I stared at Anton. "You knew all this time?"
"You sound angry and accusing," Anton said. "Why is that?"
"William said he asked you about the necklace."
"He did."
"Then why didn't you tell him what it was?" I asked.
"I did tell him. William sent me a picture of the necklace and asked me if it was the same type of thing we had in the Vaults. I told him that it was. He didn't ask me anything more about it. I didn't know that he didn't know what it was for."
"I feel like you're dissembling," I said, "but I'll let it go."
"No doubt you will," Anton said. "People always do on account of my great charm. Incidentally, what happened to the necklace William found?"
"As far as I know, he still has it," I said. "Maybe you should tell me where he is."
Anton glanced over at me. "Do you know what they say about these necklaces?"
"No, of course I don't," I said.
"According to legend, each one of the necklaces contains a soul that has been trapped inside the stone. Supposedly, that's how it masks the presence of the vampire who wears it. It makes a doomed, soulless creature appear as if he has a soul."
I gave the necklace back to Anton quickly.
He smiled. "It's not true, you know. Not the part about being doomed—that's true enough. I mean the part about the soul trapped in the stone. That's not how it works. It's just another piece of magic like the spinning top."
"Nice distraction, by the way," I said.
"I thought so."
"So Sebastian got his necklace from the cave," I said. "And William's must have come from there, too."
"How do you figure that?" Anton asked. "William told me he didn't know where it had come from."
"He didn't know," I said. "He found the necklace as a prize at a carnival. And I found out later that the necklace had come in a box of stuff from the Neverovs. Maksim Neverov must have removed the necklace from the cave at some point."
"That's odd," Anton said. "Very odd."
"Why is it odd for Maksim Neverov to have had the necklace?" I asked. "Especially if he's helping to run that operation at the cave?"
"The now-defunct operation at the cave," Anton said. "Good luck to anybody who wants to try to dig all that out. And it's not odd for Maksim to have had the necklace. What is odd is that he would've let it go. It's exactly the type of thing he ought to hang onto."
"Maybe it was an accident," I said. "The executive assistant told me she found it on the floor."
"Maybe," Anton said. "It's odd all the same."
He stood and glanced out the window. "Are we almost done here?"
"Just about," I said.
He turned suddenly and looked back at me. "You people need to eat, right?"
"Sometimes we do, yes."
"How about we get you a very late dinner, and then we get you a safe place to sleep for a little while? We have some time we need to kill."
"We do?" I said. "I thought we were in a hurry."
"The situation is evolving," Anton said. "Everything is up in the air—or not, as the case may be."
"Cryptic," I said.
"Do you want to go?"
"Sure, I guess," I said. I snapped the latch on my suitcase closed.
We went downstairs and out of the house, and as I paused to lock the door, I glanced over at Anton.
"GM will be all right, won't she?" I asked.
"I'm sure of it," Anton replied. "Her capture by Sebastian was accidental—I'm certain he had no idea who she was. And now that you're leaving, no one will have any reason to harm her. This is the best thing you could do for her."
"I hope you're right," I said.
Anton and I sped off into the darkness, and the world around me became a black blur. When we stopped again, I found myself standing next to a car that was parked on a deserted street.
Anton unlocked the door and opened it. "After you."
I hesitated. "Is this car yours?"
"No."
"No?" I said.
"Relax," Anton replied. "It's a rental. And anyway, if I was going to break into a random car, I'd hardly have the keys."
"That makes sense," I said, getting in.
"Of course it does." Anton closed the door behind me, and then settled himself behind the wheel.
As he started the engine, I glanced over at him. "Why didn't we just take the car before?"
"For some things walking is quicker," Anton said. "For others driving is. Besides, I can only keep up my top speed on foot for short distances. It doesn't work if we have a long way to go. And it will look more normal if we pull up in a car."
I directed Anton to an all-night diner, and he quickly drove us over and parked in the nearly empty lot. As we got out of the car, Anton stopped and looked around.
"That vampire with the glowing red eyes—" I began.
"He didn't send those messages you mentioned, either," Anton said.
"I know," I said. "But was that the Hunter?"
"No," Anton said.
"It wasn't?"
"No, that guy with the eyes wasn't the Hunter," Anton replied. "But I can understand why you might think that. And unfortunately, he's a big enough problem in his own right."
I looked around at the darkness beyond the parking lot. "Is he—is he still out there? Is he still after me?"
"Oh yes."
"Who is he?" I asked.
"I guess it can't hurt to tell you now," Anton said. "His name is Emmanuel. He's developed quite a reputation as a hunter in his own right. He works by seeing patterns—predicting what his quarry is going to do next."
"You mean he can see the future?" I asked.
"No—not exactly. Maybe you could call him a profiler. He can see what you have done, and he makes predictions from there. That's how he knew you were likely to be at the cave on that night you ran over him—it fit the pattern of your behavior."
"That's disturbing," I said.
"Very," Anton replied. "Remember how I told you that you'd have to be very bold or very stupid to challenge the Hunter? Well, Emmanuel is very bold."
"What does he want?" I asked.
"I assume he wants the same thing Sebastian wanted—to get ahead of the Hunter and deliver you to the Werdulac himself. So, first you had Sebastian, who was a freelancer, after you. And now you also have the Hunter himself, who is the Werdulac's authorized agent, and you have Emmanuel, who is another freelancer. You have a lot of dangerous creatures after you."
Anton glanced over at me. "That's getting to be a habit with you."
We went into the diner, and the hostess seated us next to a window. Anton ordered a cup of coffee that he didn't intend to drink, and I ordered pancakes and juice. I was very tired, but I was also very hungry, and I figured eating something would help me to sleep once I finally got the chance.
After the waitress was gone, I leaned forward.
"Are we safe here? Are these other people safe?"
"From Emmanuel?" Anton asked.
"Yes."
"At the moment, we are all perfectly safe," Anton replied. "I've been monitoring the situation."
"That's good," I said—but somehow I didn't actually feel that relieved. "That's what your phone call was about?"
"Yep. In fact, I'd better check in. I'm going to step out for just a moment. I don't want the waitress to overhear this."
Anton left the table, and while he was gone, the food arrived. As I drizzled maple syrup over my pancakes, Anton reappeared and sat down.
"We're still good," he said.
"So, I'm a little confused about the timeline here," I said.
"How so?" Anton said.
"You seemed to recognize Sebastian," I said. "And you didn't seem surprised to see him in Elspeth's Grove. But at the same time, you didn't know he was running that love spell. Did you know he was here?"
"Yes—we'd tracked him to this town, and then he disappeared—no doubt because of the necklace he found. But we kne
w he came here for you. He had a habit of bragging about what he was going to do. Like I said, he was stupid."
"By 'we' you mean the vampire court in Russia?" I said.
"It sounds so fancy when you say it like that, but yes. It's our business to know about threats to you. We have to look out for you. Your death will spark a war. That's what the Werdulac wants. And that's what we don't want. A war would destroy us, too."
"So the purpose of your trip here tonight is to save me from the Werdulac?" I said.
"Yes. Once the Hunter was released from his tomb, we all found out pretty quickly."
"But what about Sebastian?" I asked.
"What about him?"
"You said he was after me, too," I said. "In fact, you said he was after me first. But you also said you just got here."
"Yes."
"So, Sebastian has been here for more than a few days," I said. "You weren't interested in saving me from him before?"
"We knew Sebastian was after you," Anton said. "But we also knew he wasn't a credible threat. And he wasn't. The only reason we saw him at all tonight was because you insisted on finding your grandmother. Otherwise, we would never have run into him. Sebastian isn't a hunter. He's a scavenger. He hides in the shadows and swipes things when nobody's looking. We knew he wasn't brave enough to attack you openly."
"Why didn't you tell William about Sebastian?" I asked.
Anton shrugged. "We had our own agent on it—until recently, that is. We lost contact with him a few days ago. Maybe you're right. Maybe we should have brought William in on it. Hindsight, you know."
"Who is your agent here?" I asked.
"Funnily enough, I don't actually know his name," Anton said. "And I don't actually know if he is a 'he' or a 'she.' I'm just saying 'he' for convenience. He reported to us by a codename."
"Which is?" I asked.
Anton looked amused. "Why do you want to know? What could it possibly mean to you?"
"I just want to know what's going on," I said.
"The codename is Urchin," Anton replied. "If you happen to run into him, ask him to check in, will you?"
"And why didn't you tell William about the necklace?" I asked.
"I already answered that," Anton said. "I didn't know that he didn't know what it was for."
"You didn't?" I said.
"No. I really didn't. He never said a thing."
"But maybe you suspected that he didn't know."
Anton smiled. "I have to admit that I did suspect something of the kind."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"All right. I suppose I should have told him what it was. But you have to see it from my perspective—it's really fun to annoy William."
"But didn't you think it could be a sign of something dangerous?" I asked.
"It was certainly an interesting discovery," Anton said. "And something to keep an eye on, for sure. But William had it in his possession, so it was safe—no one else could use it if he had it. And we knew that William would tell us if anything threatened you."
Anton looked over at me. "All he does is think of you. And all we do is think about the crisis that surrounds you. We knew the Werdulac was working to resurrect the Hunter in order to get to you. Stopping that had to be our first priority. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed."
"How long did you know about the Hunter?"
"Long time."
"And you didn't tell William?"
"What good would it have done?" Anton asked. "William couldn't have done anything himself—he had to stay here to protect you. All he would have done is worry. And he's already good at worrying. Besides, it's not my fault he's out of the loop. I can't help that he won't spend any time with the rest of our community."
"You should have told us," I said. "You should have told me."
"Why?" Anton asked. "So you could worry, too? Would you have slept better these last few months knowing the Werdulac was trying to release an ancient vampire to hunt you down? Humans are notoriously fragile about those kinds of things."
"No, I suppose not," I said.
"Cheer up," Anton said. "At least we knew what was going on. We've been working tirelessly around the clock to help you. Luckily for us we knew where the Hunter's tomb is. It's the only one we've actually found."
"The only one of what?" I asked.
"What's that?" Anton gave me a blank, innocent look.
"You said his tomb is the only one you've found." I said. "The only one of what?"
"I didn't say that."
"Yes, you did."
Anton waved a careless hand. "It's nothing. Just something for history buffs."
He glanced out the window sharply.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"You just said that a moment ago," I said. "Is it really nothing?"
"Nothing but a nuisance," Anton replied.
"What do you mean by that, I wonder?"
Anton smiled but couldn't be drawn into further conversation.
Once I had finished my pancakes, Anton and I left the diner and went out to the car. Our car was now the only one left in the lot, and I figured that the diner's employees must have parked in the back.
"Now we need to get you a place to sleep," Anton said. "And then I'll go and get that backpack of yours."
He stopped suddenly, halfway to the car. "Would you like to take a little walk?"
I glanced around at the darkness that surrounded us beyond the parking lot lights—I figured dawn couldn't be far off.
"What, now?" I said.
"I just remembered that I always liked taking a walk after a late-night meal. It helped me to relax—made it easier to sleep."
"You remembered that?" I asked. "When was the last time you actually ate something?"
"It's been a very long time. Humor me for old times' sake."
"Okay," I said. "You're sure it's safe?"
"I'm sure."
We started off across the parking lot, and soon we were out of the harsh glare of its lights. We found a sidewalk not far away, and we wound our way through a nearby neighborhood. There was light from the occasional street lamp and from the stars overhead, and we walked in silence at first.
"The quiet is nice," I said after a time. "Especially after what's happened tonight."
"An explosive night," Anton said.
"Did you mean what you said earlier?" I asked.
"About what?"
"About being doomed and soulless. You said that when we were talking about the necklace."
"Oh that," Anton said.
"Did you mean it?"
Anton looked away. "The world will end in holy fire."
"That's the saying about the sword, isn't it?" I said. "The sword William was looking for last year."
Anton smirked. "Ignis Sacer. The legendary sword that William believes can stop the Werdulac."
"He's not the only one who believes that," I said. "A lot of people believe in it."
"Trust me, it's not true," Anton said. "That prediction was made by a charlatan."
"Innokenti said that Orpheo was a vampire philosopher and visionary," I said.
"Like Nostradamus."
"Innokenti did compare him to Nostradamus."
"Do you believe in Nostradamus?"
"Well, he was certainly a real person."
"And Orpheo was certainly a real vampire," Anton said. "What I meant was, do you believe in Nostradamus's predictions?"
"No, of course not," I said.
"And I don't believe in Orpheo's predictions, either," Anton said. "Although to be more specific, in this case, I believe the prediction—just not the interpretation. 'The world will end in holy fire' to William, and others who go in for that sort of thing, means that Orpheo predicted the return of the Werdulac—and that Ignis Sacer could defeat him. I believe that Orpheo predicted the return of the Werdulac—no great guess in my estimation by the way—and that all vampires will be destroyed. When the Werdulac is finally free, we're
all of us going to burn."
"Then you do believe you're doomed," I said.
Anton glanced over at me. "Yes. Don't you think we should be? You know what I am—what I really am. Don't you think this world would be better off without us?"
"I can't say that I do," I said.
"Even though we live on blood?" Anton asked.
"Innokenti said you were all ultimately beneficial. He said you protect humans from other, darker creatures out there. I've seen you doing that myself. I saw what you did when the hybrids attacked last year."
"That sounds like an evasion," Anton replied. "You can't possibly believe that."
"I don't think you're doomed," I said. "And I don't think you're soulless, either."
"Why not?"
"I just don't. I can't. I can't think that's true of anyone."
Anton shook his head. "I think we should be getting back."
We turned, and as we did so, Anton glanced around.
"You know, I was going to let this go," he said, his tone unexpectedly sharp, "but now I think I should take care of it before it becomes a distraction."
Anton lunged forward suddenly and disappeared from my sight.
"Anton?" I said.
I heard a cry out in the shadows somewhere beyond my line of sight.
"Anton, what's going on?" I said.
I heard another cry, and I hurried toward it.
In a dim alley between two houses, I found Anton struggling with a small, dark figure.
"Let me go!" cried a voice.
Their struggling brought them closer to the light, and I could see that Anton was wrestling with a young girl.
"Anton!" I shouted. "Anton, stop! What are you doing?"
Anton glanced over at me, and then grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her over to me and out all the way into the light.
The girl had long, black hair, and dark, almond-shaped eyes, and she was clearly furious—but Anton held her fast. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen and was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a long-sleeved T-shirt—she was just an innocent girl out on a Saturday night.
Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) Page 17
