Лиза Смит - The Return - Shadow Souls

“We’re sorry,” Damon said — naturally not at all out of breath. “But we’d like to ask you some questions.”

“If you think I will help you, I will not,” the flower-petal girl said in the same nasal tone. “I hate humans.”

“But I am a vampire, as you have surely already discerned,” Damon was beginning, laying the charm on thick, when Bloddeuwedd interrupted him. “Once a human, always a human.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Damon’s loss of control might have been the best thing that could have happened, Elena thought, trying to keep behind him. He was so clearly sincere about his scorn for humans that Bloddeuwedd softened a little.

“What did you come to ask?”

“Only if you had seen one of two kitsune lately: they’re brother and sister and call themselves Shinichi and Misao.”

“Yes.”

“Or they might — I’m sorry? Yes? ”

“The thieves came to my house at night. I was at a party. I flew back from the party and almost caught them. Kitsune are hard to catch, though.”

“Where…” Damon swallowed. “Where were they?”

“Running down the front stairs.”

“And do you remember the date that they were here?”

“It was the night that the grounds were made ready for this party. Stone rollers went over the grass. The canopy was erected.”

Weird things to do at night, Elena thought, but then she remembered — again. The light was always the same.

But her heart was beating fast. Shinichi and Misao could only have been here for one reason: to drop off half of the fox key.

And maybe drop it in the Great Ballroom, Elena thought. She watched dully as the entire outside of the library rotated, almost like a giant planetarium, so that Bloddeuwedd could pick out a globe and place it in some contraption that must make the music play in various rooms.

“Excuse me,” Damon said.

“This is my private library,” Bloddeuwedd said coldly against the swelling of the glorious ending to the Firebird Suite .

“Meaning now we must leave?”

“Meaning now I am going to kill you.”

“What?” shouted Damon over the music, while adding: Run — go! telepathically to Elena.

If it had merely been Elena’s life, she would have been glad enough to die here with the thunderous beauty of Firebird all around her, rathr than facing those steep, invisible steps alone.

But it wasn’t just her life. It was Stefan’s life, too. Still, the flower maiden didn’t look particularly menacing, and Elena couldn’t summon up enough adrenaline to try making it down that hidous stairway.

Damon, let’s both go. We have to search the Great Ballroom outside. Only you’re strong enough….

A hesitation. Damon would rather fight than face that enormous, impossible green field outside, Elena thought.

But Bloddeuwedd, despite her words, was now spinning the room around them again, so that she, at the edge of some invisible walkway, could find the exact orb she wanted.

Damon lifted Elena in his arms and said: Shut your eyes .

Elena not only shut her eyes, but put her hands over them as well. If Damon was going to drop her, she wasn’t going to help matters by shouting “Look out!” as he did it.

The sensations themselves were sickening enough. Damon leaped from step to step like an ibex. He seemed barely to touch the steps in going down and Elena wondered — quite suddenly — if anything were after them.

If so, it was information she needed to know. She began to lift her hands and heard Damon whisper-snarl “Keep them shut!” in a voice that few people liked to argue with.

Elena peeked out between her hands, met Damon’s exasperated eyes, and saw nothing following them. She clamped her hands back together and prayed.

If you were really a slave, you wouldn’t last a day here, you know, Damon informed her, taking a final leap into space and then setting her down on invisible — but at least level — ground.

I wouldn’t want to, Elena sent coldly. I swear, I’d rather die.

Be careful what you promise, Damon flashed his splendid smile down at her suddenly. You may end up in other dimensions trying to fulfill your word.

Elena didn’t even try to one-up him. They were out, free, and racing through the glass house down to the stairs to the lower floor — a little tricky in her state of mind, but bearable — and finally out the door. On the grass of the Great Ballroom they found Meredith and Bonnie…and Sage.

He was actually in white tie as well, although his jacket strained at his shoulders. In addition, Talon was sitting on one — so the problem might be taken care of fairly soon, as she was ripping the material and drawing blood. Sage didn’t seem aware of it. Saber was at his master’s side, looking at Elena with eyes too thoughtful to be mere animal eyes, but without malice.

“Thank God you came back!” Bonnie cried, running to them. “Sage came and he has a marvelous idea.”

Even Meredith was excited. “You remember how Damon said we should have brought a diviner? Well, we have two now.” She turned to Sage. “Please tell them.”

“As a rule, I don’t take these two to parties.” Sage reached down to scratch under Saber’s throat. “But a little bird told me that you might be in trouble.” His hand moved up to stroke Talon, ruffling the falcon’s feathers slightly. “So, dites-moi , please: Just how much have you two been handling the half-key you do possess?”

“I touched it tonight and in the beginning, the night we found it,” said Elena. “But Lady Ulma handled it and Lucen made a chest for it and we’ve all handled that.”

“But outside the box?”

“I’ve held it and looked at it once or twice,” said Damon.

“ Eh bien! The kitsune smells should be much stronger on it. And kitsune have very distinctive smells.”

“So you mean that Saber—” Elena’s voice gave out for pure faintness.

“Can sniff out anything with the smell of kitsune on it. Meanwhile, Talon has very good eyesight. She can fly overhead and look for the glint of gold in case it’s in plain sight somewhere. Now show them what they will be searching for.”

Elena obligingly held out the crescent shaped half-key for Saber to sniff.

“ Voilà ! And Talon, now you take a good look.” Sage backed away to what was, Elena supposed, Talon’s optimal seeing distance. Then when he came back, he said, “ Commençons! ” and the black dog exploded away, nose to ground, while the falcon took off in grand, high, sweeping circles.

“So you think the kitsune were on this grass?” Elena asked Sage, as Saber began racing back and forth, nose still just above the grass — and then suddenly veered out onto the middle of the marble steps.

“But assuredly, they were here. You see how Saber runs, like a black panther, with his head low, and his tail straight? He has business in hand, him! He is hot on the scent.”

I know someone else who gives off the same feeling, Elena thought as she glanced back at Damon, who stood with his arms folded, motionless, coiled like a spring, waiting for whatever news the animals would bring.

She happened to glance at Sage at the same moment, and she saw an expression on his face that — well, it was probably the same expression she’d been wearing a minute ago. He glanced at her and she blushed.

“ Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur ,” she said, looking away quickly.

“ Parlez-vous français, Madame? ”

“ Un peu ,” Elena said humbly — an unusual condition for her. “I can’t really keep up a serious conversation. But I loved going to France.” She was about to say something else, when Saber barked once, sharply, to attract attention and then sat bolt upright at the curb.