Blood Spirits

by Sherwood Smith

  Alec’s brows shot up. “That’s interesting. Did Ruli say where the vampires live?”

  “No. What’s going to happen to Ruli’s grave?”

  “Gilles’s agent promised to discreetly remove Marzio di Peretti’s remains and escort them to his family. Milo said he’ll leave it up to the von Mecklundburgs to decide what to do about Ruli’s monument. Oh. Here’s a bit of news too late to do any good: The palace service vehicle was found abandoned at a private air field. A man fitting Jerzy’s description paid in cash for a ticket from there to Paris on the twenty-first.”

  “So he could get back in time to receive Magda’s phone call, and establish his alibi,” I said. “So he must have been in another car, following behind the Daimler. Beka did try to get me to see if there was someone following, but I didn’t know what to look for.”

  Nat spoke up from the door to Tony’s room. “All right, here’s the deal. If you people don’t get your germs out of this room and let this man sleep, I can pretty much guarantee he’s not going to make it until tomorrow. He’s still not out of the woods.”

  The von M’s began trooping out. Their tired faces and rumpled clothes made it clear that they, too, had been up all night.

  The duchess paused when she neared Gran, then she walked on. Gran turned to watch her go but didn’t speak. She looked unbearably sad.

  Alec got to his feet and moved to Gran’s side. “How about a meal and some rest, Princess Aurelia?”

  Gran’s fingers fluttered, then she shook her head.

  I have a feeling that hearing Princess Aurelia again was part of what she’d called the “pain of justice.” The responsibility she had thrown away all those years ago had closed around her once more.

  FORTY-TWO

  BACK AT THE INN, I ate a huge meal, took a long bath, and then fell into bed.

  The next morning, I sat down to breakfast with Tania. There were no customers. The rest of the family was busy with their usual tasks and, outside, a bunch of kids had taken advantage of a fresh fall of snow to set up forts and commence battle.

  Tania leaned toward me. “Miriam has a report. She will come later, if you wish, but she has nearly found out who was doing the shouting, the day of the ball. It was not very hard, actually, with Katrin’s help.” She paused then said, “They began at the tavern where Katrin’s father likes to go. Meet his friends. They, ah, talk politics.”

  “I see where this is going. They complain about politics.”

  Tania gave me her quick smile. “Yes. So a few days before the ball, somebody came in and offered money to anyone who would shout Murderer , and other things, and there would be extra money if they threw rocks inside of snow, or offal, at you and the Statthalter, for you would be there at the same moment. This was to start an uproar.”

  “A riot,” I said, remembering how Jerzy had insisted I sit all alone at the back. The cold grues ran down my insides. I had to remind myself that he was dead, and his plans with him, but I knew what creeped me out the most, out of all his horrible deeds: It was the deliberate cruelty in setting Alec up to take the blame for a murder that Jerzy arranged.

  I looked up, and Tania said, “Katrin’s father despised such trickery. He says, You look them in the face and demand justice.”

  “I see that. He’s an honest guy, and I can’t see him sneaking around in a crowd unless . . .” I thought about the desperate people of history, and how precious and rare has been the opportunity to stand up and speak what one thinks without goons coming out with the truncheons. “Here’s what I do know. Miriam and her friends saved me from getting my nice dress pegged with horse poo, so I figure I owe them.”

  Tania shook her head. “No one would have listened to the girls if everyone in the city did not already know you were a hero.” Her gaze dropped. “So Miriam wants to know, does she find out exactly who the man was who accepted the bribe? Is she to be a spy?”

  “A spy?” I grinned, the image in mind stuff from movies—except that was so wrong, here. “No, she found out what I wanted to know: that someone had hired a claque. It was clearly Jerzy. Miriam can be a researcher, which is not a spy, because she can say to anyone who speaks with her, ‘I’m going to share this with the Statthalter.’ Or with me. Even if it’s criticism. Everything up front.”

  Tania’s brow cleared, and I understood why Miriam, usually so eager, wasn’t there—she’d been afraid she might be asked to be a covert snitch.

  “I’ll pay her to be a researcher, but we’ll have to figure out how to make it work, because—”

  Madam banged out of the kitchen, saying, “We shall see it all in the paper on Monday. King Milo, I never thought we’d see him again! My, exciting days!”

  Grandfather Kezh chuckled. “Told you they would solve things behind closed doors. That’s their way.” He chuckled again, then shook his head. “Better than a war, it is. Better than a war.”

  As they passed through to another room, Madam’s boom echoed back, “You would imagine Mam’zelle Dsaret would consider bringing her family here. What it would do for custom! But that’s the way with young people, always thinking of themselves.”

  Tania blushed. “I beg your pardon on Mother’s behalf.”

  “It’s okay, Tania. It’s probably time for me to move, anyway. Once I find out where. And for how long. I really have no idea what’s going to happen, though I suspect I’m going to be calling my college in Oklahoma to quit, first. Which will be a good thing for somebody back in the States. There are far too many teachers looking for work.”

  Tania sat back, hands tightly clasped, dark eyes wide. “That means you will stay in Dobrenica?”

  “I think so. I’m trying to get used to the luxury of thinking about next week instead of the next hour. For now, let’s carry on with the experiments. I really need to talk to Beka about some of the stuff I’ve noticed.” I paused, remembering her anguished face. And Nat’s words about Tony, he’s not out of the woods yet.

  I pushed grimly past. “I don’t know if it’s me, or Nasdrafus rules, or whatever, that sometimes I can only see ghosts in reflection, and sometimes the past I see in person.”

  “Then we will not stop,” Tania said, and I could see how much that pleased her. I wondered if she thought I’d whiz off again and leave her jobless.

  “Right. I hope soon to introduce you to my parents. I think you’ll like them. Don’t be scared off by Dad’s beard. He only looks like Rasputin.”

  Tania choked on a laugh, and I said, “Speaking of weird old guys, I haven’t seen Armandros’s ghost. Is he still hanging around me?”

  Her brows lifted, and she shook her head. “Not since your return—” She broke off when the front door opened, and Alec entered, glancing around with quick appraisal, then his expression shuttered when he saw the two of us.

  Tania got to her feet like a startled faun.

  “Alec? What’s wrong?”

  “Tony. Fever’s shot sky high. Nat changed her mind about no visitors—he keeps asking for you. Natalie thinks that whatever is troubling him is preventing him from resting, and he’s . . .” Alec made a gesture that could have meant anything, but his expression was sober. “He’s asking for you.”

  “Me?” I looked around wildly, as if there was another me ready to step out of the shadows. “Why?”

  “I suspect you will know when you see him.”

  Intense emotions chased through me: embarrassment, wariness, worry. “I thought we were overdue for a dose of happily-ever-after,” I muttered. “See you later, Tania.”

  I grabbed my coat and followed Alec outside. I expected another Vigilzhi car, or one of the sporty models, but what I discovered waiting was a full-on long, silver luxury roadster with a smooth art deco running board that swooped up to a curved hood over the front tires. The grill had to be fifteen feet from the dashboard. “What is that?”

  “It was the king’s car.”

  “I’m about to sit in an honest-to-Hollywood kingmobile?”

  Alec�
�s smile was preoccupied, but there. “It’s a Mercedes Benz 500K Special Roadster, built in 1936. Laugh at it later,” he added with grim humor. “I thought this would be the fastest way to get you across the city.”

  He lifted his hand, and that’s when I noticed the waiting parade—six guys on motorcycles, each with a bright pennon in green and gold, trimmed with scarlet. These flags were bolted to the back wheel. In the distance I heard a klaxon: someone was already clearing the streets ahead, and I remembered Jerzy’s mildly disparaging comment about Milo passing a law against this very thing.

  Alec was breaking that law. On Tony’s behalf.

  In the roadster’s driver’s seat sat tough, grizzled Kilber. He wore an old-fashioned chauffeur’s uniform, complete to billed hat and black gloves.

  A Vigilzhi cadet opened the passenger doors. He gave me a tentative smile, and I wondered if we’d met. Black hair—green eyes the color of spring—the cadet I’d seen when I first visited the palace. I grinned at him in recognition, and he grinned back, then carefully shut the door.

  We sank into plush leather seats, and the cadet jumped into the seat next to Kilber. There was a sliding glass window between the front and back seat, giving us privacy from being heard, but not from being seen, as there were windows all around us.

  Feeling like I was in a fish bowl, I resisted the urge to kiss Alex, and grabbed his hand. His fingers slid around mine and gripped.

  The outriders took off in front of us, pennons snapping. They circled around one another, clearing not only the street before it, but blocking side streets. People lined either side of the street to watch us zoom by.

  A minute or so later we reached the fountain, and there were the dancing animal ghosts, including Shurisko, tongue lolling, eyes glowing briefly when they seemed to meet mine.

  “I see Honoré’s dog,” I said, pointing. “He looks happier—his tail is waving. Whoa! I wonder if he was trying to warn me about Jerzy.”

  Alec looked—and then shrugged. “As usual, I don’t see anything. I’m going to have to get used to the fact that you do.”

  Kilber roared around a corner. I caught a flashing glimpse of a bunch of kids around fourteen who darted out to peer inside the car, then waved violently at us, shouting “Urra! Urra! Urra!”

  Alec turned to me. “I don’t know when we’re going to get more than stolen minutes like this. Have you decided what you want to do?”

  “No. Yes. Where’s my family?”

  “Your mother went back to Mecklundburg House as Madam Tullée for a while longer. She feels sorry for them, and she forbade Milo to tell them who she is. Said she’ll do it herself, when the time is right.”

  “Dad?”

  Alec’s smile was preoccupied, but there. “Your father asked, over breakfast this morning, if there was a Royal Clock Fixer position in Dobrenica’s court. In case Marie and your grandmother decided to stay on. He said he doesn’t want any titles, because they might expect him to wear shoes instead of socks with sandals. I’m not sure who ‘they’ is.”

  I couldn’t help a laugh, but then said, “What do you want us to do?”

  “Kim, you know what I want—” He cursed softly. “Here we are.”

  It was like we were doomed never to get time to talk like any normal couple. “Okay.”

  He hesitated, then said, “Do you want to visit Tony alone?”

  “Why? There can’t be anything he can say . . . um, I take that back. I have no idea what wild ideas are in his head, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing he can say that you can’t also hear.”

  Alec’s lips parted, but before he could speak, the cadet opened the door. We got out of the car and slushed through the snow to the hospital side entrance. The building was an enormous neo-Gothic pile on Ysroel ben Elizier Street, just down from the opera house.

  Through an arched doorway with winged bats and cat-footed beings carved over it shot Emilio, looking relieved. “He sent me with this, Durchlaucht.” The old German title for “your highness.”

  And “he” could only be Milo, the king now come home.

  Emilio held something out, and Alec opened his hand. His expression changed when he looked down at the object. His fingers closed over it before I could see what it was, and he started walking fast.

  Outside the room where two Vigilzhi were on guard, Phaedra paced restlessly back and forth. When she saw me, she wiped at her eyes with a fierce gesture, as Nat appeared in the doorway.

  I said to Nat, “I thought Brother Ildephonsas healed him.”

  “Body,” Nat said, tapping her chest. “But not here.” She tapped her forehead. “He won’t rest, he wants some kind of assurance that apparently only you can give.”

  Phaedra said in a low voice, “I told him, we all told him, that Jerzy is dead. But he keeps asking if we were there, and saying he won’t believe it. We thought it better not to tell him about Ruli.”

  Enlightenment hit me. After a lifetime of lies and half-truths, Tony couldn’t trust anything third-hand. We walked quietly into the room. Tony lay in the bed, his hair tousled with sweat. I didn’t know if that sweat was a good or a bad sign. His eyes seemed too bright, his face wan as he squinted up at Beka, who was in the same clothes she’d been wearing the day before, blood splashes and all.

  “. . . long stay for a sociopath,” he was whispering.

  “So it is,” she replied, smiling tenderly.

  “Bek.” He tried to speak, then twitched restlessly.

  “I know,” she whispered, though we could hear every word. “I know. Tony, I’m not going to wrap my life around yours until I can trust that you will wrap yours around mine. There must be two of us trying.”

  “Bek,” he whispered.

  She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips, then turned her head. Her expression smoothed. “Kim is here.”

  Tony’s head turned, and he tried to lift it, his feverish face anxious. “Kim. Jerzy?”

  “He’s dead, Tony,” I said. “I saw it. I was there.”

  The pain in his forehead eased, and his head dropped back to the pillow. “What. How?” One restless hand moved over the bedclothes.

  No more half-truths.

  “Your family secret? About Grandmother Rose? Well, that now includes Ruli. And she kept her own covenant with Uncle Jerzy, I guess you could say.” I made a gesture like driving a stake into my own heart, and watched his comprehension, followed by a slight grimace.

  “World knows . . . my sister is one?”

  “Not the world.” I shook my head. “Your family and mine know. Alec and Milo. Beka and Nat, now.”

  The relief was back.

  Alec stepped to my side. He reached down and took Tony’s hand. “Milo sent this over,” he said as he slid something up over Tony’s knuckle. He lifted his fingers away, revealing a very old-looking signet ring. “Suitable for harness.”

  The flush spread across Tony’s face as his cracked lips twitched in a smile, and I remembered what Tony had said so disparagingly after his attack on me with a sword. It seemed that this ring, and what it symbolized, meant something to him after all.

  “That’s it.” Nat elbowed her way in, but at least she was smiling. “I think he’s got what he needed, so I’m kicking all of you out. Right now his job is sleep.” She turned her head. “You too, Beka. Go home and catch some Z’s. I don’t want you in here next. Bad for my rep.”

  We retreated in good order. Phaedra lifted her hand in salute, saying, “Honoré and Gilles are at our place, waiting for a report.”

  Alec said, “Tell them I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

  Phaedra dipped her head and strode out.

  Beka faced Alec and me. “Thank you. Thank you for everything. Both of you.”

  “Go catch those Z’s, Beka,” I said. “Or we’ll have Nat cracking the whip over us all. We can talk later.”

  Alec and I walked out more slowly. Experimentally, I said, “Love’s mysteries in souls do grow/But yet the body is his
book.”

  “Donne,” Alec said promptly. “‘ The Ecstasy.’ What made you think of that?”

  “Gran and I were talking about it on the way to Mt. Corbesc. Blood spirits—Ruli. Vampires and the numinous. No. Wrong word for vampires. Liminal, I guess that’s the word Beka used. Four languages, and I can’t come up with the right word for the liminality of time and of reality here in Dobrenica. Oh, Alec, I hope Ruli can be happy, wherever she is—whatever she’s doing, but I also hope I never see her again.”

  As we started across the street, Beka, a few paces ahead, collapsed into an inkri to be taken the eight or so blocks up and around the river to her house.

  I shook my head. “I hope those two work it out, but phew, I do not envy her.”

  “So what he wanted seems to have been a debriefing,” Alec observed. “That would imply that the two of you found some kind of balance.”

  “Balance—in the tightrope sense? Dealing with him is like . . . it’s like driving that team of eight reindeer when the vampires were attacking, and the animals were on the verge of panic in eight separate directions.”

  “I don’t think Tony himself knows which direction he’s going. But then, neither do I.” Alec took my hand as we walked up the street toward the Sofia Circle, afternoon traffic bustling around us. “Where I left off, Kim. What I want. I know what I’m offering—an endless train of problems.”

  Here it was at last. Every nerve was singing. I said quickly, before another crisis could interrupt us yet again. “I love you, Marius Alexander Ysvorod. If it means I have to be hitched up to half a million people along with you, well, I think I sort of started doing that anyway.”

  “I think you have, too,” he said. “And I love you, Aurelia Kim Murray. Deeply. Desperately, because I was honor-bound not to. But I gave you my heart up there on the mountainside last summer.”