As Shadows Fade (32 page)

Just as she was about to give up, she glanced between a bakery and butcher shop. And there he was.

He sat on a bench in a small courtyard, as if he'd been waiting for her. Victoria didn't hesitate.

As she approached, he removed his hat in a clearly ironic gesture, revealing pure white hair combed smooth to the shape of his skull. His skin was a darker hue, that of tea with a generous portion of milk, and his eyes…those eyes that weren't red and didn't burn, but nevertheless fastened on her with an odd, empty, inhuman light.

“Victoria Gardella,” he said in a smooth, dark voice that raised uncomfortable prickles over her skin.

“Who are you?” she asked, leaving the stake in her pocket. She knew whoever or whatever this creature was, a stake would be useless against him.

“Please. Won't you have a seat?” He gestured to the space on the bench next to him, but she made no move to sit.

“Very well, then,” he said, and looked up at her with those awful eyes. That, along with the subtle scent of death in the air, decided her: He must be a demon. A very powerful one. “You may certainly stand if that's your preference. I am Adolphus.”

She didn't recognize the name, but was more convinced than ever that he was a demon. She could smell it, but very subtly. Which implied to her that he must be a particularly powerful one, if he could mask himself so well.

Victoria remained standing, but silent. Waiting. To demand to know what he wanted would give him the advantage. He'd tell her what he wanted when he chose. For now, she remained quiet, knowing the power of patience.

And, as if recognizing her tactic, the demon gave her a shrewd nod and spoke. Again, his voice sounded dark and yet smooth, lulling and coaxing. “We both have a similar objective, Victoria Gardella. I have information you might find interesting…that you might find useful or valuable.”

Again she waited, and again, after a moment, he continued. “Lilith is leaving her mountain hideaway. If you wish to have your chance to stop her, the time is now.”

Victoria's heart skipped offbeat for a moment. “Where is she going?”

He gave a negligent shrug. “Somewhere she can't be found. It's too dangerous for her now, and she must bury herself deeply in hiding. I do not know where she's going, only that she is leaving. Tomorrow.”

Max. Of course she'd take him with her.

“Why should I believe what you tell me?” True, he was a demon, and demons were the immortal enemies of vampires. But they were also enemies of mortals, especially Venators.

“Because my hatred for Lilith is as deep as yours.”

Once more, she merely looked at him, waiting for more…even as she wondered and worried and felt her palms grow slick with panic. If Lilith disappeared with Max, she'd never find them again.

“You know what she's doing to him,” he said, his voice burrowing into her mind. His lips barely moved, but she heard the words as if he spoke them into her ear. “You can imagine it, because you've felt it yourself. It's all pleasure and pain rolled into one, isn't it, Victoria Gardella?

“You've never admitted to anyone what happened when you were with Beauregard, drinking his blood. Letting him feed from you. You prefer to think it was a dream, that it never happened…how you moaned and cried and drank and writhed. Yet you can imagine what's happening to your lover now, with her hands on him, and the power of her eyes burning into him. You can imagine it, because you've felt the same, haven't you?”

“No,” she whispered. But the memories assailed her, red and hot and liquid. For a moment, she smelled the sharp, rust scent and tasted the heavy iron of blood on her tongue, in her mouth…sliding thickly down her throat. She gagged, swallowing hard, and realized her breathing had grown deeper, rougher.

“Think about it…Imagine it. And it's so much worse for him. His cries and groans, those long, sleek muscles scored by her nails, punctured by those animal fangs…Think about it, Victoria Gardella. You know the torture. You know what's happening to him.” His voice was a lullaby, compelling and rhythmic, as he described in detail what Lilith was doing to Max.

The images played out in her mind as if she were watching them. Her awareness of the demon faded away, leaving only his deep, lulling descriptions, using words and phrases that pulled up sharp, frightening scenes so real she could hear the sounds and smell the scent.

“You can save him, and you can kill her in the process. Isn't that what you want to do? What you
need
to do?” he continued in that lovely, sensual voice. “And I can help you.”

“How?”

He smiled, just a bit, showing perfect white teeth. “I know a secret about Lilith that will help you send her to Hell. Others have tried…but they didn't know the secret.”

“What is it?” she forced herself to say, battling through the images of Max under the hands of Lilith, her blue-ringed red eyes glowing with depravity as she drove her fangs into him.

Victoria fought the image of his writhing, stretching, convulsing body under skeletal white hands that shouldn't have the power to hold him, but somehow could. His eyes, filled with pain…and pleasure. She blinked hard, gave her head a little shake, and found herself looking deep into the eyes of the demon.

“You must use a stake of virgin ash,” he said, his eyes gleaming with life. “White virgin ash, freshly cut so there is green just beneath the bark. Stab her anywhere with it, and she will be paralyzed, allowing you to ready for the final blow.”

“No,” she managed to say, her word sounding soggy. “No.”

“Yes indeed…Listen to me, Victoria Gardella. Do you think you are the first Venator to want to kill her? And to attempt it? How do you think she has lived all these millennia?” He stood, moving closer to her. “Few know the secret. You can go and kill her now. She'll be leaving and riding under the moon tomorrow night…You can reach her as she leaves her mountain, surprise her. Ash trees grow abundantly on Fǎgǎraş. She will send her army west to fool her enemies, but she and a small contingent of her closest companions will secretly go north.”

Victoria felt as though she'd plunged underwater. The world slowed, became murky, and she struggled to think. She could. Save Max.

She could.

“You can go now, on this cloudy night, and be there tomorrow…and then return here, when the moon is ready. Quickly and easily,” he said. “Simple. And you can free him.”

But…no. She dug through the haunting images, the caress of his voice, the building desire and incessant compulsion to run
now.
To go
now.
She dug through the need to act now, and focused on the truth: She had work here, tonight if the moon was free…and if not, then tomorrow night.

“It will be too late if you delay. She'll be gone for good. She knows of the coming threat.”

Victoria had to work to focus on those words, and she grasped the idea, pulling it out of the muddle of images that her brain had become. “The coming threat?”

“You know of what I speak. The portal is merely cracked now. But when it widens, and the dark ones pour out readily, the vampires will be destroyed. You're here to try and stop the inevitable.”

Yes. Yes, she was. She had to close the portal.

Victoria blinked and focused on the building behind the demonic man, at last feeling the slog begin to slip away. It felt as though she was slowly awakening. “I'm here to close the portal.”

“You are. But you don't understand that it's not the mortals we come for…It's the undead.” His voice remained beautiful and smooth, lulling. “Those are the ones who battle us for Lucifer's domain. The battle between us has raged for millennia…and now it will come to your Earth. If you kill Lilith, destroy her stronghold, the battle will not need to be fought. We can retreat to our domain and leave your race free. Do you understand, Victoria Gardella? You can prevent the battle from raging on this Earth if you slay Lilith. If you go today. Tonight.”

She felt the sway of the words as they wrapped around her, cocooning her in their sweetness, their logic and illogic, their temptation.

“And then you can close the portal. We will no longer need it. You have the means, don't you? Tached's Orb. Of course it will work, and you will triumph. You have time because you have the orb, the lock. The portal is merely a crack…You saw it today. You saw that no threat comes through there.”

His compelling voice went on. “But he doesn't have time, Victoria Gardella. He doesn't have any time at all. You know he doesn't. You feel the moments slipping away like grains of sand on the ocean shore. But you can save him. The others…they can close the portal while you are gone.”

They could.

Brim and Michalas. They could do it.

But she was
Summa
Gardella.

She awakened, pushing the cobwebs away.

“But I am
Summa
Gardella,” she said aloud. “And I will close the portal,” she continued, her voice growing stronger. The images faded away with the strength of her words, and she looked at the demon and said, “I'll close the portal, and I'll keep your minions behind it. Begone with you and your temptations. Do you not think I can see how you tempt me?”

She was ready when his lips drew back in a horrible parody of a smile, baring teeth that grew long and pointed in a face that turned cruel and sharp. As he swept his arm, an arm that had become large and powerful, she pulled the bottle of holy water from her pocket, thumbing the cork off.

A blast of wind swept up suddenly, nearly knocking her off her feet with its ferocity. Black fog spun around her, and she was pummeled by the gale as she struggled to draw her sword.

She saw Max suddenly, there before her, and for a moment, she almost believed it. He was real, looking at her through the smoky whirl, his eyes dark and intense.

She steeled herself against the attempt to set her off balance, to distract her. It had happened before—the first time she met a demon. He'd taken the form of Phillip, and the shock and confusion of suddenly coming face-to-face with her dead husband had nearly been her undoing.

But she now knew the tricks demons played, and tore her gaze away, as the blade pulled free of its sheath. She brandished the sword and tossed the blessed water toward the murky shadow of the demon's face as she battled against the wind.

He cried out, and the battering force lessened enough for Victoria to stumble backward, out of the whirlwind. Feeling a brick wall behind her, she pulled another bottle of water and shoved its contents toward him again, swinging her sword as the liquid sprayed.

Wet splashed in her face, blasted back by the wind, and her sword connected with something thick. Max. Again. This time, with horror on his face.

With a shout, she shoved the sword home, and sliced away, feeling as though she were cutting through a bog.

And then, suddenly, everything stilled.

The wind stopped, the fog was erased, and she was alone, panting, leaning against the wall. The demon was gone—whether she had killed him or merely driven him off, she wasn't certain.

But she looked up and saw the sky had darkened. What little light came from a lowering sun was obscured by clouds, leaving only a dull illumination over the small courtyard where she stood.

There would be no chance to use Tached's Orb tonight, for the moonlight would be blocked. The demon had spoken the truth about that, at least.

Victoria tightened her fingers around the grip of her sword and glanced back toward the south, in the direction of Munţii Fǎgǎraş. Where Max was.

She swallowed as the urge to leave, to go after him, clawed through her anew. How much could she believe of Adolphus?

Anything? Anything at all?

He had spoken truthfully when he claimed Lilith was his enemy. It would be to his benefit if Lilith were dead…

Victoria was standing there, trembling, shaking against the need to go, when Michalas found her.

“I've seen no sign of him,” he said, looking at her curiously.

“That's no matter,” she replied soberly, wondering how long she'd been here with the demon. “I found him. He's gone for now.” She looked up at the clouds. “There's nothing we can do tonight.”

And she returned reluctantly to the tavern for another night of doing nothing while Max suffered.

And possibly Sebastian with him.

+ Twenty-one +

In Which Our Heroine Chafes at the Bit

There was no thought of
sleeping that night, for a variety of reasons—the least of which was that Victoria absolutely couldn't keep her eyes closed for more than a moment.

For a woman used to always
doing,
a day and night of sitting and waiting was like a personal hell.

Especially since those hours of nothing, nothing,
nothing!
gave her plenty of time to imagine Max in the hands of Lilith. The crafty demon had pulled all the terrible thoughts and images from the depths of Victoria's mind, from where she'd stuffed them deeply so she could concentrate on the matter at hand…He'd tugged them free, releasing them into full-blown terror, and now they constantly assaulted her.

Along with those images teased the secret he'd told her about Lilith. Was it true? Could something as simple as a stake of virgin ash paralyze the great vampiress?

Why would he lie about that?

To give her a reason to leave.

Or…to give her the weapon to destroy Lilith.

It tantalized her, that possibility.

There were no vampires to hunt in this small town, likely run off by the demons. And now that the sun had disappeared completely, the clouds hung heavy and thick, obscuring the moon so darkly that nary a whisper of a beam escaped. The night sat, dark and leaden, over the cemetery. Even the white gravestones appeared no lighter than the dark ground in which they sat.

Victoria had Tached's Orb safely in her pocket, in the event that the clouds shifted and there was the chance to use it. But for now, she sat on her mount on the same small hill overlooking the cemetery. Watching. Waiting.