Chương 44: Chapter 43 - Old Friends

I was only halfway to the edge of where the barrier had been—oh, what a glorious use of the past tense! —when I saw Darius's SUV coming up the road. Darius was driving. Only a semi-immortal vampire would be brave enough to drive an SUV that fast along a twisty mountain road. The car whipped off the side of the road toward me and came to a stop while the convoy of cars and trucks behind it continued up the road at a less hazardous pace. As soon as the SUV stopped, all four doors opened.

Before anyone else could get out, a dark-haired figure jumped from the front passenger seat and came running toward me. I recognized him instantly, and since I was heading downhill, thrilled to death to be alive, I didn't stop running until I barreled into him at full speed and wrapped my arms around him.

"Dustin!" I yelled in his ear.

"It was you! I should've known!" I laughed at my own blindness. Dustin Walman. The only known psychic in existence. Apprentice to the infamous Circe. My friend. He'd grown another inch since the last time that I'd seen him, and he looked happy, despite the fact he was being hugged by a clingy American who hadn't showered in days. He laughed and hugged me back before pushing me away and saying, "You smell god-awful." Ah! I'd forgotten how great his Scottish accent sounded.

"You saved my life!" I said with a grin. He blushed and lifted one shoulder in a shrug. People were gathering around our emotional, smelly reunion. Conrad was behind me, and Darius was beside us with Kappa in his arms. There were others in the background. I was too addled to care who. Darius was talking to Conrad.

"How are the others?"

"Iset and Mrs. Park are shaken, but otherwise fine. Igor's hurt. He's stable, but he needs attention."

"Dr. Belliston is in one of the cars on its way up."

"The mansion is a wreck. The top floors have been collapsing—""We know about it. One of the trucks has the emergency shoring." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. There was a brief pause, then Conrad said, "How did you know about it?"

"Never mind. Are there any other dangers we should know about?"

"I think we got all the zombies, but it might be wise to send in someone strong when they do the shoring." Darius turned toward the mansion. I noticed that he wasn't wearing a suit coat. His dress shirt was rumpled, his tie was lowered, and his jaw was sporting a five o'clock shadow when it was only around seven or eight in the morning. The poor vampire must have been put through the wringer.

"I think I'll go myself," he said. He passed Kappa to Conrad, then took off. Yes, it was still early morning, but it was morning. The sun was out. That didn't stop the count from moving too fast for a human. I had to wonder which powers left him in the daytime, or if he could call a few of them up in an emergency.

"Walman," Conrad said. I turned in time to see Conrad and Dustin reaching out to shake hands. Kappa was perched on Conrad's other arm and trying to look invisible.

"Mr. Bauer." Dustin smiled up at Conrad. I felt a twinge of jealousy. The smile Dustin gave me and the smile he gave Conrad were different. There was probably some kind of manly respect between them that I couldn't fathom.

"You have to forgive Kappa," Conrad said.

"He's shy, and he's had a rough few days. Thank you for helping us." He nodded to Circe, who'd lazily made her way up to Dustin's side.

"Thank you both." Circe smiled one of her wide and wicked smiles.

"Of course."

"Where's your pipe?" I demanded. The prop was quintessential. I was appalled and hurt by the idea that she would be without it.

"In your dreams," she said, "and mine, but, unfortunately, my brilliant apprentice has already figured out how to force me to stop smoking, so it's no longer in my house."

"You were the one sending the visions?" Conrad asked.

"Ah." Circe turned to me.

"You saw images? While you were awake?" I nodded.

"How interesting." She turned back to Conrad so he'd know she was speaking to him, but she kept her eyes lowered. She'd once said that it was hard to look at him. It must have still been hard. She had no problem staring brazenly at anyone else.

"That was me. Dustin was obviously indispensable, but they also found my peculiar talents useful for this rather peculiar situation."

"Can you tell us what happened?" I asked, looking between her and Dustin. Dustin shook his head—not in denial of anything. It was more like he still couldn't believe it.

"It was wild," he said.

"It was the craziest thing I've ever been put through." He rushed to add, "Happy to do it! —but if Circe hadn't had a premonition, we wouldn't have had time to pack. Our escort was on the way before we got the call. The whole flight over, we were on the phone with Vasil and signing papers."

"They had me administer the vow," Circe said.

"Unusual, to say the least." Dustin went on, "When we landed, the car was already there. Vasil drove while Circe talked and I read his mind. When I had the memory I needed, I passed it on to her—""Read whose mind?" I said. Dustin's eyes moved between me and Conrad.

"Oh. You… wouldn't know." He cast an uneasy glance at Circe. When she nodded to him, he stepped back, revealing the last person who had emerged from the SUV. A corpse, dressed in a decaying suit and coat, was standing at a respectful distance. It said a lot about my state of mind that I hadn't noticed him before. He walked toward us. My skin crawled, my body hairs rose, and my eyes widened. A well-honed instinct told me to grab a metal pipe, but another sense—something buried deep—told me to wait.

This one was different. He stopped beside Dustin and looked at me with clear blue eyes stuck in a rotting face.

"Hello, Emerra."