Pure: Ignis Part 38

"I think I saw him," I said.

Odette stared at me. "The Leshi?"

"Yes-in Red Square. He looked like Aleksandr, but his eyes were overbright like they were when the Leshi was impersonating him. The Leshi told me once that you can always tell one of his disguises by the eyes. I spotted him the crowd, and he ran off, so I followed him. He led me to a back room in a museum, and then he disappeared completely. But it was there in the museum that I stumbled across the icon of the Werdulac. It was because of the Leshi that I found out the Werdulac's name. I think he was trying to warn me."

"So he was trying to help you," Odette said bitterly. "Just as I am here to help you. Everyone is always trying to help you."

"Timofei Mstislav isn't trying to help me," I said. "He's trying to kill me."

"That's true enough." Odette gave me a sidelong glance. "Just out of curiosity, how did you get out of the woods so quickly tonight? Did the Leshi come for you?"

I blinked at her in surprise. "No-it wasn't the Leshi. You didn't see the horse?"

"I saw a white flash, and then you disappeared," Odette said. "It was a good thing, too, because Timofei ran after you as soon as he was free of the ritual. He surely would have caught you if you hadn't just vanished."

"That white flash was a horse," I said. "I climbed onto its back, and it carried me home. I don't know where it came from or where it went. It was almost like I dreamed it."

"It was a nightmare," Odette said.

I looked at her in surprise. She had spoken the last sentence in English. "What did you say?"

Odette looked a little self-conscious.

"Was that not right?" she asked in Russian. "I learned the English word 'nightmare,' and I thought I would make a play on words. It was night, and you met a mare-or a horse, anyway-that seemed like a dream. I thought the word fit."

"A nightmare," I said in English, before switching back to Russian. "I see what you mean. That's clever. Where did you learn those words?"

"I've been studying English on my own. I never had time for studies before," Odette said ruefully. "I have nothing but time now."

"Have you ever heard anything about a horse like the one that helped me?" I asked. "Do you know what it was?"

"It sounds like one of the creatures of the light that inhabit the Pure Woods," Odette said. "After all, it did come to save you. That's all I can tell you. I know more about the creatures of the dark-that's really my area of expertise."

Unbidden, William suddenly came to mind. One of the creatures of the dark-that's what he thought he was. And he'd left me because he believed the curse could be lifted. I hoped for his sake that such a thing was truly possible-I knew it was what he wanted most in all the world.

Odette also did not seem too happy with her current status, even though, unlike William, she'd actually chosen it. I wondered if there was a way back for her too-if she wanted it.

"Odette, I heard that it was possible for a vampire to-"

I tried to choose my words carefully. "To return to his previous state. Is that possible? Would it be possible for you?"

"There is a legend about the firebird," Odette said wistfully. "It is said that the firebird can heal anything-any kind of malady. I have wondered if the firebird can even heal me-there are old stories that say it can. The Firebird Festival is coming soon-that's the time when the firebird is most likely to make itself seen. It's funny about fire-it's the best way to kill us, but according to the folktales, the right kind of fire can actually purify us."

I watched Odette's face in the candlelight, and her expression grew softer as she spoke. She looked very young-and lost.

"Creatures of the dark have to be careful of themselves, you know," Odette said. "I thought I would be laughing at the night and at everyone else too-I thought I would have everything I ever wanted. No wrinkles, ever! Clothes would always look good on me! And I would have powers, yes! I would be glittering and fearless and above all earthly cares. But all of this means nothing to me now-there are many dangers from my own kind, and there are even worse dangers from even darker creatures. And now I creep around, hiding myself, wishing I was something other than I am."

"Where do you live, Odette?" I asked. "Where do you go when you hide yourself away? You could come back to this house. You could live here again. You could come back to us."

Odette stiffened. "It isn't possible. I can never come back. The firebird is just a myth-a pretty folktale. And I cannot come back as I am. I can never rejoin the human world. I can never feel its warmth and love again." She paused, and her mouth twisted in a bitter smile. "I sought to place myself above you, only to find that once again you end up with everything, and I end up with nothing."

Odette stood up suddenly, and I jumped back in fear.

"I have just enough affection left for you to tell you to leave," she said fiercely. "Get out of this village before you get yourself killed."

Odette extinguished her candle, and the room was plunged into darkness. In a panic, I stumbled across the room toward the lamp by my bed.

By the time I had the light on, Odette had gone.

Chapter 19.

After Odette left, I tried to force myself to sleep-that was all I could really do-I could hardly tell GM that a vampire had come to visit me.

So I pa.s.sed in and out of troubled dreams.

I knew that I needed to sleep-even though the horror that was Timofei Mstislav was standing outside.

I needed to have a clear head in the morning.

The situation I found myself in was getting worse by the moment, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to fight off Timofei on my own. I had only defeated Timofei's father with the help of William and the clear fire-and I didn't have either one of them anymore. And leaving Russia, as Odette had suggested, was not an option. I knew from past experience that Timofei would follow me wherever I went.

If I were to survive, I would have to have help.

William, of course, was long gone. Galina and the Leshi had both disappeared. Odette was clearly not inclined to be cooperative. And GM was not equipped to deal with the supernatural.

I had only one option.

I would have to seek out the vampire Innokenti.

I was sure he was dangerous. But he had also told me to return to Russia for my own safety. Perhaps he could help me to ward off Timofei-or at least help me to get GM out of the country unharmed. Odette had said that GM was safe from Timofei, but I was still uneasy about her.

I didn't want anything to happen to GM because of me.

So I did the best I could to sleep, and to a certain extent, I succeeded.

When the first gray light of dawn crept into my room, I decided to give up struggling with my dreams.

I got out of bed and went to the window. I was just in time to see Timofei turn and shuffle off. It was a terrible sight-the inhuman creature looked even more horrific silhouetted against the rosy rays of the sunrise.

I watched Timofei until he disappeared, and then I stood listening. The house was quiet, and I figured that GM was still asleep. I decided to go right away to look for Innokenti. Maybe I could catch him before he settled in to sleep for the day-or whatever it was that he did. I also wanted to return the lantern I had taken from the Mstislav crypt-I just wanted to get it out of the house. And finally, I had to retrieve my bicycle from Galina's place-I might need it to get around again.

I dressed quickly and slipped out of the house with the lantern, leaving GM a note telling her that I had gone for a walk. I would, of course, be gone for more than a little while, and I had a feeling that GM would be angry when time pa.s.sed and I didn't return. But that couldn't be helped right now.

I had work to do.

The morning was cold, and the light was still low-it would be another half-hour before the sun itself peeked over the horizon.

I hurried to the Mstislav mansion.

I was loath to enter the crypt again-especially now that I knew that one of its inhabitants had risen once more. It occurred to me that Timofei might be using the crypt as his daytime hiding place, but I quickly discarded the idea. Timofei's body had gone missing, and it could hardly be cla.s.sified as missing if it returned to the crypt every day. And surely he would want to stay far away from his tomb-a kost could only be laid to rest again by wrestling him back into his grave. I didn't know if a kost hybrid could be defeated the same way, but I imagined it would still be something he feared.

All the same, I felt my heart hammering as I reached the Mstislav mansion and crept around the ma.s.sive building to the crypt. The entrance to the crypt yawned open, just as black and forbidding as it had been the night before. I felt a flash of panic, and I considered just dropping the lantern and running off. But I heard footsteps coming toward me over the frost-covered gra.s.s, and I knew I had to hide.

I didn't want to get caught trespa.s.sing-especially not at the Mstislav mansion. The only place I could possibly conceal myself was in the crypt.

I forced myself to step over the threshold and climb down the steps.

I reached the landing, as I had the night before, and this time, I tripped over some of the tools that the workmen had left lying on the floor. I stumbled back against the wall.

I waited, frozen, hoping that whoever was outside hadn't heard all the noise I was making.

The footsteps in the gra.s.s approached the crypt, and I held my breath.

I was sure to be found.

But the footsteps kept going, and I set the lantern down and crept back up to the entrance of the crypt.

Very cautiously, I peered out.

I was just in time to see a familiar figure disappear around the side of the mansion.

It was Maksim Neverov.

His presence at the mansion was not that strange-he was, after all, related to the Mstislavs. There was no reason for me to read anything sinister into his being here. He had every right to visit with his family-or to live with them, if that happened to be the case.

But I had to wonder-had Maksim been in Krov back in October? Had he been in the mansion the night I was lured there by Odette?

Had he known what Timofei had been up to in the crypt and in the tunnels that stretched under the Wasteland?

I told myself to forget about it for the moment. I wasn't likely to find out the answers to any of those questions any time soon, and I certainly couldn't ask Maksim about them. In any event, there was no reason for me to suspect Maksim of wrongdoing.

All the same, I was disturbed to see him at the mansion.

I waited for a moment, inside the crypt, watching to see if Maksim was really gone. When he did not reappear, I ran as fast as I could across the grounds.

Then I hurried away from the Mstislav mansion.

I had discovered that Krov had one bus that made a circuit of the town, and one of the stops was the abandoned monastery at the edge of the Pure Woods. I caught the bus and got off at the monastery. Then I walked toward Galina's house.

By the time I reached the house and the bicycle, the sun was shining brightly in the morning sky.

GM would definitely have begun to wonder what had happened to me.

I went up to Galina's door and knocked, but as I expected, there was no answer. I tried the door, and it was open as before. I peered in, but the house still appeared to be empty.

There had been a faint hope in my heart that Galina might have come home in the middle of the night, but I'd known all along that it was highly unlikely.

I wasn't going to get out of having to find Innokenti that easily.

I pulled the door closed and stood on the step for a long moment. I didn't really want to find Innokenti, and the truth was, I didn't really know where to start.

He had come to me for the very first time when I had summoned the clear fire in the Pure Woods-attracted by the clear fire itself. Perhaps he could be attracted by it again.

I had been standing in a sacred place when I had summoned it, and I figured that that would be the best place to start looking for him. But he would surely be under cover by now. Would he come out of his hiding place during the day to see me?

I didn't know, but I had to give it a try.

I made my way through the white trees of the Pure Woods to the circle of small stones where I had first called the clear fire out of its otherworldly hiding place. I stepped into the circle and remembered the feeling of peace and contentment that the clear fire had brought me when I had controlled it.

I had tried last night to summon the clear fire and failed.

I would try again now.

I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind. Softly, I sang to myself the song that would bring the clear fire to me.

But the clear fire did not appear, and I couldn't recreate the state of mind that had once enabled me to summon it. It was almost as if something were blocking me.

I figured I would have to be more direct.

"Innokenti!" I cried. "Innokenti!"

There was no answer.

I wandered through the trees, calling for Innokenti, but I didn't see him or anyone else. Eventually, I was forced to give up-this clearly was not the way to find him. Though I didn't like the idea, I knew I would have better luck if I tried looking for him at night-after all that's when the local vampires would most likely be out looking for me.

I began to walk back toward Galina's house.

If I was being honest, I had to admit that I was relieved that I hadn't found Innokenti, and I was even more relieved to be able to put off the search for him until later that night.

Now all I had to do was deal with GM.

I rode my bicycle back to the house, and as I expected, GM was furious.

"Where have you been?" GM demanded as I walked in. "You have been gone for hours."

"I was just riding my bike," I said evasively.

"You said you were going for a walk," GM said. "I do not mind, of course, if you go for a walk. But you were gone long enough that I feared something had happened to you. And then all of a sudden you are no longer walking-you are riding."

"I rented a bike yesterday," I said. "I had it with me when I ran into you and Maksim."

GM looked momentarily stunned. I could see that she was reliving the moment of horror when she realized that her granddaughter had found her with the sweetheart of her youth. She had probably been far too preoccupied with the situation to notice that I'd had a bicycle.