Zen and the Art of Vampires (35 page)

“You're standing on my foot!” Dagrun complained. “Mother, Old Agda is on my foot!”

“Hush, child,” Ingveldur scolded her daughter.

Agda cackled.

“You can stay behind if you like,” I told the unseen teen.

“And miss seeing the vampires kill you? I don't think so.”

“No one is going to kill anyone,” I said grimly, starting the car.

“So you hope,” Magda said, calling after me as I pulled out, “I'll be waiting to hear what happens!”

I waved a hand at her, and drove out of town.

The map that Magda had given me was not very helpful, and I took wrong turns three times before I stopped asking my ghostly friends for directions since it was sadly apparent that they didn't get out of the village much. It seemed like hours had passed before I finally pulled off to the side of the road and considered a sign that bore a ruins symbol, and an arrow pointing to the left.

“I think that's it. Ulfur certainly should have had time to get here. Everyone still all right?”

“No,” Dagrun answered.

“We're fine, child,” Ingveldur said at the same time. “The ride has been very interesting.”

I glanced at my watch. “And a lot longer than I thought. All right, let's hope we made it here in time.”

We pulled off the road and bumped our way down a graveled track that had some serious potholes. Ahead of us loomed an inky black expanse of forest, one of the few ancient woods left standing in Iceland. I remembered reading a note in the guidebook that said this spot had long been avoided by locals as being enchanted, thus the trees were preserved when pretty much all the other forests had been decimated.

No sign of the ruins was visible through the trees, but that didn't surprise me. The sun was sinking fast on the horizon now, the sky taking on that strange twilight appearance that was vaguely unsettling.

We arrived at last at a small shaded clearing. “I hope those belong to Frederic and his Brotherhood buddies rather than the vamps,” I said, noting the three other cars in the tiny dirt parking area. Two bore Icelandic plates, another had a small rental tag on the bumper.

“Can we get out now?” a distressed voice asked.

“Sure, Hallur. Everyone out, but stay in low-watt mode until we see if the vamps are here.”

I shivered as we followed a path that led into the woods. Immediately, we were enveloped in a heavy gloom that seemed more than just visual—it was as if the trees themselves were warning us to turn back, despair dripping heavily from their branches.

“OK, this is creepy,” I said, rubbing my arms. “Is anyone else feeling this?”

“Yes,” Ingveldur answered. Her voice was subdued. “This is a haunted place, Pia.”

“Haunted with other ghosts, you mean?” I looked around as we picked our way down the path. The trees were pretty solid here, not allowing much light to penetrate their stiff branches. The scent of pine mingled with the slightly acidic odor of damp earth. “I don't see anyone else.”

“She means haunted by the spirit of place,” Agda said in her dry, somewhat wheezy voice. “There are spirits here, ancient spirits, going back many generations.”

I could believe it. I'm not normally someone who gets creeped out easily, but this wood, with its tall, black trees and somber atmosphere, was having an effect on my nerves. Silence hung heavily, like a dark cloud overhead, muffling the noise I made walking on dead pine needles. No other noise reached me, no rustling of small animals in the undergrowth, no night-bird sounds, not even so much as the whine of a gnat. “Maybe we should go back and look for another way to the ruins . . .”

“There,” Ingveldur said. I stopped and looked around, finally seeing what she must have seen. A patch of the path ahead of us was lit with an amber glow that was the filtered midnight sun. I hurried forward, relieved to be out of the dark woods. The path turned and wound around a small mound, the top of which was crowned with a few crumbling bits of stone.

“The ruins at last. All right, everyone stay on your toes and watch for vampires. And for heaven's sake, if you see anything that looks like an opening to Ostri, let me know.”

I left the path and was just moving to a tree with the intention of using it to shield me until I saw if there were any guards posted, when a hand clamped down on my face, causing me to simultaneously shriek into the hand and jump, twisting as I tried to free myself.

“Hush, love, it's just me,” a man's voice spoke in my ear as another arm wrapped around me like steel.

“Alec?” I whispered when the hand had been removed from my mouth.

“It's a Dark One!” one of the ghosts said. “Should we stop him, Pia?”

“No, it's fine,” I said quickly, turning in his arms.

Alec frowned down at me in question.

“Sorry. My ghosts are acting as bodyguards tonight. What are you doing here?”

“Finding you,” he answered. “Why did you leave me? And what are you doing here?”

Suspicion tinted his words.

“I'm not here to destroy you or any of your friends, if that's what you think,” I said quickly, speaking softly so as to avoid further detection. “Are all of you here?”

“No. Kristoff discovered you were gone. He thinks you've gone to join the reapers, and went off to stop you.”

“Alec . . .” I hesitated, unsure of what I could say to convince him of my motives. “I have gone to join them, at least in the sense that I want them to complete the ceremony. No, listen to me for a minute—I know you guys don't want me to have power. But I just don't believe that if the ceremony is completed, I'll become some uncontrollable vampire-killing machine. There has to be a certain amount of
me
involved in the whole thing, if you know what I mean. And I don't accept the Brotherhood's story that all vampires are evil and should be destroyed. I am confident that no matter what, I will be able to control myself and not be some brainless tool.”

He was silent for a moment, his arms like steel bands around me.

“You've seen other Zoryas,” I pointed out, pleading with him to understand. “Were they uncontrollable? Or did they consciously use the power granted them?”

His arms relaxed somewhat. “They seemed very much in control.”

“Exactly. Mattias was just trying to convince everyone that they were doomed. I think he's pissed at me because I wouldn't take him seriously as a husband, and he probably wants a wife who doesn't see both sides of the picture.”

“The council will not understand, even if I do,” he warned, loosening his hold more. I stepped out of it. “They will not hesitate to destroy you should they see that you bear the true power of a Zorya.”

“Then we just won't let them see,” I said softly. “Where are they?”

“No idea. They were following the Zenith last I heard, then Kristoff and I discovered your note, and he ran off to find you. I had to stay at the house in case the Zenith showed up, but when it was clear he wasn't headed there, I left to find you.”

We moved silently from tree to tree, keeping our eyes peeled for any sentries Frederic might have set.

We were just about to emerge from the forest and take up a position behind one of the fallen walls when a noise behind us had me spinning around.

“Dark Ones!” Karl shouted, and my heart dropped at the sight. Emerging from the woods were the other vampires . . . all but Kristoff. They paused at the sight of Alec and me.

“I thought it would be too much for you,” Christian told me with obvious disappointment.

The wind lifted and blew our way, bringing with it the reedy sound of voices chanting. Goose bumps rippled along my arms as I realized what was happening—the Brotherhood people were conducting the ceremony to bless me with the power of the moon. I glanced into the sky. The moon wasn't very visible, if at all, during the months when the sun never completely set, but there was a faint, almost invisible sliver showing over the tops of the trees.

“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream,” I said, the image of Anniki as she pressed the stone into my hand flashing through my mind with unusual clarity.

She died for her belief in justice, and I had promised her I wouldn't fail in pursuit of the same. And so help me, I wouldn't.

“The ritual!” Sebastian shouted, and started forward.

“Stop them!” I yelled, whirling around to race toward the ruins. The ghosts materialized as a solid group and immediately flung themselves on the four vampires, their cries piercing the night. The vamps were taken totally unawares, and went down in a massive tangle of arms and legs.

Alec stood between me and the ruins. His eyes glittered in the twilight. “Go fulfill your destiny,” he said after a moment, stepping aside.

“Oh, thank you.” I ran forward.

The ruins loomed before us. It was pretty much like any other relic of centuries long past—large tumbled boulders that had been shaped by the weather into unrecognizable blobs of stone, two walls still standing, most of which had crumbled away, leaving only sharp little fingers of rock pointing to the sky.

The bulk of the building had been pulled back into the earth over time, wildflowers and tall grass claiming the remainder of visible stone. Someone had cut the grass in the very center, however, where part of one of the walls had collapsed, leaving three long blocks laid out like pews.

I stumbled to a halt as I realized that on one of the stones, a figure had been stretched out. Around it, spread out in a triangle, three people stood.

A sudden chill spread over me as I thought for a moment they were some sort of inhuman specters floating above the ground, but I realized with a start that they were simply wearing an odd sort of outfit that reminded me of a Renaissance fair I'd visited sometime back. Their long black robes blended into the shadows in a way that made it seem as if they had no legs or heads, their upper halves swathed with silver tabards, the sort Crusaders used to wear, but where the Crusaders bore a bloodred cross, the Brotherhood sported a crimson crescent moon.

I took a hesitant step forward, but at that moment a strange thing happened. The sun, which was moving slowly ever lower on the horizon, dipped to a point where a shaft of light penetrated the obstacles of trees and ruins, unerringly finding me with an impact that I felt to my toes. I stared down at myself, and my mouth opened in surprise when the light bathing me changed from the rich golden amber of the sun to a silvery blue light that seemed to glow along my skin.

The chanting swelled, ending on a high, triumphant note.

“It is done,” Alec said in an odd, choked voice.

I glanced up at him, still stunned by the fact that I now glowed like the moonstone lantern. I raised a hand toward him. He flinched and backed up a step.

“I won't hurt you,” I said, gazing with amazement at my glowing hand.

A cry from behind Alec had me gasping in horror. The vamps had worked faster than I thought to disperse the ghosts, running toward me only to stop a few feet away.

“So,” Christian said, his voice filled with regret. “It is done.”

“Yes,” I said, suddenly possessed with a strange calm. I eyed him carefully, wondering if my new power would suddenly reveal to me an evil in him that I had not detected, but there was nothing there but what I had first seen. “And as I said before, you have nothing to fear from me.”

“Am I late?” a panting voice called out, and Ulfur emerged from the woods, hauling a reluctant Ragnar with him. “Dark Ones! But . . . Pia, you're glowing.”

“The ritual is completed,” I told him. “It was as we guessed—the marriage to Kristoff was null. I can take you all to Ostri, assuming the others can gather up their energy.”

“We cannot let you proceed,” Christian said, and I felt a sense of profound sadness from him. “You are a true Zorya now. You mean death to my people.”

He started toward me on the last words, and I threw up my hands, yelling, “No, you don't understand—”

The words trailed off when, to my amazement, a ring of brilliant bluish white light sprang up around the vamps, encircling them.

“Er . . . did I do that?” I asked Alec, staring in disbelief.

Christian started to step through the light, but yelped and jumped back the second it touched him. “What is this you have done?”

“I don't know,” I said, wanting at the same time to yell at him and apologize. “I'm sorry, but I have to go stop Frederic. I have a feeling I know who it is they have, and I will not let them hurt him any more than I'll let them hurt you guys. So just . . . stay there.”

“Pia,” Alec started to say, reaching out a hand to touch the ring of light. He jerked his hand back with an oath. “I am not sure—”

“It's all right. None of you will get hurt if you just stay here,” I told all of the vampires. “Ulfur, let's go see about saving husband number one.”

“Husband . . . oh, the Dark One? Is he here, too?”

“I will come with you,” Alec said as I turned around and ran toward the ruins.

The vampires confined by the light circle yelled after us, but I didn't listen. I could reason with them later—right now I had a horrible suspicion that Frederic was waiting for me to show up and destroy Kristoff.

“It might be dangerous for you here just now,” I said to Alec as we wove our way through the tumbled boulders.

He shot me an odd look. “I trust you.”

“Thank you. Ulfur, I think I want you in commando mode.”

“Commando?”

“Invisible and quiet until I call for you. Can you do that?”