The Font

by Tracy St. John

  Elisha looked at her too, his expression unreadable. “We’ll congratulate ourselves when Heriolf meets his final death.”

  “Now that we have his Font, that celebration will be soon.”

  Elisha led Naya into the building Lars was apparently guarding, the unlocked door swinging open without a sound. Naya reflected that a human servant must be on the museum’s staff, allowing the vampires to come and go here as they pleased.

  She stepped into the room, its floor made up of the same bricks that constituted its walls. Various industrial machines with placards identifying them dotted throughout, but their heavy and somewhat alien forms didn’t grab her attention. Not when there were so many vampires clustered in the gloom. Naya guessed there might be almost fifty of them.

  Heriolf had a full-scale rebellion on his hands.

  A female vampire stepped forward. She was as dark as Naya was fair, her skin color hinting at possible Native American ancestry. Her coal-black hair was pulled back in a braid that reached her knees. She wore jeans and a tank top, immune to the cold. Somehow, she made the casual outfit look elegant, her beauty elevating it. High-cheekbones and an upturned nose gave her an almost haughty cast, but her gaze on Naya was avid.

  She had a deep, throaty voice for a woman. “Elisha. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude for capturing Heriolf’s Font.”

  Elisha’s hand closed around Naya’s upper arm. It might have been a possessive hold or protective. She couldn’t tell. To the woman he said, “Not at all, Mariel. I couldn’t have done it without the rest of you.”

  A black male vampire approached. Though Elisha’s expression remained guarded and watchful, Naya felt how her kidnapper’s body relaxed next to her. A friend of his, she surmised and gave the new vampire her full attention.

  Dressed as casually as Elisha and Mariel in jeans and a black tee-shirt, this man was lean and muscled in the way of someone who had done hard physical work during life. His cap of tight black curls was neatly parted on one side, as done in a long-ago era, perhaps pre-Civil War. Despite the predator’s eyes he gazed at her with, there was something good and noble in his mien. Just like Elisha, in fact.

  He held a grease-stained white paper bag in his hand and a cup such as one would find soda in from a fast food establishment. “I brought the girl food and drink,” he said to Elisha, nodding at the objects in his hands.

  “Thank you, Sebastian,” Elisha said.

  Naya took the offered objects from Sebastian, trying to imagine him ordering food at a drive-thru. Somehow Sebastian looked as if he’d be more at home on horseback than a car. And there was no mistaking the otherworldliness of him, no matter how handsome he was.

  She decided not to ask how he’d gotten the food. “Thank you. Sebastian, is it?”

  He bowed his head a little, like he was a gentleman addressing a lady at a fine social gathering. “Yes. I apologize for the fare not being of better quality, but I had little time.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine. I appreciate the consideration.” She was amused at her own manners, as if they were old friends and not traitor and hostage. Sebastian’s mouth quirked as if he found it humorous too.

  Mariel announced, “We are all here. Let’s begin.”

  Naya ate hungrily as the vampires settled gathered close. She seldom had fast food. The saltiness and grease put her off a bit, as did the cloying sweetness of the cola drink. But she was starved and knew she would eat every bite of the huge cheeseburger and french fries.

  As she tried to not bolt her food, Elisha said, “The trick is keeping Naya hidden from Heriolf until he grows as weak as the rest of us.”

  Someone said, “Randalf estimated it could be as long as a week.”

  “We have to assume he can track her somehow,” Sebastian mused. “Heriolf’s aide was quite sure her blood called to him.”

  Elisha nodded. “I will keep on the move with her until we can safely attack and kill him.”

  Mariel’s voice was cold. “We should kill her now and end the threat once and for all.”

  Quiet settled over the assembled vampires. Naya could feel their gazes on her, as heavy as a blanket. It dampened her appetite, and she nearly choked on the mouthful she swallowed.

  Elisha said, “We’ve been over this, Mariel. There may be others like her. We need to know what makes her special so we can be on guard against any one vampire gaining access to them in the future.” He gave Naya a small smile that warmed her from head to toe. She barely restrained herself from moving closer to him. “Besides, she’s a victim in this too. Heriolf has had her under his sway since she was a child.”

  Mariel seemed unimpressed. “Victim or not, she is a weapon being used against us. Even with Heriolf out of the way, she could be used by another. I say we take a vote here and now.”

  That prompted murmuring amongst the vampires. From the fearful and angry looks cast her way, Naya believed a great number of them agreed with Mariel. The food she’d eaten was a heavy lump in her stomach.

  Elisha crossed his arms over his chest. “I am not blind to the threat Naya represents. But this is a matter for the council that will take over once Heriolf is destroyed. Only the wisdom of the elders can make that decision.”

  Mariel glared at him. “Heriolf has destroyed the former elders. You and I and the rest of the newly chosen council are here, and we can determine this right now.”

  “Not until he is dead and we have legitimacy among all the vampires beyond our small number here. We will debate it according to the laws set down and perform our duties correctly, in council chambers. Not like this.” He indicated their surroundings.

  Sebastian added, “To vote now, when emotions are high and the outcome is clearly for the Font’s blood, is akin to reducing ourselves to lynch mob mentality. We are better than this. Better than Heriolf.”

  Mariel scowled. “I don’t like it. If Heriolf tracks you and her down before he weakens…”

  “Then I will see to it she dies.” Naya turned cold to hear the finality in Elisha’s tone. She despised herself for having taken pleasure with him.

  Elisha continued. “He will not get her back. I swear it on my sire Thaddeus’ name.”

  The vampires fell to muttering again. Fortunately for Naya’s immediate future, they were swayed by Elisha’s argument.

  Sensing the turn of the tide, Mariel gave in with grace. “Very well then. We will scatter to the winds until four days hence. At that time, we will converge on Heriolf’s stronghold and finish this fight once and for all.”

  The look she gave Naya let the human know she hoped to finish her as well.

  The vampires all departed, leaving Naya, Elisha, and Sebastian alone in the machine shop. While the two men stood apart from her to converse quietly, Naya forced herself to eat for strength though she had no appetite.

  Washing down the last bite of french fry with the too-sweet soda, she interrupted the vampires. “There are so few of you to take on Heriolf’s forces, even if he didn’t possess the greater strength my blood gives him.”

  They exchanged a look. Sebastian shrugged. Elisha told her, “This was only a representative number. Each vampire you saw here was the leader of a larger group. Heriolf’s enemies are many.”

  Sebastian appraised her carefully. “Why does your blood give him so much?”

  “I don’t know.” Sudden inspiration made Naya straighten. “I think I know who might though.”

  “You are helping us?” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.

  “Maybe you’ll remember that should you defeat Heriolf. Your friend Mariel would see me dead seconds after he falls.”

  Elisha spoke carefully. “She has lost much to him. She bears many scars from the wounds he inflicted on her.”

  “I saw no sign of scars.” Heriolf was a brute to the human offal, the criminals collected by his vampires. He put traitors in their place. Surely he wouldn’t harm someone who didn’t deserve it.

  “Her injuries are hidden. The scars she wears come
from his bestial pleasures. You are fortunate he has not bedded you yet.”

  Naya wanted to deny her guardian would do such a thing, but the anger in both men’s faces told her it was not a good idea. She also quelled the impulse to point out Elisha had not sought her permission for their last intimate encounter. She had to admit that other than the tearing of her virginity, she’d not suffered from the attention. Quite the opposite.

  Naya thought of the ceremony the night before, the screams of the men and women taken so forcefully by the vampires. Would Heriolf really do that to a woman? To her?

  Elisha prodded her gently. “Tell us what you can, Naya.”

  Naya took a deep breath. “Soon after my parents died and I was fostered to the Coopers, Heriolf came to my room and woke me one night. He took me into Buckwood Swamp to a cabin. An old man lived there. He looked me over, asked me questions, then he and Heriolf consulted in whispers for a long time. I do remember the old man saying, ‘It comes from both sides of her family. She’s as pure an example of the Old People as can be found in this age.’”

  “Old People?” Elisha looked from her to Sebastian. They both shrugged their confusion.

  Sebastian picked up the line of questioning. “What do you remember of your parents?”

  The old sadness hit hard at the memory. “They were good people. My mother was always singing, my father laughing. She led hiking expeditions all over the state. My father worked for the DNR.”

  “DNR?”

  “The Department of Natural Resources. Very outdoorsy people.” Naya had taken her first walks in the woods with them, their laughter mingling freely with breeze and birdsong. Her chest cramped with heartache. “We had such fun while they were alive.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” Elisha sounded sincere, and he even reached to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly.

  Naya brushed at the tear tickling its way down her cheek. She could only nod.

  Sebastian said, “We should find this old man, if he still lives. It sounds as if he knew she would give Heriolf power.”

  Elisha nodded. “Do you remember how to find that cabin, Naya?”

  There was the problem. “I’m not sure. It was so long ago.”

  “Look at me.”

  She knew what he was about to do, but she obeyed anyway. She was absurdly sure he wasn’t going to harm her, not after the way he’d defended her to Mariel and the others. So she swallowed the flutter of panic and raised her face to look him in the eye. Almost immediately she was immersed in the warm, safe feeling his glamour offered.

  His voice was as gentle as a summer’s breeze. “Think, Naya. Do you know how to find the man in the swamp?”

  It was suddenly clear. She remembered the route from her foster parents’ house as clearly as she knew the layout of her bedroom. “I see the way in my head.”

  Elisha took a length of thin rope Sebastian offered him and tucked it in his coat pocket. He caught up Naya’s hand in his and led her outside. She followed without a qualm, and when he took her in his arms, it was like coming home. He held her with her back to his front. An instant later they were in the air.

  “I’ll tell you when we’ve reached the swamp. We’ll fly until you see something familiar, then you’ll tell us the way,” he said.

  “Yes.”

  Despite the chill in the air, she enjoyed the wind in her face, streaming her hair over Elisha’s shoulder, giving her the scents of the trees and earth below. Best of all was the feeling of the vampire’s body against her back. In the trance with her mental defenses down, she was able to contemplate things with the handsome Elisha that were best not thought.

  Chapter 5

  After an hour’s flight following Naya’s glamour-enhanced directions, they found the battered singlewide trailer she remembered deep in the swamp. The rusting structure sat off a winding dirt logging road. Despite the chill of encroaching winter, the night was alive with the sound of peepers. The wind sang in the tall pine trees surrounding the little clearing that the trailer stood in.

  They landed before the ramshackle abode, which had the larger cutoff roof of a second trailer suspended over it on pilings. Elisha whispered instructions in Naya’s ear, reinforcing his hold on her. Somehow she kept shaking off his influence, something he’d never seen a human do. She was different, all right.

  With Naya and Sebastian following close behind, he mounted the concrete blocks serving as stairs to pound on the front door. It opened, spilling weak yellow light into the night. An ancient man peered out at them. The gray fringe of hair surrounding the bald pate of his skull was long and straggling, his picket-fence teeth yellowed. “Yes?”

  The widening of his eyes told Elisha the old man recognized his two male visitors for what they were. Before he could react Sebastian surged forward, tearing the door off its hinges and flinging it to the ground. Elisha swung Naya forward, pushing her past the old man into the dilapidated trailer.

  The moment she crossed the threshold, Naya’s voice rang out. “Come in, Elisha and Sebastian.”

  Her invitation allowed the two to enter the trailer. As they joined her, the old man screeched and stumbled backward. “Damn you! Fucking vampires!” He bared the few disreputable teeth he had at them.

  Elisha smiled without humor. “And a very pleasant evening to you, sir. Answer our questions and you have nothing to fear.”

  The swamp rat scowled. The fight went out of him, not even properly begun. His shoulders sagged in what Elisha thought might be a familiar sense of defeat.

  The man nodded at the still enchanted Naya. “Seeing you’ve taken her from Heriolf, I have plenty to fear. Unless he is dead?” That last bit sounded hopeful.

  “Not yet,” Sebastian said. He gave Elisha an excited glance. The man obviously had information, information they might want badly.

  Shoulders hunched even further down. “Then I am. How long ago did you separate her from that monstrous bastard?”

  Elisha thought about how much he should tell their reluctant host and decided disclosing what Heriolf already knew would be safe enough. “Last night.”

  The old man dropped into a stained recliner, its armrests bowed out drunkenly as if they might drop off at any second. A foul odor of old sweat emanated from the cushion as his scrawny weight bore down on it. He grabbed a glass smeared with greasy fingerprints and took a large gulp from its clear contents.

  His grimace told Elisha it wasn’t water he drank. The old man said, “You haven’t had her long enough to weaken him yet. He can follow her trail, you know. Scent her like a dog. Her blood is in him, and the source of it calls.”

  Sebastian looked around, as if searching for somewhere to sit. The disgust in his face as he looked at the broken and filthy remnants of furniture that decorated the trailer mirrored Elisha’s. He checked to make sure Naya wasn’t touching anything in the refuse-strewn room.

  Sebastian returned his attention to the old man, having found nowhere to perch. “What is she to have this powerful blood?”

  “She is partly human, but there’s a lot of the Old People’s blood in her too. She might be as much as half elf.”

  Elisha blinked and looked for telltale signs of humor in the creased face. He saw none. “Elf? You mean they’re real?”

  The swamp rat took another swig from his glass. “They were. If there are any pureblood elves left, they’re back in the Norse country where they originated.”

  Sebastian said, “That’s where Heriolf came from.”

  “He knew of them from old, hunted them as a young vampire for the power they gave him. He told me they either died out or went into hiding about seven hundred years ago. All that’s left are mixed breeds, like her and me.” He squinted at Naya.

  More than one Font. That could be very bad for the vampires. Keeping his voice even, Elisha asked, “You are one too?”

  The old man sneered at him, apparently not caring that Elisha could tear his head off without trying. “Barely, so don’t think you’ll get a
rush of power from my blood.”

  Naya’s voice was quiet. “If I’m not pure elf either, why is my blood so potent?”

  Elisha started. She’d pulled out of the glamour again, very quickly this time. Sebastian gave him a wide-eyed look surprise.

  The old man looked her up and down, and Elisha had to restrain the urge to punch him for it. “Because both your parents had a hefty dose of it. Since Heriolf had fed on so many back in Europe, he can smell elf like a shark scents a drop of blood in the water. His past mistake was that he killed those he fed from, rather than making them immortal. A mistake he plans to rectify with you.”

  “By turning me into a vampire?”

  “You cannot be turned. Drinking regularly from Heriolf will not change you into a vampire, as it does those with pure human blood. For someone of elf descent, it only halts the process of aging. Shortly after landing on America’s shores, Heriolf learned that with a young man who had the Old Blood.”

  Elisha asked, “What happened to that man?”

  The elderly wreck emptied his glass. “He despised Heriolf and decided he’d be better off dead than his blood slave. So he fell on a stake he fashioned himself.” He laughed without humor. “You have to appreciate the irony of an elf slave committing vampire suicide.”

  Sebastian stepped closer to the old man. “How did Heriolf find Naya?”

  “He found her parents first. He might have taken them prisoner, except he discovered they had a child. And he figured with them out of the way, he could keep the girl, make her a companion, woo her into letting him feed from her for all her existence. A willing victim, you see.”

  Naya mused, “So when they died in the accident—”

  The old man’s harsh cackle cut her off. “You are as naïve as you are lovely, my dear. Their death was no accident. Heriolf killed them and then had his human servants take you in.”

  Elisha felt a pang for the stunned look on Naya’s face, the expression verging into a childlike vision of hurt. “But the people who fostered me were abusive.”