‘Couldn’t you make them stop looking for us altogether?’
‘No.’Raleigh started walking again.‘They want to find us.I can disorient, or make people forget, but I can’t force anyone to do something they don’t want to.’
I frowned.That didn’t line up with everything I’d read in my research.If that much was true, no one would ever invite a vampire into their home.I whispered this to him, and he glared at me.
‘I didn’t say no one can, I saidIcan’t.’He sounded annoyed.‘Not anymore.Now, be quiet before someone else finds us.’
We kept to the shadows until we reached the edge of town, listening for signs that anyone else had come this far.Raleigh stopped as we reached the final house.From what I could tell, it was unpatrolled.The only barrier between us and the safety of the woods was the bridge itself.All we needed to do was achieve the impossible.
Raleigh eyed the river, looking faintly sick.‘Do you know the way back on your own?’
‘We’re not separating,’ I hissed.
‘I can’t cross the river, and you can’t climb.You cross here, I’ll take the mountain road.We’ll meet at the castle in the morning.’
‘Half of Orlfen is on the mountain road.’He knew it too.Golden flecks of light were clustered at the base of the mountain, plainly visible even from here.
‘I could take them all on if I had to.’
‘Yann had one hand tied and you couldn’t fight him.Do you think they haven’t brought every crucifix in town with them now that they know exactly how to weaken you?’
‘What’s your plan, then?’
My eyes travelled along the riverbank.There was only one option, and Raleigh wasn’t going to like it.‘I’m going to carry you across.’
Raleigh stiffened.‘Absolutely not.’
‘What alternative do we have?’Every scenario I could think of ended with either me lost in the woods or him at the end of a stake.
‘Could you even lift me?’
I sized him up.His slim shadow cut sharply against the moonlight.Aside from his height there wasn’t a great deal of him.If there was ever a man I could lift it would probably be Raleigh.‘There’s only one way to find out.’
Raleigh took one final look back at the western mountain, then sighed.‘Fine.Let’s do this quickly.’
We crept into the open moonlight, keeping our eyes peeled for any waiting ambush.If this was going to work, we had to start as close to the river as possible to minimise the amount of time Raleigh spent on my back.He managed only one step onto the bridge before seizing up and lurching backwards.
‘You’ll have to start here.’
I stared back across the bridge.It suddenly seemed so much longer than before.‘Can you really not come any further?’
Raleigh looked like he was about to cry.
I sighed loudly.‘Okay.We’ll make it work.’
I dropped to one knee as Father would when I was a child and urged Raleigh to latch on to my shoulders.Everything about it felt awkward and clumsy.He was too tall and, slight as he was, he was still a grown man and far, far heavier than I’d expected.It was hard enough hoisting his feet off the ground, let alone lifting my own with his weight bearing down on me.The crucifix didn’t help matters.I couldn’t exactly give it to Raleigh to hold, so I had to wedge it in place between my arm and his thigh, hoping my dressing-gown wouldn’t slip and burn his leg off while we were halfway across the bridge.It dug painfully into my side, which was a welcome distraction from every other screeching muscle in my body.
‘Are you ready?’I asked.
‘No.’
‘Close your eyes, then.’
With shaking legs I shuffled forward, barely able to raise my feet.The moment I stepped over the river Raleigh went rigid.He ducked his head into the crook of my neck, which might have felt intimate had I not been so terrified he might bite me.I put it out of my mind and focused on moving forward, trying to ignore the crushing force of his grip.
‘How much further?’His voice quivered by my ear.
‘A few more steps,’ I grunted.
