Jack Templar and the Lord of the Vampires (16 page)

“Don’t worry, it’s just another tour. Unofficial,” he said.

Murmuring voices grew louder as the tunnel flickered with light. Soft laughter rolled toward us, followed by giggling when other voices hushed them. The first person appeared and, even in the dim light, I could make out that he looked just like Pahvi. He wore the same type of clothes, had a dark complexion with deep, brooding eyes, and slicked back hair. He didn’t look surprised to see Pahvi but looked annoyed when more giggling burst out behind him. He shot Pahvi a withering look. The newcomer looked like he’d had about enough of the people on his tour.

“Aiy, Kuchar,” Pahvi called cheerfully. “It sounds like you brought a large group with you tonight.” Underneath his over-the-top cheeriness, I thought I heard disapproval in his voice.

“Aiy, Pahvi,” the other guide replied miserably. “They make the noise of a crowd and the smell of one too.” He wrinkled his nose. “Germans.”

“Ahh,” replied Pahvi as if no other explanation were necessary.

“I charged them double price,” Kuchar confided. “But it should have been triple.”

Just then eight burly German guys barreled into the chamber. At least I thought they were all guys until two of them broke down into giggles again, and I realized they were just husky girls with short-cropped hair. They were a little older than us but probably still teenagers.

They barely gave us a second look as they gawked at the new room. One of the guys went up to the pillar in the center of the room and started tapping on a skull’s teeth, making some joke in German. He pinched one of the molars and wiggled it mercilessly until it popped out. The others roared with laughter, and it echoed in the small space. Kuchar glanced at us as if to say,
See what I have to deal with?
and then hurried forward to ask the German not to touch the skulls.

I pulled Pahvi aside. “Do we have to stay with them? To tell you the truth, I was more hoping to see some areas outside of the tourist areas.”

Pahvi held his candle up toward Eva. “Is that what you want?” Eva nodded. “Very well. I know many miles of the catacombs. But Kuchar here does not. My apology, but he and his…friends…must come with us.”

I was about to object and try to buy the gypsy off with more money, but Pahvi turned and strode from the room without another word. Kuchar was doing his best to shepherd his Germans back out of the room to follow him, using a flow of broken German, English, and French to convince them. I heard the phrase,
Get lost down here
, along with some choice curse words, and this seemed to hit home. The Germans quieted down, resorting to short, stifled comments and giggling as opposed to the outright rebellion against their guide earlier.

“Come on,” Eva said. “Let’s try to stay ahead of these guys.”

I agreed, and we quickly ducked into the tunnel where Pahvi had disappeared. His candle was surprisingly far ahead of us. We jogged to catch up to him, careful not to let our candles go out. Soon we reached an old, rusted door with a sign that translated into all languages. A circle with a diagonal line through it. The word
DANGER
was written below it in at least ten languages. Pahvi already had the door propped open and waved us through. “Welcome to the real adventure,” he said.

I stepped through the door and the change was immediate. While the tourist areas had rock floors, an effort had been made to keep them clean and to even apply concrete in some places to make it level. On the other side of the door, the floor was covered in thick dust. Debris was scattered around, human trash like soda cans and plastic bags, but also chunks of rock from the walls and ceiling. There was graffiti spray painted on the walls on either side of us, mostly names and dates. I hoped it was a list of people who had toured the catacombs from this entrance and not a memorial for the people who had gotten lost in its dark tunnels.

Eva and Pahvi stepped in behind me and I heard the Germans even farther back.

“Flashlights would make it easier to see everything,” Eva said to Pahvi.

“Sometimes it is better only to see part of something,” Pahvi replied in his most seductive voice, “and leave the rest to imagination. Besides, I find the candles…how you say…very romantic. Come, this way.”

Pahvi led the way down the left branch in a tunnel. I stuck my finger in my throat and pretended to gag myself. Eva punched me in the shoulder and followed him.

We spent the next half hour exploring room after room, enjoying the experience of seeing the catacombs in their raw state. The piles of bones continued to line the walls as did the macabre ways they were displayed. There was a deep sense of history and permanence to the place, as I guess you might expect from a place holding the remains of six million human beings who had died hundreds of years ago.  Each chamber held its own mystery. It was strangely soothing to inspect the walls by candlelight, exploring the shadows for interesting peculiarities.  Well, soothing until the Germans would catch up to us and turn our quiet candlelit tour into an unruly mosh-pit.

As we passed from room to room going deeper in the tunnels, Pahvi stayed close to Eva and spoke to her in low tones. He pointed out where there were carvings in the limestone. Or some interesting bit of graffiti from trespassers from the eighteenth century. Eva nodded and served as a good listener, but she also asked the questions that were important to us. How many entrances did he know of? (At least a dozen) Were there markings on the tunnel walls used for navigating the labyrinth? (Yes, certain geometric shapes carved into the base of the stone matched up with known paths.) Did the tunnels ever flood? (Not that he knew of.) Were there creatures that lived in the tunnels?

This last one brought Pahvi up short. I noticed his posture change from slouchy and easy-going to rigid. He stopped where he was and held his candle up a little higher as if seeing Eva for the first time.

“Sorry, what was your question?” he asked.

Either Eva missed the body language or she masterfully played it off. She ignored the fact that her escort had stopped in his tracks as she idly inspected a pile of skulls.  “Are there creatures who live down here? You know, like giant rats? Or maybe crocodiles like they say are in the sewers in New York?”

Pahvi relaxed a little, but I could tell he was suddenly more wary. I wondered if he had faced a creature in the caves before. Or perhaps knew rumors of the vampires whose lair was somewhere in these forsaken tunnels.

“No. No, creatures that I know of,” Pahvi said. “But there are wild things to be found here. I’ll take you to one of them if you want.”

I didn’t much care for the new Pahvi. There was a smooth fluidity to his movements now, his voice dropped an octave or two, and his hands flexed at his side. Alarms went off in my head. We were in danger.

“No, I think we’re fine,” I said. “Eva, we have friends waiting for us, remember?”

I bit my tongue as soon as I said her real name. Pahvi cocked his head. “Eva? That’s a much better name for you than Ashley. Here, will you hold my candle for me for a minute?” He held out his candle toward Eva’s left hand. Up to now, she’d been able to keep her missing hand hidden, a habit she had when in public to keep from sticking out and being noticeable. She stared at the candle, then at Pahvi. She reached out with the hook on her left hand, sank the sharp tip into the soft wax, and took the candle from him. The gypsy looked surprised, but his reaction appeared calculated to me, like a performance. Something told me he expected to see a hook. If so, then we really were in trouble.

Pahvi put his fingers to his lips and let out a piercing whistle so loud that Eva and I brought our hands up to cover our ears. When he was done, he took the candle back from Eva with an apologetic grin. “Sorry,” he said, “I should have warned you it was going to be loud.”

Seconds later, other whistles sounded from deep in the tunnels. Each had a slightly different signature to it. Some higher pitched, others low. Some ended with a musical flourish. There were dozens of them. Kuchar walked into the chamber in the middle of doing his own whistle. The Germans followed behind.

“Time to paaahr-tay,” one of them said, the only English any of them had spoken. The girls giggled and the guys high-fived one another.

“He’s right,” Pahvi said. “This is when we join the other unofficial tours and recreate the scene from the days of Louis XIV when these catacombs were used for lavish parties by the nobles. Come. Please.” He ducked through a door.

Eva was about to follow him when I caught her sleeve and pulled her back. “I don’t like this,” I said. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“We wanted to get a firsthand look at the catacombs. Who better to get on our side than a group of gypsies who give illegal tours through the off-limits areas?”

 “Didn’t you notice how he reacted to your name?” I said. “I feel like there’s something odd about your buddy, Pahvi.”

“Maybe it’s his ravishing good looks?” Eva teased. “Or his sultry eyes?” 

“You don’t feel like anything’s off about him?” I asked.

“The Romani are hard to read. Their history goes all the way back to the mystics in Northern India. They’re known to be well versed in magic and the occult. Maybe that’s what you’re feeling,” Eva said.

“Everything okay?” Pahvi said, poking his head back through the door.

“Yes,” Eva said pointedly. “Everything is fine. My young friend here was nervous about going to a party with older people is all.”

Pahvi gave me a sad shake of his head. “I remember what it was like to be young and inexperienced. Not to worry. I’ll take care of you personally.”

I gave what I hoped was a thankful grin, and Pahvi gave me a thumbs up and ducked back through the door.

“See?” Eva said. “I don’t think bad guys use the thumbs up sign. Come on, it’ll be fine.” She followed after Pahvi into the tunnel.

Reluctantly, I followed, a single question rattling around me head. Which one did Eva find the most interesting, Pahvi’s ravishing good looks or his sultry eyes? Maybe if I hadn’t been distracted by those ridiculous thoughts, I’d have seen we were walking right into a disaster.

W
e traveled quickly through a series of narrow tunnels, making so many turns that I could have sworn we were walking in circles.  Finally, a murmuring noise rolled down the tunnel toward us. At first I thought we had reached an underwater river, but as we got closer, the wall of sound broke up into individual voices. It was the underground party in full swing.

We entered a large, natural cave brightly it by hundreds of candles, each sitting on top of a skull, wax drippings pouring down the side. At least twenty other illegal explorers were already there, drinking bottles of wine and eating bread, cheese, and grapes presented on cutting boards spread throughout the room. It struck me that they were all young, under twenty by the look of it. They were an international crowd, from Latin America, Asia, India. I counted six other Romani guides milling among the customers, filling glasses, making sure their clients were comfortable. One of them strummed a guitar in the corner and sang softly, adding to the festive atmosphere. The Germans shoved past us and joined in the party, rudely grabbing a bottle from one of the other backpackers.

Eva and I remained apart from the group, taking it all in. Pahvi and Kuchar stood on either side of us.

“Look at them,” Pahvi said. “So much history around them, so much death to admire, and yet this is what they pay for.” His voice had dropped again into a deep, resonant tone, the lilting tone of the street hustler long gone. I noticed his accent drop away and he spoke flawless English. The hair on my arms stood on end. “They want to eat and drink among the strange and the macabre. To feel dangerous. To feel the weight of their own mortality.”

I noticed the Romani guides moved slowly but deliberately through the crowd, spacing themselves evenly throughout. They glanced at Pahvi as if awaiting instructions. Only too late did I realize what was really going on here.

Pahvi’s voice grew bitter. “They look down on us. The Romani have been here for centuries and will be here centuries from now. Yet, they think their money can make us do their bidding. Jump like trained dogs. So we show them the gypsy they expect, we chase their money because it’s what they understand, we play the street urchin and the beggar who will do tricks for that night’s bread. And then we bring them here.”

I put my hand on the dagger secretly strapped to my outer leg. The movements of the other Romani were too practiced, too well executed. If I wanted to set up an attack on the revelers, I would position my fighters exactly where the Romani had placed themselves.

“Here they see both their history and their future. They see death. If it touches them as it should, we part ways with respect.” Pahvi held up his hand in front of him. The other Romani watched, their bodies coiled.

“And if they aren’t touched by what you show them?” Eva said. I saw her own hand was on her weapon.

“Then we do not part ways. And we make sure they get an education. It’s what they wanted, right? What they paid for with their money? Only you and I both know that blood is the only real currency that matters.” He looked Eva in the eye, his brooding eyes now flashing with anger, his lips pulled back into a smile that looked more like a snarl. A snarl that showed his vampire teeth. “Wouldn’t you agree, monster hunter?”

Pahvi swiped his hand down and all hell broke loose.

The Romani around the cave, vampires every one of them, fell on the backpackers. Terrified screams filled the air.

I pulled on my dagger but before I had it halfway out, something that felt like a moving car slammed into me. My dagger flew out of my hand and skittered across the floor. I had no more than blinked when my arms were cranked back painfully behind me. I struggled, but there was no give. It felt like iron bars held me in place. Something worse than an iron bar found its way to my throat. The sharp edge of a cold metal blade pressed against my skin. Every time I struggled, it dug a little deeper until I felt a warm trickle of my blood.

“Release him,” Eva yelled, her voice nearly lost in the panicked screams in the cave.

Only then, did things slow down enough for me to understand what had happened. Eva had Kuchar in a chokehold, her hook to his throat. He snarled and spit like a rabid dog. The other Romani vampires were making their way through the backpackers, taking their time since all the exits to the cave were sealed. That meant that the immovable force holding me could only be Pahvi.

I strained against him with everything I had, but he didn’t even budge. It felt like pushing against a building. I’d never come across a Creach with that kind of strength before. My efforts were rewarded with another sting of the blade on my throat. Nothing serious, but enough to get my attention. I stopped struggling and the cries from the other backpackers being devoured by the vampires washed over me. It was a massacre, and I was powerless to stop it.

“I said release him!” Eva shouted. “Or I kill this one and then you next.”

Pahvi’s voice came from right next to my ear. “Eva the one-handed hunter. I’ve heard of you. We even have a name for you. Mans de Mort. Hand of Death. You have quite a reputation.”

“Then you know I’m serious,” Eva said. She met my eye, searching for any sign I might be able to make a move. I tried to shake my head only to have Pahvi’s blade cut into my skin.

“Yes, and so I know this probably doesn’t end well,” Pahvi said. One of the burly Germans ran toward us screaming. A Romani vampire flew through the air and latched onto his back. The German fell to the floor, and the vampire sank its face into his neck. The German cried out, his feet kicking violently as the vampire gorged on his blood. Pahvi smiled. “The evening certainly isn’t ending well for any of them.”

“Or for Kuchar here if you don’t let my trainee go and let us walk out of here,” Eva threatened.

Pahvi laughed. I felt his hot breath on my ear, and his body shook from it. I seized the moment and twisted my body, intending to pull out of the arm lock, execute a leg sweep and incapacitate this bothersome vampire with a swift kick to his head. Instead, I strained and didn’t move an inch. Pahvi stopped laughing.

“Your trainee isn’t very smart, is he?” Pahvi breathed into my ear. “Let me guess. Just past the safety of the Law of Quattuordecim? Think you can take on all of us nasty Creach single-handed now that you’re a member of the Black Watch?”

I glanced at Eva and saw it in her eyes.
He doesn’t know who you are. Keep it that way.
I struggled against his powerful arms again to no effect. My feet were free, so I kicked backward as hard as I could, connecting my heel to Pahvi’s shin. I might as well have kicked one of the stone walls. It might not have hurt the vampire, but it still made him mad.

 Pahvi snarled into my ear. “Maybe if I carved out one of your eyes you’d acquire some better manners.” I felt the blade lift from my throat and saw the point hover over my left eye. “You struggle one more time, trainee, and I take your eye, understand?”

I didn’t nod because the point of the dagger was so close to my eye that I felt it when I blinked.

“That’s better,” Pahvi said. “If you’re smart, you might be the one who makes it out of here alive.”

“What are you suggesting?” Eva asked.

“Simple. I know that if I kill this boy, you will kill my poor friend Kuchar there,” Pahvi explained. “Then you will try to kill me. You will fail, obviously, but if you are anything like your reputation, there is good chance I will need to kill you to stop you.”

“Don’t be too sure she’d fail,” I managed to say. Pahvi cuffed my head like he was scolding a dog.

“Touch him again and I’ll kill you slow instead of quickly,” Eva said. She obviously was playing up her reputation. 

Pahvi laughed again. “I like the fire in you. And your looks. I was considering keeping you even before I realized who you were.”

“How fortunate for me,” Eva said. Suddenly, Kuchar thrashed around in her arms. Eva slammed the flat side of her hook into his face, breaking his nose. Kuchar calmed down, whimpering. Pahvi shifted his weight behind me. It seemed that he cared what happened to his fellow vampire, a fact I knew Eva would exploit. I noticed the cave was quieter now. The Romani vampires had made short work of the backpackers and there were a few whimpers from the last ones being feasted on while they were still alive. “This is getting tiresome. If you have a point, make it,” Eva said.

“My master will want to talk to you,” Pahvi said. “I will let your trainee go if you swear on your honor that you will come peacefully.”

“No!” I shouted. Pahvi’s forearm was suddenly across my throat, choking off my air supply.

“How do I know you will keep your word?” Eva said.

“On the graves of my Romani ancestors,” Pahvi said gravely. “I will have your trainee placed on the streets of Paris.”

“Alive and unharmed,” Eva added. “I’m not a fool, Romani. Otherwise you could kill him and dump him on the street to satisfy your pledge.”

No! Don’t do it,
I wanted to scream. But already my vision was starting to blur from lack of oxygen from the chokehold.

Pahvi laughed. “You are smart as well. Very well, alive and unharmed. Do we have a bargain?

Eva made eye contact with me. There was defiance in the look, but also great sadness. She was brave, always brave. But I could tell she knew this was goodbye. I’d seen that look before. From my Aunt Sophie when she sacrificed herself for me. From Hester. From Aquinas when she’d taken an arrow meant for me. From my friends at the Academy when they stood by my side against the goblin army. It was a look I never wanted to see again, especially from Eva. I didn’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves for me. Not anymore. I wanted to tell this to Eva. Along with so many other things. But, as I saw her lips part to speak the words, I felt my last chance to ever say anything to her speed toward me.

“I agree,” she said, releasing Kuchar.

I remember feeling a blow to the side of my head. I remember falling to the ground and darkness rushing over me.

Just like that, my last chance to ever say anything to Eva had passed me by. Gone forever.

I don’t know how much time passed before I regained consciousness. I felt the rain on my face before I could get my eyes to open. I fought my way out of the black fog and managed to sit up. Fat raindrops pelted me, and I realized my clothes were soaked through. I rubbed my eyes and stared at the sight in front of me. The Eiffel Tower. Its enormous metal framework rose into the sky so high that the top was lost in the mist of the storm. The clouds lit up from lightning, followed by a boom of thunder. Under different circumstances, the sight would have amazed me. Right then, all I cared about was getting Eva back.

I staggered to my feet, holding my head where Pahvi had knocked me unconscious. I wondered what would happen to him once the Lord of the Vampires realized who I was and how close Pahvi had been to capturing me. I hoped she was the vengeful type and punished him horribly.

I shook my head, trying to focus. I knew from the maps of Paris that it was a long hike back to Notre Dame and the others. The Seine River passed near both the Eiffel Tower and the cathedral, so a water taxi would be perfect. I felt my pockets. Empty. They had taken my wallet, so a taxi of any kind was out of the question.

Across the street, I spotted a man on a moped pull up to a restaurant and run inside. There was a box attached to the back with an advertisement on it with the universal word
Pizza
written in bold letters. A delivery guy. And the moped appeared to be running.

Seconds later, I was hauling down the streets of Paris toward Notre Dame. I felt a pang of guilt for stealing the moped, but it was nothing compared to my anxiety about Eva. Besides, I wasn’t stealing it so much as borrowing it.

Even with the moped, it took me over fifteen minutes to reach the rundown motel where we were supposed to have met the others hours ago. As soon as I pulled up, Daniel ran out to the street.

“Where have you been?” He looked up the street. “Where’s Eva?”

Will, T-Rex, and Xavier streamed out, surrounding me.

“They got her,” I panted. “The vampires. She’s alive, but I don’t know for how much longer.”

Daniel made a move as if he planned to run and go look for her on his own. I grabbed his arm. “There are too many. And they’re too strong.”

“Then how did you get away?” Daniel demanded, not even bothering to hide the accusation in his voice. 

I resented the remark, but I understood emotions were high. “She traded her life for mine. They didn’t know who I was. I was in a chokehold with a knife to my throat. Otherwise I would have told them.”

Daniel looked away, knowing Eva well enough to know it was something she would do.