‘Don’t tempt me any more than you already do.’His voice was low, smooth.A flash more tooth than usual appeared as he spoke.‘I told you before.I don’t drink from anyone who isn’t already dying; it’s too hard to be certain I haven’t taken too much.I don’t intend to risk your life simply because I couldn’t wait to get home.’
I cast my eyes downwards, ears burning.But before I could dwell on Raleigh’s words, a voice from afar carried me out of my thoughts.
‘Someone’s close,’ Raleigh whispered.‘There’s four of them.No … five.Looks like your father found reinforcements.We need to go.’
Without waiting, he set off from the coop at a faster pace than any injured mortal ever could, but what must have felt like a snail’s pace to a creature who could outrun light itself.I gathered up my robe with the crucifix still inside as we passed where we’d fallen, but by the time I rose Raleigh had continued on in the wrong direction.It was only as we reached the next block that he slowed long enough for me to catch up.
It was much darker here; the houses were unlit.Either the occupants were sleeping or Raleigh had visited here before.The moon’slight could barely make it through the jutting shadow of the mountain.
I caught him by his remaining sleeve and tried to tug him back in the right direction.‘You’re going the wrong way.’
‘I’m not.We need to take the mountain path.’
‘The mountain path?I can’t scale the glacier, Raleigh, that would take days.’
‘I’ll carry you.’
‘You’re one bad move away from losing an arm.If we want to reach the castle before sunrise, we have to use the bridge.’
He hissed my name through his teeth like a curse.‘YouknowI can’t cross the bridge.’
Of course.Vampires couldn’t cross running water; it was the reason he had dammed the river in the first place.
‘What will happen if you do?’
‘You may need a refresher on what “can’t” means.’
‘But if you were forced to.’He opened his mouth for another inane reply, so I added, ‘If someone chained you up and dragged you across, what would happen?’
Lights were starting to bloom through the village ahead of us.The men Father had gathered were closing in on the base of the mountain already.We would never be able to take that route, even if Raleigh was in perfect health.He must have understood that we only had one option.
‘Nothing permanent.Sometimes when I travel I have no other choice, but I have to be driven across by someone else.I physically cannot make myself cross on my own.’
‘So you won’t combust?’
‘No … Probably not.I wouldn’t care to find out what happens if I linger too long over the water.’He narrowed his eyes.‘You don’t really expect me to cross, do you?’
‘We’ll find a way.Come on.’
Raleigh started to protest but didn’t resist when I grabbed his arm and started to drag him through the shadows.We’d only reached the next house over when a voice to our left made us both freeze.Without thinking, I swung Raleigh into the scrub and dived after him.
‘This is new,’ Raleigh remarked.We were nose to nose in the dirt, my knees on either side of his hips.I clamped my hand over his mouth before he could say anything else that would make me want to hand him in to my father, just in time for two pairs of boots to appear in our vision.One set passed by without hesitation.The other stopped mere inches from Raleigh’s face.
‘Did you hear something?’
I recognised the voice – it was Kay.Had Father alerted the whole village?I held my breath, praying that the shadows were deep enough to hide us.
‘No.Come on, let’s keep going.’That was Yann’s grandfather, Klaus.
‘Hand me the torch.’
Raleigh tensed under me.Klaus grumbled and handed the torch over.The light edged closer, shadows dancing around us.I ducked as low as I could, pressing the full length of my body against Raleigh’s, silently praying Kay would stop before he reached us.
Then the light fell over us, and there was nowhere left to hide.Kay inhaled sharply.He opened his mouth to call the others, but no sound came out.His face went slack, the torch dropped to his side and he turned away, leaving us in the darkness.‘There’s nothing there,’ Kay said.‘We should rejoin the others.’He passed the torch back to Klaus and they set off without another word.
The moment they were out of sight I scrambled to my feet, grateful to put some distance between me and Raleigh.‘Was that you?’I asked.
‘It was a simple glamour,’ he said, picking himself up off the ground.‘Nothing remarkable.’
