Darkling (33 page)

Twice we went for a picnic with her and the kids, which I cannot say I enjoyed. Being a single child, I wasn’t much used to having children around me with all their questions and behavior. But, unlike me, Doris and Theodore enjoyed those moments.

I stopped taking the pills each morning, but I carried them with me in case of necessity. My dreams returned, so did the anger. But it wasn’t really anger—it was more like I was grumpy from time to time. Still, in case of emergency, the pills were in my pocket.

“Julia’s pregnant and François Matthews is the father,” I said, one evening after dinner.

“Your Julia?” Doris asked, and I nodded. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yeah, she seemed happy.”

“Matthews, the historian?” Theo asked.

“You know him?”

“Yeah, before he started working for Baldur, he was in Kyrill’s library. He helped me find some things on several occasions,” he said.

“Didn’t you tell me once that you suspected her of dating someone?” Doris asked, still thrilled with the news.

“I did, but I didn’t know who the beau was,” I smiled. “Do your women have maternal instincts?” I asked her, carefully.

“Nope. We don’t have a reproductive role.”

“And you, Theo, do you have any offspring?” But he laughed and shook his head.

“None that I know of,” he said, joking.

“Well, if most of you don’t make children, how does your race survive?”

“Let’s say these are some tough times for us, too.” A shadow crossed his eyes. “But there’s a lot of us from previous eras, so we aren’t going extinct. I will leave offspring when I find the right partner.”

“As long as you don’t plan to bail on us,” Doris laughed, and he smiled shyly.

It made me wonder about Aidan’s view on the topic, and how it worked when two vampires were in love. I’d heard about payment agreements with human women . . . maybe that could be it.

An old wall clock showed that it was half past nine in the evening. I looked at Theo, waiting for him to make his apologies and go somewhere, like he’d been doing the last couple of days. He had mentioned some errands, and I’d been playing with the idea of following him. But he was still into his book, so I decided to go running.

Changing clothes in my room, the figurine caught my attention. Taking it with me, I left the house. I could feel anxiety creeping up on me, and I hoped that running would get it out of my system.

The woods weren’t dense, so there was enough light from the city that lay below the hill. I ran through the trees, holding the metal figurine tightly. Memories began to surface: that time when I sprained my ankle and Belun had held me in his arms, the feeling of that intense silence and the almost invisible twitches of his face. It seemed as if it had all happened a whole century ago. Then, how he worried when I had started to breathe hard; our first attempts at normal communication. . . .

What did he feel for me? From starting out being annoyed by me, he had turned out to be very nice. But was that only friendship or was it something else? And the pain in my chest that I had felt during the Vocati attack, what was that about? Why would I have felt Belun that deeply and strongly? And then the figurine—was it goodbye, in a way that I’d never see him again?! The thought made my stomach clench.

The woods became quieter while my feelings drummed loudly inside me. I wanted to cry, but nothing came out, my legs just ran faster. Maybe letting out a scream would make things easier. I stopped running. I was breathing hard. I don’t know how much time passed while I stood there with my hands on my thighs.

The wind began to pick up, carrying the sense of someone’s presence.

I noticed him walking near the woods, taking a path toward the town. First I followed him with my eyes, and then I decided to go after him. It was Theo; I recognized the Vietnam War army jacket. I followed his step, keeping hidden back among the trees. His head was down, and he seemed lost in his thoughts, following the path as if he knew it by heart. Hopefully I’d get some answers about his mystery errands soon.

The town lights were close, and after several minutes, I traded trees for buildings—staying in the shadows. His eyes still down, walking at a relaxed pace, Theo suddenly changed his course and entered a building. I watched through the glass side of the building as he climbed the stairs to the top floor. I waited in the hall of the building opposite.

Not much time had passed before he exited the building holding a yellow file folder in his hand. I backed deeper into the shadows as he turned and looked each way, finally returning in the same direction from which he came. What was in the file folder? He held it firmly and this time looked in front of him. His grip told me that he already knew the contents.

I decided to lag behind and check the top floor residents, since he was probably returning to Balthazar’s place. When he was far enough away, I ran across and into the building. It smelled of fresh paint, and the walls were a new beige color. I ran up the stairs to the top, and checked the name plates on the doors in the hall. I had hoped to find some agency or the like—not private homes. Unfortunately, there was nothing that suggested otherwise. Crap.

I checked every door, looking for the signs of a recent visit. And there it was. A piece of dead leaf fallen from someone’s shoes. The dirt on it was fresh. So Theodore had walked through this door. But why?

The door didn’t have a name plate, only a number. I sniffed the air, but nothing odd came from the inside. Then I put my ear to the door, trying to hear what was going on inside.

Footsteps. Then there was the click of a camera. And many more after. At least that cleared up the question of the file folder contents. It had to hold some photographs, and I had to see them. Tomorrow after breakfast, perhaps I could sneak into Theodore’s room. I wondered who was in those pictures.

Chapter 22

A Deal

I was so anxious that night that I had to take a pill if I wanted a little bit of sleep. There were only a few pills left, and I really had to be careful how and when I would use them. After my interesting dreams on previous nights, I found myself back in the darkness. The breathing had returned and it was much heavier than before. I tried to look through the dark, but there was nothing beyond it. A solitary dungeon, again.

The next morning I overslept. Crap. I had wanted to sneak into Theo’s room while they were at breakfast, but now that plan was ruined.

The dining room was empty. Where was everyone?

“Miss Nika?” It was a servant behind me.

“Where’re the others?”

“They left with Mrs. Clara and the children, they didn’t want to wake you. Also, they said they wouldn’t be long.”

“Both of them? Doris and Theodore?”

“Yes, Miss.”

Well, now. I could pull off my stunt anyway! Plus, I’d have more time to snoop around his room.

“Ah, Nika. Good morning!”

“Balthazar! I didn’t know you were back.” He startled me. This wasn’t good for my plan.

“I returned early this morning. Shall we have breakfast? I see you missed the picnic, too.” He smiled; his face seemed tired. “This will give us some time to talk.”

I hadn’t planned this talk. I wasn’t really prepared for the mind games now.

“Was your trip successful?” I asked.

“I certainly hope so.”

Okay, here we go.

“So, Belun was your team leader,” Balthazar started.

Was? Why the past tense?

“Still is,” I corrected him, but his head bobbed to the side vaguely.

“How do you like working with him?”

The questions began while the toast crunched under our fingers.

“We didn’t get along in the beginning, but we’ve found a way to respect each other.” I decided to give less vague answers; after all, it had always worked with Tertius. It really seemed that when you gave something, you got something in return.

“I don’t know him that well,” he said. “But I’ve heard only the good things about him. And I was intrigued when I heard he was leading the team of the Original Vocati.”

I regarded him in silence, expecting more.

“He’s now in the limelight, so to speak. Many are interested in him,” Balthazar added.

“I guess Tertius is a big deal.”

“Right.”

The limelight. Was he thinking about the whole team or only Belun? I mean, Tertius was old news, and Balthazar was supposed to be the center of the information network, according to Doris. So, could he have been referring to something other than Belun’s job? And who were these
many
who were showing interest in Belun. Was Theodore one of them?

We ate in silence for a while.

“Inquirers usually take their vacation days at a different time of the year,” he finally said.

So he knew something, but not my part of the puzzle. Okay, I’d play.

“It was Belun who needed the days off.” My answer seemed to surprise him. He definitely knew something about him, and now he wanted to find out more. So did I.

“I find it interesting that his father also differed regarding Baldur’s ideas,” he said, putting more butter on his toast.

“And if they don’t trust their ancestor . . .”

“Exactly, my dear. You’re very well versed in these things.”

I answered with a smile. I didn’t know the ground I had been walking as well as he thought, but it seemed to be working. Maybe I would find out about the animosity that some vamps had toward the Fifth Elder.

“You yourself do not seem inclined toward Baldur. Why’s that? Humans usually find him nice and polite.”

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen his impoliteness,” I said, recalling, once again, those elongated canines.

“Those are not light words, dear.”

That was true. Balthazar regarded me calmly, without a smile. This time he was serious.

“Humans mostly don’t see that difference,” he said.

“I’ve noticed that Baldur has lots of opponents,” I said, between bites.

“Apparently you’ve chosen interesting company for yourself. He does have opponents who disagree with him on certain issues, but they are not in the majority. After all, he’s an Elder and that has to be respected.”

“Do you agree with his ideas?” I asked, carefully.

“What ideas specifically?”

Of course I didn’t know what ideas! I decided to bluff. I’d fish something out of him.

“His relationship with the Vocati,” I said, feeling it to be safe ground; but his eyes widened and his look turned harder. Relationship with the Vocati? What could that trigger? I had meant the way Baldur treated them, but apparently this was something else. So what relationship did he have? He caught them for his Project, which was to better know the enemy; he kept them in cells and created teams to work with them. But was it all he did? Was it all really because he wanted to know the enemy better? My thoughts took an unforeseen direction, and Balthazar’s intensity only seemed to push them further.

“His pretext of wanting to get to know the Vocati better,” I finally said, and his eyes turned into a flame of seriousness. So I was definitely on the right track. But what was Baldur’s plan, anyway? What was he getting out of the Project? Damn slick vampire—I’d known something was off with him! Aside from the fangs.

“These are dark waters that you’re swimming in, Nika,” Balthazar said in a firm voice.

I had succeeded in finding something out. It wasn’t about Belun—but this seemed way more serious. Balthazar’s behavior was so intense that this had to be a gigantic thing!

“Where did you hear those things?” he asked.

I took a sip of my fresh orange juice, and smiled at him. It was neither a teasing nor a gentle smile, but it said: we all have our secrets. I mean, what else I could do. It wasn’t like someone had really told me about it; I had figured it out by myself. And I guessed he wouldn’t believe me if I had said so.

“You really did choose your company wisely,” Balthazar mused, but I could feel his inner turmoil.

“Tromsø is the vampire capital this year,” I let out a little laugh, but the twitch of his lips wasn’t exactly a sincere smile. After that, the atmosphere seemed to lighten. I knew he was planning to trick me into revealing my source; the problem was—there wasn’t any.

“How long has it been since you arrived at the compound?”

“Almost three months,” I said.

“You know many things for having been there just a little while. Belun shouldn’t have permitted it.”

Oh, so Belun was the card he was playing! I looked at him with my best poker face, not revealing even the smallest emotion. But then the thought struck me: What if he thought I knew too much? Would he erase my memory, or worse?

But Balthazar was a businessman after all.

“Let’s play this way. I answer your question and you answer mine. Now, how do you know about Baldur’s intentions?”

“It all started with his character. Since the beginning he has seemed irritated and suspicious.” Okay, this wasn’t leading anywhere. How could I phrase it to seem as if I had said something important? Tertius crossed my mind.

“First, I heard Baldur had many opponents and that his ideas were controversial—that even the Warriors are not very keen on him—which planted a big neon question mark in my mind. But I only received vague answers: that they disagreed with him on some issues, that he’s too liberal, it’s his politics, and so on. Then I had an intriguing conversation with Tertius, which at first didn’t seem to make any sense. But now . . .” I chewed on my fingernail, recalling Tertius’ words. “He mentioned that powerful people want more power, and the one who thinks he’s at the bottom of the ladder is always the weak link because he craves status quo.” The minute I said it, a sudden thought emerged.

“I was sure he was talking about Baldur, and in light of this relationship with the Vocati, it only tells me one thing! Baldur wants his own Vocati army! He doesn’t want to know them, he wants to catch them and use them! Status quo could refer to his position right now. Kyrill is not a problem to him, but the other Elders might be.” It shot out of my mouth.