Pure (Book 1, Pure Series) (43 page)

           
"You
volunteered
to be a vampire?" I said.

           
Odette was triumphant.
 
"Timofei approached Galina – asked her to help him free Gleb and catch you.
 
Galina turned him down.
 
Then he approached me.
 
I said yes.
 
I don't think Galina had any idea.
 
But I didn't know where you were, and I didn't have any abilities of my own.
 
So, I haunted the Pure Woods until I found a vampire.
 
I was in luck – I found an old one.
 
My blood is strong.
 
Like I said, I have powers.
 
I unsealed the crypt.
 
And when you showed up on my doorstep I was delighted – I'm the one who told Timofei you were here, so he knew to come back.
 
That's why Timofei and Gleb are in Krov."

           
"Then, Galina really is innocent – of everything."

           
"I told you that," Odette said.
 
"How dare you insult my foster mother?"

           
"But what about the poison?" I asked.
 
"I heard my mother was poisoned and that Galina was suspected."

           
"Galina didn't poison your mother.
 
Gleb did.
 
In fact, he used the same poison on her that I gave to you."

           
The horror I was already feeling increased a hundredfold.
 
"You – you poisoned me?"

           
"The alosa tea was poisoned – the same as it was in the old days.
 
Gleb owned the company that produced the tea your mother bought.
 
When he found out she bought it, he had an extra element introduced."

           
"That's crazy," I said.
 
"Gleb would have poisoned everyone who bought the tea.
 
There's no way he could have known which particular box she would buy.
 
It wouldn't have worked."

           
Odette smiled.
 
"You don't know what the poison was.
 
It's something that only works on the Sídh.
 
Normal people would not be affected – although I suppose it's not really
great
for normal people."

           
"What is it?" I asked.

           
"Vampire blood."

           
I felt a wave of revulsion wash over me.
 
"Vampire blood?"

           
"In the old days, Gleb had connections.
 
He had vampire volunteers donate the blood.
 
Then it was freeze-dried and added to the loose tea – he didn't really need a lot.
 
And when Timofei decided to come after you, and you came to my house, I simply added some of my own blood to my tea.
 
Mine was fresher though – it dried on the leaves.
 
I added some to those blueberry muffins, too."

           
I remembered now that the muffins had tasted odd.
 
And you thought it was canned blueberries rather than fresh
, I thought.

           
"That's why I'm ill," I said.
 
"I'm sick just like my mother was."

           
"Yes, you are," Odette said.
 
"And ingesting my blood also makes you more susceptible to my powers of persuasion.
 
It's too bad – now that you know, you'd get better in a few days if you stopped drinking it.
 
But I don't think you're going to get that chance.
 
I'm going to get Timofei now, and I imagine he'll get his father.
 
I haven't met Gleb yet.
 
But I think we'll both get to meet him tonight."

           
Odette blew out her candle, and the crypt was plunged into darkness.
 
I heard the crypt door shut with a heavy clang and a key scrape in the lock.

           
I was sure it was an ordinary lock and not a supernatural seal, but both types of locks were equally effective on me.

           
I was trapped in the Mstislav crypt.

           
My heart was beating wildly.
 
What was I going to do?

           
I stood still, breathing raggedly.
 
Gradually, my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, and I could see white whirls of smoke glowing softly in the otherwise black crypt.
 
The white smoke was thickest around one of the tombs.
 
I crept close to it.

           
The top of the tomb was lying on the ground, and shaking as I was, I peered into it.
 
The tomb was full of the whirling white smoke.
 
Other than that, it was empty.
 
I drew back from the lip of the tomb, and in the dim, ghostly light provided by the smoke, I could read the name that was engraved on it:
 
Gleb Mstislav.

           
This was the tomb into which Gleb had been placed after his human life had ended.
 
It was also the tomb out of which he had risen as one of the undead.

           
And soon, he would be back here for me.

           
I could see my way to the door of the crypt, and I crept over to it, running my hands over the heavy stone door.
 
There was no way I could get out.

           
I thought of GM, and I realized that I would never see her again.
 
I thought of William, too.
 
I would give anything to see him just one last time.
 
I leaned my head against the stone door.
 
If only he were just on the other side, then I could at least hear his voice.

           
"Katie Wickliff summons you," I whispered.

           
The words escaped my lips before I even realized what I was doing.

           
I scarcely had time to draw in another breath, when there was a loud banging on the other side of the stone door.

           
I jumped back in fear.
 
Odette was back already – with Timofei and Gleb.

           
"Katie!" cried a voice.
 
"Katie!"

           
I drew in my breath sharply – the voice sounded like William's.
 
I was afraid my terror was making me hear things – what if I was actually hearing Timofei?

           
The banging grew louder.

           
"Katie!
 
Katie, are you there?"

           
The voice still sounded wonderfully familiar.
 
"William?"

           
"Katie!
 
Katie, I'm here!
 
Stand back.
 
I'll get you out!"

           
I scrambled backward.

           
The banging on the door grew even more intense.
 
The door's hinges began to protest loudly, then they gave way under the strain.

           
The stone door fell to the floor heavily, throwing up a great cloud of dust.
 
I could just make out a silhouette in the doorway.

           
"William?"

           
"I'm here, Katie."

           
I stumbled toward him.

           
I felt his arms wrap around me, and I felt relief flood through my body.

           
"Lean on me," he said.
 
"I'll get you out of here."

           
"William," I breathed.
 
"I thought I'd never see you again."

           
"Katie, I will always come for you."

           
William guided me along the tunnel.
 
The way was dark, but I assumed he was leading me back toward the monastery, rather than back to the Mstislav mansion.
 
There was no smoke this way.
 
I felt my spirits rise even more.
 
Perhaps we would soon be in the Pure Woods.
 
Then I could get the clear fire.

           
"William, Gleb Mstislav is here," I whispered.
 
"And Gleb's tomb is in there."

           
"I know," William said.
 
"Don't worry."

           
"William, I can get the clear fire from the stone ring.
 
I don't think I can stop him on my own, but we can stop him if we work together."

           
Williams' arm tightened around me.
 
"No.
 
You can't be in danger.
 
I'm going to face him alone."

           
"William—"

           
"Katie, please.
 
Don't ask me to put you in harm's way."

           
I could hear the worry in his voice, and I fell silent.
 
I wasn't going to try to reason with him anymore.

           
But I also wasn't going to give up.

           
We continued to move through the dark, and William stumbled.

           
"Are you all right?" I asked.

           
"It's nothing," William said.

           
The darkness seemed to stretch forever, but eventually, we reached a point at which I sensed greater space.
 
We seemed to have entered a much broader chamber.

           
A great rush of wind flew past us, bringing with it a horrible chill.

           
A sense of foreboding spread through me.

           
Light suddenly flared in my eyes, blinding me, and the acrid scent of burning rose up under my nose.

           
I blinked and my vision cleared.
 
Candles were lit all around the room.
 
The chamber William and I were standing in was one I had been in before.
 
It was the same chamber I had been trapped in when I'd lost my candle and the Leshi had rescued me.
 
It was the chamber with the barred and boarded up alcoves – the chamber that was hiding something.

           
As soon as the room was lit, muffled cries rose up from behind the bars, and the boards began to rattle as if something were pounding on them.
 
The cries grew louder, creating one muffled howl that swirled around us.

           
And standing right in front of me, holding a candle once again was Odette.
 
Beyond her, I could see the opening that led to the other side of the tunnel – and the way out.

           
William gripped my hand.
 
"This way."

           
We moved around Odette.
 
Her form blurred and moved ahead of us.
 
She stood in the entrance to the tunnel, firmly barring the way.

           
"Odette, please," I said.

           
"Get out of our way," William said to her.
 
"I don't want to be forced to go through you."

           
Odette arched an eyebrow.
 
"Are you sure you're feeling up to that?
 
I heard you had a pretty rough time last night."

           
I turned to look at William.
 
Now that I could see him in the light for the first time, I could see that he wasn't looking well.
 
His skin was ashen, and there were dark marks under his eyes – less like dark circles and more like bruises.
 
There were also long red lines like claw marks running across his face and neck.

           
"William, what happened to you?" I asked.

           
It was Odette who answered.
 
"I was told he tangled with Gleb last night, and it didn't go very well for him."

           
A stab of fear ran through me.
 
"William, are you hurt?"

           
"Get out of our way," William growled at Odette.

           
"You won't get very far," Odette said.
 
"Timofei is here."

           
At her words, the howling all around us silenced.

           
"Hello, Katie," said a man's voice.

           
I turned.

           
Standing on the other side of the chamber was Mr. Hightower.

           
It was suddenly hard for me to breathe.

           
"But you're dead," I said.

           
"No.
 
Not so much."

           
"But the police found your body – they found your ring."

           
"A prop," he said.
 
"Ostentatious for a reason – to throw the police off so they wouldn't continue to look for me.
 
Surely, you'd guessed?"

           
"The body was Mr. Del Gatto," I whispered.

           
"It was Mr. Del Gatto," Mr. Hightower replied.

           
"And you are actually Gleb's son, Timofei Mstislav," I said slowly.
 
"You were the one the Leshi called Gleb's 'keeper' – the one he couldn't see – you were with Gleb back in the cave in Elspeth's Grove."