"If you"re right," Silvie said, "and if he thinks he has the other four, he might be on his way now,"
"So a we should go in."
They exchanged a look of fear, then walked forward into the tunnel.
The walls were strewn so thick with worms that they hid most of the stone. They waded through four inches of sludge covering the floor, only partially protected by their boots.
Silvie switched her torch to one hand and covered her nose with the other. If the lair was laid out like Alucard"s, the heart of the nest would be behind a set of gates, ahead on the right.
Which is where they found it. Gate locked. Empty of worms.
Their torches illuminated a study of sorts, complete with desk, a couch, and some bookcases. No dust, but plenty of worm salve. It was almost identical to the study in Alucard"s lair. Slightly different furniture and arrangement, but clearly cut from the same blueprint.
"Stand back." Karas aimed the barrel of her gun at the lock, turned her head, and pulled the trigger. Boom!
Worms squealed. The lock lay in two. She wrestled it from the latch and opened the gate. With a screech of rusted hinges, the study opened to them.
"Are they here?" Silvie demanded.
Karas Bred a stick and set the flame against an old torch mounted on the wall. The flame grew and crackled, spewing black smoke.
Orange light licked the glistening walls. Someone had carved an inscription into the rock next to the gate: Welcome to Paradise, Population 450.
"This is definitely what Billy wrote," Karas said.
"You mean *Billos"?"
"No. One of the children in the monastery. It"s a long story. But this is where the showdown all began. Or ended. Or is it still in full swing?"
"In my book it"s still going," Silvie said. "Until we find Johnis and the books."
"So where are they?"
She turned, studying each corner. Silvie walked to the desk and pulled open one of two drawers on each side.
There, just visible in the shadows, lay an old black book. The words on its cover jumped out. Silvie gasped. Reached for the book and pulled it out. Bound in red twine exactly like the other four.
"I was right!" Karas cried. "They"re here!"
But the drawer was empty. "They?"
Karas fumbled with the other drawer, yanked it open, staring inside. She reached in with both hands and pulled out two books, laying them on the desk beside Silvie"s black one.
Purple and gold, bound by red twine, bearing the same name: The Story of History.
They"d found the three missing books.
"You know what this means?" Karas looked at her. "With the book I have hidden, we now have four. We have to collect the fourth book! We have to get down to Paradise!"
Silvie agreed. One problem: "They still have Johnis,"
As one, the worms in the hall behind them began to screech.
aradise? Why would she hide the book in Paradise, of all places? It"s far too obvious."
"Not just anywhere in Paradise. You"re saying you could just walk in, tear them apart, and take the books?"
"But Paradise. We"ve searched a"
"Maybe the fact that it"s so obvious makes it the perfect place. Either way, you"ll know soon enough."
"Tell me where."
"And minimize my value? I"ll show you."
Miranda smiled gently, eyeing Johnis with interest. She was still dressed in the boots, the dark dress, the lace. Long, black, unkempt hair. A perfectly formed face that, apart from her betrayal, would be beautiful.
She sat beside him with her arms crossed and one leg draped over the other as the helicopter wound through the mountains, flying low. The flight from Romania had taken only a few hours aboard the orbital jet. The sun was beginning to dip in the west.
There was a strong possibility that Karas had already collected the book and, if so, Johnis was finished. But he also knew that both he and Silvie were finished anyway. His only hope was to stall Miranda long enough to give Karas time.
Time to find the last three books before Alucard could get his claws on them.
"You remind me of Darsal," Miranda said. "Both so intent, so obsessed with this mission."
"That"s nice."
"She was bitter, you know. When I met her, she"d spent three years without success. She had no clue what had happened to the others. To you. But she was driven by something else entirely. Do you know what that was?"
"Billos," Johnis said.
"A man. She was in love with a man. She once told me that she blamed Elyon. It was his rules that forced Billos to give up his life."
"Billos died? She said that?"
"I suppose so. She obviously thought he was dead."
"And what did she expect to do about it?" Johnis demanded.
"That"s the question, isn"t it? What did she think having all seven books would do for her?"
Miranda"s suggestion stunned him. This notion that Darsal might have intended to use the books for her own gain or for revenge a preposterous!
There had always been a strange connection between Darsal and Billos, dating back to his rescue of her when she was much younger. Clearly, whatever had happened when they"d both gone into the books had only strengthened the bond.
"Well?" Miranda pressed. "What could someone like Darsal or, for that matter, anyone do with the seven books?"
"Something in this world," Johnis said.
"Yes, this world. It"s always been about this world. Even the Shataiki are about this world. They may have crossed some forbidden river, thanks to Tanis, as Alucard claims, but they"ve always had their sights on this world. And now they"re about to repeat it, honey."
Some of what she said made sense; some it didn"t. For Johnis, the matter was simple: he was here to get the books before the Dark One could. And so far he"d done that by following his heart.
"It"s all about the Shataiki, and it"s all about love." Miranda looked at him. "What about you, Johnis? What would you do for love?"
"Anything."
"I"m counting on it. You"re just like Darsal that way. " She rested her hand on his thigh. "I like that in a man."
"Take your stinking hands off me."
She leaned close. He could smell her perfume, a rich spice he didn"t recognize. The scent of Shataiki lingered faintly about her.
"When I have the books, you"ll change your tune, little boy. And make no mistake, I will have them."
"Don"t you mean Alucard?"
"Alucard," she said slowly. "I"m sure you"ve figured out that it was he who killed Darsal. As he intends on killing you."
Her hand suddenly tightened like a vice above his knee. Her grip was strong, stronger than he thought possible.
She released him, lifted her hand, and slapped him with enough force to spin his head.
"Love, baby. It"s all about love."
Two minutes later they settled in a field just behind a spire-tipped building Miranda called a "church," and Johnis"s head was still spinning with her words. Her slap. He wasn"t sure he shouldn"t fear Miranda Card more than Alucard.
It was now all about timing. He would make his play, but not until they had the book. Then he would see just what this witch was made of. He had a few tricks up his sleeve himself.
"Where to?"
"To the home of Sally Drake," Johnis said.
Let"s go.
"You know where it is?"
"Like I said, I"ve been here in the simulation looking for clues. If you"re wrong about this, I"m going to cut off your fingers. Start praying, boy."
"HURRY!"
Silvie stumbled over the stones that littered the top of the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Karas, who carried the three Books of History, was still twenty steps behind. "Hurry!"
"This isn"t a race!" Karas panted. "We have them, Silvie. You want me to lose them?"
Silvie played her light to the side. She had no idea how far it was to the bottom or if there was a bottom. "Just hurry; they have Johnis."
"Having the books won"t help us find Johnis."
You"re wrong Karas. The hooks are exactly what we need to find Johnis. She spilled through the hole they"d punched in the tunnel.
"What we need now is the fourth book." Karas clambered up behind.
"How? How will all four help us more than three? You may have been searching for ten years, Karas, but I have more history with the books."
"With four books we could go back to the forest," Karas said.
Yes, there was that. But Johnis wasn"t in the forest. He was here, in Alucard"s talons.
"Of course, the fourth book. Just hurry."
JOHNIS AND MIRANDA STOOD OUTSIDE OF SALLY DRAKE"S house ten minutes later. The streets were empty except for one boy who leaned against the church, chewing on a piece of gra.s.s.
"Do you want to go in peacefully, or should I just go in, kill the tramp, and find the book on my own?"
"No need to cause a stir. Let me get the book."
"Remember: one false move and 1 will kill you where you stand."
He knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds.
A thin woman answered the door. "h.e.l.lo?"
"Sally Drake?"
"Yes. May I help you?"
"My name is Johnis. I think you have something a friend of mine, Karas, left with you. A book. I would like the book."
She stared at him, speechless.
"Sally Drake?"
The woman blinked. "I a I"m sorry. For a moment there I thought you looked a Have we met?"
"Hurry it, please!" Miranda snapped.
Sally looked over Johnis"s shoulder at Miranda. "I"m sorry, but I was told not toa""
Miranda flew past Johnis and slammed her gun against Sally"s forehead. The woman dropped in a pile, unconscious.
Miranda stepped over the fallen form, muttering something about people not listening. Pulled Sally"s p.r.o.ne body into the house.
"Get in here!"
Johnis stumbled in, dumbstruck.
"Find the book!"