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“What an unusual instrument.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
My frantic mindtried to think of some reply, but my mouth was too dry to respond.
“You may study Miss Lucas’ instrument another time, Commander,” Callidus spoke up as he nodded down at Werd’s limp body. “But for the moment, we need to get this man inside, so if you would give Miss Lucas her flute back and help me lift him.”
Edouard reluctantly handed me the instrument which I quickly tucked into the canister. We four took up the heavy burdens of the men and managed to drag Ben and Werd into the parlor. Dreda and I set Ben in a chair close to the fire while Werd received the sofa treatment.
Dreda stepped back and pursed her lips as she looked down at Ben, but I could see that one eye was focused on Werd. I smiled up at her. “I’ll handle him. You go to Werd.”
She looked like a woman eager to obey but reluctant to sever the ties of family. “You’re sure?”
I nodded at Werd. “Go on. He needs you more.”
She squeezed Ben’s shoulder before she slipped over to the sofa. That left Ben all to myself and I knelt beside the left arm. “How are you feeling now?” I whispered.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Better. The chill is fading.”
“What happened in there?” I asked him.
He took a deep, shuddered breath before he opened his eyes and stared into the fire. “Werd has acquired quite the preternatural strength. We wrested for a long while before the cold from the fog became too unbearable for both of us. He collapsed first and I am as you see me, weakened and with a sense of what an ice cube feels like.”
I looked him over. “So no extra arms or a thirst for blood?”
He shook his head. “No, and I don’t believe Werd has a taste for that, either.”
I leaned back and frowned. “I think he had a taste for something.”
Ben nodded. “I believe that, too, but not for blood.” He tilted his head to the left and studied the limp figure on the couch. Dreda knelt beside the sofa with one hand wrapped around Werd’s. “From what I saw, I believe he was trying to extract your life force.”
My eyes widened. “My life force? Like sucking my soul out?”
“Perhaps not that deep,” Ben assured me.
I wasn’t assured. “So we’re not dealing with a bloodsucker, but a life force sucker? That doesn’t sound any better.”
“You know this man?” Callidus asked Dreda.
She didn’t take her eyes off Werd as she nodded. “He’s my groundskeeper.”
“From what Miss Lucas was discussing with Count Castle, I would assume something horrible has happened to him.”
Dreda bowed her head and closed her eyes. “It has. He. . .he has become something akin to a vampire.”
Edouard’s eyebrows crashed down. “Then we should destroy him for our own safety. It would be an act of mercy for the gentleman.”
Dreda whipped her head up and glared at the commander. “You will do nothing of the sort!”
“I quite agree with Dreda,” Callidus spoke up as he frowned at his companion. “We shall not destroy any man in his affliction, even one such as vampirism.”
“He is not a vampire!” Dreda insisted as she tightened her grip on Werd’s hand. “The fog has affected and changed him into this strange creature, but that is no fault of his own!”
Fysan flew in and landed on top of the chair occupied by Ben. “My Lady, the fog has crept back against the house. I believe it’s trying to gain entry.”
“Then let it try,” Dreda dared as she knitted her eyebrows together. “No one has ever breached these walls.”
“Do not tempt fate, Dreda,” Callidus gently scolded her as he set a hand on her shoulder. “There is something more here than we have deduced. A great and evil power works against us to poison the land and I have no doubt the intended goal is to stop the truce.”
