Society of Supernatural Sleuths Box Set 1, page 25
Cruces and Rothschild could not help. They were both busy trying to keep Lydia at bay. The vampire kept darting in, testing their defenses, then flitting away again. Scarlet would have to be the one to do something. So she did. She reached down and drew her dagger, before leaping forward.
The ghost of Elder was so intent upon Tavian that it never saw her coming. Scarlet plunged her dagger into it, the same way she had used the blade to kill the creature when it had been alive. Perhaps it was the memory of that moment that made the ghost shriek quite so loudly was the blade plunged home. It was not memory, however, that made the blade feel like it was burning in Scarlet’s hand. It was not memory that sent motes of golden light flashing through the shadows that made up the creature. It was not memory that made the creature cry out one final time before scattering into shreds and scraps of shadow.
“No!” Lydia cried out, looking over. “How have you done that, you pathetic little… the dagger. They did not tell me that you had a weapon like that.” Lydia dodged again as Rothschild lunged at her.
“Give up, Lydia,” Cruces said. “Give up or flee back to the Order. You have failed here.”
“Failed?” For a moment, the vampire looked slightly stunned by that idea. Then she shook her head firmly. “No. This is not over. I still have a task to perform. You think that Elder is the only destroyed vampire in the world?”
Lydia’s eyes gleamed evilly as she reached into a pocket of her dress, withdrawing a small pouch. She raised the silver box that had brought back Elder, the lid open and waiting. Scarlet watched, and she was so busy watching that she did not even complain when Tavian drew her back into his arms. He was not Rothschild, but right then, Scarlet could feel the tension in the cave growing until the air itself felt like it was stretched tight.
“Whatever vampire you are thinking of bringing back,” Cruces said, “we will defeat it.”
“Vampire?” Lydia laughed. “You think I am bringing back one vampire?”
Somehow, instinctively, Scarlet knew that what the vampire was intending was a terrible idea. Perhaps it was simply that she could sense something of the power of the item Lydia held. Scarlet reached out imploringly. “Lydia, no!”
Lydia ignored Scarlet’s cry and upended the bag she held into the silver box.
For a second or two nothing happened. Scarlet did not relax though. She did not dare to think that they might have been lucky enough for Lydia’s attempt not to work. The item the vampire held was a Device, after all, and those were far too powerful to fail so simply. The others there must have sensed the same danger, because they stood just as still as Scarlet did.
The light dimmed in the cave, as though the shaft of sunlight above had found itself blocked by a cloud. Scarlet knew that was not it, however. A cloud did not account for the sudden feeling of power rushing through the air. Nor did it explain the way the temperature in the cave dropped so that, despite the heat outside, Scarlet felt herself shivering.
Footsteps sounded in the tunnel leading to the cave. At least, Scarlet assumed that they had come from there. In truth, the sound seemed to come from all around so that Scarlet could not truly place it. There were so many footsteps too. It sounded like a brigade marching by. An army. The shadows deepened still further for a moment, before giving way to sunlight again. Scarlet saw them then.
“The shadows!”
There were dozens of them. More. Too many to easily count, given the way they shifted back and forth, blurring through one another in a constant web of motion. There were large figures and small ones, male and female ones, all seemingly composed of nothing but shadow. They were in the cave, and they were advancing towards its walls. They climbed up them with all the speed and silence of spiders, climbing away into the shadows above them so that Scarlet could not see where they went. She only knew that they were up there somewhere, watching, scuttling, and picking out their prey.
Then, with a cry that seemed to come from all of them at once, the ghosts of the vampires dropped.
Chapter 19
Scarlet gasped as the ghosts of the vampires landed around them in a circle. Cruces echoed it. “What have you done, Lydia?” Cruces demanded. “Do you even know what you have done, summoning so many? Summoning these vampires?”
“I have done what I must to achieve the Order’s ends,” Lydia said. “You had your chance to give me the bow, Cruces.”
“You don’t know,” Cruces said. “These vampires… I recognize some of those shapes. They were mad when they were alive. In death, you will never control them.”
“I have the box,” Lydia said confidently.
Scarlet shook her head. “There are too many. I can feel it. There are too many to control.”
“You’re trying to trick me,” Lydia snapped, “and it won’t work. Spirits, kill them.”
Lydia had to dive back as one of the shadows swiped at her. Scarlet saw the female vampire’s eyes widen in surprise and fear, but they had other concerns right then. The ring of shadowy vampires was closing in on them.
“There are too many of them,” Tavian said.
“I can get to them with my dagger if you create a distraction,” Scarlet replied, hefting the weapon. She had killed Elder’s ghost easily enough, after all.
Cruces put a restraining hand on Scarlet’s wrist, then pulled her aside as one of the shadows leaped. It looked puzzled to have missed her. Meanwhile Lydia was having to dodge her way through a small mob of the creatures.
“We cannot fight them outright,” Cruces said. “As much as I admire your bravery, Scarlet, we would be torn to shreds. These vampires are feral, plus they have all the advantages of their ghostly form. I doubt Tavian can fight them all off as he did with Elder.”
“No,” Tavian agreed, “but I can create the illusion of it. The shadows won’t know which ones we are.”
“So we kill each other by accident?” Rothschild demanded.
“I will mark us out with a red spot. It will be easy.”
“There’s no time to think of anything better,” Cruces said, ducking as another vampire leaped. “When the glamor wears off, meet me wherever I am. I will get us out of here. I’d do it now, but we need that box.”
Scarlet nodded. She kept her eyes on Rothschild. She was not going to let herself be separated from him again. Rothschild’s eyes were on Lydia, who still held the box as she avoided the surrounding vampires, trying to command them even as they attacked her. The vampires around the four of them, meanwhile, had started to close in.
“Now, Tavian,” Cruces said.
Tavian nodded, and a second later, he, Cruces and Rothschild disappeared, to be replaced with shadow forms. Scarlet looked down and saw that she had been transformed too. She moved forward, slashing with her dagger whenever a shadow got too close. The aim was not to destroy them, but simply to cut a path through them to Lydia.
Some of the shadows seemed to notice that others of their number were attacking them, and tried to fight back. One threw Scarlet to the ground, but Tavian tripped it, giving Scarlet enough time to thrust her dagger into it and end its existence. Cruces, meanwhile, played on the confusion among the shadows, darting between them until he had them attacking one another with savage ferocity. The shadowy vampires had fangs several inches long, and they tore at one another like wild beasts. Scarlet took advantage of the opportunity to stab another one, watching it dissolve into shreds of darkness.
A pair of shadowy hands grabbed Scarlet, and she cried out in surprise as the glamor around her slipped away.
“I see you,” the vampire said. “I see you, and I hunger.”
The vampire looked as though it might tear her apart. It opened its mouth wide, displaying its fangs. That was as far as it got though, because in that moment, another fell on it, fighting with it brutally. Another joined the brawl, and another. Scarlet started as she realized the creatures were fighting over her. They were so maddened by their hunger that they would kill each other just for that much blood.
“Scarlet!” Tavian’s voice came from close beside her. He was still glamored, still appearing as one of the shadows. “Come with me!”
He grabbed her and dragged her out of the frenzy, but the others would not allow what appeared to be one of their number to steal away their prey so easily. Scarlet had to stab another with the dagger, and Tavian had to swipe at two more with claws made of shadow, before they were able to break free of the main group.
In clear space at last, Scarlet was able to look around.
“Where’s Cruces?” Scarlet asked. Why she asked about him first, she did not know. She only knew that she was suddenly very much aware he was missing, as well as worried about his fate. Around her, the shadow vampires were tearing one another apart in a futile effort to get some kind of sustenance.
Tavian shook his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Let’s get out of here. It’s too dangerous. They are tearing each other apart, and we don’t want to be in the middle of it.”
“Scarlet!” another voice shouted. Cruces’ voice. It came from one end of the cave, out towards the tunnels leading to it. “Join me now!”
Scarlet and Tavian started to make their way towards that voice, but Scarlet knew that she could not do it. “Where’s Rothschild?” she demanded, stopping completely. Tavian tried to pull her towards Cruces, but Scarlet did not move. “I am not leaving without Rothschild.”
She looked around for him and finally spotted him a little way away, struggling with Lydia. His glamor had fallen away and now he struggled with her, trying to grab the silver box even as Lydia tried to get her hands on the stick that had been Cupid’s bow. They struggled hand to hand, neither able to make any headway as they both tried to keep away from the rampaging shadows.
Even as Scarlet watched, though, that changed. Rothschild let go his grip on the box and reached inside his coat to draw out a wooden stake. He slammed it into Lydia’s chest, then stepped back to admire his work as he took the box from her.
“You missed my heart,” Lydia said.
“Perhaps I was not trying to hit it.” Rothschild lifted the silver box and poured the ashes from it. It appeared to make no difference to the shadow vampires.
The female vampire shook her head. “You should have.”
With Rothschild’s hands occupied by both the bow and the box, he could not defend himself as Lydia drew the stake out of herself and slammed it into him. Rothschild’s eyes went wide with pain. Scarlet gasped as a fraction of it seared along the mark that lay between them, and her eyes met his.
I love you. The words came directly into her head, thanks to the mark. He threw the cane, and it arced above the fighting vampires for a moment. Cruces reached up and it smacked squarely into his palm as he caught it.
“Take care of her,” Rothschild called out, tipping his hand so that the last ashes in the box fell from it. “Destroy the Order.”
“Traitor!”
Rothchild groaned as Lydia thrust the stake deeper, and Scarlet screamed. It felt like the stake was plunging into her own chest. The vampire vanished, scattering into silvery dust that floated down to mingle with that he had poured out onto the floor.
“No!” Scarlet struggled to go to Rothschild, hitting out at Cruces and Tavian even as they held her back. She kicked Tavian sharply, knowing that she had to go to Rothschild. To get to his remains. Or perhaps… yes, she still had the dagger. One thrust and she could join him. One simple thrust, and…
“Hold her, Tavian!” Cruces stepped back, lifted the stick he held and it was a bow once more. He drew the string back and fired what seemed to be an arrow of the dullest grey into Scarlet. She froze for a moment, then stood there shaking her head. What had she been thinking? What had she been about to do?
“She is herself again?” Tavian asked.
“I hope so,” Cruces said.
More of the shadow vampires moved towards them then, and Tavian took a step forward.
“Go,” he said, “I can hold them.”
“You’re sure?” Cruces stepped forward to shake Tavian’s hand. It seemed an oddly noble gesture, under the circumstances, and a stupid one.
“What?” Scarlet demanded. “You’re planning to stay here?”
It was too late to say anything else. Tavian was already fighting off vampires. Cruces, meanwhile, had grabbed Scarlet around the waist. In an instant, they were in the space between worlds, moving away from the Ancient Greece of myth too fast to follow. They appeared in front of Cruces’ house, right on the doorstep. Scarlet tried to pull away.
“Tavian!” Scarlet cried. “We can’t leave him behind.”
“Hush,” Cruces said, “Tavian will be alright.”
“No, he’ll be stuck there. We have to go back, I’m not leaving my Tavian behind.”
Cruces groaned. “Your Tavian? Oh, for pity’s sake! Don’t tell me that I have undone the effects of the bow only for Aphrodite’s meddling to take hold. There is nothing to see here,” he snapped to a couple of passersby.
“We must go back,” Scarlet insisted.
Cruces shook his head. “We cannot.”
“Why can’t we?” Scarlet demanded. “Either take me back or unhand me.”
“I want to talk to you Scarlet,” Cruces said. “I want you to know… I think you were able to get through to Rothschild. He would not have stood against Lydia like that purely for the sake of the Devices. Not unless he understood how important humanity was. He has not understood that in thousands of years though, so there is only one explanation. You changed him, at the end. You Scarlet.”
Scarlet was not sure about that. She could remember her foolish forced love for Rothschild, an emotion that stood as nothing now, so that she could even remember the moment of Rothschild’s death without pain.
“I am sorry for your loss, Cruces. He was, after all, your brother.” Scarlet paused. “Please, go back for Tavian.”
“No,” Cruces said.
“Why not?”
Cruces kissed her then, ignoring Scarlet’s brief protest. How dare he?
“Scarlet, please. You’ll see him soon enough. Right now, I just want this moment alone with you, even if it is on my doorstep. You may not remember, but at one point you cared for me. I could feel it when we kissed. You and I. The Seeker and the Keeper. We are meant to be.”
As Cruces kissed her again, just for a moment, Scarlet thought that she could feel it. She could feel the need for him. The moment after that though, as they broke apart, it was gone. Scarlet stood back, and Cruces opened the door to let them inside.
Chapter 20
They went inside, with Cruces more or less pulling Scarlet after him. They headed into the dining room, where the vampire looked around impatiently, then looked at his pocket watch.
“I didn’t think we’d have to wait. That’s why I brought us back outside. Still, any second now, I should think. Ah, here we go.”
Scarlet watched open-mouthed as the air in the room split open to allow Tavian to step through. The young fey man had scrapes on his cheeks from the fight he’d been in, but otherwise he seemed to be all right. Scarlet’s gasp of amazement was not so much at the sudden appearance, since she knew perfectly well by now that travel between worlds could happen, but at the fact Tavian could do it at all, when Cruces was here with the ring that allowed it.
“Tavian,” Scarlet breathed. “He’s really here?”
“You can see him, Scarlet,” Cruces said with surprising gentleness, reaching out to touch Scarlet’s chin with his fingertips. For once, Scarlet did not pull back. “I told you that he would be joining us, and I keep my word.”
Even so, Scarlet moved over to Tavian, reaching out to touch him just to see if he was really there.
“It’s really you?” Scarlet asked, but the love inside her as Aphrodite’s spell welled up answered that.
“It’s really me,” Tavian promised.
“How?” Scarlet asked, looking back at Cruces, trying to understand. “If we left him behind, how can he be here?”
Tavian reached out to turn Scarlet gently back to him, and as his hand touched her cheek, Scarlet felt the cold presence of metal. She took Tavian’s hand and looked down at it. There, clear in the light coming through the window, was Cruces’ ring. Scarlet thought back, suddenly understanding. She looked over at Cruces.
“When you shook hands, you gave Tavian your ring.”
Cruces nodded. “I had just seen the pain that losing someone you loved that deeply could cause you, so I could not risk his loss. I will not have you hurt like that, Scarlet. Besides, we will need our young gypsy’s help if we are to retrieve Gordon and, yes, Cecilia later on.” Cruces smiled. “In any case, regardless of what I might feel, I know that Tavian is one of the few others in this world who will do whatever he must to keep you safe. That is valuable to me, Scarlet. Valuable enough to be worth one magical ring, at least.”
Scarlet stayed silent at that. The scope of the gift was not lost on her. Nor were the feelings behind it. That Cruces would give up a way of travelling between worlds to ensure that Scarlet remained safe said a lot. Too much, perhaps, given what she currently felt for Tavian. It also begged one very important question.
“If Tavian has your ring, how did we get back?” she asked. “How did we manage to travel between worlds?”
Cruces looked momentarily pained. “Rothschild. His ring was around the shaft of the walking stick when he threw it to me. I think he knew what would be needed to keep you safe, or perhaps he simply did not wish Lydia and those who command her to have another item of such power.” Cruces sighed. “I will miss him. He plotted, and schemed, and occasionally killed, but he was a brother to me for so long that I can’t help missing him. And there was some good in him at the end.”
The vampire fell into silence then, obviously remembering, and Scarlet wanted to go to him. She wanted to put her arm around him. She wanted to kiss him. Scarlet started, surprised that she would want that when it was Tavian she loved, but right then, she did want to kiss Cruces. She could feel that need bubbling up inside her like a wellspring. For the moment, however, Scarlet had to squash that feeling. Tavian was there, and she loved him regardless of what else she felt. She was not about to complicate that in such a way.
