Matters of the Blood (34 page)

"She sees, Greta,” Boris whispered. “She sees the truth."

Greta's voice droned on behind the scenes flashing in front of my mind's eye. “He was supposed to take care of our village. But he turned us over to them, to be tortured, to be food for others of his kind. In exchange, he gave the Germans samples of blood."

Adam's eyes closed, his head drooping. He turned his anguished face to his companion.

"I saved you, Nikolai. When you were a boy, you were selling your body on the streets to survive, to anyone that would have you. I found you and saved you. Gave you life, wealth. Yet you did this?"

"I didn't know.” The words were a wail of despair. Niko's face was wet with tears, tinged pink, streaking his dusty cheeks.

Greta screeched at him. “How did you not know, monster? You watched as they tried to take me, to rape me. Only my little brother saved me, offered himself up in my place. They took him. One fresh young body was the same as any other to them. I was too skinny for the ones who liked the women."

"I thought ... I thought I was keeping you safe,” Niko whispered, the words almost too soft to be heard. “They promised me you all would be safe in the camp. Safe from the SS troops. The only way I could keep my people alive."

"Your people, Nikolai?” Adam growled. “They have never been your people."

"I did what I could, Adam. You were gone, taken to the other camp. I couldn't find you and the Germans came to the village. I did what I could. I didn't know until it was too late and they would have taken me, too."

"But you did not stop.” Boris spoke softly. “Even now, here, you helped the brothers set up the hunts, to hide."

Adam's head dropped, lolling for a moment as if he'd lost consciousness. Then with an obvious struggle, he raised it again.

"It never ends with you, does it, Niko? Is he telling the truth?” His voice was only a whisper, as if it were a terrible effort to speak. I closed my eyes and breathed in, trying to reach out to Adam, to sense his status. We'd shared power, we'd shared our bodies and we should still have enough of a connection to let me probe his physical state.

I leaned into him and felt the fading power. Something was in his bloodstream, something that made him groggy and weak. He needed to feed, and soon. He looked at me, briefly, as if he could feel my metaphysical touch. His eyes fluttered and he forced them open again.

"Niko?"

The younger vampire shuddered and turned his head away, speaking to the empty air. “We are hunters, Adam. We shouldn't live like humans. The hunt is who we are, what we are. I did nothing wrong."

"You are monsters.” Greta approached them both. “Monsters who hunt and who kill. Today you hunt the deer; tomorrow, you will again be hunting us. I cannot let you do this. For this, and for what you did to us in the war, you will die."

She stood next to me and looked down. “I am sorry, Keira, that you became involved, but it was fate and it is necessary. I will leave you all out here to die when the sun rises. They will suffer and burn."

"We should take Keira back with us, Greta,” Boris said. “She is not a part of this. She needs a doctor."

"That is not possible, Brother,” Greta replied, her voice softening as if speaking to a small child. “She is a part of their circle now. She is with the monster. I see this now."

"But she can be saved. She is still human. Please, let me take her with us."

"No, Boris, it's not safe. She will tell the sheriff we killed them."

"Take her, Greta,” Adam said. “She is innocent. Our bodies will burn in the sunlight, no one will know."

I glared at him. If they took me back, there was no chance for Adam and Niko. If I remained behind, I might be able to do something.

"No, no, no.” Boris began shaking his head. “No, you are monsters. It does not matter if we kill you. But they will find out about Mr. Nelson."

"Marty? You killed Marty? I thought—"

"I would do anything to help my brother,” said Greta, a vicious look in her eyes. “But your cousin was an accident."

"Accidentally drained of blood?” I didn't bother to hide the sarcasm.

"It was an overdose,” she explained. “My brother was only supposed to sedate him so I could question him; find out about the monsters. I drained him of blood after I saw the marks on his neck."

She started to laugh, the kind of laugh only heard in bad horror movies and on the soundtracks of cheesy Halloween CDs: a high-pitched cackling that gave way to the gasping sobs of the truly disturbed. All these years, we'd been careful around Boris, knowing that he suffered from these terrible nightmares, when in reality his sister was the one on the edge, her darkness hidden behind the fa?ade of a simple shopkeeper.

"It didn't work, though, did it? You had to get involved."

"They're going to find us.” Niko finally spoke. “The others at the ranch.

Greta laughed again. “You think so, do you, little monster?"

"What did you do, Greta?” I asked, a cold fear sinking into me. I'd pretty much counted on Andrea to round up the troops and envisaged the vampire cavalry coming to the rescue. I hadn't really started doing really serious worrying until just now. There was no way in holy hell that I'd be able to keep both these guys alive for any length of time once the sun came up and began to fry them. Adam was weak and I wasn't sure about Niko, but I couldn't just trust that he'd be okay. I didn't know how much sunlight they could take before becoming truly hurt or even dead. Permanently dead. Now was not the time to ask, not in front of the people trying to kill them.

"The other monsters will be just as dead, just as burned as the two of you. Boris drugged the last shipment of wine with holy water and hemlock to burn them from the inside out, and set incendiary devices to burn the buildings. He learned many things during the war. The place will burn and take the evil with them as the sun will burn you."

"Greta, what are you going to do with Keira?"

Boris’ voice contained an unspoken plea. He must still be having second thoughts about hurting me. Awfully human of him.

"She can stay here and die from her wounds.” She shrugged. “I don't care. She stays with the monsters. She can die with the monsters. I'm sure the animals will come soon. Come on, Boris, we need to leave now."

"Are you leaving Rio Seco?” I had to ask.

The laugh floated back as Greta didn't even bother to turn around. “Leave? We have no reason to leave. You will all be dead. They will think you died in the fire."

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A loud growl from above our heads was the only warning. A blurred shape passed over us and landed on Greta, knocking her into Boris and taking them down to the ground. I scooted back, intending to protect the vampires from whatever this was.

A groan escaped Adam as he slumped down, rolling to his side. I could see the effort of remaining upright had taxed his waning strength. I struggled to loosen the tape around my wrists.

Greta screamed words I couldn't understand as she struggled with the dark shape. Boris scrambled to his feet, pointing the rifle with trembling hands.

"Tucker, watch out!” I'd recognized my brother's wolf form.

With preternatural speed, the wolf leaped to one side, barely escaping the bullet.

Boris dropped the rifle and screamed, a howl that echoed off the walls of the pit, heartbreak and agony in every note. He sank to the ground, hiding his face in his hands.

"Greta.” The soft whisper barely made it to my ears.

Greta Nagy lay on the rocky ground, a pool of blood spreading underneath what was left of her head.

The wolf nudged the rifle with his snout, bringing it close to me and away from Boris, who was crouched next to his dead sister, rocking and keening. The old man's head was buried in his sister's side, his hands clutching at hers.

"Boris...” I started to speak, wanting to feel sorrow, wanting to feel something, but I couldn't. I was numb.

The old man took a deep breath, shuddering through the sobs that wracked him. He pushed away from Greta's body, hands coated with her blood. Glittering eyes accused as he stared at us, still on his knees, a supplicant. In a movement nearly too fast for me to see, he reached down and put Greta's pistol to his own head and fired.

A fine spray of blood spattered my face as Boris Nagy slumped across the body of his sister.

I buried my head in Tucker's furry side, suddenly beyond tired. This was not the kind of death I was used to seeing. People, broken beyond repair due to the violence in their lives, meeting an end just as violent. My brother nuzzled my thigh, a questioning look in his wolf eyes. I looked at him, grateful for his presence. It was over.

"I'm fine, Tucker. Nothing a little time and distance won't heal. Shift back and help me get these guys into the van. It's getting pretty close to dawn."

"Keira, the ranch...” Niko's quiet plea reminded me. It wasn't quite over.

I'd forgotten about the Nagy's little love gifts to the vampires at the ranch.

"Adam, Niko, does what Greta said make sense? Are they all dead then?"

"Holy water?” Adam groaned, as if even speaking was too difficult. “Myth. Rumor and legend."

"But the fire, Adam? The hemlock?"

His voice was ragged, tired. “Hemlock maybe ... sedate them. Won't kill them. Slows down motor centers. Humans ... stop breathing. Don't need to ... breathe. But fire ... destroy..."

The words trailed off, as he drifted out of consciousness. Damn it.

I explained the situation to my brother, who cocked his wolf's head and whined a little, nudging my still-bound hands.

"I can handle this, Tucker. I'm not sure when the bombs are set to go off. You can get there faster cross-country. I'll take care of things here."

The wolf nodded once, licked my face, and took off across the quarry. It wasn't the best we could do, but it would have to be our answer for now.

"Hurry, bro,” I whispered. I hoped he'd make it in time. I'd already seen too many deaths.

Now I had to get myself free.

I worked my hands against the tape, pushing with all the force of the muscles that were stronger than human. My back strained, shoulders heaving with effort. Drops of sweat rolled down my face as I worked, pulling my hands apart, feeling the tape starting to give, to tear just a little. With a final effort and a yank, the bonds tore with that distinctive fleshy ripping sound. I pulled the rest of the tape from my wrists and just as quickly removed it from my ankles.

I crawled over to Adam, touching his head, his face.

"Adam?"

His muscles were limp, slack, as if no life remained in his body. But I knew better. Below the imitation of death was a spark that lay dormant. Just touching his skin let me know that whatever made him Adam Walker was still there. Call it what you will, soul, magick, necromancy—it wasn't gone. But I also felt the change in the air, the lightening of the breeze that announced that dawn was just about to tap me on the shoulder.

I pulled the duct tape from both Adam and Niko, but couldn't break the wire that still bound them. It was heavier than the jewelry-making wire I'd first taken it for. It seemed to be some sort of cable coated in silver.

"Niko, damn it, can you help?"

He shook his head.

"I'm afraid that silver does make us weaker, Keira. That's how Boris was able to keep us unconscious in the van. The cattle prod weakened us, but the van's lined in sheets of silver foil. I fed yesterday, so I'm not as powerless, but Adam hasn't."

Damn it all to ever-loving hell and back. I'd been hoping to drag them inside the van, to escape the sun's rays. I looked around, trying to see if there was any sort of shelter at all. Nothing. We were on the west side of the pit, maybe if I were able to get them to the other side, away from the first rays of the sun ... I said as much to Niko.

"I'll do what I can, but I'm still pretty weak,” he said. “Keira, Adam hasn't fed in a while. He may die if the sun rises."

"That would bother you?"

I couldn't help myself. I was angry and tired and not choosing to be nice.

"Whatever our differences, I don't want Adam dead,” he said. “He's my friend, my sire, he's—we can work out the problems."

"He said he'd saved you."

I tugged at the cable—a futile gesture but I had to try. There was nothing else I could do right now, nowhere to drag them to safety.

Niko looked down at the ground.

"He saved me from a life you can't begin to imagine. I was a whore. I was beaten nearly dead by my master, left on the streets to die. Adam found me and fed me, let me grow up to be a healthy man. When the plague came, he turned me. I'd contracted it, was dying."

"What Boris and Greta said?"

"They were right, but I swear to you on all that's holy. I believed the Germans—that the children, the people would be safe. It was the only way I could see to save them, save my own people from extinction. The Nazis had attacked a nearby village and burned everyone, including the small tribe of vampires living below the church. After they looted the treasures, the Germans burned the building."

"They lived under a church? But I thought—"

"We are as religious as we ever were—or not,” he answered. “Holy symbols, belief in God, that never changes, at least not because we're vampire."

"Handy."

I turned my attention back to Adam. What I felt about Niko would have to wait. There were more important things to worry about right now. If the vampires survived this, then we could discuss the morals and ethics of his actions of more than half a century ago. I had to admit, the reason I'd asked was selfish. If Boris had been right, I might have just been tempted to leave Niko to die.

Adam groaned slightly, his eyelids fluttering. I'd helped him to lie on his back, slightly leaning to one side off his bound hands.

"Adam, can you hear me?"

He nodded, slowly, as if even this slight movement hurt him.

"Can you feed?"

"Feed?"

The words were no more than a gruff croak.

"Adam, it's nearly dawn. There's no real shelter. Derek and Dusty are here, at least their bodies. Maybe I can slide you closer—"