Part 47 (1/2)
”Tears, little one?”
I took another step back.
”I-I thought you weren't coming,” I stammered.
Amus.e.m.e.nt glimmered distantly in his eyes. ”The tears are for me, then? It has been a long time since anyone has shed tears for me. Of course, over the years, many have shed them because of me.”
I had an uneasy feeling that Innokenti had chosen the manner of his appearance purposefully.
”You're trying to scare me,” I said angrily.
Innokenti smiled and spread out his hands as if in confirmation.
”Why?” I asked.
”It's what I do,” he said simply. ”Perhaps it would be better for you to be scared.”
His eyes drifted to my wounded arm.
I took another step back.
”Innokenti, I summoned you for a reason,” I said, trying to sound confident. ”I need to talk to you.”
The vampire looked up at me with eyes that burned with a dark intensity. Innokenti's usual courtly manner had disappeared-he seemed now like the dangerous, blood-drinking creature he was.
He took a step toward me. He kept going.
The urge to run welled up within me, and I stumbled backward. But I had come to the Wasteland with a purpose, so I forced myself to stop and stand still.
”I need to talk to you,” I said again. I could hear a tremor in my voice.
Innokenti stopped then too, and the intensity in his eyes faded. It was replaced by another faint glimmer of amus.e.m.e.nt. He seemed pleased by the effect he had produced, and his manner became business-like.
”After you requested a meeting last night,” he said, ”I have eagerly awaited your summons. How may I be of service to you, little one?”
I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart. Innokenti had a bizarre sense of humor.
”We have to stop the hybrids from attacking the Firebird Festival tonight,” I said.
”Nothing would make me happier. But, alas, what can we do? I fear we will have to wait for them to make their move. We don't know where they are at present. The Werdulac's people are good at hiding the hybrids. We believe they may even be hidden in a different location every night.”
”But you do know a few things about them,” I said. ”You knew Timofei Mstislav had been resurrected. And you said he'd been put on a leash-or something like that. You said they had him under control.”
”That is true,” Innokenti replied.
”Was he there last night?” I asked. ”Was Timofei Mstislav one of the hybrids who attacked the castle yesterday?”
”Yes,” Innokenti said. ”William, I imagine, would prefer that you not know, but yes, he was there.”
”So, he came to find me.”
”I believe that he had been released to track you-as a test for the Firebird Festival.”
”Then we can use me as a target,” I said.
”I beg your pardon?” Innokenti said.
”If the hybrids are attacking the Firebird Festival because they hope, at least in part, to draw me out, then I'll show myself, somewhere, in a very obvious way. I'll draw the hybrids to me, get them to attack me, rather than waiting for them to attack the Festival.”
Innokenti's eyebrows rose a fraction. ”You intend to offer yourself up as bait?”
”Yes.”
”An intriguing idea.”
”Do you think it will work?” I asked.
Innokenti stared at me steadily for a long moment. It was impossible for me to read his expression.
”I do believe it will work,” he said after a time. He tilted his head on the side. ”I wonder, do you truly understand what you are suggesting, little one?”
”Yes, I do,” I said.
”Are you sure?”
”Yes,” I said. ”I'm sure.”
Innokenti shook his head. ”It's dangerous, little one-very dangerous. What exists of the Werdulac's army will be a.s.sembled in its entirety tonight. If you show yourself, Timofei will lead them all to you. We will attempt to stop them-to destroy them, actually. But there is no guarantee that we will succeed. The hybrids are ferocious. And they want you. If they capture you, your life will effectively be over. You will live, of course, until the Werdulac is completely free of his prison, but your final days will not be happy ones.”
”I understand,” I said.
”Do you really? Reflect for a moment on what it might be like to be the prisoner of Timofei Mstislav, little one. Think on it very seriously.”
I thought, as I had before, of the way Timofei had looked that night in the Pure Woods when he was revived-I remembered the burning hatred in his eyes, and I felt a wave of horror wash over me.
”If you are captured,” Innokenti said softly, ”your life will become pure suffering.”
I had no doubt that Innokenti was right, and a strong desire to turn and run for home rose up within me. I quelled it.
”You're trying to scare me,” I said.
”As I said, that's what I do. There are times when you should be afraid.”
I was suddenly aware, once again, of how eerily quiet our surroundings were.
”The hybrids are going to the Firebird Festival to kill people, aren't they?” I said.
”As many as they can. They want to make a strong impression.”
I looked over the desolate white plain that stretched behind Innokenti. I knew that that clean, white surface concealed tunnels full of dead villagers. If we didn't draw the hybrids away from the festival, more villagers would go to join their neighbors under the ground.