Ignis (Book 2, Pure Series) (62 page)

           
"So followed me into a town full of vampires, even though you believed I'd abandoned you?"

           
"Yes."

           
"Why did you do that?"

           
"Because I love you."

           
William bowed his head.
 
"I told you before—you're too young to know what love truly is."

           
"I'm not too young," I said.
 
"I love you.
 
I'm not wrong about that."

           
"I'm not used to anyone loving me," William said quietly.

           
We walked on in silence after that, and I could feel his love, bright and shining, encircling me once again.

           
We walked on to the Mstislav Mansion, and then through the rest of town.
 
Eventually, we reached my street with its two working streetlamps.

           
We stopped in front of my house.
 
I suddenly realized just how tired I was.
 
But even though there had been moments of pure terror for me on this night, I knew I wouldn't have traded it for anything—I had William back again.

           
William looked up at the house.
 
"I suppose your grandmother has no idea you've been out wandering around tonight."

           
"I have to admit that that is true," I said.

           
William shook his head.
 
"Sometimes I don't know what's wrong with you.
 
Go inside.
 
You'll be safe there.
 
There are special protective charms on this house—and they're strong."

           
I was startled.
 
"That's true—but how did you know about that?
 
I only found out because Odette told me."

           
William frowned.
 
"I don't know—I just knew it the first time I saw the house."

           
"Odette also told me that the charm keeps out vampires," I said thoughtfully, "as well as other creatures like kosts.
 
But the house allowed you to come in.
 
I wonder why?"

           
"I don't know," William said once again.
 
"But I do know that you should stay away from Odette from now on.
 
Now go on inside and get some sleep—you need it.
 
And stay in the house tomorrow—all day and all night.
 
Whatever you do, do
not
come out for the Firebird Festival.
 
The vampires and I will take care of the hybrids.
 
I'll come to the house when it's safe for you to come out again."

           
William walked the bicycle over to the side of the house and propped it up.

           
"So, now that I've seen you safely home, it's time for me to say goodnight."
 
He gave me his crooked half-smile.

           
On impulse, I ran over to him, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him.
 
We stood together for a long moment, and I thought that I would be perfectly happy just to kiss him forever.

           
William stepped back for a moment, and then leaned in to kiss me again.
 
He finally stepped back with decision.

           
"You're going to make me forget why I'm here," he said.
 
"Now get in the house.
 
And stay there."

           
I slipped into the house quietly, and even though I knew William would be long gone, I hurried to look out the front window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him as he left.

           
He was no longer there, as I had suspected, but I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers lightly to my lips.

           
The memory of his kiss still lingered.

Chapter 23.

I awoke the next morning feeling alert and full of energy.

           
I had actually slept very little—most of the night had worn away by the time I'd made it back to the house.

           
All the same, I did not feel the lack of sleep—every nerve in my body was alive and tingling.

           
I had decisions to make, and I made them quickly.

           
The germ of an idea had begun to grow in my mind last night, and now I knew for sure what I would have to do.

           
William had warned me to stay away from the Firebird Festival.

           
But that was exactly what I could not do.

           
I got ready for the day quickly, and then I went downstairs.
 
I had breakfast with GM, and afterward she went out to see Maksim.

           
I was uneasy as I watched her leave the house.
 
I had to wonder about what Innokenti had said during the night—he'd implied very heavily that Maksim was in the service of the Werdulac.

           
I'd felt twinges of suspicion myself, and Odette had also warned me about him.

           
But I wasn't sure I could trust Innokenti on this—in fact, I wasn't sure I could trust him at all.

           
And yet, I was planning to seek him out this very morning—to summon him with blood as he had said I might.
 
Even if I didn't trust him, I still believed he could help me with what I needed to do.

           
So, I would trust that GM would be safe with Maksim—at least for the present—and I would trust that I would be safe with Innokenti.

           
Once GM was gone, I hurried outside.
 
I had to move quickly and get started before I gave myself too much time to think about what I was going to do.
 
I retrieved my bicycle from the side of the house where William had left it, and I felt a pang as I touched the handlebars.
 
I couldn't help thinking of the way William had looked last night.
 
It was hard for me to believe in the clear light of morning that I had him back—it was almost as if I had dreamed the entire thing.

           
It was also hard for me to face the terrible truth that I might lose him again very soon.

           
I would lose him because I might lose my own life.

           
I rode through town to the Mstislav mansion, and then out into the Wasteland.
 
A light snow had fallen in the short time that I had slept, and the tires of my bicycle crunched in the snow as I rode along.
 
Once I had reached a spot that I judged to be sufficiently remote, I pulled off the road and surveyed the blank expanse that stretched before me.

           
I had always believed that snow brought with it a great stillness, and this snowfall, light as it was, was no exception.
 
The morning air was quiet—nothing stirred as far as I could see.

           
I suddenly felt very alone, and I stood very still.

           
I felt for just a moment as if I were the last living creature on earth.

           
I quickly shook off my abstraction.
 
I had a vampire to summon.

           
I took off my gloves and took out the knife I had brought with me—it was the Swiss Army knife that Branden had given me back in Elspeth's Grove.
 
I figured using this knife was safer than using any of our larger kitchen knives.
 
But this was hardly the use Branden had intended the knife for when he had given it to me.

           
Innokenti had said that three drops of blood would summon him.

           
I wasn't very enthusiastic about cutting myself, but it was preferable to the alternative.
 
Innokenti had said that I might use animal blood, but I couldn't really bring myself to do that.

           
It would have to be my own.

           
I pushed up the sleeve of my coat and quickly slashed a thin red line down my arm, bracing myself for the bite of the knife.
 
The cut itself wasn't actually that painful, and I let the wound bleed onto the knife.

           
I then let several bright drops of blood fall onto the clean white blanket of snow.
 
The red droplets spread out and then sank in, melting the snow where they fell with their warmth.

           
More than three drops had fallen, but I figured that that didn't matter—I had a feeling that Innokenti had just been waxing poetic when he'd given me his instructions.
 
All that was truly necessary was that blood was spilled.

           
I looked around then, expectantly, but the white plain before me remained empty.
 
Innokenti did not appear.

           
I let a few more drops of blood fall onto the snow.

           
I looked around again.
 
But no one appeared out in the Wasteland.
 
Everything was silent and still.

           
I continued to stare out over the vast white plain.
 
The morning was not especially bright, but even so, the snow reflected back all available light, and my eyes soon began to burn.
 
I continued to look out over the Wasteland until I was forced to shut my eyes.

           
Once my eyes were closed, tears began to sting the back of my eyelids.
 
Part of that was simply the effect of the snow glare, but part of it was frustration—Innokenti had not come like he'd said he would.
 
I began to realize that he had deceived me.

           
 
After a moment, I wiped my eyes with the back of my free hand and looked around again.
 
As I feared, Innokenti still had not appeared.

           
And I knew now that he wasn't going to.

           
Feeling foolish, I wrapped the knife in a handkerchief I had brought, and I unrolled a length of gauze.
 
The cut was not deep, but I had come prepared with bandages, just in case something had gone wrong.
 
I wrapped the gauze around the thin wound and tucked in the end of it.

           
My eyes continued to tear, and I closed them and rubbed them once again.
 
When I opened them, I was startled to find myself staring at a broad expanse of black cloth.
 
Involuntarily, I jumped back.
 
I could see then that the black cloth was actually clothing covering a human form.

           
I looked up.
 
I found myself staring into the cool gray eyes of the vampire Innokenti.

           
"Tears, little one?"

           
I took another step back.

           
"I—I thought you weren't coming," I stammered.

           
Amusement 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.