I was confused. They knew our destination, my name. How? Dominus might know, but he wasn’t here to ask. Again, I missed receiving Jacques’ advice. Something seemed amiss, and as usual, when I needed Hunter’s insight the most, the spirits remained silent.
Bells gonged across the city, signifying the time. An hour before midnight. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as being midnight, but each heavy gong echoed an eerie tone, shattering the stillness of the night.
I stopped at the side of a building and reached into my pocket.
“What are you doing?” Penelope asked.
“Loading my gun and the crossbow.”
“You plan to fight them?”
“To keep you, Father, and the others safe, I’ll do whatever’s necessary. I’ll even die if I must to protect you.”
Penelope placed her hand against my stomach. “You’re not fighting them alone, Forrest.”
She leaned up and kissed me. With my huge hands fumbling with the bullets in the dark, I didn’t respond readily, so she turned to follow the swaying lanterns the priests carried.
Once the gun was loaded, I hurried to catch up to her. There were so many things I longed to tell her, but this wasn’t the proper time or place. I wished I could stop everything else around us to talk heart to heart with her without outside interruptions.
A lot of changes were about to take place that I had never expected, and even if I possessed the foresight, I doubted the outcomes would have been any different.
Chapter Thirty
The underground tunnels were better maintained than the ones we had seen in London. Flickering torches inserted into iron sconces dimly lit the arched corridors. The torches were few and scattered, offering enough light to see the paths to each side of the water trenches. The dark shadowed recesses remained ample places for attackers to hide.
Iron lattices closed off some of the smaller side tunnels but didn’t seem to be locked. Water gently flowed along the stone channels; the sound was deceptively reminiscent of a slow moving stream meandering through a mossy forest. Within the darkness it was easy to imagine being in such a place, but my attention focused more on potential enemies emerging with the intent of killing us.
The priests walked four abreast in a determined march. They moved fast enough that Father had a difficult time keeping up with them. Had they not carried oil lanterns, Father and Madeline would have probably lost sight of them. Penelope and I were able to use her night spectacles, which helped, but with only one lens each, it also limited us.
Madeline cradled Varak as she walked. He seemed to be asleep. Father fought to stay beside her while they walked.
Penelope and I stayed behind everyone else, constantly looking over our shoulders or toward the upcoming side tunnels. If any Hunters were down here, we wanted to see them before they attacked.
Since I didn’t have any knowledge of the city layout, I didn’t know how far from the Archdiocese we were. These tunnels intersected and probably covered several miles. Without guidance it wasn’t difficult to get lost. I imagined a person could walk in circles for days and die of starvation before finding a way out.
Water splashed about twenty yards ahead of us. The four priests stopped and pressed themselves shoulder to shoulder, forming a tight human wall.
I moved closer to them. “What was that?”
“An intruder,” Lucas said.
“A Hunter?”
“Possibly,” he replied. “We’re less than two blocks from the cathedral.”
A large shadowed outline of a man moved past the lit sconce toward us and stopped.
“If it is one of them,” I said, “make certain you get the child to the archbishop.”
He nodded.
I jumped and stepped across the trench. Penelope followed without hesitation. The man remained near the light. I had the feeling that he stood in the path where we needed to go, and he didn’t have any intention of moving. There wasn’t anything we could do to avoid a confrontation with him.
He stepped away from the light and toward me. “Hunter, give us the child. Whatever you had hoped to accomplish has failed. Your hope and your life ends here.”
I held my crossbow in my left hand aimed toward the rock floor. I raised my revolver and aimed for his chest. He was a massive man but a shot through the heart killed almost anything except the undead. He reared back his head and roared with laughter. I’ve never understood why someone would laugh when a loaded gun was pointed directly at him. Myself, I’d be looking for the quickest way to avoid getting shot. As large as he was, he wasn’t swift enough to avoid the bullet’s path or escape its speed, but he didn’t seem to care. He kept laughing.
My finger tightened on the trigger, but the Hunter didn’t make any effort to move. Before I squeezed the trigger, I was struck from my blindside, heaved into the air, and slammed to the ground on the other side of the trench. My crossbow dropped from my hand the moment I was hit. Upon landing, my gun jarred loose and slid across the floor until it hit the wall.
“Forrest!” Penelope shouted.
“Son!”
Something heavy landed atop me, pinning me down. I struggled to pull free, but my arms were wrapped tightly. I gnashed my teeth and growled, flexing my muscles, fighting to break free of his strong grip. I rolled to one side, pulling my assailant up slightly, and then I slung myself the opposite directions. His hold loosened enough that I was able to pull my right arm back and then I came around, clutching his throat. It was then I realized my attacker had been a second Hunter. Where he had come from, I didn’t know because I had not seen anyone standing at the wall.
Tightening my grip around his neck, I slammed him against the wall a few feet from one of the torches. Both of his hands wrapped around my wrist as he fought to break my hold. I punched his gut several times with my left fist. He groaned and jerked with each blow. His throat muscles tightened and from the strange rasping sounds coming from his open mouth, his breathing was being cut off.
“Forrest, look out!” Father said.
I turned to the side, narrowly escaping the knife’s blade. The knife thrown by the other Hunter struck the one I was choking in the chest, causing him to immediately release my wrist. His eyes widened as he realized what had happened. He slumped against the wall with his head bobbing slightly side to side. Instinctively, his hands made a feeble attempt to grip the hilt of the knife, but his zeal to fight was gone. His hands dropped to his sides. I watched the last moments of his life fade from his drooping eyes before I finally allowed his heavy body to collapse on the ground, which shoved the blade deeper into his chest.
Before the other Hunter attacked or threw another knife, I scooped my revolver off the ground. I turned toward him and fired. The bullet lodged into his shoulder. He growled in pain and rushed toward me. An arrow caught him in the throat. He staggered forward, gasping and wrapping his hand around the arrow shaft, but he kept coming. Anger and determination set in his crazed eyes.
I rushed toward him and struck his jaw with a harsh right. He fell backwards. In spite of the arrow, he tried to catch himself before he hit the ground but failed. He landed on his back, and I planted my knee on his chest.
He snapped the arrow shaft flush at this throat. Blood spurted from the hole. He gasped. His eyes grew fierce. His voice deepened. “You won’t succeed. You cannot get past all of us.”
“He’s a child,” I whispered near his ear.
“We know. That’s why you must hand him over.” He lifted his head off the floor, grabbed the arrow tip protruding out the back of his neck, and yanked it out before lowering his head. Blood spilled into a pool beneath him. Deep laughter rumbled in his throat, eventually going silent.
I rose to my feet and glanced toward the priests. They had surrounded Madeline and Varak and stood with their backs toward her. They appeared ready to fight to protect her, even though they had no visible weapons.
Father stepped beside me. He looked down and shook his head in regret. “Two dead
Hunters.”
Nausea welled inside of me. Although I hadn’t killed either one of them, I couldn’t shake the guilt pressing down on me.
Penelope frowned at the dead Hunter with disgust. “Had to break my arrow, didn’t you?”
I sighed. These Hunters wouldn’t have come to Freiburg if I hadn’t brought Varak. I walked over to pick up my crossbow, which by some miracle had not fired when I dropped it.
“Are you okay?” Penelope asked.
“No. Hunters are dying because of me.”
“Only because they are unwilling to look at your viewpoint,” she replied.
I shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. Vampire Hunters are not plentiful.”
“And yet a dozen have shown here to oppose you?” she asked.
I glanced at Father. “Have you ever heard of anything like this? A dozen Hunters seeking to execute another Hunter?”
“No, son. Never. Nor have I seen more than a pair working together at a time, and that was to slay vampires, not one another.”
I felt tears burning in my eyes. My shoulders drooped. A dozen Hunters had been summoned to kill me. And three dead were because of me. I had never imagined I’d be on the wrong side of the Chosen. I hadn’t been a Hunter for more than a year. The burden of what was occurring was too much to withstand.
I was ready to surrender myself to the remaining Hunters and allow them to decide my fate before any more of them were killed. If protecting and keeping Varak alive was worthy of death, my life needed to end now. Perhaps I had carried this mission too far. I had tarnished my calling and was no longer worthy of being one of the Chosen.
“Forrest?” Penelope said softly. She knelt beside the Hunter she had shot with an arrow.
I looked at her. Surprise widened her eyes. “What is it?”
She took a deep breath and licked her lips. “These men … they’re not Hunters.”
I frowned and came closer. “What do you mean?”
Father stepped nearer, too.
“See this mark?” She turned the man’s hand palm up. On his wrist a dark symbol was inked into his skin. It resembled an eye, but not a human one. Something darker and evil.
“What is that?” I asked.
“A demon mark. The Mark of Krowl. Check the other man.”
I hurried and turned his right hand up. The same mark was on this man’s wrist, too.
I whispered, “If they’re not Hunters, why do they want Varak?”
“I don’t believe these men have any intention to kill him.”
“They want him because of what he is?”
She nodded. “They are the cult worshippers of the demon Krowl. At the very least, they’ve taken his mark in return for gain, depending upon their level of loyalty.”
“Loyalty?”
“Yes. They offer animal sacrifices to appease Krowl. The greater length they go to praise him, the larger their reward. These men are on the highest tier.”
“Why?”
“They’ve been sent after Varak, knowing they must be willing to sacrifice their lives to get him. They cannot retreat. Krowl has probably blessed them and extracted all fear from their minds. They have no fear of dying. In their minds, death holds a great reward if they die while killing you.”
“So there’s nothing I can say to convince them to abandon their pursuit?”
She shook their head. “No. But if they get the child … they will use his power to destroy everything the Papacy views as holy.”
“The Papacy? Why?”
“Because Jesuits discovered their cult years ago and tried to convert them. When they refused to worship in the manner the Jesuits insisted, the priests slaughtered nearly all of the Krowl worshippers as worthless infidels. A few dozen escaped.”
“How do you know about this?” Father asked.
“As a Demon-hunter, I seek out all the information I can find about the demons. I have ancient tomes stored and hidden at my homestead. Books my father purchased around the world while he was slaying vampires. He brought them to me as gifts. I’ve studied them thoroughly. My father warned me about this group and told me the story. The reason they know we’re here and what Varak is, is because their minds have become attuned to Krowl’s.”
I frowned. “By attuned, do you mean that he speaks directly to them?”
“Yes, and through them. He controls their minds and greatly influences their actions.”
“Then Krowl knows these two men were killed?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Lucas and the other priests came to us. “We can’t stay in these tunnels any longer. We don’t mind escorting you to the Archdiocese, but we aren’t willing to sacrifice our lives by simply standing in one spot.”
“I agree,” I said.
“Too many passages converge into this one. If those two have already found you, the others will come soon,” he said. “We must go.”
He turned and walked away. The priests walked ahead with Madeline close behind. Father lingered behind with us as we walked. I didn’t believe we’d reach the cathedral without encountering more cultists. The two had been difficult to take down, but if Krowl had actually seen his servants die, he’d sent more than two the next time. A lot more than two.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Why are Krowl’s zealots posing as Hunters?” I asked.
“We might not ever know the true reason, but I think it is to confuse you,” she said.
“Confuse me?”
“You mentioned it before. A true Hunter wouldn’t set out to kill another Hunter. For a dozen Hunters to come after you, threatening to kill you, that’s more than enough to shake anyone’s resolve. Hasn’t that made you question whether you’re doing the right thing by delivering Varak to the Archdiocese?”
I nodded.
It was exactly how I felt. I had come to the point of laying down my life for my disobedience in bringing Varak to Freiburg. Other than Albert’s prediction of what the child would become, I had never been warned about sparing the hybrid. It had been sternly implied by Albert and myself. Even now, I hadn’t received any direct insight to inform me of exactly what should be done. I only knew what I believed to be the right solution.
Ahead of us the tunnel brightened. I smelled burnt sulfur. A thin layer of smoke hung overhead. Fire flickered along the passageway floor. In between the building smoke and the rising flames, the large shadows of six zealots standing side by side loomed. All were dressed like Hunters and every one of them was an imposter.
Father Lucas and the other priests stopped walking. They shielded Madeline and Varak behind themselves. Each priest took his silver cross in hand and held them up where these Krowl followers could see them, which gave me an idea.
One of the shadowed men said, “Give us the child.”
I threw a globe-shaped bottle of holy water as hard as I could, striking the man’s forehead. The glass shattered, splashing the water on his face and neck. Some of the holy water struck a man to each side of him. The man’s limp body dropped.
I didn’t expect the holy water to have the same effect on these men as it would vampires, but it did something I had hoped might occur. The other two men dropped to their knees, clutching their heads in their hands, screaming at the top of their lungs.
“What did you do?” Penelope asked.
“You said that Krowl was linked to their minds?”
She nodded.
“I figured since priests used holy water when they excised demons, the water should work on these cultists as well.” I pulled my silver cross from my pocket.
“But they’re not possessed by evil spirits, Forrest,” she said. “He’s only linking himself to their minds. It’s not the same thing.”
“Then how do you explain that?” I pointed to the three men on their knees in anguish.
“I—I don’t know.”
I shrugged. “I don’t either. Maybe the holy water blocks his link?”
Lucas glanced toward us with a confused st
are.
“Do you know a rite of exorcism?” Penelope asked him.
He nodded. “Of course we do. Why?”
“Forrest splashed them with holy water to sever the demon’s control over them. Maybe if you excise it will finish breaking Krowl’s bond with them.”
Lucas turned toward the anguished men and chanted in Latin. The other three priests joined in. As their voices rose in unison, the cultists fell facedown on the floor in agony, squeezing the sides of their heads. They weren’t about to recover enough to attack us anytime soon.
I took my last bottle of holy water from my pocket and flung it toward the other three men who had stepped away from their ailing companions. The bottle struck the man’s cheek. The impact knocked him unconscious. He dropped to the floor, but the bottle didn’t break. The two men beside him leaned down and shook him, trying to awaken him. Getting no response, they turned toward us.
Penelope fired an arrow into the closest man’s chest. He gasped and spiraled around, but he didn’t fall. His thick overcoat might have prevented the arrow from going deep enough to be fatal. By my estimate, she had missed his heart but had probably punctured his lung. Without my noticing she pulled another arrow and fired again. This arrow caught his shoulder. He clumsily spun and fell backwards into the burning debris on the floor. He wailed, tried to push himself out of the fire, but instead, he fell deeper into the flames.
The three cultists that the priests were chanting a rite over lay still. I didn’t know if they were dead or not, but at least for now, we didn’t need to worry about fighting them.
That left only one more who was uninjured in the tunnel we needed to be concerned about. With my silver cross dagger, I rushed toward the cultist and yelled at Lucas, “Take Madeline and the baby into the Archdiocese!”
The Krowl worshipper snarled at me. He widened his stance, expecting me to plow into him, but instead, I reached down for the unbroken vial of holy water. I uncorked it and flung most of the contents into his face. As he dropped to his knees, I pressed the silver cross to his forehead. Even though I didn’t know a whole lot about combating demons, I had the impression they fled from whatever people believed to be holy.
Forrest Wollinsky: Predestined Crossroads (Forrest Wollinsky: Vampire Hunter Book 3) Page 20
