Текст книги "The Watcher"

Автор книги: Jeanne Stein

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CHAPTER 26

“ANNA. ANNA. WAKE UP."

Second time in as many days I've heard those words. This time, though, the voice is high-pitched and tinny. Like one of those munchkins in the Wizard of Oz.

Something shakes my shoulders. "Come on. It's over. Wake up."

I don't want to wake up. Wherever I am is quiet, peaceful. No pain. No noise. No light. No hunger. Over the rainbow?

"Am I in heaven?"

The laugh is loud. Rude, even.

I burrow deeper into whatever I'm lying on and refuse to open my eyes.

"You're crushing me. Get up."

Suddenly, I'm aware of movement. Beneath me. Something is squirming, trying to escape.

Oh my god. Am I back in that motel room in Santee? Have I done it again?

I pop one eye open, fight back a wave of nausea and spy an unfamiliar face with bright red hair.

I have done it again. This time with—what? This guy looks a little strange and the length of his body stops somewhere just below my waist.

I screwed a midget?

The nausea is stronger, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut again. Still, the spinning continues. It's like the horrible, out of control feeling from a bad drunk just before you pass out—or throw up.

"Don't even think about it."

The voice screeches in my ear.

I jump up and away. A midget in a bright green jumpsuit stares at me. How did I get in that movie?

"Thank the gods."

"What?"

He frowns. "Will you snap out of it?" He waves a hand. "See where we are?"

I tear my eyes off the face of the munchkin long enough to sneak a look around.

We're in the middle of a dirt road. There's a car with a smashed front end—

A flash of recognition. The car? I touch my cheek. The skin feels rough, and it tingles.

A memory hovers just out of reach.

I shake my head. Concentrate.

The midget stirs. "Come on. I have places to go, things to do. I can't wait here all day."

"Listen, Casper—" That automatic response snaps everything into place.

It must show on my face because Casper—er, Avatoar– grins. "At last. Jeez, Anna. It doesn't usually take so long for a vamp to come back. You were really out of it."

I arch my back, working out a vicious kink. "I thought you said that would only hurt a little?"

He shrugs. "If I told you it would hurt like a son of a bitch, would you have agreed to try?"

His tone, his expression, his very words are certainly different from the rather ethereal character who used to tell me things like "don't forget who you are."

I raise an eyebrow. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Casper?"

He answers with a withering look.

I approach the front of the car. Cautiously. Don't want to bounce off the damned wall again. A tentative probe confirms that, as I suspected, I'm now on the otherside of the barrier.

There's a hole at my feet. Big enough for the two of us to have squeezed through.

"Want to tell me how you did that?"

"Pretty obvious isn't it?"

I look from the hole to Avatoar. "You mean we tunneled under the barrier?"

He makes his hands flutter. "More like bored under."

That explains the heat and friction. "Why aren't my clothes torn or my skin?"

"I could protect us from some of the effects of the vortex. Unfortunately, not the pain."

"I noticed." I kick at the dirt. "Well, what now?"

Avatoar doesn't answer.

I turn around.

I'm alone.

I do a complete three sixty. Casper is nowhere in sight.

I'm not surprised or angry. He did his part. Got me where I needed to be. But—

I wave a hand at the sky. Wait, Casper. I have a question for you.

For a moment, there's no answer. Then, Make it quick. I said I have places to go.

How did you find out about me? In the beginning, with the Revengers?

Casper's laugh floats back to me like music on a summer breeze. Jeez, Anna. I would have thought a smart cookie like you would've figured it out by now.

Figured what out?

That the Watchers may not be the only game in town. Bye, Anna. And good luck.

CHAPTER 27

WELL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF ANSWER I expected, but certainly not that one. Now, of course, I have a hundred other questions. The Watchers aren't the only game in town, huh? Casper may be gone but I'll certainly grill Williams about it when I get out of here.

I turn back to look at the car. I guess I'll have to burrow back to the car, gather the stuff I bought this morning to bring to Beso de la Muerte, and head for town.

I look down.

Avatoar isn't the only thing gone.

The hole is, too.

Shit.

I throw up my hands. "You could have left the hole."

I don't expect an answer and I'm not wasting time trying to make Avatoar come back. I believed him when he said I wouldn't be hearing from him again. I guess my probation period as a vampire is officially over. I'm sure when I have time to think about that, I'll miss Casper. But right now, I'm too busy being irritated with him. All the provisions I brought for this little foray are still locked in the trunk of a car I can no longer reach.

The sun is already low in the sky. Nothing to do now but make my way into Beso de la Muerte and see if Culebra left any clue about what's happened to him.

I start out at a jog, a pace designed to prevent my unprotected head from bouncing off any other obstacles that Burke might have thrown up. But this time, I get all the way into town with nothing to slow me down but the mounting desire to be running the other way. My feet tread relentlessly forward, but my head is yelling at me to turn around and get the hell out of here. The fact that darkness is falling adds to the escalating feeling of dread.

Once in sight, the street and its decrepit collection of rotting buildings looks even more run down than I last remembered. It's as if with Culebra and his "guests" gone, decomposition has accelerated. The boards on the dusty sidewalk creak an ominous warning as I approach the saloon. I have to force myself to push open the swinging doors and walk inside. The threat of something dark and evil makes every motion of my hand, every footstep, heavy with foreboding. It's right in front of me, floating just out of reach, a shadow promising the torment of a nightmare, the embodiment of one's worst fear. It's forcing itself into my head and under my skin. It's designed to raise the hackles on the back of my neck and bile in my throat.

It's beginning to piss me off.

I do a slow turn around the room. No light. No sound. But something is here. I exhale to steady my voice, calm my heart and say, "Okay, whatever you are. Save the theatrics for the paying customers. Either show yourself or leave me the hell alone."

There's a rustle from behind the bar.

Suddenly, my bravado wilts like a spring flower in the hot desert sun. My heart hammers with adrenaline-laced fear. What have I summoned?

The rustling grows louder, something gathering itself to what? Attack? I hear a low, ominous growl. Shape-shifting perhaps into a monster fashioned from my very own nightmares?

Should I run? Even as the thought passes through my head, I know I can't. I'm rooted to the spot. I force myself to move, to approach the bar. I'll meet whatever is there head-on. I pick up a chair, hold it over my head. My reflexes seem to have reverted back to human speed. Fear has driven even the vampire away.

"Come out, you son of a bitch. I'm right here."

The rustle gets louder, concentrated almost. But the thing doesn't show itself.

A thought dawns. Maybe it's as frightened of me as I am of it.

Or maybe it wants me to think that. To let my guard down and approach even closer, exposing myself to the full brunt of its attack.

My head is starting to hurt again. I can't wait much longer if I'm going to find Culebra before the witching hour. I've come this far pretty much intact. I may as well go for broke.

My grip on the chair tightens. I open my mouth to let out a banshee yell. If nothing else, I'll scare the damned thing to death.

A head pokes over the top of the bar, a hand waves frantically. "Damn it, Anna. Give me a minute, will you. I'm trying to get my pants on."

The chair clatters to the floor. "Frey?"

He disappears again and I catch the brief, sibilant sound of the metal teeth on a zipper meshing together. Then he stands up and holds up both hands. "It's me, okay? Relax."

Relax? "What the hell are you doing here?"

Daniel Frey comes around the bar, shirtless, barefoot. And grins.

"Williams sent me. I've been waiting for you."

CHAPTER 28

WAITING FOR ME? I don't know which question to ask first, so I spew them all out. "How did you get here? How long have you been waiting? Why did Williams send you? What does he expect you to do?"

He picks up the chair I dropped, rights it and straddles it, leaning his arms on the back. "I got here the way any cat would, I padded on little panther feet. I've been here since last night. Wished Williams would have mentioned there was no food. Had to hunt and around here, pickin's are slim. Have you ever tried to eat coyote?" He pantomimes spitting something out of his mouth.

"Why are you here? What did Williams say?"

Frey shrugs. "Didn't give me any specific orders. Just told me to keep an eye on you."

"But how did you get past Culebra's wall?" He grins. "Wall? What wall? Obviously whatever was in your way was constructed to keep humans and vampires out. Not animals."

"Where'd you get the clothes?"

He jabs a thumb toward the bar. "Found them right there in back. Don't know who left them but I wish whoever it was would have dropped off some real food, too. What I wouldn't give for a big juicy burger."

His answers are well rehearsed and glib. I'm not unhappy that it's Frey here instead of the faceless monsters I'd conjured up in my imagination, but something still isn't right.

"Were you trying to scare me when I was outside on the road just now?"

He frowns. "I don't know what you mean."

"Come on. Were you projecting some kind of malevolent energy?"

He shakes his head. "Malevolent energy? That's a little dramatic, isn't it? Sorry, Anna. You give me way to much credit. All Ifelt coming here was hunger and thirst. Still do. You didn't by any chance bring any groceries with you?"

I shake myhead. "Vampire. I don't need groceries, remember?"

But I cross to the bar and look behind it. The cooler is still there. I open it, pull out a couple of bottles of beer, pop the tops and come back to Frey. "Here."

I know he doesn't really like beer, he once told me he was a wine man, but he accepts the bottle anyway and takes a swig. He drinks greedily, eyeing me. When he comes up for air, he says, "Aren't you joining me?"

After what happened two nights ago with Dan? I may never drink again. Instead of saying that, though, I make a sweeping gesture around the bar. "Why didn't you change into your human form before this? You would have at least had something to drink."

Frey finishes off the beer. "I wanted to be ready in case anyone besides you showed up. I figured the sight of a panther would discourage visitors." He hands me the first bottle and takes the second. "If you're not going to drink that…"

I hand it over. "Visitors? I told you there's an invisible wall out there that pretty much takes care of discouraging visitors."

Frey raises an eyebrow. "And I told you, I didn't know anything about that."

I pull a chair close to him and sit down. He's chugging the second beer the same way he did the first. While I watch him drink, that something-isn't-right feeling comes roaring back. Only now, I know exactly what isn't right. "You said you've been here since last night?"

He nods.

"And Williams sent you to wait for me? Did he tell you why I'm here?"

"Probably because he wants you out of the way for some reason."

"You think?"

Frey is watching the play of emotion on my face. We no longer have the mind connection, I took care of that when I fed from him a few months ago, which broke the psychic link between us. But he has animal instincts and he picks up on my anger and confusion.

"Maybe he is trying to protect you," he says finally. "Rumors have been going around that something's about to stir up trouble in the supernatural community. Big trouble. Williams might want to keep you out of it."

"No 'might' about it." Irritation brings me to my feet, and I shove the damned chair out of my way. I wish it were Williams I was shoving. "He as much as told me the same thing just before he banished me with one sweep of his mighty hand. He didn't want me involved in the great witch hunt."

"Witch hunt? You know about that?"

He says it like he's surprised. "I take it everyonebut me knew about it. Williams thinks I can't help. He thinks I'd be a liability. I can't believe he's forced me out here to stand on the sidelines while my friend is in danger."

"Maybe it's becauseyour friend is in danger," Frey says quietly. "The witch has to be stopped at all costs. You are protective of those you love."

"You mean Culebra might have to be sacrificed for the greater good? That's bullshit and you know it. Williams thinks Culebra is a partner in what's about to happen. I know he's not." I start pacing. "I'm pretty sure the witch sent me a message. Right after I hit that damned wall. Said I couldn't help him and to go away."

As soon as I say that, something clicks in my brain. "Why would she try to scare me away from here!"I stop pacing and turn to look at Frey. "Where does Williams think this magical hell raising is going to happen?"

Frey looks unsure whether he should answer. I take a step toward him and glare. "You'd better tell me. I can do a lot of damage to that human body before you can make the change back to cat."

It's an empty threat and I'm sure Frey knows it, but it gives him the chance to respond without feeling as if he's betraying Williams. A threat from a vampire is a serious matter. "Arizona," he says. "We're pretty sure that Burke plans to raise the demon in Sedona where the power of the vortex will enhance her own magics." A pause. "But he may be wrong about that."

I shake a hand impatiently for him to go on.

"I did some prowling around in the desert last night. Came across what I thought was the usual Wiccan wannabes getting ready for their annual Halloween naked dance in the moonlight. Now I'm not so sure."

"Because?"

"Well, for one thing, to get to the place you have to travel underground. And there were guards. With guns. Williams has a lot of inside information, though, so he's probably right about Arizona." He lets his voice drop.

"But you're not sure?" I can't help but smile. Poor Williams. If Frey is right, he banished me to the one place I most need to be. Life's a bitch sometimes, isn't it?

Frey continues, frowning. "I think you should know that there is another reason Williams wants you here, out of the way."

Once again, he gets my full attention.

"Williams heard from that agent, Foley, yesterday morning. Martinez has Max."

My stomach lurches. "Williams told you that?"

Frey nods. "Foley also said that somehow, Martinez found out about you. Martinez is looking for you now. Foley wanted Williams to tell him where you'd gone so they could offer you protection. Then the story broke about El Centra. I think Williams wanted to be sure he got to you before Foley did. He doesn't trust him. He wanted to make sure you'd go somewhere safe."

And somewhere out of communication, obviously. I don't think I've ever been more angry with Williams. He kept the fact that Martinez has Max from me. Probably thought he was doing a good thing when I told him what I suspected about Foley tailing me. And I hadn't even filled him in on the other part—Max's conviction that Foley was now working with Martinez and my suspicion that it was Foley who shot Alan.

Shit. I need to talk to Williams now. But what to do about the witch? If she has Culebra… "If the witch is here, can we stop her?" I ask Frey. "You and I?"

He raises a shoulder. "It would be better if we had help."

"You mean Williams? Get him here?"

Frey nods. "Call him on your cell and …"

Mycell is with Williams. The cell he gave me is stuck on a cactus somewhere in the middle of the desert. But I spy Culebra's phone on the counter and start toward it. When I lift the receiver, I get nothing. The phone's dead.

Frey reaches out a hand. "You do have your cell with you, right?"

From the look on my face, Frey divines the answer. "That's not good. This isn't something we should try on our own. The witch has some pretty serious mojo."

Serious mojo? This from an English teacher with a degree from Harvard?

Frey interprets thatlook, too. "All I'm saying is, we're going to need help. Maybe I can change back into panther mode and find Williams."

"Before midnight? And isn't he in Arizona?"

"I could make it to Balboa Park in a couple of hours. Someone there might be able to contact him. A chopper could get him here in an hour."

I glance at my watch. It's almost eight o'clock. Assuming Frey could do it, it's still cutting things too close. Could he get to a phone somewhere else in time? Where? And once he did, what would he do? Change back into human form and beg naked on the street for money to make the call?

"Damn it, Frey, what are we going to do? We can't let the witch open the gates to hell or whatever she has planned. And we certainly can't let her use Culebra to do it."

"So, you have another plan?"

"Not yet. But we made a pretty good team once before."

His brows draw together. "Against humans.This is different."

"Well, unless you come up with a better suggestion, we're going to have to try."

He crosses his arms and a tense, speculative expression settles on his face.

"What?" I ask.

"I'll help you. But, Anna, there's something else I should tell you. Now. Before we start out."

I can't imagine what else there could be. My own expression must reflect my impatience because his eyes slide away and focus somewhere over my shoulder.

Then he says, "We can't have sex when it's over."

I can't have heard him correctly. With all that's going on, thisis what he has to tell me? I just stare at him, speechless.

Color floods his face. "I have a girlfriend now. She'd kill me."

I step close to him. "Are you kidding me? The witch will probably kill us."

"Well, just the same. I remember the last time. I took care of you when you needed it. I can't do that again."

He's talking about what happened when we went after the men who hurt my niece. He offered himself, with sex and blood, and I took both. I had no choice. I pass a hand over my face and look into his dark eyes. "I promise to control myself, okay?"

Frey uncrosses his arms. "Are you sure you can?"

There's an uncomfortable minute while we both stare at each other. No, I'm not sure I can. But I will. I nod.

He accepts it and moves behind the bar. I hear the zipper again. He's taking off the jeans, presumably to shapeshift into animal form. And he's doing it behind the bar.

"I've seen you naked, Frey. I promised to control myself, didn't I?"

I get only a growl in response.

CHAPTER 29

FREY'S OTHER FORM IS PANTHER. WHEN HE SLINKS out from behind the bar, I marvel again at the strange creatures I've come in contact with since becoming vampire. Creatures I thought existed only in the pages of novels or on the big screen. Some are beautiful and inspire awe, like this sleek, man-sized cat full of grace and primitive power. Others, like Avery and Simon Fisher, were vampires who inspired fear and dread.

I'm still not sure where I fit in the continuum.

Frey approaches, alert, watchful. His eyes hold a spark of humanity though I know from seeing him in action that the cat is in full control. He looks at me, then moves to the door. I follow him outside.

I realize once we set off down the road that I should have asked him where we were going. But it's no problem for me to keep up. He trots ahead, muscles bunching and releasing under a pelt of dark fur. I follow, my own senses probing the night.

There's no moon. The sky is huge and black and filled with a million stars never seen in a city sky. I spy diamonds moving swiftly overhead, airplanes, and the slower moving pinpoints of light are satellites traveling around the earth in their solitary orbits.

I smell mesquite and dust and the decay of recent death. Animal. I wonder if it's the coyote Frey mentioned earlier. I see the outlines of cactus and rock and scrub oak. I also see the small creatures that slither or run away at our approach. Whether they're running from the panther or the vampire, I can't tell. Tonight they needn't fear either. I hear the calls of birds, the "ping" of bat radar, the single, lonely cry of a wolf somewhere far from us. It carries on the still, night air like an echo from another time.

I'm filled again with a sense of wonder. I've never let the animal inside me free to observe the world from this perspective. When the vampire is released, it's to feed or fight. This is a new experience. Exhilarating. Liberating. For the moment at least, I push worry for Max into a dark corner of my mind. Right next to anxiety over what will happen to Culebra if Frey is wrong.

Frey keeps going, deep into the desert, away from the road. He doesn't hesitate or falter but continues at the same pace until we're miles from the saloon. We hit no obstacles. I guess the witches did not expect anyone to approach from the heart of the desert. Approach what? I still don't know.

Lights appear on the horizon. And I hear other noises now, sounds of traffic and the acceleration and deceleration of airplane engines. We're nearing the Tijuana airport. But from the desert side. The lights of the city of Tijuana stretch beyond. Are we going into the city? Would the witch be planning to work her magic in the middle of a city?

Frey keeps going straight toward the airport. When we're about a half mile away, he veers toward an industrial park. Or what passes in Mexico as an industrial park. It's more like a landfill, but one dotted with junkyards, truck yards and small warehouses and workshops. The place floods with light when airplanes approach the runways, only to be plunged into darkness when they've passed overhead. It's like being in a time loop of accelerated sunrise and sunset, made all the more eerie because I detect nothing human here at all. Big trucks and small tractors crouch like cowering beasts. A dog barks inside one of the buildings but it's more a howl of loneliness than a growl of warning. The place feels utterly empty.

Frey trots up to one of the warehouses. He looks up at me. Then back toward the door.

Doesn't take a genius to understand what he wants. But before I open that door, I put an ear to it. I don't want to be surprised by a welcoming party. I detect nothing. No movement. No sound.

The door has an old-fashioned latch. It lifts with a touch. No lock. I half expect a siren or alarm to go off as I gently tug the wooden door open a fraction of an inch. When nothing happens, I pull it back wide enough for Frey and me to scramble inside.

The instant I pass over that threshold, I'm hit by a wave of fear as tangible and painful as a gunshot. It knocks me back, breathless, shaking, numb, pins me against the wall with invisible hands. Images fill my head. The essence of anything that has ever scared me, every nightmare, takes physical shape and hovers before me, ready to attack. Donaldson is there, the vampire who turned me, and Avery. Fisher, grinning and blood soaked, reaches out to pull me close to him. I feel his claws dig into my arms, his bared teeth snap at my throat. My blood spills over his hands.

These nightmares inflict pain.

I can't move. The rational part of my brain knows this isn't real. It can't be. Donaldson, Avery, Fisher are gone. I saw Donaldson and Avery disintegrate into dust, felt the last shudder as I drained the life from Fisher. This is not real. Still, the instinctive part of my brain screams to run. Get out before it's too late. My body tenses to take flight. I have no choice. If I'm to survive, I have to leave this place. Leave and never come back. If I'm to live.

"Anna. Where are you?"

A voice shouts from the void. It's far away. Too far away to help. Fisher and Avery press closer. Avery is smiling. His hands trace a path down my cheek, across my breast. I'm naked and where his fingers touch, my skin blackens and sloughs off. I try to slink away but I can't. The door to the warehouse swings open. A light shines in. Outside. I have to get outside. That's where I'll be safe.

My feet break free. I scream and whirl away from the nightmare. Move. Run.

A hand pulls me back.

No.

A voice. "Anna."

Over and over. Familiar. Coaxing.

But it can't save me. If I don't leave this place, I'll die. Avery tells me. Fisher and Donaldson. Get away. Save yourself.

I slash at the hand holding me. It doesn't let go. I snarl and bite down until I taste blood. Still, I'm held fast. Furious, the vampire erupts. Blindly, I seek the throat of the creature. I find it and rip until the blood washes over my tongue. I drink.

And at the first taste, I know.

The blood. The taste, the texture, the essence. I recognize it. I know this creature.

It doesn't matter.

I can't stop.

The voice doesn't scream or beg. It doesn't struggle or pull away. It's grown quiet and still. Waiting.

That is what stops me.

I burrow against its neck, but not to drink. To listen. To understand. And when I grow quiet, too, it puts its arms around me and holds me. Then it pulls me forward, and I'm falling.

Falling.

Into the void.