Part 42 (1/2)

”Why don't you tell him yourself?” I asked.

”Because as soon as we locate your William, I'm going to disappear.”

Before I could ask any further questions, Odette had pulled me back into the air. We landed on three more rooftops, and then Odette stopped and turned to me.

”We're going over the castle wall now,” she said. ” Do not panic. Do not twist and flail around. This is going to be hard enough without your acting like an idiot. I need to pay attention to what the guards are doing. I can't do that if I have to focus on hanging on to you.”

Odette seized my hand. And then, impossibly, we were soaring up into the sky, higher and higher. I felt terror rising in me, but I fought it down. I saw from high up that we were sailing over the castle's parapet. The guards had turned their crossbows on us, and a barrage of flat discs hurtled toward us. The discs split into three razor-sharp arcs, and then burst into b.a.l.l.s of flame.

Despite Odette's warning, I couldn't help crying out and trying to twist out of the way. I was sure we were going to be killed.

I could feel that we were sinking. And then, somehow we were on the ground.

We were standing in a courtyard, and there were vampires rus.h.i.+ng toward us from all sides. Odette, however, seemed to know exactly where to go. Pulling me with her, she ran at blinding speed toward a door at the far end of the courtyard. As we reached the door, a man stepped into her path.

Something flashed in Odette's hand, and one of the discs that had been fired at us, shot out and buried itself in the man's chest. Then it burst into a bright ball of flame.

The man fell to the ground, howling.

Odette smashed in the door in front of us, and then she dragged me through the castle's gloomy halls, which were lit only by an odd silver light.

Vampires came out to stop us, but Odette had another disc in her grasp-this one she held on to. I watched as her slender white hand lashed out again and again, leaving b.l.o.o.d.y gashes in faces, necks, torsos, arms.

We reached another door that Odette smashed in.

The door fell heavily to the ground.

Two men stood in the room before us, and they spun around.

I was now looking at Innokenti.

And William.

Odette turned to me, her eyes bright, her face and arms spattered with blood.

”Don't forget that I did this for you,” she hissed.

Then, in a streak of black and red, she disappeared.

Chapter 21.

William started toward me immediately.

”What are you doing here?” he demanded.

He was suddenly beside me, pulling me further into the room.

William's eyes flashed fire. ”What do you think you're doing?”

I found I couldn't answer him.

I was stunned to see William standing right in front of me. I had believed he was lost to me forever. I had believed he had left me for the Sdh.

And yet here he was with the vampires.

William was clearly very angry. As I looked at him, I felt tears stinging my eyes.

Vampires swarmed into the room, and William turned to face them.

He moved to stand in front of me.

”Get out of here!” he shouted. ”Get out of here all of you!”

The intruders stopped, staring at William uncertainly.

Innokenti looked on in mild amus.e.m.e.nt.

”Thank you, all,” he said evenly. ”You have acted quickly and decisively to come to our aid. The flame-haired vampire woman was the truly dangerous one, and she has now departed. I do not believe that she will return. The one that remains is human-she's as harmless as a kitten. You may all depart. I thank you for your concern and your quick action.”

The vampires eyed me as if they longed to tear me to pieces, but one by one they melted away.

Then I was alone with Innokenti and William. Innokenti continued to look amused.

William continued to look furious.

”Your entrance was somewhat unorthodox, little one,” Innokenti said. ”But it in no measure lessens our delight in seeing you. Welcome to Rusalka Castle. I must apologize for the overzealousness of our guards. I trust you are unharmed?”

Once again, I found that I couldn't answer-the situation was just too surreal. I found myself looking around the room-looking at anything so that I didn't have to look at William's angry face.

The room we were standing in was well lit, especially in comparison with the rest of the castle. Tables and racks laden with weapons lined the walls. The room itself was vast, and at the far end were several stands supporting bulls-eye targets. A crossbow similar to the ones wielded by the castle's guards was lying in the floor a few feet away.

My eyes moved involuntarily to William. He was wearing leather armor like the guards.

”What's going on here?” I asked.

”Target practice,” Innokenti said conversationally.

”Target practice?” I said.

”This is our weapons development room,” Innokenti replied. ”We work in here where the walls are specially reinforced to prevent any accidents from harming the innocent.”

His eyes flicked across the room. ”Of course the door has unexpectedly turned out to be a weak point.”

Innokenti went on, and his tone became rea.s.suring. ”But under ordinary circ.u.mstances, this room serves its purpose admirably well. We test weapons here to make sure that they meet our high safety standards. Then we take them outside to uninhabited areas to do further testing. The locals have seen the flames from our ammunition tests, and in the most amusing fas.h.i.+on, have taken to calling it 'witch-fire.' There's no witchcraft about it, however.”

”Why are you telling her all of this?” William asked sharply.