Night World : Daughters of Darkness Chapter 16

After that, matters happened very(prenominal) fast, and at the same(p) while with a woolgathering slowness. Mary-Lynnette snarlher arms grabbed from down. Something was pulling her hands together-somethingstrong. and so she feltthe bite of cord on her wrists, and she established what was happening.Tied up-Im going to be helpless-Ive got todosomething fast.She fought, trying to wrench herself a sort, trying to kick. But it was already also late. Her hands weresecure behind her plump for-and some severalise of her mind noned distantly that no curio hinge ony people on cop showsyell when theyre handcuffed. Ithurt. Her shoulders gave a shriek of agony as she was dragged backwardup against a tree.Stop tegumenting, a representative snarled. A thick, ill-shapen voice she didnt recognize. She tried to come everywherewho it was, tho the tree was in the way. If you relax itwont hurt.. Mary-Lynnette kept fighting, only it didnt make any difference. She could feel the deepl y furrowedbarkof the tree against her hands and back-and now she couldnt move.Oh, God, oh, God-1 cant get away. Iwas alreadyweak from what Ash and I did-and now I cant moveat all.Then stop panicking and withdraw, her inner voice say joltingly. Use your brain instead of getting hysterical.Mary-Lynnette stopped struggling. She s similarlyd heave and tried to get control of her terror.I t gaga you. It only if hurts when you fight. A lot of things are standardized that, the voice give tongue to.Mary-Lynnette twisted her head and maxim who it was.Her heart gave a sick lurch. She shouldnt set outbeen surprised, but she was-surprised and infi nitelydisappointed.Oh, Jeremy, she whispered.Except that it was a antithetic Jeremy than the one she knew. His caseful was the same, his hair, hisclothes-but on that point was something weird ab break him, something powerful and s railcary and unknowable. His look were as barbarian and flat as a sharks.I dont want to hurt you, he said in th at distorted strangers voice. I only tied you up because Ididnt want you to interfere.Mary-Lynnettes mind was registering divers(prenominal) things in different layers. One straggle said, MyGod, hestrying to be friendly, and another part said, Tointerferewith what? and a third part bonnie kept saying Ash.She looked at Ash. He was lyingverystill, andMary-Lynnettes wonderful new look that could seecolorsin moonlight aphorism that his blond hair was slowly soaking with blood. On the ground beside himwas a club do of yew do of the unstated yellow sapwood. No wonder he was unconscious.But if hes bleeding hes not dead-oh, God, please,he cantbe dead-Rowan said that only staking andburning kill vampires.I have to dumbfound hardihood of him, Jeremy said. And then Ill permit you go, I promise. in one case I explaineverything, youll understand.Mary-Lynnette looked up from Ash to the strangerwith Jeremys face. With a shock, she realized whathe meant by take apprehension of. Three w ords that were beneficial part of life to a hunterto a were animate being.So now I know ab bulge out werewolves. Theyre killers and I was proper all along. I was right and Rowan waswrong.Itll only take a minute, Jeremy said-and hislips drew back.Mary-Lynnettes heart seemed to slam violently inside her authority. Because his lips went farther up thanany mercifuls lips could. She could see his gums, whitish-pink. And she could see why his voice didntsound equivalent Jeremys-it was his teeth.White teeth in the moonlight. The teeth from herdream. vampire teeth were nothing compared to this.The incisors at the front were make for cutting fleshfrom prey, the canines were two inches long, the teethbehind them looked designed for slicing and shearing.Mary-Lynnette suddenly remembered-somethingVic Kimbles father had said three years ago. Hedsaid that a wolf could focal point off the tail of a full-grown cow clean as pruning shears. Hed beencomplaining that mortal had let a wolf-dog cr ossbreed looseand it was going after his cattle.Except that of course it wasnt a crossbreed, Mary-Lynnette thought. It was Jeremy. I motto him everydayat school-and then he must have gone hometo look a corresponding(p) this. Tohunt.Just now, as he stood over Ash with his teeth all exposed and his chest heaving, Jeremy looked altogether, restfully insane.But why? Mary-Lynnette burst out.Whydo youwant to hurt him?Jeremy looked up-and she got another shock. His eyes were different. Before shed seen them flashwhite in the darkness. Now they had no whites at all. They were brown with large liquid pupils. Theeyesof an animal.So it doesnt need to be a full moon, she thought. He can change anytime.Dont you know? he said. Doesnt anybody understand?This ismy territory.Oh.Oh So it was as fair as that. After all their brainstorming and arguing and detective work. In the end itwas something as staple fibre as an animal protectingits range.For a inquisition range, it is small, Rowan had sai d.They were taking my game, Jeremy said. My deer, my squirrels. They didnt have any right todothat. I tried to make them leave-but they wouldnt.They stayed and they kept killing.He stopped lecture-but a new sound came fromhim. It started out almost below the range of MaryLynnettes hearing-but the deep rumbling of itstruck some primal chord of terror in her. It was asuncannyand inhuman as the danger-hum of an at tacking swarm of bees.Growling. He was growling. And it wasreal.The snarling growl a dog makes that tells you to braid andrun. The sound it makes before it springs at your pharynx.Jeremy Mary-Lynnette screamed. She threwherself forward, ignoring the white blaze of pain inher shoulders. But the cord held. She was jerked back. And Jeremy overlook on Ash, lunging down, headdarting forward like a striking snake, like a biting dog, like every animal that kills with its teeth.Mary-Lynnette perceive someone screaming Noand only later realized that it was her. She was fight ingwi th the cord, and she could feel stinging and wetness at her wrists. But she couldnt get free andshecouldnt stop seeing what was happening in frontof her. And all the time that eerie, vicious growling thatreverberated in Mary-Lynnettes own head and chest.That was when things went c ancient and dear. Some part of Mary-Lynnette that was stronger than the panictook over. It stepped back and looked at the entire scene by the roadside the car, which was stillburning, sending clouds of strangling white smokewhenever the wind blew the right way the limpfigure ofAsh on the pine needles the blur of snarling motion that was Jeremy.Jeremy she said, and her throat hurt, but hervoice was calm-and commanding. Jeremy-beforeyou do that-dont you want me tounderstand? You said that was what you wanted. Jeremy,help meunderstand.For a long second she thought in dread that it wasnt going to work. That he couldnt flush hear her. Butthen his head lifted. She saw his face she saw the blood on his chin.Do nt scream, dont scream, Mary-Lynnette toldherself frantically. Dont show any shock. You have tokeep him talking, keep him away from Ash.Behind her back her hands were working automatically, as if trying to get out of ropes was somethingtheyd evermore known how to do. The slick wetness in truth helped. She could feel the cords slide a little.Please help me understand, she said again, breathless, but trying to behave Jeremys eyes. Imyour friend-you know that. We go back a long way.Jeremys whitish gums were streaked with red. He still had human features, but t here was nothing at allhuman about that face.Now, though-slowly-his lips came down tocover his gums. He looked more(prenominal)(prenominal) like a person andless like ananimal. And when he spoke, his voicewas distorted, but she could recognize it as Jere mys voice.We do go back, he said. Ive watched you sincewe were kids-and Ive seen you watchingme.Mary-Lynnette nodded.She couldntgetany words out.I always figured that someday , when we wereolder- possibly wed be together. I thought maybe Icould make you understand. nigh me. About everything. I thought you were the one person who mightnot be afraid.Im not, Mary-Lynnette said, and hoped hervoice wasnt shaking too badly. She was saying it toa figure in a blood-spattered habilitate crouching over a torn body like a beast still ready to attack.MaryLynnette didnt dare look at Ash to see how badly hewas hurt. She kept her eyes locked onJeremys. And I think I can understand. You killed Mrs. Burdock, didnt you? Because she was on yourterritory.Nother Jeremy said, and his voice was sharpwith impatience. She was just an old lady-shedidnt hunt. I didnt mind having her in my range. I tied(p) did things for her, like fixing her fence andporchfor free. And thats when she told methey were coming. Those girls.Just the way she told me, Mary-Lynnette thought, with dazed revelation. And he was there fixing thefence-of course. The way he does odd jobs for everybody.I told her it wouldnt work. Mary-Lynnette couldhear it again-the beginnings of a snarling growl.Jeremy was tense and trembling, and she could feel her self start to tremble, too. Three more hunters inthislittle place I told her, but she wouldnt listen. She couldnt see. So then I lost my temper.Dont look at Ash, dont call attention to him,Mary-Lynnette thought desperately. Jeremys lips were drawing back again as if he needed something toattack. At the same time the distant part of hermind said, So thats why he used a lookout=Ash was rightitwas an impulse of the moment.Well, anybody can lose their temper, she said, and even though her voice cracked and therewere tears in her eyes, Jeremy seemed to calm a little.Afterward, I thought maybe it was for the best, he said, sounding tired. I thought when the girlsfound her, theyd know they had to leave. I waited for them to do it. Im inviolable at waiting.He was staring previous(prenominal) her, into the woods. Heart pounding, Mary-Lynnette gr abbed the opportunity todarta look at Ash.Oh, God, hes not moving at all. And theres so muchblood.Ive never seen so much blood.She twisted her wrists back and forth, trying to find some give in the cords.I watched, but they didnt go away, Jeremy said.Mary-Lynnettes eyes jerked back to him.Instead youcame. I heard Mark talking to Jade in the garden. She said shed decided she was going tolike it here. And then I got mad. I made a noise and they heard me.His face was changing. The flesh was actually moving in front of Mary-Lynnettes eyes. His cheekboneswere broadening, his thread and verbalize jutting. Hairwas creeping between his eyebrows, turning them intoa straight bar. She couldsee individual coarse hairs sprouting, dark against macabre skin.Im going to be sick.Whats wrong, Mary-Lynnette? He got up and she saw that his body was changing, too. It wasstilla human body, but it was too thin-stretched out.As if it were just long bones and sinews.Nothings wrong, Mary-Lynnette got out in a whisper. She twisted violently at her cords-and feltone hand slide.Thats it. Now keep him distracted, keep him moving away from Ash.Go on, she said breathlessly. What happenedthen?I knew I had to send them a message. I cameback the next night for the goat-but you were thereagain. You ran away from me into the shed. Hemoved surrounding(prenominal) again and the moonlight caught hiseyes-and reflected. The pupils shone greenish-orange. Mary-Lynnette could only stare.That shadow in the clearing-those eyes I saw. Nota coyote.Him.He was following us everywhere.The very thought made her skin creep. But there was another thought that was worsethe picture of himkilling the goat. Doing it thrillfully, methodically-as a message.That was why he didnt eat the heart and liver,Mary-Lynnette realized. He didnt kill it for foodit wasnt anormal werewolf killing. And hes not a normal werewolf.He wasnt at all like what Rowan had described-a noble animal that catch to eat. Instead he was amad dog.Of all people,Ash had it right. Him and his jokes about rabies Youre so beautiful, you know, Jeremy said suddenly. Ive always thought that. I love yourhair.He was right in her face. She could see the individual pores in his skin with coarse hairs growing out ofthem. And she couldsmellhim-the feral smell ofa zoo.He reached out to touch her hair, and his handhad dark, thick fingernails. Mary-Lynnette could feelhereyes getting wider. Say something say some thing dont show youre afraid.You knew how Mrs. Burdocks husband was killed, she got out.She told me a long time ago, Jeremy said almost absently, still moving his fingers in her hair.Hed changed so much that his voice was getting hard to understand. I used little sticks from my modelsyou know I make models. And a black iris forhim.Ash. Jeremy said the name with pure hatred. I sawhim that day with his stupid T-shirt. The Black IrisClub . . . my uncle belonged to that once. Theytreatedhim like he was second-class.His eyes were inc hes from Mary-Lynnettes she felt the brush of a fingernail on her ear. Suddenlyshehad the strength to give a violent wrench behind her back-and one hand came free. She froze, afraid thatJeremy would notice.I threw the goat on the porch and ran, Jeremysaid, almost crooning the words as he pettedMaryLynnette. I knew you were all in there. I was somad-I killed that horse and I kept run. I cockeyed the gas station window. I was going to bum it downbut then I decided to wait.Yes,and yes, and yes, Mary-Lynnette thought, even as she carefully worked her other wrist free,even asshe stared into Jeremys crazy eyes andsmelled his animal breath. Yes, of course it was youwe heardrunning away-and you didnt fall into the hole in the porch because you knew it was there, because youwere fixing it. And yes, you were the one who smashed the window-who else would hate the gas stationbut somebody who worked there?0Her fingers eased the cord off her other wrist. She felt a surge of fierce triumph-but sh e controlled herexpression and clenched her hands, trying to thinkof what to do. He was so strong and so quick if shejust threw herself at him, she wouldnt have a chance.And today you all came to town together, Jeremy said, finishing the story quietly, through amouth so inhuman it was hard to believe it could speak English. I heard the wayhe was talking toyou. Iknew he wanted you-and he wanted to change you into one of them. I had to protect you from that.Mary-Lynnette said almost steadily, I knew youwanted to protect me. I could tell, Jeremy. She wasfeeling over the furrowed hemlock bark behind her.How could she attack him when she didnt even havea stick for a weapon? And even if shehad,wood was no good. He wasnt a vampire.Jeremy stepped back. quietus washed over Mary-Lynnette-for one second. Then she saw with horrorthat he was plucking at his shirt, pulling it off. And underneath there was no skin. Instead there washair. A pelt that twitched and shivered in the night air. I foll owed you here and I fixed your car so youcouldnt leave, Jeremy said. I heard you say youwanted to be a vampire.Jeremy-that was justtalk.He went on as if she hadnt spoken. But that was a mistake. Werewolves are much better. Youllunderstand when I show you. The moon looks so beautiful when youre a wolf.Oh,Godand so that was what he meant by pro tecting her, by making her understand. He meantchanging her into something like him.I need a weapon.Rowan had said silver was harmful to werewolves,so the old silver-bullet legend must be true. But shedidnt haveasilver bullet. Or even a silver dagger A silver dagger a silverknife Behind Jeremy the station station wagon was almost invisible in the clouds of smoke. And by now the smokehad the red glow of uncontrolled fire.Its too dangerous, Mary-Lynnette thought. Itsabout to go. Id never make it in and out.Jeremy was still talking, his voice savage now.You wont miss the Night World. All their stupidrestrictions-no killing humans, no hunting too often. Nobody tells me how to hunt. My uncle tried,but Itook care of him-Suddenly the creature-it wasnt really a personanymore-broke off and turned sharply. Mary-Lynnettesaw its lips go back again, saw its teeth parted and ready to bite. In the same instant she sawwhy-Ashwas moving. session up, even though his throat was cut. Looking roughly dazedly. He saw Mary-Lynnette, and his eyesseemed to focus. Then he looked at the thing Jeremy had become.You-get away from herl he shouted in a voiceMary-Lynnette had never heard before. A voicefilledwith lethal fury. Mary-Lynnette could see himchange position in a swift, graceful motion, gatheringhis muscles under him to jumpBut the werewolf jumped kickoff. Springing like ananimal-except that Jeremy still had arms, and onehandwent for the yew club. The club smashed sideways into Ashs head and knocked him flat. And then it fell,bouncing away on the carpet of needles.The werewolf didnt need it-it was baring itsteeth. It was going to tear Ashs throat out, like the horse,like the bum Mary-Lynnette was running.Not toward Ash. She couldnt help him barehanded. She ran toward the car, into the clouds of chokingsmoke.Oh, God, its hot. Please let me just get there.She could feel the heating plant on her cheeks, on her arms. She remembered something from an elementaryschool safety class and dropped to her knees, scrambling and crawling where the air was cooler.And then she heard the sound behind her. The most eerie sound there is-a wolf howling.It knows what Im doing. Its seen that knife everytime I jab off my gas cap. Its going to stop me.She threw herself blindly into the smoke and heat,and reached the car. Orange flames were shootingcrazily from the engine, and the entre handle burnedher hand when she touched it. She fumbled,wrenching at it.Open,openThe door swung out. Hot air blasted around her. If shed been completely human she wouldnt havebeenable to stand it. But shed exchanged blood withfour vampires in two days, and she wasnt completelyhuman anymore. She wasnt Mary-Lynnette any more but was she capable of killing?Flames were licking up beneath the dashboard. Shegroped over smoking vinyl and shoved a hand underthe drivers seat.Find it Find itHer fingers touched metal-the knife. The silverfruit knife with the straightlaced scrolling that shed borrowedfrom Mrs. Burdock. It was very hot. Her handdosed on it, and she pulled it from under the seatandturned just as something came flying at her from behind.The turning was instinctive-she had to face whatwas attacking her. But what she would always knowafterward was that she could have turned withoutpointing theknife at what was attacking her. at that place wasa moment in which she could have slanted it backward or toward the ground or toward herself. And ifshed been the Mary-Lynnette of the old days,she might have done that.She didnt. The knife faced outward. Toward the shape jumping at her. And when the thing arrive ontop of her she felt impact in her wrist and all theway up her arm.The distant part of her mind said, It went in cleanlybetween the ribs.And then everything was very confused. Mary-Lynnette felt teeth in her hair, snapping for her neck. Shefelt claws scratching at her, leaving welts on her arms. The thing attacking her was hairy and heavy and itwasnt a person or even a half-person. It was a large, snarling wolf.She was still holding the knife, but it was hard to keep her grip on it. It jerked around, wriggle her wristin an impossible direction. It was buried in the wolfs chest.For just an instant, as the thing pulled away, she got a good look at it.A beautiful animal. Sleek and handsome, but withcrazy eyes. It was trying to kill her with its last pantbreath.Oh, God, you hate me, dont you? Ive chosen Ashover you Ive hurt you with silver. And now youredying. You must feel so betrayed.Mary-Lynnette began to shake violently. She couldnt do this anymore. She let go of the knife andpushed and kicked at the wolf with her arms andlegs. Half scrambling and half scooting on her back, shemanaged to get a few feet away. The wolf stood silhouetted against a background of fire. She couldsee itgather itself for one last spring at her there was a very soft, contained poof. The entirecar lurched like something in agony-and then thefireball was everywhere.Mary-Lynnette cringed against the ground, halfblinded, but she had to watch.So thats what it looks like. A car going up inflames. Not the kind of big explosion you hear in themovies. Justa poof. And then just the fire, going up and up.The heat drove her away, still crawling, but she couldnt stop looking. Orange flames. That was allherstation wagon was now. Orange flames shooting every which way out of a metal skeleton on tires.The wolf didnt come out of the flames.Mary-Lynnette sat up. Smoke was in her throat,and when she tried to yell Jeremyl it came out as ahoarse croak.The wolf still didnt come out. And no wonder, with a silver knife in its chest and fire all around it.Mary-Lynnette sat, arms wrapped around herself,and watched the car bum.He would have killed me. comparable any good hunter. I had to defend myself, I had to save Ash. And thegirls he would have killed all of them. And thenhed have killed more people like that hiker. He was crazyand completelyevil, because hed do anything to get what he wanted.And shed seen it from the beginning. Somethingunder that straightlaced guy exterior-shed seen it over andover, but shed kept letting herself get convinced it wasnt there. She should have trusted her feelingsin thefirst place. When shed realized that shedsolved the mystery of Jeremy Lovett and that it wasnt a happyending.She was shaking but she couldnt cry.The fire roared on. Tiny sparks showered upward.I dont care if it was justified. It wasnt like killingin my dream. It wasnt easy and it wasnt naturaland Illnever forget the way he looked at me. Then she thought,Ash.Shed been so deactivate shed almost forgotten him. Now sh e turned around, almost too frightened tolook. She made herself crawl over to where he was still lying.So much blood how can he be all right? But if hes dead if its all been for nothing But Ash was breathing. And when she touched hisface, trying to find a clean place in the blood, hemoved. He stirred, then he tried to sit up. beat there. Jeremys shirt and jeans were on the ground. Mary-Lynnette picked up the shirt anddabbed at Ashs neck. Ash, keep still.He tried to sit up again. Dont worry. Ill protectyou.Lie down, Mary-Lynnette said. When he didnt, she pushed at him. Theres nothing to do. Hesdead.He sank back, eyes shutting. Did I kill him?Mary-Lynnette made a choked sound that wasnt exactly a laugh. She was trembling with relief-Ashcould breathe and talk, and he even sounded like hisnormal fatuous self. Shed had no idea how goodthatcould sound. And underneath the swabbing shirt she could see that his neck was already healing.Whathad been gashes were becoming flat pink scars.Vampi re flesh was incredible.Ash swallowed. You didnt answer my question.No. You didnt kill him. I did.His eyes opened. They just looked at each other for a moment. And in that moment Mary-Lynnetteknew they were both realizing a lot of things.Then Ash said, Im sorry, and his voice had never been less fatuous. He pushed the shirt awayand satup. Im so sorry.She didnt know who reached first, but they were holding each other. And Mary-Lynnette was thinkingabout hunters and danger and laughing at death. About all the things it meant to really belong to the night.And about how she would never look in the mirror and see the same person she used to see.At least its over now, Ash said. She could feel his arms around her, his affection and solidity, hissupport. There wont be any more killings. Its over.It was, and so were a lot of other things.The first love child was hard to get out. So hard thatshed have thought there would be a better beforethenext-but, no. There was no pause between that on e and the next, or the next or the next. She cried for along time. And the fire burned itself out and the sparks flew upward and Ash held her all the while.