Owl and the Japanese Circus (39 page)

The first drop of water hit my face. At first, I thought it had to be a mistake. What kind of an idiot rigs a museum with sprinklers?
Then the second and third drops hit, and Captain howled inside his carrier.

Behind me, Nadya swore. “That was what the faculty was arguing with the firemen about,” she said.

I hesitated. The spell scrolls in my jacket and purse would be OK—magic is a real bitch that way—but everything else in the case I’d broken would be ruined in a matter of minutes.

“Here, take Captain and go,” I said.

“Don’t you dare—”

But I had already bolted. “One minute,” I yelled back at Nadya. I skidded to a halt in front of the broken case, my sneakers squeaking against the linoleum. Maybe I could stash the scrolls under something . . . or at least save a few and sell them to interested buyers who knew not to install an automatic sprinkler system. I reached the case—some of the scrolls were already wet—and grabbed four that had ancient Balinese on them, pushing them into the other side of my jacket. The rest I could . . . Oh, hell, I didn’t know what I was going to do with the rest of the scrolls. I couldn’t fit all of them.

“Looky, looky what we got here,” I heard a familiar, singsong voice say from the main stairway behind me.

Bindi.

With the sprinklers going, I’d missed any residual rotting lily of the valley wafting off them. I started to edge around the cabinet so I could make a run for it . . .

“Stop right there, birdbrain, or I’ll shoot,” Bindi said, making a show of the gun in her hand.

I did as I was told . . . holding a broken piece of Plexiglas.

“Now raise your hands up and turn around.
Slowly
.”

“Sure thing,” I said, and launched a piece of broken glass at her head.

She screamed and ducked out of the way. Leave it to a good old-fashioned California girl to protect her face. I ran for it.

“Nadya, run,” I said, hoping to hell she’d left with Captain already.

Someone slammed into me from behind and knocked me to the floor, hard. I kicked and tried to scramble away, but they had a solid grip on my ankle. I managed to twist myself around so my face wasn’t planted into the tile floors. Red had my legs pinned down and Bindi stood over me, hands on her hips and grinning. One look at Red’s drawn and haggard face told me who’d been getting the better deal over the past few days. “I’d fold your cards now, Red. You won’t last another week with Sabine,” I said.

Shock flickered across his face, chased by a vicious snarl. His fist slammed into the side of my head. “Says the woman ruining the entire East India Company’s collection.”

It was my turn to be shocked. “
I’m
ruining it? The hell I am! I’m not the idiot who put a sprinkler system in—”

Red snorted and I sighed. There was no winning. And no use explaining it was an accident. Besides, he’d just hit me again.

Bindi knelt beside me, her wet hair brushing my face. There was something different about her . . . somehow she seemed less of an addict than she had a few days ago . . .

“You know, I really should thank you. We’d have never found the scrolls on our own. Good thing we knew you’d be here.”

I closed my eyes. Oricho must have told Lady Siyu, or she’d found out where we’d been heading and let Marie know.

Why didn’t anyone ever listen to me?

Bindi was still smiling as she leaned in until she was an inch from my face. Red had me pinned down so tight that I couldn’t even twist my head away from her. She began to sniff my skin, and a fresh hit of rotten lily of the valley hit me.

Shit, she was a vampire. And she was drinking from the same pot of crazy juice Marie was.

“Let’s see what you have in here, shall we?” she said, and pulled open my jacket. She grew enraged as she pulled the Balinese scrolls out. She waved them in my face. “Which one is it?” she said.

Poker face, don’t fail me now.
I tried to look pissed. Bindi slugged me.

“Give me that,” Red said, and shifted his weight so his legs were pinning me. He held out his hand for the scroll. After a moment he frowned. “These aren’t them, they’re Balinese. Check her again.”

Bindi glared at Red before reaching into the other side of my jacket. I could tell she was supposed to be the dominant one in this relationship and didn’t like Red questioning her, even when he was right.

Instead of going for my bag, Bindi found the spell scroll hidden under my shirt. “What about this one?” she said, handing it off to Red. I started to struggle.

“That’s not it—” I started, but Bindi slugged me again. It had the desired effect; she stopped looking.

Red tried to shelter the scrolls in the remnants of the broken case. He frowned. “I can’t tell for sure. The symbols aren’t distinct enough. I think this is it,” he said.

Bindi snatched the scroll back from Red. I cringed, half expecting it to explode.

While Bindi struggled to read the scroll, I caught a shadow move behind the clipper hull. It was Nadya, with something slung over her shoulder, moving undetected under the sounds of the sprinklers and the arguing. Without alerting Red, I strained to see what she was carrying. It was an old musket with a bayonet from the armory display. “What do we do with her?” Red asked.

Bindi smiled and I felt my heart race, but not out of fear. Bindi had been lying on me now for a few minutes. I’d been careful with my breathing, but pheromones were still hitting my system.

“Sabine wants her alive, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play with her first.” Bindi showed me her fangs. “Now tell me, little birdy, where’s your friend and the cat? Sabine’s been asking about them too.”

“Eat garlic, bitch,” I said, and spat in her face, fighting the pheromone pull.

She just smiled wider, not the least bit fazed. “Keep it up, canary. As soon as I bite you, you’ll be begging to tell me everything.”

I made a face at her, trying not to glance over and give Nadya
away. She was almost behind Bindi and Red now. A few more steps and she’d be in striking range . . . I’d need to give her a distraction.

“I think I’ll make you skin your cat. For kicks,” Bindi said.

“Wonder what the Paris boys will do when they catch you? Not too much of a worry, I guess, since Sabine will have eaten you by then.”

Rage took over her otherwise pretty features. “Why you little—How
dare
you speak about Sabine that way—”

Nadya stepped out from behind the ship hull and drove the bayonet through Bindi’s chest. She jerked forward, and Red loosened his grip on me. It was all the chance I needed. I drove my elbow into his face and connected hard with his nose. “I’ll take those, thank you very much,” I said, and grabbed back the scrolls. No sense breaking the ruse now. I scrambled out from under him and ran for the door.

“Nadya, run! She’s a vampire now,” I yelled. Nadya swore and dodged as Bindi lunged for her. The bayonet did little more than piss Bindi off, but lucky for us it was giving her logistical problems; she couldn’t maneuver fast enough.

Nadya slipped by her and was a few steps behind me when Red recovered enough to trip her. She fell with a yelp and started to drive her boot into his face. He yelled as she connected with his already broken and bleeding nose.

But by that point Bindi had pulled the bayonet out and was heading straight for Nadya. “Sabine told me about you,” she said, as she closed in.

I slid to a stop behind the clipper hull. Nadya could handle Red on her own; it was Bindi I was worried about. I glanced around the exhibit for something to distract her with.

Captain’s carrier was sitting by the black stairwell door, where Nadya must have left it. I did a double take. Captain was almost through the mesh. I
pss’t
to get his attention as quietly as I could. He saw me and chewed through the last bit of mesh keeping him inside. He bunched himself, ready to charge the vampire. I help up my hand and hoped to hell he’d stay. He wasn’t happy, but he waited.

OK, now I needed another distraction.
Come on, think, Owl,
think
 . . . I noticed the fluorescent light flickering behind Bindi. The bayonet was a foot or two away. I hoped the grad students here never bothered checking for ammo either, then dove for it.

“Hey, Bindi. The name’s Owl,” I said. I raised the musket and pulled the trigger, but it didn’t fire.

Shit.

Bindi smiled. “Missed me,” she said, exposing her fangs.

Well, so much for that idea. OK . . . time for another one.

I hurled the bayonet at the fluorescent lights. Bindi kept smiling until the bayonet cracked the casing and the bare UV light registered on her skin.

Bindi started to smoke. She screamed, but I wasn’t anywhere close to done with her yet. I whistled. On cue, Captain came barreling out from behind the display case and launched himself onto Bindi in a white and brown ball of Mau cat fury. He growled and bit into the back of her neck.

Bindi’s screams reached a new high, as if she’d never imagined something so painful in her wildest dreams. She reached for Captain, who was making short work out of her back.

Red, stunned and not sure what to do with Bindi screaming, still held Nadya’s leg.

“Let go of her,” I said, running over and driving my foot into his stomach. He let go of Nadya and rolled out of the way. I jumped onto his back and sank my arm around his throat.

Bindi was still screaming.

“You know what happens to Sabine’s thralls, don’t you?” I whispered in his ear as I pulled the choke tight, cutting the blood supply to his brain.

He grunted. “Every minute in Sabine’s service is worth it. I get to be a vampire, just like Bindi.”

Man, Marie gave these guys a ride down to rock bottom at warp speed. I was guessing from Red’s happy and sane demeanor that he had a lot of vampire pheromones coursing through his system. Didn’t
mean I wasn’t going to try and get it through his thick skull. “Who the hell do you think Sabine is getting her meals from, moron? It’s only a matter of time before she drains Bindi dry. You’re next on the menu. You’re not her subject, you’re just the duck she’s stuffing to make pate—Ow!”

Red bit down on my hand, the one holding my choke in place. I shook my head and straightened out. Some people just don’t want to be helped. Red gurgled, but I didn’t let go until I was certain he was out cold.

I brushed the water out of my eyes and stood to see where Nadya and Bindi had gotten. I was soaked and had a hard time getting my wet hair out of my face.

“Owl!” Nadya yelled.

It took me a minute to realize they’d headed back into the scroll room where I’d smashed the display cabinet. I ran after them, but not before grabbing my pack and tossing my gas mask on. I reached them in time to see Bindi madly trying to dislodge Captain as Nadya stabbed her with the bayonet, again and again. Then Nadya stumbled. She shook her head, as if trying to focus. She tried to lift the bayonet up again but failed. Vampire pheromones are not water soluble, so the sprinklers did nothing to dull the effect. And despite, or maybe because of, Captain, Bindi was giving her the full effect. Nadya would be out cold soon.

“Nadya” I yelled. She saw me and stumbled over. I handed her my pack. “There’s another gas mask in there,” I said. She got it out and fastened it around her face. She’d be OK, but there was no way she’d be able to fight.

“Time to get the hell out of here,” she said.

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Bindi almost had Captain, so I whistled him off. He shot me a dirty look, growled, and bit down harder.

Shit, Bindi had too much vampire blood.

With a last scream she latched onto the scruff of Captain’s neck
and pulled him off. She held him out at arm’s length and shot me a look of pure murder. I had my flashlight and gas mask, but if I lost that . . . I shook my head. If I couldn’t pull this off, we’d all be dead. I readied my UV flashlight. “Drop my cat, bitch.”

“Make me,” Bindi said with a smile. The fact that she was soaking wet and sashaying towards me made her look even more the crazy surfer chick than when she’d been alive.

“Happy to,” I said, and turned my flashlight on her eyes. She snarled and covered them with her free hand. But even as smoke began to rise off her, she kept hold of Captain and started towards me.

I was out of ideas. “Nadya, run,” I said.

“No,” she said.

I started to argue, but the look on her face told me there was no point. She wasn’t leaving.

I swore as Bindi staggered towards me, hate on her face and Captain a vicious ball of fury in her hand. She’d kill me, take the scrolls, and then kill Captain and Nadya, or worse. It dawned on me that this was all my fault. I’d been stupid not to wait for Rynn and now, hell, now he’d show up and they’d probably kill him too.

Marie had set the bait, and I’d strolled right into her trap.

“I—am going to slice—you—into a thousand pieces—and—stitch—you—back—together—so—I can do it—again,” Bindi said, now no less than three feet away. The purple welts from Captain’s bites made her look like living death.

I swore. I was out of tricks and ideas. Not only was I going to pay for it with my life but so were my friends. Someone should give me an award—worst friend ever.

Bindi’s face contorted into a mask of rage, then surprise. She let go of Captain, who started his attack again, then she dropped to her knees and reached behind her before falling forward. Three darts were lodged in the back of her ruined hoodie. Rynn stood behind her in a fireman’s jacket, holding a crossbow.

I ran and threw my arms around his neck. “I’ve never been so glad
to see someone.” He squeezed back, but only briefly. He put me at arm’s length, not bothering to hide that he was furious.

“Get your cat, I’ll get Nadya. I’ve locked the doors to the second floor from the inside, but they’ll be through with axes soon.”

Even I know when to keep quiet. Captain had latched back onto Bindi and was trying to pull chunks out of her. After a lot of growling and hissing, I managed to pull him off. I held him up, a piece of Bindi’s skin in his mouth. “So not cool, Captain. So not cool.”

“Come on,” Rynn said, and headed towards the stairwell.