As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles 5)

“Fallen angels,” Victoria repeated. “Why would they want to harm you?” But even as she spoke, a little shiver traveled up her spine.

“Because they know me. Because they know I am here to help you. And because once, countless aeons ago, I knew them.” She nodded at the question in Victoria’s face. “Because they fell… and I did not.”

Because she didn’t fall …?

Prickles exploded over her shoulders as Victoria looked at Wayren, aware of the shock and sudden comprehension that must be washing over her face. That simple statement explained so much about this woman, who never seemed to age. Who seemed to be able to be anywhere she was needed, whenever she wanted to be. Who knew so much about everything.

And how she could fit so blasted many books in a satchel that was too small to hold them.

Victoria wondered absurdly why an angel would wear reading glasses.

Wayren merely smiled at her, as if she knew what she was thinking, and replied, “We’re not perfect either.”

At that moment, the door to the parlor opened, and Max came in. Victoria couldn’t help but notice the weariness in his demeanor and the strain around his eyes. Doing the work of a Venator, without the blessing of a vis bulla , took a great toll on a man.

She wondered if he knew that Wayren was an angel; then she realized. Of course he did. It seemed as if Max knew everything.

He probably assumed she knew.

Max flashed a glance at her, but said nothing. Instead, he took a seat near the cabinet that housed the Gardella Bible. “Wayren,” he said by way of greeting.

She smiled at him, but by the tightening of Max’s mouth, Victoria knew that he, too, saw the cracks in her calm facade. “I was just telling Victoria that I believe the demons we’ve been encountering here, and those in Paris, are escaping into our world through the Midiverse Portal. It’s in Romania, in the mountains,” she said, tracing a half-moon fingernail over the rigid parchment. “And…” Her voice trailed off as she became absorbed in whatever she was reading.

“And their target is Wayren,” Victoria finished tightly. “Perhaps others, but Wayren for certain.”

“Did you go to the cemetery today?” he asked sharply.

Victoria shook her head. “No, I meant to, but-”

“I did. There is nothing there any longer.”

“You went alone?”

His mouth tightened. “In broad daylight, Victoria. Even I am in no danger in bloody broad daylight.”

They lapsed into silence, stress zinging in the air between them. Before now, the last words he’d spoken to her had been in anger and frustration in her bedchamber, punctuated by the slam of the door. He’d acted only as she’d expected, and, in fact, anticipated… but there was no sense in keeping her plans from him.

If he knew she was going to go after Lilith, he’d either be moved to go with her, or try to find a way to keep her in London-or at least otherwise occupied. Either way, they’d be together and she’d have the chance to wear down the resistance he’d erected.

But deep in her heart, she knew that until Lilith was gone, Max would not be wholly free.

Of course, any plans she had to find the vampire queen must be delayed until the demons were contained. Wayren’s safety was of paramount importance.

“Yes,” Wayren said, breaking into the charged silence as she looked up from her reading, “it’s as I feared. It must be. The portal has either cracked or somehow been opened, for the only way those types of demon could find their way out beyond the protections that have kept them locked in Hell is through that opening.”

“How do we close it, then?” Victoria asked.

“I believe… there is a crystal… an orb…” Again Wayren’s voice trailed off as she closed her eyes, little frown lines appearing between her fair brows. Then, reaching blindly, she slipped her hand inside the battered satchel and rummaged around, her lips moving silently. After a moment, the scrabbling stopped and she withdrew a small book, hardly larger than Max’s palm.

“It would be in here,” she murmured and flipped through brittle pages. Victoria saw scrawls from a language she didn’t recognize, as well as drawings, stains, and ink blots on the yellowed paper. “Yes, as I thought.” Wayren looked up suddenly, her eyes clear and sharp. Removing her glasses, she folded them neatly on top of the open book. “There is a crystal, Tached’s Orb, that can be used to seal the portal.”

“Do you know where it is?” Max asked.

“The orb is inside a pool at the base of Muntii Fagaras-near Lilith’s hideaway.” She cast a quick glance at Max, and Victoria recalled with a start that he had gone there voluntarily-and perhaps involuntarily as well.

“However, the pool is enchanted,” Wayren added. “So one cannot simply reach in and retrieve the orb.”

“But if we get the orb, we can lock the portal? How?”

“And there is no other way to seal the entrance?”

Max and Victoria spoke at the same time, then fell into silence, looking at Wayren.

“I know of no other way to close the portal,” she replied, “but I will continue to study it. Time is precious, for the longer the portal is cracked, the more evil will penetrate this world. And the weaker we shall be.”

“And the more you will be in danger,” Victoria said.

“So our most efficient course of action is to determine how to breach the pool at Fagaras,” Max said.

Victoria stood. “I was with George Starcasset today, and according to him, all of the vampires have fled England-even the ones who don’t love Lilith and who stayed behind when she left. They’re frightened of something, and I wonder if it has to do with this influx of demons.”

“Perhaps you ought to ask him,” Max suggested smoothly. “I’m certain George is a font of information and will be able to tell us something even Wayren doesn’t know.”

Victoria looked at him, but the surge of anger that had begun to rush to her cheeks faded. Max might be arrogant and sarcastic, but he wasn’t normally petulant. “Perhaps I shall,” was all she said, and walked, queenlike, from the room.

“The pool at Muntii Fagaras?” Sebastian repeated. He looked at Victoria, his lovely lips turning in a twisted smile. “I suppose it might have been too much to hope that you came to my rooms for something other than information.”

She almost took a step back from the doorway, but stopped herself. “It’s not the first time I’ve come to you only for information.” Indeed, she’d left Wayren and Max at the town house to come directly here to speak with Sebastian.