Zen and the Art of Vampires

Chapter 17

"Would I do that to you?"

"Oh, be quiet, Mr. Actually-she's-my-wife. That didn't help matters one little bit. You just had to mention that, didn't you?"

"Are you attempting to blame me for our current predicament?"

I took a deep breath to answer him, and realized that I was, in fact, trying to blame him for just that. I slumped against the door in defeat. "No, I realize full well that it's my fault we're here."

Kristoff was silent for a few moments. "I believe Alec shares some of that blame. He should have known better than to take you to a public place where he had no easy means of escape."

"Probably."

"I suppose I should have made you stay back while I checked the perimeter of the house, as well."

"Hindsight and all that. Besides, shifting blame won't do any good." I sighed, my spirits drooping. "If there was just some way to reason with the Brotherhood people. I know if I could talk to them, they would see that you and Alec don't deserve their wrath."

"It won't do any good. We've tried for centuries to show them the truth about us, but they refuse to accept it."

"Maybe if—" I stopped, hearing something that had me taking a step away from the door, watching in surprise as once again it was opened a crack.

"Pia?"

I grabbed the door and hauled it open, relief swamping me as I beheld the welcome sight of Ulfur and Ragnar. Ulfur was in solid mode, his smile filled with warmth as we emerged from the cell. "Ulfur, I could kiss you, but given the fact that lately I seem to end up married or in some other way bound to any man I kiss, I'll settle for a heartfelt thank-you. How did you get the keys?"

Ulfur's smile widened to a cheeky grin. He flexed his fingers. "I saw that one who had the keys come upstairs a few minutes ago. I figured he must have confined you down here somehow, and… er… persuaded him to give me the keys."

"Is there a handcuff key on there?" Kristoff asked, nodding toward the key chain.

There was. He was still rubbing his freed wrists and shaking the blood back into his arms when we released Alec.

"My love, I knew you would find a way to free us," Alec said with a wet and hurried kiss.

I slipped out of his hold, not wanting to mislead him, but hesitant to say anything. Now was not the time to discuss personal relationship issues. I shot Kristoff a glance, but he was frowning down at his wrist as he rubbed away deep red marks. "You can thank Ulfur, not me."

"Ulfur?" Alec looking around the basement area.

"He's one of my ghosts. Is it safe to go upstairs, Ulfur?"

He flitted up the stairs, once again translucent. "Yes."

"Then, let's get the hell out of here," I said, starting for the stairs, but was shoved back by first Kristoff, then Alec.

Just as my foot hit the bottom stair, a sudden explosion of noise filtered down to us. Kristoff and Alec froze for a moment, then both shouted something and bolted up the stairs, right through Ulfur and Ragnar.

"What the—what is it?" I asked Ulfur as I ran up after them.

He stood in the doorway, his brows raised in surprise. "It's Dark Ones."

"More? Good lord, how many are there on this island?"

Behind me, a door slammed. I whirled around to see who had just left the kitchen area, but the sight of Kristjana, a knife raised high in her hand as she ran toward me screaming what sounded like a Viking battle cry, instantly absorbed all my attention.

"Ack!" I yelled, and, turning on my heel, raced out of the kitchen toward the front of the house, from which all the noise was originating. "Help! Mad Brotherhood woman!"

I dashed into the main room, skidding to a stop at the sight of the room's occupants. Mattias was on the floor, his arms twisted up behind him as Kristoff slapped on the handcuffs that he'd just shed. There was a distinct look of pleasure on his face as he did so. Around him stood four men, all dark haired but for one blond. Alec spun around as I flung myself toward him, Kristjana in hot pursuit.

She was screaming something in Icelandic, but the murderous look in her eyes pretty much translated her intent. She'd gone off the deep end.

Alec shoved me behind him and lunged for her, while one of the other men—I recognized him as being Kristoff's brother Andreas—jumped toward her at the same time. Andreas grabbed her neck in some sort of disabling move, causing Kristjana to fall to the ground with a solid thud.

"Is she dead?" I asked, about ready to scream.

"No," Andreas answered, prodding her with his toe. "She's just unconscious. For now."

I shivered at his last words.

"Do we kill them now?" the blond man asked, a wicked light in his eyes as he stalked forward to help Andreas haul Kristjana onto a couch.

Andreas looked to one of the other men. Alec and Kristoff did the same. I examined the two men who were strangers to me—both were tall and well built, although the blond was a bit stockier.

The dark-haired man pulled off his fedora and gave me a long, considering look, his eyes so dark they were almost black. "Not yet. This, I presume, is the reaper you mentioned?"

"This is Pia, yes. My love, this is Christian Dante, one of the members of the council," Alec said. "The other is Sebastian."

"You're all vampires?" I asked, gazing at them with a kind of awed wonder. Each and every man could have graced the cover of a men's magazine. I couldn't help but wonder if being drop-dead gorgeous was one of the requirements to be a vampire.

"We are all Dark Ones, yes," the one named Christian answered. He made a little bow to me, although I noted he shot Alec a questioning glance.

Alec answered by putting his arm around me and hauling me up to his side. "Pia is not Zorya by choice. She is not responsible for what is happening here."

"You know, I really can speak for myself," I said, a tiny bit irritated with Alec's protective gesture. I twisted my way out of his hold and gave Christian, who clearly held some sort of a position of authority with the others, a level look. "I did not choose to become Zorya, that's true, but I have accepted the job now, and I am, in fact, responsible for my own actions. But…" I stopped, puzzled. "I thought you were in Vienna. Isn't that where you were trying to take me?"

Kristoff, to whom I had addressed the last question, quirked his lips. "Yes."

"We took a portal," Christian answered as the blond vampire walked around me, obviously examining me.

"A what, now?" I asked.

"A portal allows one to move from one area to another quickly, via a tear in the fabric of time and space," Christian answered.

My mouth hung open for a minute before I turned to Kristoff. "You guys can teleport like in Star Trek?"

"Not quite," Alec answered for him. Kristoff shot his friend an unreadable look. "But it's a similar principle. We don't use them often, since they can be tricky at best, but they are sometimes used in a time of emergency."

"Which this clearly is." Sebastian finished his examination of me and resumed his spot next to Christian. "An unmade Zorya, a sacristan, and a reaper elder—not a bad day's work."

Kristoff hauled Mattias to his feet and shoved him into the chair. At the sight of the latter's angry face, it struck me that Frederic wasn't anywhere in the room. "Did you hurt Frederic?"

"Unfortunately, no. He escaped," Kristoff's cousin Rowan said as he entered the room from the kitchen. He had a nasty burn on the side of his face, which, to my amazement, started fading even as I watched. "He had a car. The last I saw of him, he was headed out of town."

"You won't catch him," Mattias said sulkily. "Not before the Zenith gets here."

Christian spun around and stared at him in surprise. "Your leader is coming here?"

"To welcome Pia as a daughter of the moon." Mattias shot me an angry glance. "I am beginning to believe Kristjana when she says that you do not deserve to be Zorya."

"I think it's safe to say that Kristjana is not the most mentally stable person in town," I said dryly. "And I only know four of the six vampires here, and out of those four, three of them hate me, so you really needn't be so quick to judge."

"The Zenith is coming," Christian said softly, sharing a look with his friends. "How very interesting."

The one named Sebastian smiled. It made me shiver.

"Why do I have a horrible idea that I'm going to be used as bait to capture yet another member of the Brotherhood?" I asked Alec.

He brushed a strand of hair from my face. "It must be, Pia. The Zenith is the leader of the reapers—to have him is to deal a great blow to them."

"And if I say I won't cooperate?"

"You will not have a choice," Christian answered. He strolled over to gaze down into my eyes, holding my gaze with one that seemed to strip away everything and leave me bare and exposed. "You are a Zorya, a potential means of horrible death to my people. We cannot allow you to gain the power to do that. Do you understand?"

"Oh, I understand."

"Good." Christian nodded and released me from his hold.

"I understand that you're just as blind as the Brotherhood people are."

All six vampires froze, and I realized just how stupid a thing it was to challenge them when they were en masse. But I have never been known for having an overabundance of common sense, so I raised my chin and added, "It obviously doesn't occur to you that perhaps I can be a Zorya who doesn't destroy your people. And yet, that is exactly what I intend to do. Assuming, I can, that is."

I shot a quick look at Alec and Kristoff. Alec was looking puzzled, while Kristoff avoided my eye all together.

"And how do you propose to do that?" Christian asked in a velvety soft voice. He had an odd sort of an accent, part English, part something slightly Germanic, but as nice as his voice was, it was nothing like the silky tones that Kristoff could utter when he so chose.

I dragged my mind from that subject to the one at hand. "A lot of that depends on your answer to a question."

Christian's eyebrows rose. "What is the question?"

"Did you kill Anniki?"

He frowned.

"The other Zorya."

His brow cleared. "Ah. The one Kristoff said was discovered in your hotel room." He was silent for a moment. "Her death, while unlamented by my people, was not caused by any of them."

I stared hard at him, trying to read his body language. I had a pretty good sense of when someone was lying to me, and his words rang true. Of course, it could be that one of the vampires had killed her, and just not told his buddies, but that didn't seem very likely. "You may not have mourned her death, but I did. She was innocent of any wrongdoing. She hadn't been formally recognized as a Zorya, so she couldn't have hurt any of you."

"The point is moot," Sebastian said with a note of finality. "Sooner or later, she would have destroyed us, just as you would have done if Kristoff had not taken steps to stop you."

"You mean the marriage?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Marriage?" Mattias's face turned red. "You married a Dark One?"

"Yes, but not legally," I said, trying to calm him down before he burst.

"It was a legal marriage," Kristoff said stubbornly.

I raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms. "Possibly, but you know, I've been thinking about this, and everything I've seen and heard the last few days has left me with the idea that a group like the Brotherhood is more likely to accept as valid a marriage ceremony that I agreed to and participated in willingly over one where the groom had to bribe people to make it happen, forge the bride's signature, and bring in false witnesses."

Silence filled the room.

"That is a good point," Christian said thoughtfully, his gaze on Mattias.

The latter's face suddenly broke into a grin. "Then you are my wife."

"Don't get too excited—that's only a supposition," I said, suddenly worried that Mattias might demand marital rights. "I don't know for sure which marriage is real."

"It is a reasonable point, nonetheless," Alec said, glancing at Kristoff.

"And one which means that the reaper here could still pose a danger if Kristoff's marriage won't stand," Sebastian added, nodding at me.

I sent him a quick glare. "Even if it's true, it doesn't mean I'm any such thing. I am not going to hurt anyone."

The silence that followed that statement was filled with disbelief.

I turned to Alec as the most reasonable of the men present. "Before Anniki died, she begged me to make things right. 'Let justice roll down like waters,' she said, and I have done my best to do just that. I will find her murderer, and see that he or she receives justice for that act. But I will not persecute the innocent. I didn't want the job, but now I have it, and assuming that I am given the power to back it up, by god, I'm going to do the best I can with it. I have ghosts I'm responsible for," I said, waving my hand around the room.

My little gang had been oddly absent, but I saw now that they had just been hiding. They stepped forward now, all of them, out of the walls, from behind the furniture, and from the doorways. All of them solidified for a moment, until the room was filled with them.

Mattias's eyes bugged out of his head as he took them all in.

Ulfur strode forward until he stood in the center of the room, addressing Christian. "We will not let harm come to Zorya Pia, Dark One."

The other ghosts nodded their heads. Tears pricked in my eyes, a warm gratitude swelling in my chest.

"I see." Unexpectedly, Christian smiled. "You have quite a formidable group of champions, Pia."

"I do indeed. And it's because of them, and others like them who I might be able to help, that I will remain true to my oath to Anniki. I will be the ever-flowing stream of righteousness, but it will be my righteousness. I will not be a Zorya who destroys people without due cause."

"You won't have a choice," Mattias said smugly. He blanched somewhat when he saw that everyone in the room focused on him. The ghosts had gone back to a translucent state and were grouped together at one end of the room.

"What do you mean?" I asked Mattias.

He jerked his shoulders. "What I said. You will not have a choice about using your powers. You think you will, but you won't. You are my wife, so once the ritual is conducted, you will not be able to keep from using your powers."

I stared at him in horror. "That can't be right."

"It is. Zoryas must cleanse. It is their reason for being." Mattias looked away, but a satisfied smile lurked on his lips.

I looked aghast at the others in the room. "I will not be used like that. If that's truly the case, then I will just refuse to undergo the ritual. I'll simply remain as I am, a quasi-Zorya, someone who can't do anyone any harm."

"We're not going to Ostri?" Hallur asked.

"I'm sorry." I turned to them. "I said I'd find someone else to take you if I had to, and that still stands. I promise. Barring that, there must be someone who can show me where the entrance is."

"The entrance to Ostri is a time, not a place," Mattias said, apparently engrossed in examining his fingers. "The opening to it is triggered by the Zorya during the ceremony of light. That is the only time you can lead spirits to it."

"Well, crap," I said, as conflicted as hell. I wanted desperately to get the ghosts to their final reward, but not at the cost of being an unwilling weapon of vengeance. "I'm so sorry. If that's the case, I can't risk it. It will have to be another Zorya who takes you to Ostri."

The ghosts murmured amongst themselves. Ulfur looked sad for a moment as he watched them. "We understand," he said. "We know you would take us if you could."

"You'll still get there," I reassured them. "Don't give up hope."

He said nothing, but their acceptance of the inevitable made my conscience sting. Was this what Anniki wanted from me? I knew she'd want the ghosts sent on their way, but the cost was simply too high.

"You do not understand," Mattias said abruptly, picking at his fingernails. "Your desire to protect the Dark Ones does not matter. The ceremony will be conducted whether or not you are present, and you will receive the powers of the Zorya. That is a fact."

"But if I'm not there—"

He looked up quickly. "It matters not. You are the Zorya. Once the ceremony is completed, you will receive the light and become a tool of righteousness and vengeance."

The eyes of all the vampires in the room moved to me. My stomach turned over in helpless fear.

"You will destroy the Dark Ones whether or not you wish to. You simply will not be able to keep from doing so," Mattias ended, his delivery matter-of-fact.

"Not unless she is destroyed first," Sebastian said, his gaze hooded.

"No. She will not be destroyed," Alec said, taking up a protective stance in front of me. Kristoff made an arrested gesture, as if he was going to protest. I'd like to think he did have enough feeling toward me that he didn't want me killed by his buddies, but I had to admit, as things stood, the vamps had a strong case for wanting me out of the picture.

"There has to be a way around the ritual," I said. "Is there?"

Mattias shook his head. "No."

"Then we will simply not allow the ceremony to take place," Alec said. "Pia is right—if she is kept in the state she is now, she poses no threat to anyone."

"But if a ceremony is held on her behalf—" Sebastian started to protest.

I was beginning to not like him.

"If we capture the Zenith, we could use him to ensure the ceremony was not conducted," Alec cut him off. "His life would be the price of Pia's safety."

"That might work," Kristoff said suddenly. He avoided meeting my glance, however. "It would mean that we have to find him before he reaches the others."

Christian raised an eyebrow at Mattias. "Where is the ritual to be held?"

Mattias glared at him and refused to answer.

"I think it's going to be at a ruins about ten miles from town," I said slowly, wondering if Alec's plan would work. I didn't want to die, but I also hated to fail Anniki. There had to be a way to accept the power and yet not use it against the vampires. "In some forest that's supposed to be haunted."

"We will search for other reapers," Christian told the others. "And most importantly, the Zenith. If he is arriving for this ritual, he will come here first."

"I'll go search for the trail of the reaper who got away," Rowan said, starting for the back door.

"I'll search around the ruins, in case any of them are already there," Andreas said as he left.

"Sebastian and I will take the town." Christian put his hat back on. He gave me another piercing look. "Alec, you will stay with the Zorya and the prisoners."

"I don't need a babysitter," I protested.

"I will help Rowan with the one who escaped," Kristoff said, not meeting my gaze as he left.

"Do not fret, my love," Alec said, gently pushing me toward the kitchen. "I am here for your protection, not to serve as your jailer. Help me find something to restrain that woman."

Kristjana regained consciousness just as Alec slapped a piece of duct tape across her mouth. Bound and gagged, she may not have been able to say anything, but if the venomous look in her eyes was anything to go by, she was indulging in a detailed fantasy of just how she'd like to see me die.

We laid her on a bed in a room on the ground floor, closing the door and locking it before returning to the main room.

"There you are. I was wondering what was going on."

I blinked in surprise at the sight of Magda standing over Mattias, who was rolling around on the floor, clearly struggling to get free of his bonds. "Oh, hello again, Alec. Pia, can I ask why your husband is handcuffed?"

"The vampire cavalry rode into town," I said, giving her a little hug as Alec, after greeting Magda, hauled Mattias to his feet, escorting him into another bedroom. "What are you still doing here? I thought the tour was leaving at noon."

"We were supposed to leave, but then Denise disappeared." Her smile, which had been filled with sunny warmth, faded.

"Disappeared?"

"Yeah." She gave me an odd look. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I've come here to warn you. Sometime during the night, Denise disappeared out of her room. The police think it's suspicious because she left everything behind—passport, money, clothes, everything."

I sat down on the couch recently vacated by Mattias. Magda sat next to me. "Well, that's weird, but I don't see why you need to warn me about it."

She hesitated. "The police told Audrey that Denise left a note, saying that she had seen you in town, and she was going to follow you to see where you'd gone."

A chill swept over me. "Oh, god."

She nodded. "The policeman told Audrey that they think you did something to Denise. They're combing the area for both of you, and have refused to let us leave the country."

My shoulders slumped. "I haven't seen her. I didn't know she'd seen me, and I certainly wouldn't do anything to her."

"I know you wouldn't." Magda patted my arm. "That's why I wanted to warn you. I don't know what's going on with the Brotherhood people, but I'd suggest you get out of town before the police find you."

"I can't leave just yet," I said absently, wondering what had happened to Denise. She had nothing to do with my situation, so it was likely that if some accident had befallen her, it was entirely unrelated. The police, however, would not entertain that thought.

"You can't? Why?"

I explained to her the happenings since I'd last seen her, leaving out the part about having incredible sex with Kristoff.

"Good lord, you certainly have been busy," she said when I finished up. Alec's footstep was audible as he crossed the kitchen. She leaned close to me and whispered, "So do you think you're Alec's whatchamawhosit? Beloved?"

"No, I don't think so," I answered just as quietly. "Kristoff was hungry, so I let him… for lack of a better phrase, dine. He said if I was a Beloved, he wouldn't be able to do that."

"You know, this is really fascinating. And exciting. But what are you going to do about tonight?"

"The ritual, you mean?"

She nodded.

I glanced around the room. Several of the ghosts had drifted off to the kitchen to see what Alec was doing. Dagrun had thrown herself down on the couch opposite, and appeared to go to sleep. Agda demanded to see the inside privy, and the other women had gone with her to see what modern plumbing looked like. Other than Dagrun, we were alone. Quickly, I explained my reasoning regarding the two marriages.

"That makes sense, I guess," she said after mulling it over for a few seconds. "So if Mattias is your real husband, are you going to become Super Zorya?"

"I don't know. I don't want anyone to die, but I made an oath to Anniki."

She was silent for a moment, her fingers absently twisting the material of her linen walking shorts. "You know, I think I'd take what your husband said with a grain of salt."

I cast my mind back to anything that Kristoff might have said that could be in question.

"He said that once you had the power, you wouldn't be able to control it."

"Oh, Mattias? Yes, he did say that. It seems… counterintuitive, doesn't it?"

"Yup. You know what I think?" She tipped her head to the side as she considered me. "I think he was bullshitting you."

"You don't think they can bestow powers on me without me being there?"

"No, actually, I can see that. You've already got this stone that makes you Zorya, so that's the part you're responsible for. You accepted the job. I admit it's a bit odd having the power come through recognition of that by your fellow Brotherhoodians, but eh. People do weird things sometimes. No, it's that whole song and dance about once you have the power, you'll have to use it whether or not you want to. I don't buy that, I don't buy that at all."

Now that I had time to sit and think about it, it didn't seem right to me, either. "I'm very big on the idea of free will," I said, nodding. "No one can make me do something that's morally reprehensible, not even if I had all the power of the moon. Anniki said nothing about being just a tool."

"Exactly. Maybe someone who didn't have a lot of mental gumption couldn't control her powers, but you? Bah. You've got gumption coming out of your pores."

"Thank you," I said, smiling. I felt surprisingly better at that thought.

She eyed me curiously. "So does that mean you're going to go ahead and let them do the ceremony? Or are you going to give in to this Christian fellow and let the vamps bully you into giving up your oath?"

I glanced toward the door. Alec was visible in the kitchen, surrounded by Ulfur and Hallur and a couple other ghosts, all of whom were examining his clothing while Alec spoke to someone on his cell phone.

"I've never enjoyed being pushed around," I said softly. "Not by anyone. And I don't intend to be used, nor will I let anyone die because of me. If I'm in a position of power, I can get the ghosts to Ostri, and keep everyone safe—Brotherhood people and vampires alike."

"Atta girl," Magda said with approval, giving my arm another pat. "That's part of your oath to Anniki done. What about the other part?"

"I don't know," I said slowly. "I honestly don't believe Kristoff or Alec had anything to do with her murder. And Christian said none of his people did."

"You believe him," she said, making it a statement, not a question.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"So, who did kill her? And why was she killed in your bathroom?"

"It's your bathroom just as much as it is mine," I protested weakly.

She gave me a look that made me ashamed. "You said yourself the door was locked on your side. Besides, I didn't know her, and you did. There must be some connection between you and her that led to her being killed in your bathroom."

"If there is, I can't figure it out," I said, feeling helpless again. "I think it has something to do with the fact that I ran into Anniki earlier, but why would she come to see me in the middle of the night?"

"I still say it's that Ilargi person. You're sure one of the vamps isn't him?"

"I'm not sure, but I really don't think so. None of them feel"—I made a vague gesture—"evil. Dangerous, yes. Mysterious, and unmoving, and not at all the sort of person you want to meet in a dark alley—oh, hell yes! But soul sucking? No. Not that."

"Hrm." Magda looked pensive. "Well, I suppose finding her murderer isn't as pressing as dealing with this situation. I'm sure you'll work it out in the end. Now, what can I do to help?"

I glanced at the clock. Night had set in. "There's about two hours before the ritual is supposed to begin. I don't know how many other Brotherhood people are gathering for the ritual, although I don't think it's a whole lot. There's just not time to bring in people from outside of the area, and Mattias told me a few nights back that there are only like five total members who live in Iceland. So I think the first thing is for me to get out of town. You think you can get a car?"

"Done and doner," she said, saluting. "Then we'll go to the ruins?"

"I'll go. I don't think it's going to be safe for you at all," I said, quickly interrupting her protests. "I know you want to help, Magda, but really, the best thing you can do is stay away from the ruins. I don't want to have to worry about protecting you from anyone's ire just because you helped me, especially if that means I can't control whatever is going on at the time."

She opened her mouth to protest, closing it again with a muttered, "Damn. I hate it when you make sense."

"I promise I'll tell you everything that happens," I said, getting to my feet, one eye on Alec. He had his back to me, still talking on the phone. "Assuming I can, that is."

"Don't be such a negative Nelly," Magda said, heading for the front door. "I'll be back in a flash with a car. And I'm going to hold you to that promise, missy. If I have to sacrifice my curiosity, I want a full disclosure on the happenings."

I waved good-bye and sank back down onto the couch. I just hoped I'd be around to fulfill that promise.