"I was told by—someone—that there was another horror in the Hunter's tomb," I said. "Is that what he meant?"
"Whoever told you that knew what he was talking about," Sachiko said. "The Hunter's wife is in his tomb, perfectly preserved. The Sìdh created that tomb—their trap for the Hunter—carefully. There are certain sensitive spots on this earth through which the souls of the departed can return. They placed his wife's body at one of those spots and lured him there with the promise of her recovery. Then they sprang their trap, and the Hunter was burned and buried right there on the spot. And the Star of Morning was the key. I just don't know how it was used."
I sank down to the floor. "I'm going to need to sit for a minute."
"Understandable," Sachiko said.
"This is horrible," I said. "This is worse than horrible. This is a nightmare."
"It is."
"Anton knew all of this?" I said after a moment.
"Yes, he did," Sachiko replied. "But try not to blame him too much. He had his orders. And he likes you, you know. I believe he would've told you if he could."
"Who else knows?" I asked.
"Just the Russian court," Sachiko said.
"Minus the queen?"
"No, she knows. She's just not thinking clearly at the moment."
"Why?" I asked. "Why is the Russian court keeping this a secret? Why are they letting everyone believe that the Werdulac sent the Hunter?"
"I don't know for sure," Sachiko said. "But I think in a twisted way they're trying to protect you. The king and Innokenti—they know that the ancient Russian vampires are dangerous—all of them. But modern vampires can be short-sighted. If it were common knowledge that Hunter was after you in order to stop the Werdulac, there are plenty of vampires who would try to give you over to the Hunter—if only to keep themselves safe from war. But you can't bargain with the Hunter any more than you can with the Werdulac—they're both too old and too powerful. If you were turned over to the Hunter, and your soul was stolen, the Werdulac would not get a war with the Sìdh—that is true. In that case, the Werdulac would simply turn his attention to the brother who thwarted him. There would still be a war—only this time it would be the Werdulac against the Hunter. And a lot of vampire blood would be spilled in the process. We would lose that way, too."
Sachiko reached out a hand to me. "We'd better go now. We have to go get that sword."
She unlocked the door once more and looked out into the corridor.
"It's clear," she whispered. "Come on."
I followed Sachiko out into the hall, and we hurried along at a quick but human pace—I figured she didn't want to attract any undue attention by moving too swiftly. As luck would have it, such caution wasn't necessary—as we continued to move through the halls on our way down to the lower levels, we found that they were completely deserted.
Sachiko's expression grew steadily more troubled as we hurried on and still encountered no one—but she said nothing and just kept going.
At last we reached a long hall that stretched down to an immense set of iron doors, and Sachiko stopped and motioned for me to do the same. I imagined that under ordinary circumstances guards would be posted on either side of the doors, and the doors themselves would be locked.
But at the moment, the doors were standing wide open, and the entire hall was eerily silent. Nothing stirred anywhere nearby, and I could see another, darker hall stretching beyond the doors.
"This is the entrance to the Vaults," Sachiko whispered. "It looks like we don't have to worry about how to get in."
She walked noiselessly up to the big double doors and peered inside.
"It's dark in there," she whispered, "but then again, it's always dark in there. It's part of the system for preserving the artifacts that are stored here."
Sachiko took a few cautious steps inside and then motioned me to follow her.
I stepped across the threshold and found myself standing in a long, dim hall that was only faintly lit by the silvery glow that pervaded the rest of the castle. I could see that one side of the hall was lined with iron doors that were standing open. Sachiko peered into the first door, and I followed her.
The door led into a large, dark chamber—darker even than the hall itself. But even in the low light, I could see that the room had been ransacked, and the room's contents now littered the floor—it was mostly piles of heavy, embroidered cloth.
"Tapestries," Sachiko whispered. "Some of the old ones are rumored to have magic properties."
Sachiko and I looked into the next chamber and found the second one to be in the same condition as the first—the chamber had been completely turned upside down. This chamber was lined with bare shelves, and wooden chests, which had presumably once rested on those shelves, now lay on their sides on the floor with their contents spilling out. Those contents largely consisted of books and metal drinking vessels.
"Spell books," Sachiko whispered. "And cursed goblets destined to poison anyone who drinks from them. Or at least, alleged spell books and cursed goblets. They may actually not have any special properties. Kept down here just in case."
"What happened in this place?" I whispered.
Sachiko simply shook her head.
We looked into the next chamber and found that that room's contents had not only been overturned but smashed. The floor was littered with broken wooden frames and shattered glass that crunched under foot.
"Mirrors," Sachiko whispered. "The oldest ones are said to be accessible by the Sìdh. That's why they're kept down here in the Vaults. They're considered to be weapons."
She picked up a shard of glass, and it glinted softly in the low, silver light. "It appears as if someone was looking for something. And I have a terrible feeling now that I know what it was."
Sachiko grabbed my hand. "Come on."
She took off with blinding speed, and the two of us streaked down the hall. We turned sharply to the right, and then we flew down a flight of stone steps into another dim hall. This one was also lined with open doors—which we hurtled past—and at the very end of the hall was yet another open iron door.
Sachiko came to a sudden stop in front of this final door and released my hand. Then she stepped inside, and I followed her.
The two of us were standing in a large, dimly lit chamber with a high ceiling. There were shelves and racks and cabinets—all of which were now bare. And the floor was littered with weapons—spears, swords, daggers—and other things I couldn't put a name to. Sachiko whirled quickly through the wreckage in the room, as if she were looking for something.
After a few moments, she stopped searching and came to stand beside me.
"It's just as I feared," she whispered. "Someone has been here first. Someone has taken it."
"Taken what?" I said.
"The vampire sword," Sachiko replied. "The Star of Morning. It's gone."
"Are you sure?" I said. "We haven't looked through all of these rooms yet. Maybe it's somewhere else."
"I'm sure," Sachiko said. "The chambers that are close to the Vault's main entrance are filled with things that aren't of much importance. They're quite old, but they're kept more for their historical value than for anything else—like the tapestries and the books. They might be dangerous, but in all probability they aren't. Those artifacts are kept down here just in case."
Sachiko turned to look at the ransacked room. "But this chamber is the most secure one in the Vaults. It's where the truly dangerous items are kept. These things are actually weapons—powerful weapons. And this is the vault in which the Star of Morning is housed. And it is most definitely not here."
I looked around at the implements of warfare that were strewn about our feet. "Is there anything else we could use? There seem to be quite a few other swords in here. Could one of these swords be powerful enough to help us?"
Sachiko shook her head. "These things are powerful weapons. But nothing in here is powerful enough to stop the Hunter. We need the Star of Morning. It was desig
ned to stop him."
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
"We find William. We save his life. Then we get out of the country and try to think of something to do."
"I thought you said we had no chance without the sword," I said.
"We don't."
Sachiko grabbed my hand once again, and suddenly we were flying down the hall, headed back the way we had come. We reached the stone steps and soared over them, negotiated the same sharp corner we'd originally turned in reverse, and then flew along the main hall to the entrance to the Vaults.
Sachiko hurtled past the open set of iron doors and kept going.
Once again, we encountered no one on the way, and we sped on uninterrupted through the silvery halls. Eventually, we reached another set of tall double doors, and Sachiko came to an abrupt stop in front of them.
These doors were wooden rather than iron, and unlike the entrance to the Vaults, these doors were firmly shut.
I stared up at the tall wooden doors. "This is where they're holding William?"
"Yes," Sachiko said. "This is the Queens' Chamber. And there are no guards posted out here—which is good. They're probably on the upper levels now. However, I don't think we can just waltz in. There's a heavy iron bolt that goes across these doors on the inside, and that bolt may be in place right now. And earlier there were guards posted inside the Queens' Chamber as well as outside—somebody has to operate the bolt. So it's very possible they're still in there."
"Okay," I said. "So we have to get past the bolt and the guards."
"Exactly," Sachiko said. "Stay behind me. I may have to break the doors down."
She motioned for me to stand back, and then she put a hand out tentatively to one of the tall wooden doors. She pressed on it, and the door swung open easily, revealing darkness within.
Sachiko paused for a moment, and we both listened intently.
There were no sounds of movement within the Queens' Chamber.
Sachiko's lips moved silently. "One down."
She moved into the doorway slowly, one hand trailing behind her, to indicate that I should stay where I was. After a moment, she tilted her hand and motioned me forward.
The Queens' Chamber was dark—very dark—but there was light streaming in from the open door, and I knew that Sachiko could see even without it.
"Is anyone in here?" I whispered as quietly as I could, knowing that Sachiko's keen hearing would pick up the sound.
"It's hard for me to tell," Sachiko whispered back. "In a castle full of vampires, it's hard to pick them out anywhere in here. And they have the ability to remain completely motionless—just like all good predators."
Sachiko took my hand, and the two of us began to negotiate a flight of steps.
"Be very careful," she whispered. "Marble steps can be slippery for human feet."
I followed Sachiko down the steps, and then she released my hand.
"Stay here," Sachiko whispered, and she took a step forward into the shadows. A moment later, she melted into the darkness and disappeared completely.
I waited, peering into the darkness and straining my eyes for a glimpse of Sachiko's slim figure. But no matter how I searched, I couldn't find any sign of motion at all. I listened, too, but my ears caught nothing but silence.
As time stretched on, and the silence continued, my heart began to pound, and my breathing became shallower. Fear of the darkness that stretched in front of me began to steal over me, and in the bowels of a vampire castle, that fear wasn't entirely unwarranted.
"Sachiko?" I whispered into the darkness. "Sachiko, where are you?"
Suddenly, what looked like firelight flashed before my eyes, and I jumped away from it, startled. Dozens of lights sprang to life all around me, and after a moment I could see small hanging braziers overhead and shoulder-height columns that were placed at intervals around the chamber. Both the braziers and the columns were now supporting bright tongues of flame.
Before I could figure out what was going on, a blur spun around me, and Sachiko appeared at my side.
"Sorry," she said. "Didn't mean to startle you. I figured it was safe now to turn on the lights—your heart was hammering so loudly that any vampires hiding in here would have heard it and rushed out by now. I think it's safe to say that there are no guards in here, either."
Sachiko glanced over at the nearest flickering column. "And don't worry about the flames. This stuff isn't really fire. It's actually the same silver light that's in the rest of the castle. It's just been concentrated and fed through a gold filter. The light is supposed to look like fire, but it's just for effect. Vampires don't trust fire too much, and strictly speaking, we don't need it—but it does add to the atmosphere in here."
I looked around the room. Now that it was lit up, I could see that I was standing in a vast, high-ceilinged chamber on a marble floor that was set with an intricate pattern in gold. Behind the columns of flickering light on both sides were tall marble tombs with female effigies lying in stately repose on the top. The two rows of tombs stretched all the way down the length of the room until they disappeared into shadow.
I shivered. "So the Queens' Chamber—"
"Is full of deceased vampire queens," Sachiko finished. "Each one of these tombs contains the body of a female vampire of so-called royal blood."
"Are they gone for good?" I asked.
"You can never be entirely sure with a vampire," Sachiko replied. "But the practical answer is yes. Only the oldest, most powerful vampires have powers of regeneration like the Werdulac and the Hunter do. The vampire strain in their blood is the strongest, and it gets diluted as time goes by. The vast majority of vampires will eventually wear out or get injured and can be killed for good. In fact, even the Werdulac and the Hunter can be killed for good. Anything with a body will eventually die—it's just that vampires have a few extra tricks. But I wouldn't worry about the ladies in here. I don't think any of them will trouble us tonight."
I looked down the chamber into the shadows. "Where's William? Do you still think they're keeping him in here?"
"I haven't sensed him yet," Sachiko said. "But I have a strong feeling he's still in here. They all seemed worried about the king and queen—I don't think anyone thought to worry about William. He's badly hurt, after all, and isn't likely to be able to run away."
I drew in my breath sharply at her words.
"Sorry," Sachiko said. "I just meant that I do think he's in here somewhere. Like I said, it's hard for me to pick out one vampire in a castle full of them. Let's have a look around. As I recall, there's a small marble chamber in the back with a special tomb—it's sort of a chapel. He could be in there. It has a door they could bar."
The words had scarcely left Sachiko's lips, when there was a leaden crash from one of the tombs. Then the two wooden doors behind us slammed heavily shut, and the iron bolt that locked them slid home with a clang that echoed in the vast marble chamber.
"There's still one vampire of royal blood left alive in this place," cried a ringing voice. "And you will have to answer to her for your crimes."
I turned quickly and was just in time to see a blurry figure fly away from the door. The figure came to rest on one of the tombs and then blurred again and moved toward me with startling swiftness.
Suddenly, standing before me was a woman with long black hair and dark eyes, and those dark eyes stared into mine with unnatural brightness. The woman's full, scarlet lips curled back in a feral smile, revealing gleaming, sharp teeth. Despite the ferocity of her expression, the woman's face was startling in its beauty—and it was also a face that I recognized.
I was looking at Sabine, the reigning vampire queen.
"You thought to deprive me of my love," she said. "But it is I who will deprive you of yours."
Chapter 24
The queen's expression softened, and her full mouth curved into a gentle smile. But the dangerous glint in her eyes remained.
"Did I scare you, little lamb?" she said softly
. "But you're not such a lamb, are you?"
The queen moved toward me, and I was forced to step back.
"Leave her alone, Sabine!" Sachiko cried, rushing toward the queen.
"How dare you address me so!" the queen screamed, and she struck Sachiko so hard that she flew across the vast stone chamber into the shadows.
I heard Sachiko's body fall. And then there was silence.
"Sachiko!" I ran for the dark end of the room.
But the queen's figure blurred, and in an instant, she was standing right in front of me, blocking my path.
I was forced to stop short.
"I knew you would come back here," the queen said. "I knew you would come for him. And I was right wasn't I? All I had to do was wait."
The queen moved toward me purposefully, and I found myself backing away from her once again. I turned suddenly and ran for the bolted door with a half-formed idea of running to the Vaults to find a weapon. But Sabine appeared in front of me so quickly that I stumbled and fell to the hard marble floor.
"You'll never leave Zamochit, you wicked girl," the queen said softly. "You'll die here. I'll see to that. And your body will be thrown onto the heaps and eaten by vermin."
"What do you want with me?" I asked as I scrambled to get to my feet and move away from the queen. "Why do you care that I'm here? What could I mean to you?"
The queen's eyes glittered. "The ghost girl is here, isn't she?"
"I'm not the ghost girl," I said.
"I sensed a human in the castle," the queen said. "You—you are the only human here. And the ghost girl is a human. A human with unnatural powers."
"There's no such thing as the ghost girl," I said. "She isn't human—she isn't anything. She isn't real."
The queen's eyes suddenly blazed with fury and her face contorted. "How you lie! She isn't real? When my husband lies with the healer at this very moment, stabbed through the heart? When loyal castle guards have been cut down as they fought to defend us? When vampires have deserted this castle for fear of their lives? You dare to tell me the ghost girl isn't real?"
Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) Page 29
