Although she silently believed that Kli Kodesh was well aware of the possibilities, she supported him on her shoulder and the two of them hurried back to the cliff face and the tunnel. He had, for good or ill, saved her yet again. The least she could do was escort him to whatever the fates had in store. They slid into the tunnel and disappeared from sight.

EIGHTEEN.

Gustav and Kli Kodesh stood on the wall of the keep, staring down the mountain. Neither had spoken since they exited to that walkway, but the tension in the air was thick.Finally Gustav could stand no more.

"You led them here, all of them. You spent years building this place, hiding it, fortifying it through me. We have labored long and put more into this than I care to think of."

"Yes," Kodesh nodded, not really paying attention, "you have done well."

Gustav stopped, spinning the ancient one against the stone wall, his eyes blazing. "Why have we done it? Why do you move us around this ridiculous chessboard as if you knew your opponent, then laugh and toss us away, sacrificed before the game truly begins?"

Kodesh was taken aback for a moment. Blinking slowly, he glanced at Gustav, a slow smile sliding across his face. "You are not sacrificed, old friend.

You are not even set up to lose. If you think about it, there are very few who might have found you out, who might have presented a danger, eventually, to what you have accomplished. I have brought them here all at once to be rid of them.

That is all."

Gustav stared at the old one darkly. "That is insane," he said softly.

"I could have done away with any of them at any point in Rome, and you know it. I had more than enough knowledge and power to lure Montrovant in and trap him, and he would have come. The others would not have come at all with Montrovant out of the way."

Kodesh watched him for a moment before answering.

"You have indeed learned a lot, Gustav, secrets guarded by Santos for so long that they might have crumbled to dust had we not wrested them from his grip. The books, the learning, the years, they have served you well. I am very happy to have chosen you when I did, and you have done a remarkable job as guardian thus far.

"Know this though, those secrets are guarded for good reasons. I have caused them to be locked away here, beyond even your reach, because I am not ready to be responsible for them being unleashed on the world."

"I was not planning on releasing anything to the world," Gustav said, his anger boiling over again.

"I would have used them to rid us of Montrovant, and that is all."

"You don't understand the nature of such objects Gustav," Kodesh replied, his eyes far away. "I truly believe you think that is what you would have done, and I truly believe you would have accomplished your goal. There are some very powerful objects in your control.

"The power would have corrupted you. Not soon, perhaps, but what is time to us, Gustav? The sheer boredom of existence would have done you in.

Then there would have been none left to stand before you. It is a losing battle, Gustav, with the years. Each pa.s.sing decade, or century, a bit more of what you were slips away, and you grow a bit more frantic to replace it with something, anything.

The problem is that nothing will do it.

Nothing can fill the gaps left as you disintegrate into a monster."

The anger had not burned out of Gustav's gaze at this outburst, but he had calmed. Shaking his head and turning away, he spat his answer.

"You have made me nothing, then, but a feeble, failed attempt to fill gaps in your own decay. You have brought them here and given them half a chance at success, leaving it to me to entertain you by repelling their advance. Your words about power might be true, my friend, but if they are, you are the prime example of all history. My only sorrow is that once I was proud to be part of this."

Striding away quickly, Gustav slipped through one of the stone arches and down the stairs into the huge keep. He did not look back, and Kodesh made no move to follow, or to speak further. His eyes darkened for just a moment, then the glitter returned, and an odd half- smile, half-sneer rippled across his lips. Moving slowly he made his way along the wall, reached the corner, and slipped up onto the stone edge, peering down into the shadows below.

Without a sound he slid over that edge and was gone, crawling down the sheer wall as if it there were steps carved in the stone. Below the only sounds were those of the two knights, beating through the brush, looking for evidence of where their companions had gone, or if they lived.

A hoa.r.s.e shout indicated that St. Fond had come across the withered corpse that had been Noirceuil.

Kodesh slid through the trees quickly, making his way to the edge of the clearing where the battle had taken place. It was a surprise. He'd thought the hunter would finish Abraham. In fact, he'd been right. It was the girl he'd underestimated, and he chuckled.

He'd hoped he might get a good skirmish be- tween Noirceuil and Montrovant, but that would not have been so interesting, in the end.

The dark one was much older, and he was very focused just now.

Noirceuil would have fallen quickly and easily.

This way he got to go with a fight.

The two knights who'd followed Montrovant were sitting quietly side by side on their horses, looking about the clearing in confusion. There was no sign of any of the others, no good indication of where they'd gone.

Du Puy rode slowly around the clearing, pa.s.sing near where Kodesh watched from the shadows. His horse shied, then calmed and he called out softly.

"Here. Someone has gone this way, toward the mountain." The knight spurred his mount forward, and St. Fond was quick to follow.

Kodesh watched them go, and once they were out of sight, he moved into the clearing to stand over Noirceuil's remains, staring down. He leaned in close, gripping a gold chain that hung about the hunter's neck and yanking it free with a jerk. The cross dangled before his eyes, and he smiled. It was made of bone, very old, and the old one knew its story.

It was carved from the finger bone of the last victim of the first vampire Noirceuil had killed, a very long while back, and while the hunter had not understood its significance, Kodesh did. That vampire should have been much harder to kill; had been, in fact, ancient.

Kodesh pocketed the amulet, knowing it would eventually need to end up with the rest. He then took up Noirceuil's blade. It should be returned to the Church, he thought, grinning at the notion of the faces of those who'd sent the hunter in the first place.

Turning, he moved to the base of the cliff. The two knights had dismounted. They stood by the entrance, staring at it dubiously. They would not enter. It was too much to expect of them.

Slipping from the shadows, Kodesh spoke softly, standing just beyond the line of trees lining the wooded slope.

"They will be back, or they will not, but there is nothing you can do,"

he said. His voice was quiet, but the words pa.s.sed his lips with such force, such presence, that neither St. Fond nor du Puy could react immediately. Kodesh took a few steps forward, presenting Noirceuil's blade.

"I believe you might want to keep this," he said.

"Rome will be interested to know the fate of their hunter, no matter how this turns out."

"Who are you?" du Puy grated, reaching for his blade with a sudden lurch. "Who are you and how do you know so much about this? If you are Montrovant's friend, why do you not help him...and if you are his enemy, why have you not tried to kill us instead of talking?"

Kodesh laughed. "Both good questions," he said, chuckling harder. "I am not Montrovant's friend, nor am I his enemy. I am one who watches, and waits, and I have known him a long time. He will fail, or succeed without me, and I'm afraid, without you this once. If I were you I'd settle in, watch that exit very carefully, and wait. It is really your only option."

Then he was gone. He moved so swiftly that, blinking, du Puy saw the old one standing against a backdrop of trees one moment, and the next only a sword, blade tip imbedded in the rocky soil, shivering from the impact of being thrust there. No sign remained that they had been anything but alone.

St. Fond cursed softly, letting his sword arm drop to his side. He turned and started to speak, then fell silent. Turning to his mount, he grabbed his bags and lifted them free, moving to the side and finding the same stone outcropping that had shielded Lacroix the night before.

Du Puy stared off among the trees without moving for a long time.

There was nothing to see, and as the night continued to slip slowly past them, he settled back beside the cavern's opening with a heavy sigh of frustration, his sword across his knees.

Noirceuil's blade stood where it had been left, like a gravestone, or a thin cross, its moon-shadow lengthening as the hours slipped by with interminable slowness.

_.

Montrovant reached the first landing of the stairs and glanced up and down the corridor, eyes narrowed.

What he sought was not those who inhabited this place, but the treasures they protected.

Logic led him down and in, and since they were already at the lowest levels, he needed to move toward the mountain's heart. He glanced for a long moment at the stairs leading up, then shook his head, turning to the right.

Jeanne was at his heels, moving quickly, but pressed tightly to the wall. Each knew that stealth was likely pointless. If they were correct, and they were not expected this way, this soon, they had a chance. If they were discovered, the only way in would be through Gustav and his brood...possibly Kli Kodesh in the bargain. The outcome of such a battle was not in doubt.

They rounded the first corner and found that the pa.s.sage ahead widened. "It is headed inward,"

Montrovant said softly. "The vaults will be at the deepest, most secure point."

Jeanne nodded. They moved down the hall, letting their eyes wander over the walls and down each side pa.s.sage. There was little sign of the keep's inhabitants at this level, though there were dusty footprints leading inward. Montrovant followed these, not knowing exactly why.

The footprints led them in a winding path toward the mountain's center, and suddenly, Montrovant stopped, pressing Jeanne to the wall quickly.

Ahead the hall shifted again, continuing straight and turning again to the right. Around that corner, where the footprints led, Montrovant sensed others.

"Guards," he hissed softly.

Jeanne nodded, eyes bright. If there were guards, then this was the place they sought. But how to get past the guards? They would be members of the Order, strong, not too old; in fact, not much older than Jeanne himself, but they would not be easy targets. The sounds of the scuffle might alert the rest of the keep.

"Wait," Montrovant said. The dark one's eyes were glittering, but he was smiling, and Jeanne watched in wonder as his sire stepped quickly around the corner, walking straight for the doors as though he had every right in the world to be there.There was a startled gasp, but no cry. The two guards stood, watching Montrovant approach, for a long moment.

"So," Montrovant said jovially, "this is it. This is what Gustav has been ranting about all these years."

The guards were confused for only a moment, but it was enough. As they moved to the sides, crouching at his approach, Montrovant sprang.

He was a dark blur, and the guard to the left of the door was in his grasp before Jeanne registered the motion. Leaping around the corner, Le Duc distracted the second, and that was all it took. A head rolled past Jeanne's feet as he moved, and he dodged it, springing at the second guard. He was too late. Montrovant was there already, the vampire hoisted high over his head, and then drawn down.

With a single rippling jerk of strong shoulders, the dark one lashed out with his hand, nails curled to claws, and ripped the throat from the second guard, flinging the remains against the wall with a sickening crunch and following through, boot placed on the guard's ruined throat, hands gripping long hair, He yanked hard, wrenching the head from the body with a single motion and flinging it back toward the pa.s.sage beyond.

The entire battle had taken only seconds, and Jeanne stood, the rage seeping back out of his mind before it had fully bloomed. He stared at Montrovant in wonder. He'd never seen his sire move with such single-minded purpose, nor had he seen him display that sort of viciousness toward another of the d.a.m.ned.

"It ends this night," Montrovant said softly. He turned to the huge stone doors and moved closer, gaze sliding quickly over the surface of the door.

Jeanne watched carefully. There was no evidence of a latch, or a lock, but it was obvious that this huge stone slab was the door. The question was how to get past it.

"It is a puzzle," Montrovant said at last. He pointed quickly at several spots on the stone surface, and as Jeanne looked more closely, he could see small smudges where the dust had been disturbed.

"It is a code. There are so many combinations it would take years to try them one by one...and they know this. We have to figure out what sequence would be chosen."

Jeanne's eyes widened. "And how do we do that?"

Montrovant thought hard. His fingers shot out and pressed in a certain sequence. Nothing. Frowning, he tried again. Jeanne watched, wondering how many attempts it would take before the futility of it struck home.

Then, with a soft cry, the dark one pressed a third sequence, and without a sound, the huge stone began to slide to the side. Jeanne stepped back, crying out. "What," he started, "what in h.e.l.l's name did you press?"

Grinning, Montrovant moved through the open portal into the shadows beyond. "There were more than five depressions," he said softly. "There were twenty-two, as in the Hebrew alphabet. It was just a matter of figuring which name would be the code...Kli Kodesh is too fond of games to make it more difficult than that."

Jeanne still stared.

"I tried Gustav first," he explained. "Nothing.

Then I tried Gustav backward to be certain. Next it hit me. Who guards the treasures here, or who is the guardian?"

"Santos?" Jeanne breathed the name with sudden distaste, but then started to laugh softly. "He still guarded it all then, even beyond his destruction."

Montrovant nodded, turning toward the interior and scanning the room beyond carefully. It was empty, a stone floor leading to another door, this one of wood, and not so large. There was a large, open expanse of stone floor between where they stood and that door, and the very barren nature of the room stopped Montrovant in his tracks.

He glanced down and cursed softly. He could just make out the footprints they'd been following down the pa.s.sage beyond the door.

They minced back and forth, first here, then three feet to the right, then back the left, an odd, dancing pattern.

"Don't move," he said softly. He placed his feet directly on the first of the prints, then dodged left, meeting the floor where the next smudge showed itself and leaping to the right suddenly. Jeanne watched carefully, and when Montrovant was safely ahead, followed the same motions.

It was slow going, but there was no way to hurry it. Any wrong step would set off whatever security was in place, and both knew that it would be designed for both human and vampiric intruders. The short span seemed to stretch on forever, but it was actually only a few moments before they stood, side by side, in front of the second door.

This one had a large, ornate bra.s.s handle, and Jeanne reached for it, ready to press the portal inward and move on.

Montrovant grabbed his wrist suddenly and very hard.

"No," the dark one hissed. He pointed to the handle. It was glistening, shining and smooth, and seconds later, Jeanne understood.

There were no smudges. The handle had never been touched, or not recently, and yet someone had entered the vault ahead of them.

Scanning the door, Jeanne saw a small square indentation. Leaning in closer he noted the small smudge in the center of it, and he pressed it softly.

The door swung open easily. They both stood very still, waiting to see what would lie beyond before moving inward.

The second chamber was smaller and narrower.

There was a single short pa.s.sage leading to the door beyond. No wide floor for dancing cryptic steps, and yet, something about it sent a tingle down Jeanne's spine.

Montrovant looked carefully at the floor. He examined each stone, but found nothing. There was no dust this far in; the sealed doors had kept the floors and walls smooth and clean. He glanced at each wall.

There were shadowy alcoves all along the short pa.s.sage, but it was impossible to make out what lay inside each from where he stood. The stone corners blocked his view effectively.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled free a pouch full of gold coins.

Glancing back at Jeanne for a second, Montrovant shrugged and turned to the pa.s.sage, tossing the pouch ahead of him and ducking back against the frame of the door. The pouch landed on the stone floor directly between two of the alcoves. Nothing. They waited only seconds, then Montrovant took a step into the hall and another.

Jeanne somehow heard the sound first and, taking Montrovant roughly by the hair, dragged him back. The dark one cried out, spinning and slashing at Jeanne as if he were being attacked, but in that instant a long, razor-thin blade sliced the air where his neck had been moments before, disappearing into the stone alcove on the far side, directly over the pouch. A delay.

Rising quickly, Montrovant grinned at Jeanne, who returned it. They stepped into the hall, moving toward the pouch, and the first set of alcoves...and Montrovant glanced up. Handles had been imbedded in the stone and cleverly disguised as cracks and niches. He smiled and leaped, moving across the ceiling like a huge bat. Jeanne, feeling a bit more cautious, waited until his sire had crossed the pa.s.sage and dropped before the next door before he leaped, following after. No traps were set off, and they reached the door unhindered.

This one had a plain bra.s.s push-plate, and a hand print was clearly visible. With a shrug, Montrovant pushed it inward and stepped through.