Dead of Night (21 page)

Twenty-One

T
he temperature dropped steadily, and a chilly breeze chased most of the Christmas-light lovers out of the park, but I barely felt the icy air as I waited on the bench. From the moment I'd decided to use Trick's pills to gain my freedom, something slumbering inside me seemed to awake. It felt hot and wild and almost uncontrollable, but this time I wasn't fighting it, and I wasn't afraid of it. If this was what gave me the ability to kill, then I would use it.

Tonight I had to be a Van Helsing.

The city hall's clock chimed eleven times, and as I got up to stretch my stiff limbs I heard a commotion and turned around. A lady walking her poodle came running toward me, almost tripping as she bent down to pick up the little ball of fur before she darted behind a tree. At that moment she saw me and shrieked, “Watch out.”

The horse burst out of the bushes, her legs churning as she came straight at me, and I spun out of the way just in time.

“Rika.”

The Arabian reacted to my call by wheeling around and stopping, her sides billowing in and out as she regarded me.

“Ma'am,” I said to the lady with the poodle, “could you throw me your dog's leash?”

“For that thing?” I heard the woman say.

“Please. I need to catch this horse.” I looked down as the leash landed next to my foot. “Thank you.”

I bent down to retrieve the leash, and then whistled. Rika's ears pricked, and she trotted up to me, shivering and blowing, her hide soaked with cold sweat. Just as I reached for her she stepped back and shook her head.

“Come here, girl.” When she backed away, I started toward her. “Rika, it's me. Come on, it's okay.”

The mare snorted and turned, trotting down to the corner, where she stopped and looked back at me.

“I can't play tonight. Rika, come on.” I walked halfway to the corner, stopped, and whistled for her again. “Rika, here.”

Again she trotted a short distance away, halted and waited, watching me. I didn't want to leave the park, but if she ran out in front of a car she might kill herself, the foal and whoever was driving. I hurried after her.

She kept playing her version of keep-away, leading me across town until she stopped just at the entrance of the maze.

I looked at the gates, which were standing open, and then at the mare. “Okay, you didn't do that.”

She trotted through the entrance and disappeared into the gardens.

I caught up with her in front of the shrine Stanas had made for his lost love. “Are you tired of chasing wild geese yet?”

The Arabian lowered her head, touching her nose to the top of the tiny bower made of shells.

“Yeah, I know, it's pretty,” I told her as I came forward slowly. “Why don't we go back to the park and call Dr. Marks and see if he can come and take you back to his clinic, before you drop that foal on its head?”

Rika snorted and began pawing the ground.

I could see the shrine starting to tip to one side. “No, no, stop that, Rika. Pay attention to me, I'm your friend, remember?”

The Arabian turned around, kicked, and shells went everywhere as her hooves destroyed the top of the shrine. I used the moment to grab her halter and clip the poodle's leash to one of the rings. She pulled against it, dragging me off my feet, and I landed on the ground in front of what was left of the shrine.

“Thanks.” I lifted my head and held on to the end of the leash as I rubbed my bruised chin with my free hand. Something creaked as I moved, and I looked beneath me. Under the dirt some streaks of wood showed through, and when I brushed it away I uncovered one corner of a panel of oak.

I felt curving ridges under my fingers, and traced them. They formed the shape of a heart.

Stanas told them that whoever solved his maze and found its heart would discover a great treasure he'd hidden there.

I got up to tie Rika, who was now quiet, to the iron bench near the shrine. When I went back I saw that the shells and flowers all around the base, some of which Rika had pawed away, had been placed on top of the panel. Since the shrine covering the statue of Stanas's girl was already destroyed, I gave the remaining portion a push, and it slid slow back from the rest of the panel.

Not a panel, I thought as I crouched down to examine it. A hatch.

Catlyn, where are you?

I'd completely forgotten about Jesse.
I'm in the Jester's Maze, with Rika. I think I've found where he's keeping the girls.

I will get James. Wait for us.

Hurry.

I lifted the hatch and saw the same stone steps that had appeared in my blood vision. The sound of crying drifted up to me, tearing at me as I threw aside the hatch and lowered myself over the edge until my feet touched the top step.

Water trickled down the stairs and formed a wide pool at the base, so I braced one hand against the tunnel wall as I descended. Everything was exactly as I'd seen it in the vision, and I followed the passage to the barred wooden door. Inside I could hear the sound of crying and a voice whispering. I lifted the bar and cast it aside before I went in.

Two of the girls sat huddled beside Sunny Johnson, who held the broken handle of a broom as if it were a spear. I could see the clean trails tears had made through the dirt on her thin face, and she held her left arm tucked against her body, but her eyes were dry and wide and angry.

There was no sign of the vampire.

“Don't you come near us,” she told me, her voice like a slap. “Or so help me, I'll stake you through the heart.”

“I'm not here to hurt you,” I told her. “My name is Cat Youngblood. I'm going to get you out of here.”

The broom handle lowered. “Did you bring the sheriff? Are my parents here?”

“No, it's just me right now.” The sound of metal clinking made me look down at the chains and cuffs the vampire had put on the girls' feet. “Where are the keys?”

“He's got them.” The girl reached into her back pocket and took out a bobby pin that had been bent at different angles. “I've been trying with this, but I don't know how to pick a lock.”

Neither did I, which left me with only one option. “I've got to go back up and get some help.”

“No.” She grabbed my sleeve with her fist. “You can't leave us down here. He's coming back.”

I glanced down at her arm, which had been badly bruised from her wrist to her elbow, and hung limp, as if she couldn't use it. “Did he do this to you?”

“Yeah. He thinks he's a vampire.” She pushed the hair back from her neck to reveal more bruises. “He keeps trying to bite me to drink my blood, but he doesn't have fangs and he's too weak to do it with his own teeth.”

“After tonight,” a dry, horrible voice said, “I won't need your blood.”

I turned around and for an instant saw a dark-haired young man with dark eyes and a beautiful face. As soon as I blinked, he changed into a wrinkled old man with ashen skin and bleary eyes.

He bowed. “Welcome, my queen. I had almost given up hope.” He shuffled forward. “But at last you have come to me.”

“I'm not here for you, old man,” I told him. “I'm taking these girls back to their families.”

“I will give them to you.” He reached into his pocket and took out a ring of keys. “As my gift.” When I held out my hand, he closed his gnarled fist over the keys. “As soon as you give me what I want.”

“I'm not giving you anything, Mr. Hargraves.”

“You know my name.” His lips stretched into a ghastly smile. “I am sorry it took so long for me to find you, my queen.” He coughed, and for a moment I thought he was going to topple over. Then his eyes shifted past me. “But now that you are here, everything will be fine.”

I heard Sunny whisper “I'm sorry” a second before something hit me in the back of the neck, and all the lights went out.

A pounding headache brought me back to consciousness, where I found myself in a big, brightly lit room furnished with antiques. Shells had been glued like mosaic tiles to the rough stone walls, and formed a fantasy garden in white. Colorful gems in the center of every flower glittered in the light of the kerosene lamps. As pretty as it was, the air smelled horribly stale, as if the room hadn't been used in years.

I pushed myself up from the sofa on which I lay, and looked around. I saw no doors or windows, and no one else but the man on the other side of the room.

Julian Hargraves stood arranging things on a table set for two. As soon as I moved he glanced back at me. “Ah, you're finally awake. Good. I've been waiting for hours, and we have to complete the ritual before sunrise.”

I looked at the old knife, the shallow bowl, and the small Egyptian statue he had on the table. “Mr. Hargraves, I'm not who you think I am.”

“I know you're not mortal, Catlyn. You don't have to pretend with me.” He walked over to sit in a chair beside the sofa. “I'm sorry that I made the girl hit you, but we needed some privacy for this.”

“What did you do with the girls?”

“They're waiting in the chamber for us.” He smiled, displaying a metal band fitted over the front of his teeth. Two white snake's fangs had been fitted to the metal. “When the ritual is complete and you have finished my change, we will both feast on them.”

I could try and explain to him that draining me of blood would just kill me and make him into a vampire. Or I could play along until I could find a way out of here. “That's good.” I stood up. “Have you finished your prayers?”

He frowned. “Prince Aktep never prayed.”

“I know.” I thought fast. “That's why the gift of immortality was taken away from him. He forgot to honor the gods and goddess.” I made a gesture at the table. “If you want immortality, you have to pray to them first and ask.” As his eyes narrowed, I added, “I don't think they'll say no. They've already brought you this far.”

“Very well.” He got down on his knees in front of me. “You will have to tell me how to do this.”

“It's not that difficult. Close your eyes.” As soon as he did, I began looking around the room for a way out. “Now, tell the goddess why you think you deserve to live forever.”

As he murmured, I scanned the walls. The shells and jewels Stanas had applied covered almost every inch of stone, but at last I spotted an arching pattern of scallop shells that looked like a door.

“I'm finished,” Julian said, opening his eyes.

“No, you're not,” I said. “You have to show them that you're grateful.” I pointed down. “Touch your head to the floor and thank them for their gift.”

He leaned over, closing his eyes as he put his forehead against the stone.

I hurried over to the door, and fumbled with the conch shell Stanas had used as the knob. Once I got it to turn I pulled, and shells and jewels began raining down on my head as part of the wall swung out.

“Catlyn.” Julian dragged me back, clamping an arm around my waist. “You're a liar.”

I fought him as he dragged me over to the table, but he was too strong for me. “I'm not immortal, you crazy old man. If you do this, you'll just turn into a monster.”

“I will be a god,” he said as he groped for the knife. “And you will be my queen.”

“The blood you took from the boathouse was not hers, Julian,” I heard Jesse say. “It was mine.”

The old man wrenched me around and held me up against him like a shield. “You can't deceive me. She's the queen of your kind. I read about her in the books. The daughter of Bast, the Queen of Cats.”

“You're mistaken. She's only a human girl, just like the others.” My dark boy circled around the old man. “I am the immortal.”

Hargraves shook his head. “You're lying. I know it's her. I found the proof.” He shrieked as Jesse seized him, and then his body shifted, becoming young and strong again. He threw Jesse across the chamber, and when he fell Julian leapt on top of him, slashing at his throat with the knife.

I screamed and lunged, but someone caught me from behind, and I struggled against the iron grip. “Let me go.”

“Not this time, Cat.” Trick turned me around to face him. “Stay there.”

My brother strode over to Julian and pulled him off Jesse. Still holding him, he pinned him against the wall, so hard the shells behind him shattered.

At first Julian howled and fought, but he couldn't free himself. Then his struggles slowed and he fell silent, until all he did was stare into my brother's eyes.

I hurried over to Jesse, who had his hand pressed to his throat. His eyes had gone black, but when he took his hand away the gash on his neck was already closing.

My brother leaned close and murmured something to Julian, whose expression blanked. When my brother released him, his body shifted again into that of an old man as he turned and shuffled out of the passage.

Jesse started after him, but my brother held up a hand. “You don't want to do that, boy.”

I didn't understand. “You can't just let him go, Patrick.”

“He won't be going anywhere.” He walked out after the old man.

I remembered that Julian still had the keys to the cuffs and chains on the kidnapped girls, and ran out after my brother. “Trick, wait.”

By the time Jesse and I caught up with him he was at the stone stairwell, and Julian was climbing out of the hatch. Sunlight came pouring down as my brother followed the old man, and then I did the same.

The old man stood by the remains of the shrine, the sunlight pouring over him. His wrinkled face shriveled even more, and his clothes began to sag as if he were shrinking inside them.

I thought it was the sunlight. “Why is he just standing there? Why doesn't he run back into the tunnel?”