Part 41 (1/2)

”Yes, William Sursur,” I said eagerly.

Odette tapped her chin. ”He came for you in the crypt that night, didn't he?” She stared at me for a long moment, and something stirred in her eyes.

”I'll take you to him,” Odette said at last.

”You can really do that?” I asked.

”Yes, I can.” Odette sat down again. ”But I'll have to think of a way to get you safely through the village to the castle. Getting you out would have been comparatively easy-we're close to the border here, though it still wouldn't have been trouble-free. But getting you in deeper will be more difficult. Some of the creatures that live here are little more than animals. If we took to the streets to get to the castle, they would eventually be on us in a swarm. They'd tear you to pieces.”

I began to feel weak with fear. I sank into a rickety chair next to Odette.

There was a crash and a cry from the floor above us, and I heard heavy footsteps walking overhead. I jumped out of my chair and stared up into the darkness above the spiraling staircase.

”What was that?” I asked. ”What's up there, Odette?”

”That's the border watch,” Odette said absent-mindedly. ”He's nothing to worry about. He probably just fell out of his chair.”

”The border watch?” I said. ”Is he a vampire?”

”Of course.”

The footsteps subsided, but I continued to stare upward. I was expecting an angry vampire to come cras.h.i.+ng down the stairs at any moment.

”You can relax,” Odette said. ”That's just Hadrian.”

”Hadrian?”

”Yes. He's not a very effective guard-that's why I knew we'd be safe in here.”

”What is Hadrian guarding exactly?” I asked.

Odette sighed. ”I thought I told you-he's guarding the border-allegedly. There are three other watchtowers similar to this one in the village. They're set close to points at which the supernatural barrier meets the unenchanted Wasteland. Hadrian is supposed to watch the border in case someone like you manages to get past the barrier. He's supposed to detain the intruder and alert the authorities. But intruders are rare, and Hadrian is usually drunk, or sleeping-or both-so very little actual watching goes on.”

”He's drunk?” I asked. ”Does alcohol affect vampires?”

”The kind Hadrian favors does. He drinks fermented human blood.”

”Oh,” I said. ”That's disturbing.”

”Yes, it is,” Odette replied.

I sat down again, and several quiet minutes pa.s.sed-there were no further noises from overhead. Soon, however, I began to worry about what could be going on outside.

I glanced over at the heavy metal door. ”Odette, does everyone in the village know that Hadrian isn't a very good guard?”

”Yes,” Odette said. ”I thought you were finally going to be quiet. I knew it was too good to be true.”

”If Hadrian is so ineffective, what's to stop the vampires outside from coming in here to get us?”

”This tower is government property,” Odette said. ”No one is afraid of Hadrian. But they're all afraid of the group up at the castle. If anything happens to Hadrian, or if this tower is damaged the perpetrators will be punished-severely. And what const.i.tutes 'severe' for a vampire is far more terrible than anything you humans could come up with.”

I was silenced, but not entirely rea.s.sured.

After another few moments, Odette stood up.

She held out her hand. ”All right. It's time to go. I haven't come up with a particularly great plan-in fact-it's pretty simple. But it's the best I can do under the circ.u.mstances.”

”Where are we going?” I asked.

”Up,” Odette replied.

”Up?” I said.

”Yes, up. We have to get over the castle wall, you know.”

”Are you suggesting that we fly?” I asked.

”No-not exactly. We're going to glide over the roof tops.”

”Maybe you can do that,” I said, as panic threatened to overwhelm me. ”But I don't think that's something I can do.”

”You don't have to be able to do it,” Odette said smugly. ”As you already know I have powers that are beyond those of ordinary vampires.”

I did indeed know-Odette had used her powers to break the seal on Gleb Mstislav's tomb. She was the one who had set Gleb free-so he could come after me.

Odette continued. ”I can levitate objects and people-well, people have been a little trickier for me, but as long as you hold onto my hand you should be fine.”

I wasn't sure that I liked the sound of this. ”We're going to go to the castle I saw in the distance, by way of levitation?”

”Yes.”

”But that castle looked very far away,” I said. ”That's a long way to go off the ground.”

”Distances don't mean so much to us,” Odette said. ”Our speed makes miles seem like nothing at all. Come on. We should leave now. I want to get this over with quickly.”

I stood, and the two of us went up the spiral staircase into the darkness. As we ascended, it became harder for me to see, and I wasn't very keen on the idea of stumbling and possibly waking Hadrian from his drunken slumbers. So I went slowly, and I found myself placing my feet on each step as quietly as I could.

”What are you doing?” Odette hissed at me from up above. ”What's taking so long?”

”What about Hadrian?” I asked.

”He's sleeping,” she hissed. ”I'm sure of it. Besides, he's harmless.”

Odette said he was harmless, but I noticed she was whispering.

I continued to climb the stairs gingerly, and eventually, Odette reached down and hauled me up by my coat.

The room above appeared to be completely dark at first. After a moment, my eyes adjusted to the gloom, and I could see that there was an arched, open window on the far side of the room, through which a little bit of light filtered. I could also just make out a large shape by the window-a man was sitting in a chair with his feet resting on a spindly table that also supported a burned-out stub of candle and an empty bottle. His head was tilted back at an uncomfortable angle.

The man was clearly sleeping, but his bulk was impressive-I didn't want to meet him when he was awake.