Darkness Bred (14 page)

T
he surreal, free flight from Whidbey to a fog-shrouded cove on an island Sean had never seen before took him over water, but he caught only glimpses of it through dense, dark clouds.

Seaweed, thick and slimy, spread over huge pebbles underfoot, and ahead jagged crags of lava rock rose, sheer and denuded, to disappear overhead in a crown of blue-black vapor.

Sean had traveled there with one hand on Saul’s shoulder, entrusting his life to one who should be an untouchable enemy. To trust a vampire should be unthinkable for a werehound. With no other way to find his target, Sean’s human necessities overtook instinct.

“This is The Island,” Saul murmured. “It’s a minefield. You can’t know what you will see or experience next—and without warning.”

“I should shift,” Sean said and began to do just that. He and Saul had already decided it was too dangerous for him to remain in human and possibly recognizable form. Before he was fully transformed, he said, “Will we stay together? Or am I on my own now? It’s your choice but I can probably fit in better on my own. Do you think it’s probable there are others of my kind here? You weren’t sure.”

“Not any that you would know. These will be different creatures. But enough of that for now. We will stay together. You’ll be able to hear me talk so I’ll make sure you know what we must do. You’ll have to find your own way to communicate with me. Stop moving, touch me, whatever. First we have to negotiate our way past any coastal outlaws. They are the ones who have been banished from his court by The One. They live in gangs just waiting for fresh, unsuspecting victims to capture.”

Sean completed his shift. He stretched his long, heavy limbs and shook his blue-black coat, settling into his hound.

“I have an advantage,” Saul said. “I am a maverick vampire with a long history that strikes fear into anyone who knows about me. My roots stretch into an ancient and evil society. What they don’t and won’t know is that I am evolved enough to use my reputation without sinking back to what I once was.”

Saul spoke in a low, soft voice but it was clear to Sean’s enhanced hearing. It surprised him that Saul would share such personal details.

“We have to lose ourselves,” Saul said. “Out here we’re too obvious. We want to observe, not be observed. And we must find our way without attracting enough attention to cause a fight—or for The One to be alerted we’re here.”

Sean surveyed his surroundings and loped over the beach toward a sawtooth outcropping. And Saul moved with him as if they had silent understanding.

From the cover of that first ridge, they could see the entire cove, including an opening from the sea into a channel that led who knew where.

 “Those who need conventional means of transportation enter through that channel, but only at the invitation of The One,” Saul said. “It winds to the heart of this mountain. I was brought here with an escort apparently considered appropriate for me. But in truth, The One is extremely careful. He assesses each visitor individually. We could not risk going in by that route.

“The Island is a volcanic mountain rising from the water. I believe it’s part of the same geological formation as Chimney Rock under the water of the cove near Leigh’s cottage—in front of Niles’s place. There is definitely another source of what so many call The Veil, erupting here.” He raised his face to the dark, shifting vapor. “Up there alone, at the very top. From what I understand, The One lives alone there, in quarters near a crater that opens into the earth. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t been able to use The Veil for any of the purposes he may have had in mind. You will have to be very watchful to see if there is some clue to his agenda.”

Sean stared at Saul, who gave a thin smile. “We must find him and hope we can either shock him into revealing something of what he wants and what he intends to accomplish with all of his mischief, or discover what we need without being discovered. And then we must try to stay alive long enough to get out. Groups of beings without consciences have made their quarters in mostly hidden pockets in the cooled lava inside.”

Sean met Saul’s eyes in a moment of complete understanding.

Nearby a clump of seaweed abruptly tore loose from the stones and swung a few inches into the air.

Sean stiffened, staring at the spot. He took a step toward what was now a gluey, green glob of strings rising and falling, the movements wilder by the second.

“That’s what makes us most vulnerable,” Saul said, standing beside Sean. “What we can’t see. At least, I can’t see what’s moving that, can you?”

As abruptly as it had started hopping, the weed fell inert again.

“I think we can assume we have company,” Saul said. “Let’s move. Our best hope is to be in and out fast. We can be grateful Niles has no way to follow—as far as we know. He could cause a short and unhappy war—for us.”

Sean realized there were things he should have asked before allowing himself to go verbally dark. He sat down and stared at Saul. He had a sensation that there were elements here that would bother him much more than they would Saul.

The vampire pushed back his long, black coat and planted his hands on his hips. “You don’t think I’m right?” he said.

Sean didn’t move or even blink.

“You want to know exactly what I expect from this trip?”

Sean closed his eyes briefly.

“Very well,” Saul said. “I expect, or hope, for some indication about what’s happening to The One to make him behave as he is. I think that’s what you want, too. If we learn what he plans to do and why, and what kind of danger we’re in on Whidbey, fantastic. If we only learn what his next move is—or why he’s taken the steps he already has—also fine. I can’t get past the conviction that he’s ill somehow, and deteriorating. After all, he is alive. You agree?”

Sean closed his eyes in brief agreement.

Perhaps they would find The One was indeed failing, perhaps close to his own death. That would make him more desperate and more dangerous. It would also increase his vulnerability.

Sean stood and waited until Saul started forward again, leaning into the incline that snaked from one craggy ridge to another. At least the outcroppings offered cover in places.

The silence, the stillness began to grate on Sean. He heard only the subtle grind of their feet on shale and searched in all directions for whatever might be traveling with them.

A plop caused Sean to halt and look back. They had wound around a turn and could no longer see where they had started their trek.

Saul also glanced over his shoulder and they both stood still. A trickle of tiny rocks showered from the air a few inches above the ground to land and scatter among dozens of others.

“Rocks in midair,” Saul remarked. He came close to Sean and whispered, “Our company behaves as if it wants us to know it’s here. That, or it’s very inept. Emptying the rocks from a shoe, perhaps.” He raised his voice deliberately. “We’ll fight if we have to. Whenever we have to.”

On they climbed until Saul stopped suddenly and sat at the side of the trail. “There’s something unnatural about all this,” he said. “When I was here before, the place teemed with life—or it teemed with something. What I couldn’t see, I could hear. Babbling conversation, shrieking, laughing. Arguments, fights, struggles…and an orgy here and there.” His expression didn’t change. “Where are they all? I believe something momentous is happening. That, or it’s already happened.”

Or they were being set up.
A faint thrill, like that he always got before a fight, ruffled Sean’s fur. He looked out through the rocky wall on his right, over the beach below and the sea that disappeared into the shroud of fog that protected The Island from prying eyes. Nothing moved.

“Stop!” As if to make a lie of Saul’s theory that the place could be deserted, a misshapen and shriveled creature, little more than bone and transparent skin, landed on the path in front of them. He wore only a loincloth. “Who are you?” he said, his voice unexpectedly deep. “What do you want? What makes you think you can pass by my home without paying a toll?” Large, pointed ears twitched and doleful gray eyes filled with tears.

“Are you mad?” Saul said, sweeping a hand behind the fellow’s knees. “Get lost while you still can.”

With the force of that single light swipe from Saul, the creature rose in the air, turned over once, and landed on his large feet again. Shrieking, he scrambled away and disappeared into a hole so small he had to squeeze himself into an elongated, putty-colored sausage to pass inside.

Sean stood by the hole and stared from it, to Saul and back again. He started looking around, pawing rocks aside to look underneath.

“Your instincts are good,” Saul said. “This pile of rubble is filled with tunnels and caves. Many of them are considered the private domains of certain groups. From inside the mountain I saw tunnels from out here, but I don’t know where there’s an opening big enough for us. I hope we find one higher up.”

Without warning, lightning cleaved the clouds and hit the mountain, sent a shower of sparks accompanied by loud crackling. Thunder bellowed almost at once, deafening, shaking the earth.

Wind blew sheets of rain sideways and Sean was glad of his dense fur. Saul was quickly soaked. “Massive storms are frequent here,” he said.

They moved on, but Saul stopped again, holding up a hand. He turned slowly to face Sean and put a finger to his lips while he watched something behind Sean.

Sean pushed back onto his haunches and stared back the way they had come. Not twenty feet away, a short, thick stick hung, horizontal, perhaps six or seven inches from the ground, a crooked stick, unremarkable except for its resistance to gravity and its lonely condition.

“Any ideas?” Saul asked.

Sean shook his head. If The Island was as mysterious as Saul had said, then this could be anything, including someone’s silly effort to be annoying.

“It looks like a wand,” Saul said. “I haven’t seen many because I don’t move with those who use them, but they can be powerful, and mischievous.”

For an instant Sean saw a wavering shape, a ghost of a shape, something small and long and so faint he couldn’t identify what kind of creature it was.

As quickly as it showed itself, it was gone, and the stick glided along to disappear around the next bend.

Saul gave Sean a long and serious look. “Sally has sticks that are wands. There are plenty able to make very efficient wands, they just aren’t usually among those we’re likely to come across.”

Wind-driven rain beat against them. The scent of salt came heavy on the wet air and the sky disappeared behind lightning-ripped, dark cloud.

Both Saul and Sean held their heads high, staring ahead, watching for what they expected at any moment—an attack.

Thunder rushed at them in echoing, flesh-shaking blasts.

They trudged on.

And twice more Sean saw the floating stick.

The ghostly, transparent shadow came and went again.

He halted, and so did Saul. The vampire faced him, his long, black hair sodden and water dripping from his face. “I saw a phantom—I think it intended to be seen.” Their eyes met and Saul said, “I believe you have your hands very full.”

Sean took off, ran past Saul, but hesitated when the other zipped in front of him and held up a hand. “Did you know she could become invisible as that cat? She attached herself and followed us—came with us. Elin can be invisible, or should I say Skillywidden? She will only slow us down, or worse. Should we turn back?”

Pacing, Sean thought. He and Elin had only communicated telepathically as humans. He had no way of getting into her mind and telling her to come back to Whidbey with them.

Saul raised his hands and let them fall heavily to his sides. “Women were always spoilers. They could always make men weak. Damn, why do they have to be so irresistible?”

This piece of insight was something else unexpected coming from the vampire.

“There’s no way to communicate with her?”

Sean shook his head.

“Then if we go, we won’t be sure she’s with us so there’s no point. We go on and encourage her to stay with us—and do no harm.”

Making his decision quickly, Sean shifted again. He stood, naked, in the raging storm. “I have to be able to talk to you,” he said. “I need a disguise.”

He accepted the coat Saul took off and offered without question. The thought seemed to have come to both of them instantaneously—a prospect Sean had no intention of examining too closely.

The coat had a hood and he pulled it far forward to shadow his face. Voluminous and heavy with an attached cape, the long coat slapped at his skin. Saul’s white shirt stuck to his body. On any other man his skin would have shown through, but not on the pale vampire.

“Elin,” Sean hissed, ignoring Saul’s muttered protests. “Elin, stay close and show yourself. I know you can hear me now so don’t try to pretend you can’t. I’ve seen you—stop hiding. Come to me. We’ll go back to Whidbey.”

A blast of rain hit like a wave crashing from the sea and Sean wiped his face to see. “You’ll be fine as Skillywidden. If someone sees you, they’ll think nothing of it.”

Seconds turned to minutes and no small, silver cat appeared.

“Damn,” Sean said, throwing off the hood and shaking back his hair. “She won’t show herself. She wants us to finish what we’ve come for so I won’t return—or so she thinks.”

“I doubt we’ll return,” Saul said evenly. “And who knows if we’ll even leave.”

Sean glared at him. “Pay him no heed, Elin. Just show yourself.”

Nothing.

“Two choices,” Saul said. “Go back and hope she’s with us, or carry on and hope…Just hope.”

Sean made up his mind. Anger thumped at his temples as he leaned once more to climb upward, this time without the benefit of shoes, or hardened pads on his feet.

“This has to be done,” he said to Saul. “We’ll never be free if we don’t stop this thing. Stay with us, Elin,” he said. “And don’t try any heroics. If something happens, don’t interfere. This is an evil place.”

“You’d do well to be afraid, Elin,” Saul said to the wind and rain and emptiness. “It isn’t me you’ll have to deal with when we get out of here but I doubt the experience will be pleasant nevertheless.”