. I wasn't so much running away from Mattias as I was sending out a desperate plea for a little me time.” The sentence ended lamely, about as lame as the excuse Magda and I had come up with while we walked to the north end of town, where the Brotherhood's church was located. “But I'm here now, and ready to take on my full Zorya duties. Assuming, that is, you still want me?”

Kristjana looked at me with suspicion. Mattias, behind her, had a similar look on his face, although that was gradually replaced with a relieved smile. The two were joined by a third person, a man of indeterminate years with a soft French accent, who had been introduced simply as Frederic Robert.

“I don't think they're buying it,” Magda murmured softly.

Kristjana looked even more suspicious.

I sighed. “All right, that was a big pack of lies. I'm not Anniki, and I didn't run from Mattias because I needed some time to cope with my sister's death and the awe-some responsibility of becoming the new Zorya. The truth is that I really am Pia Thomason, a tourist, just like I told you before, only Anniki and I bumped into each other, and I inadvertently got the moonstone thingie that becomes a lamp, although I later returned it to her. She said she was going to see you guys. I take it she didn't?”

Mattias shook his head.

Kristjana's eyes narrowed. Frederic looked faintly bored.

“I'm sorry to have to tell you, but she was discovered dead in my bathroom.”

“Dead?” Kristjana looked instantly suspicious.

“Yes. I didn't kill her, and I don't know who did. I promised her I would find out, though, and I mean to do just that.” I gave all the Brotherhood people a long look to let them know I meant business.

“But why would someone kill her in your bathroom?” Kristjana asked.

“I don't know that,” I admitted. “The only thing I can think of is that she wanted to see me because we'd talked earlier.”

Frederic nodded after a moment's thought. “There might be something in that. We will, naturally, wish to conduct our own inquiries.”

“I figured you would. I'm trying to stay off the local police's radar, though,” I said, hesitant to put myself in their power.

“Naturally. The Brotherhood protects its own . . . just as it takes responsibility for seeing wrongdoers punished.”

There was a warning in his voice, but I simply gave him a quick nod. “Thank you.”

“So you took the moonstone from her body?” Kristjana asked, her expression darkening.

“No. She wasn't quite dead, and before she died, she gave me the moonstone and told me I was the next Zorya, and begged me to make everything right. Since then, I've gathered up a few ghosts who want me to take them to Ostri, not that I know where that is, so I figured I'd better come here to get some help and try to do what Anniki wanted. Magda is my friend, and she came along to provide support.”

“You really are a tourist?” Mattias asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Yes. I swore to Anniki that I would take over her job, and unless you have someone else to do it, I guess I'm it.”

“It does not work that way,” Kristjana said, her voice as cold as the icy waters surrounding the island.

“That's what someone else said, but the ghosts seem to think I'm a Zorya. And the moonstone turns into a little glowy moon when I'm around them.”

“There must be a blood tie between Zoryas in order for one to succeed another.” Her words were clipped and abrupt. I definitely had the feeling she was not happy to see me in place of Anniki. “One cannot simply don the stone and become Zorya.”

“Well, I'm not related to her in any way,” I said, feeling oddly deflated. For some reason I couldn't pinpoint, I was a bit disappointed at the thought of no longer being Zorya. I was becoming fond of my little pack of ghosts, and looked forward to helping them.

“You will give me the stone,” Kristjana snapped, holding out her hand. “I will take charge of it until another Zorya can be found.”

I stared at her hand with growing dismay.

“Pia,” Magda said, nudging me with her elbow.

I nodded, knowing exactly what she wasn't putting into words. If another Zorya was chosen, Kristoff and Alec would simply go after her, possibly even killing her if she put up a fight, as Anniki apparently did.

That wasn't the only reason I was hesitant. “I might not be the most honest and moral person in the world,” I said slowly. “But Anniki asked
me
to make things right, and I promised her I would. I don't think she'd view me handing over the job to someone else as righting the wrongs done to her.”

“That is not your decision to make—” Kristjana started to say when she was interrupted by Frederic.

“You said Anniki was bleeding when you found her. Did she—this sounds strange, I'm sure—did she touch your mouth at any point?”

I stared at him in surprise. “No.”

“Hmm.” He was silent another few moments. “She did not harm you in any way? Cut you? Scratch you?”

“Anniki? She was dying!”