I tried to consider the tactics, but I was too alarmed by Innokenti"s first suggestion to be able to think about anything else clearly.
"Which vampire are you going to have chase me?" I asked. "Odette?"
"No, not Odette," Innokenti replied. "I don"t think we can trust her. But I have the perfect man in mind. I think you should work with Anton."
"Anton?" I said in disbelief. "But he attacked me. He tried to turn me over to the Werdulac."
"Yes, I know that now," Innokenti replied. "I discussed the issue with him after your accusation, and he confirmed it. That"s what makes him so well suited to the task. The Werdulac"s camp will believe that he is genuinely after you. And he was terribly repentant when I confronted him about you. I"m sure he would like a chance to redeem himself in your eyes and in the eyes of our community."
I found it hard to believe that Anton was repentant about anything. "You trust him?"
"Yes," Innokenti replied simply. "If this life has taught me one thing, it"s forgiveness." He paused and gave me a mirthless smile. "That"s a joke, by the way. But very genuinely I do trust him. Anyone may be tempted."
I took a deep breath. "Anton."
"You may still back out if you wish."
"No," I said. "I see the logic of choosing him."
Innokenti grinned broadly, showing his teeth. "You"re a brave girl."
I didn"t feel very brave at the moment. In fact, I began to feel the stirrings of panic. "Is there anything I can do-in the event that things don"t-go well with-"
I paused. I was having trouble forming my words.
"In case things don"t go well with Anton?" Innokenti asked.
"No-"
I was determined to think as little as I possibly could about Anton"s involvement.
"No," I said. "I mean if we succeed in luring the hybrids out, and one of them gets to me-is there anything I can do to protect myself?"
Innokenti considered the question. "Nothing comes to mind. We will do our best to protect you, of course. And William will certainly do the same."
"What about my cross?" I asked. "The one you saw the other night at the castle. You said it had special properties I might not know about. Will it help me with the hybrids?"
"Actually, I believe you should divest yourself of that particular object. I"m not certain how effective it is against a hybrid, but if there"s any chance it will throw the hybrids off your trail, then you"ll want to get rid of it. We don"t want them to be confused."
"Oh," I said faintly. "I"ll leave it at home then."
"Very wise."
I cast my mind about desperately.
"What about William"s search?" I asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Innokenti said. "I don"t know what search you are referring to."
"Last night you said he had been out searching for something that would help in the fight against the hybrids. An "item" I think you called it."
Innokenti laughed-a sound that startled me.
"Ah, yes," he said. "William"s quest. Are you familiar with the work of the great vampire philosopher and visionary Orpheo?"
"I"m afraid not," I replied.
Innokenti waved a hand. "Do not feel bad-few humans know of him. Orpheo has long since been turned to ash, but when he was alive, he was something like your Nostradamus. He is the author of a famous quotation-Sacer ignis exitus mundi. It translates as "The world will end in-"
"Holy fire," I said.
Innokenti seemed pleased. "Yes, "holy fire," very good. Orpheo predicted that there would be another war between the vampire and the Sdh. His devotees even believe that he foresaw the resurrection of the Werdulac. Some further believe that this particular quotation should be interpreted literally-as in the world will end."
"What do you believe?" I asked.
Innokenti gave an elegant shrug. "I believe in fighting for my life." He gave me a sardonic look. "One romantic interpretation of this quotation is that the Werdulac may be defeated by a famous vampire sword known as "Ignis Sacer"-as you said, "holy fire." William subscribes to this interpretation."
"What do you mean by "vampire sword"?" I asked.
"It"s a sword that drinks the blood of its victims and becomes stronger," Innokenti said. "It"s supposed to be the most powerful sword the world has ever known. William, bless his innocent heart, has begun to search for it."
Innokenti"s mocking tone was beginning to make me angry. "What"s wrong with William looking for this sword?"
"Orpheo, like Nostradamus, was largely a fanciful man. The sword is not real. The sword is a dream. There is no magic talisman that will save us from the Werdulac on this night or on any other night. Nothing will help us here. What we have on our hands is a good, old-fashioned fight. We cannot place our faith in legends, no matter how attractive."
Innokenti suddenly glanced around. "I hope you"ll forgive me, little one, I should not spend too much time out here in the daylight. It is possible someone will see us talking and report us to the Werdulac. We don"t want to endanger our plans.
"This is what we will do tonight. We don"t know exactly when the hybrids will attack the Festival, but I imagine they are planning to inflict as much damage as they possibly can. So they will want to wait until the festivities will be in full swing-when the most people will be out and about and a little, shall we say, incapacitated from merrymaking? I can"t imagine that the hybrids would attack before midnight. You should go to the festival around ten o"clock, and then wander away from the crowd at around eleven to begin the staged chase. The hybrids should be stirring by then, and we should still be ahead of their attack."
"I can do that," I said. "I"ll get away by eleven. How do I find Anton?"
Innokenti gave me a disturbing smile. "Anton will find you."
Innokenti moved then with startling swiftness, and in the next moment he was gone.
I spun around, looking for him.
The Wasteland was empty.
I figured Innokenti was gone, so I turned to go myself.
Then I heard a voice in my ear.
"Let us pray, little one, that you haven"t sealed your own fate."
Chapter 24.
Time seemed to speed up after I returned home. All too soon, the day pa.s.sed me by, and the sky began to darken.
Night fell with alarming swiftness.
After dinner, I sat up in my dark bedroom, looking out the window, watching the stars come out. I no longer feared the appearance of Timofei Mstislav-I knew he was under control.
Or he would be until he spotted me tonight.
My heart sank when I heard GM start bustling around in her room-I knew she was getting ready for the Firebird Festival.
She was excited about the festival.
I was dreading it.
The plan I was to follow tonight was what I wanted-what I had chosen for myself. But now that the time to go to the festival was nearly upon me, my stomach had begun to twist itself into violent knots. I knew that there was every chance that our side would lose tonight-that the hybrids would overwhelm us, and I would be lost to the Werdulac.
And then the hybrids would still attack the festival.
And even before all of that, I would have to deal with Anton.
I didn"t trust him-at all-and it occurred to me that he might just kidnap me himself and turn me over to the hybrids. That way he could collect that precious reward of memories that he had told me about.
Fear flooded through me at the thought-the possibility of being betrayed by Anton tonight was a very real danger.
But I had to try. I had to do what I could-even if it meant the end for me.
Reluctantly, I turned on the light and began to get ready for the festival myself. Mindful of Innokenti"s advice, I took off the charm that William had given me.
I felt strangely alone without it.
As I walked down the stairs, GM looked up at me expectantly.
"Katie, you will see something truly marvelous tonight. No one can celebrate the way we Russians can. There will be music and dancing and-"
GM stopped and looked at me searchingly.
"What is it, Solnyshko? What is wrong?"
I smiled and tried to appear as if I were really excited about the night ahead of us.
"Nothing"s wrong, GM. I can"t wait to go to the festival tonight."
"Yes, yes, something is wrong," GM said. "I can tell."
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, she put a hand to my forehead.
"Are you ill?" GM asked anxiously. "You were terribly ill the last time we were here. I hope this is not a reoccurrence of that sickness."
I thought back to the fever I"d had after Odette had poisoned me, and an involuntary shudder ran through me.
GM was watching me closely. "I knew it," she said. "You are ill. We will stay home."
"No, I"m not ill," I said quickly. I fought down the panic that was rising within me. I couldn"t let GM keep me home. I had to go tonight. "I"m fine, really. I want to go to the Firebird Festival."
I pasted a smile on my face.
"You are sure about this?" GM asked, looking me over critically.
"Yes, I am. GM, please. I really want to go."
"All right," GM said after a moment. "We will go. But if you begin to look really bad, I will insist that we go home."
I tried to make my tone rea.s.suring. "Okay, GM. That sounds reasonable enough."
I couldn"t help smiling a little for real then. "You always think I"m ill. Or that I"m about to be."
GM touched a strand of my hair. "I worry about you, Solnyshko."
"Everything will be fine," I said.
I really hoped that was true.
As we went out to the car, I glanced at my watch. It was just about ten o"clock.
I had one more hour to go.
The drive did not take long, and GM and I soon reached the main square in front of the Mstislav mansion. She slotted the car into a s.p.a.ce in amongst a big jumble of cars.
GM slipped her arm through mine, and she smiled at me. I could see how excited she was. I suddenly wished that the evening could be exactly what she believed it to be-a clear winter"s night with a simple, safe, small-town celebration. Little did she, or any of Krov"s residents, know what waited in the dark to attack them and shatter their peaceful world.
The square was full of people eating, drinking, laughing, talking. There were live musicians, and somebody seemed to have brought a radio-two styles, one traditional, the other modern, clashed in the winter air, fighting pleasantly for the attention of the crowd.
The air was full of the aroma of food, and both electric lights and open flames illuminated the square, which was hung with hundreds of paper lanterns representing the Firebird.
"Later tonight there will be performances ill.u.s.trating the folktales that are told of the Firebird," GM said. "Dances, plays, things like that."
A fair-haired man, his pale cheeks tinged red by the cold, handed both GM and me plastic cups filled with a dark liquid. He winked at us and disappeared into the crowd.
From the scent of the liquid, I guessed it was spiced wine. I looked around for a place to set it down. As I did so, I realized that I also had to find a way to get away from GM. At the moment, I would not be able to slip away without being noticed.
"I know what is in your mind," GM said.
I felt a flash of panic. "You do?"
"Yes, of course. You are worried about the wine. A sip or two will probably not hurt you. But make sure it is only a little."