was a child. He crossed to the window and looked out over the abbey grounds, past the cemetery, and to the forest beyond. “Some should remain to guard Deaglan while the rest make preparations.”
Something crashed against the inside of the large oak door. Matilda let out a cry, and we all turned towards it. Another loud bang followed the first.
“He’s awake,” Maggie said.
Vambéry stepped back from the door. “Who is awake? You said he was nothing but body parts in a box.”
Ellen raised a finger to her lips. With her free hand, she reached out and grasped my forearm. I heard her voice in my head:
* * *
? ? ?
DRACUL CAN SEE AND HEAR by utilizing Deaglan as a conduit; they are of the same blood. As long as my beloved remains locked in that room, isolated, Dracul cannot tell where he is. He is blind, and the location unknown to him. If he knew, he would surely come for Deaglan, for us. We must not speak of the locale or our plans, not aloud, not here. Dracul is near, though, so very near. Deaglan cannot be left unguarded, not now.
* * *
? ? ?
HAD I UNDERSTOOD what was to come, what sacrifices would need to be made, what cost would be incurred by us all, I might not have volunteered to stay overnight in the Whitby Abbey tower keep and watch over Deaglan O’Cuiv’s remains while the others prepared for our journey—not with Vambéry, maybe not at all.
* * *
? ? ?
17 AUGUST 1868, 9:30 p.m.—It is important to note that it had to be me who stayed behind. I did not trust Vambéry alone, none of us did after his outburst, and he insisted on staying. If given the opportunity, Vambéry would probably open the door and set Deaglan’s remains afire. He would rain down destruction upon us no matter the penalty. Patrick O’Cuiv must have harbored similar feelings because he insisted on remaining in the tower as well. Thornley and the others left to book passage and settle our bill at the inn. They would then wait there until morning. We all agreed that it would be best to leave at first light, when Dracul and the undead were at their weakest and most vulnerable.
I was right to worry about Vambéry, for the moment the others left he announced, “Whatever is inside this room is evil, Bram. It cannot be allowed. We need to end it.”
He said this with no regard to Patrick O’Cuiv, who was standing at the window, an unmoving sentry.
Vambéry’s cane leaned against the wall in the far corner, out of his reach. I felt ill at ease around this man, friend to Thornley or not; he regarded me in much the same way he did Patrick. Part of me expected him to wield that sword to try to strike us both down. Thornley insisted such was not the case. Vambéry was a reasonable man, he said. But, still, I could not help but distrust him.
“You heard what Ellen said. The man behind this door is not our enemy.”
“What lies behind this door is not a man at all,” Vambéry replied. He had brought our bags into the room and was shuffling through their contents. “I do not trust your Ellen or her traveling companions any more than I trust Dracul. I think you are blinded by some childhood allegiances and memories. You and your brother and sister are not thinking rationally, so I must do the thinking for one and all.”
He pulled out a large crucifix and held it up to the lamplight.
Although Patrick O’Cuiv’s back was turned, he somehow sensed the cross’s presence. He turned around and faced Vambéry. “Put that away!” he hissed.
“I will not. If our purpose here tonight is to keep strigoi out, then I plan to do just that. Perhaps you should wait outside.”
O’Cuiv gave me a weary look, then moved past us both in an instant, finding a place in the hallway just outside the room.
Vambéry pulled out a hammer and nails and affixed the cross to the wall next to the door. He then retrieved a