Dhampir - By Barb Hendee & J. C. Hendee Page 0,130
held little interest for him.
Magiere still wore her blue dress, but the skirt was now torn and muddied. The faded cotton shirt she'd pulled off him and dropped on the floor was stained and torn beyond repair.
"We're going through a lot of clothes," she said, more to break the silence than for any other reason.
Leesil did not respond for a long while, then finally looked at her.
"I know." He nodded. "I was thinking about that earlier tonight… seems like a long time ago. Everything was different."
"The three of us aren't enough to deal with this," she urged, now that she had his attention again. "We need help from the townsfolk, as much as we can get. I don't know how to manipulate people, and you do." She paused and added in apology, "I mean that as a compliment."
He didn't even pretend to bristle or take offense. His lack of reaction was beginning to gnaw at her insides. How much spirit did he have left?
"What do you want me to do?" he asked. Magiere took a deep breath, slowly and quietly, trying not to let him see her own unease.
"Get some rest first," she answered, standing up. "I'll call for a town meeting downstairs later in the day. When it's time, I'll come for you. I need you to convince these people that we need their help. I have to face Rashed myself, but we need to lay a trap and that is going to take numbers. Once we get these creatures in the open, inside of town, they can't be allowed to get out again. Does that make sense?"
"Yes." He nodded again, and she put her hand carefully against his back and helped him lie down.
Magiere pushed white-blond hair back out of his eyes and noted again how the long scratches on his face didn't really mar his narrow features. Before their arrival in Miiska, she'd never realized just how much she liked his face. "What are you going to do now?" he asked. She attempted a half-smile. "I'm going to make you some soup, and hopefully not poison you in the process."
Something in her words or manner shook him from his passive state, and he grabbed her hand. The strength in his grip surprised her. It almost hurt.
"I'm not a coward," he said. "You know that, don't you?"
"Of course," she said. "Don't be a fool."
"There are ships leaving dock all the time. Nobody would even notice if you and I and Chap slipped out of here. We could be halfway down the coast in a few days and start over someplace else."
The thought of flight had never occurred to her, and she did consider Leesil's words briefly. Sailing away from all this, the three of them intact and alive, was suddenly enticing. The mere thought of it brought a feeling of release that washed through her. They had enough money to start a new life and leave this horror to the people of Miiska.
But faces and names kept surfacing in her mind. Beth-rae. Brenden. Eliza.
And all the others they'd heard of. The town's main warehouse was now gone, and so many lives were now affected.
"No," she said. "We can't just leave. If we do, everything we've done here would be for nothing. Everyone who has died will have died for nothing. We have to finish this."
Leesil looked away.
"And this is our home," she went on, urging him to understand. "I've never had a home. Have you?"
Resignation cleared some of the sorrow from Leesil's expression. He let go of her hand and relaxed against his pillow.
"No, not really. You and that dog and this broken-down tavern are the most I've ever had."
Magiere started for the door. "I'm going to make soup. You rest."
Before she stepped in the hallway, he called out softly, "I want to bury Brenden."
She didn't answer.
* * *
Later that morning, Magiere made large pots of tea and opened a cask of good ale, while Caleb left to call a town meeting. He promised to speak to as many people as possible. By midday, when he returned, Caleb had learned a number of important revelations that he reported to Magiere.
First, the bodies of two sailors were found dead on the beach. One's throat was literally torn open. The other was found up shore, closer to Miiska. His wrist and throat were punctured. Although no one spoke of it, Caleb said both bodies were so pale that the cause of their deaths left little to mystery.