Of course, now I had the problem of communicating what I needed. Marlen was still beating on the door, and Dimitri would be up in a couple of minutes. I glared at the human, hoping I looked terrifying. From his expression, I did. I attempted the caveman talk I had with Inna... only this time the message was a little harder.
"Stick," I said in Russian. I had no clue what the word for stake was. I pointed at the silver ring I wore and made a slashing motion. "Stick.
Where?"
He stared at me in utter confusion and then asked, in perfect English, "Why are you talking like that?"
"Oh for God's sake," I exclaimed. "Where is the vault?"
"Vault?"
"A place they keep weapons?"
He continued staring.
"I'm looking for a silver stake."
"Oh," he said. "That." Uneasily, he cast his eyes in the direction of the pounding.
I pushed him harder against the wall. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest, but I tried to hide it. I wanted this guy to think I was invincible. "Ignore him. Take me to the vault. Now!"
With a frightened yelp, he nodded eagerly and beckoned me down the stairs. We descended to the second floor and made a sharp turn. The halls here were as twisty as the hedge maze Dimitri had shown me, all decorated in that gold and chandelier style, and I wondered if I'd even be able to get out of the house. Attempting this detour was a risk, but I wasn't sure if I could get outside without being followed. If I was, there'd be a confrontation. I'd need to defend myself.
The human led me down another hall and yet another. Finally, we reached a door that looked like any other. He stopped and peered at me expectantly.
"Open it," I said.
He shook his head. "I don't have the key."
"Well, I certainly don't-wait." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys I'd lifted from Dimitri. There were five keys on the ring. I tried them one at a time, and on the third one, I got a hit. The door opened.
Meanwhile, my guide was casting hasty glances behind him and looked ready to bolt.
"Don't even think about it," I warned. He blanched and stayed put. The room before us wasn't very big, and while its plush white carpet and silver framed paintings made it look elegant, the room was... well, basically, it looked like a junkyard. Boxes and weird objects-a lot of personal items like watches and rings in particular-lay around in no order. "What is this?"
"Magic," he said, still obviously scared out of his mind. "Magic items kept here to fade or be destroyed."
Magic... ah. These were items charmed by Moroi magic. Charms always had some kind of effect on Strigoi-usually unpleasant-with stakes being the worst, since they used all four physical elements. It made sense that Strigoi would want to isolate harmful objects and get rid of "My stake!"
I ran forward and picked it up, nearly dropping it because my hands were so sweaty. The stake was lying on top of a box with a length of cloth and some weird stones. Studying it, I realized it wasn't actually my stake-not that it made a difference for killing Strigoi. This stake was almost identical, save for a small geometric pattern running around its base. It was something guardians did from time to time if they felt particularly attached to their stake: have a design or initials etched into it. Holding this stake, I felt a momentary pang of sadness. This had belonged to someone who'd wielded it proudly once, someone who was now most likely dead. God only knew how many other dozens of stakes were in here, seized from other unfortunate prisoners, but I had no time to search or mourn those who had died.
"Okay, now I want you to take me to..." I hesitated. Even with a stake, it'd be a lot better for me if I didn't face any more Strigoi. I had to assume there'd still be a guard at the front door. "... Some room on this floor with a window that actually opens. And is far from the stairs."
The guy thought for a moment and then gave a quick nod. "This way."
I followed him through another maze of twisting corridors. "What's your name?"
"Oleg."
"You know," I said. "I'm getting out of here... if you want... if you want, I could take you with me." Having someone else-a human, particularly -would definitely slow me down. Yet, my conscience wouldn't let me leave anyone behind in this place.
He gave me an incredulous glance. "Why would I want to do that?" Sydney had definitely been right about humans making great sacrifices for immortality. Oleg and Inna were living proof.
We rounded a corner and came face-to-face with an elaborate set of French doors. Through the etched glass, I could see book-lined shelves, stretching all the way up the walls. A library-a huge one that extended on and on, out of my sight. Better yet, I saw a large bay window opposite me, framed in heavy satin curtains the color of blood.
"Perfect," I said, pushing open the doors.
That was when the nausea hit me. We weren't alone in the room.
Galina sprang up from a chair near the fireplace on the far side of the room. A book dropped from her lap. I had no time to dwell on the oddity of a Strigoi having a fireside read, because she was coming right toward me. I almost might have thought Oleg had set me up, but he was cowering in a corner, his face mirroring the shock I felt. Despite the library's enormous size, she reached me in seconds.
I dodged her initial attack-or tried to, at least. She was fast. Aside from Dimitri, the other Strigoi in this house were clearly the B-team, and I had forgotten just how badass a truly skilled Strigoi was. She caught me by my arm and swung me toward her, mouth open and fangs going straight for my neck. I had the stake in my hand and tried awkwardly to at least scratch her with it, but she was holding me too tightly. At last, I managed to duck a little and move my throat out of her range, but all this did was give her the opportunity to grab hold of my hair. She jerked me upright, and I screamed in pain. How she managed to hold onto my hair without ripping it right out was remarkable. Still gripping it, she shoved me into a wall.
When I'd first fought with Dimitri upon my arrival, he'd been rough but hadn't wanted to kill me. Galina did. She'd taken it on faith from Dimitri that I'd be an asset, but it was obvious now that I was a real pain in the ass. Her amnesty had ended, and she was intent on killing me. I at least had the comfort of knowing she probably wouldn't turn me into a Strigoi. I'd be lunch.
A shout suddenly drew my attention to the door. Dimitri stood there, face blazing with anger. Whatever illusions I'd harbored about him being his former self disappeared. That fury radiated around him, his eyes narrowed and fangs showing. The pale skin and red eyes contrasted sharply against each other. He was like a demon sent straight from hell to destroy me. He strode toward us, and the immediate thought in my head was:
Well, at least this'll end things that much faster.
Except... it wasn't me he attacked. It was Galina.
I'm not sure which of us was more surprised, but in that moment, I was totally forgotten. The Strigoi raced toward each other, and I froze, stunned at the terrible beauty of their fight. There was almost a gracefulness to the way they moved, the way they struck out and skillfully dodged each other. I stared a bit longer and then mentally slapped myself into action. This was my chance to get out of here. I couldn't get distracted.
I turned to the bay window, searching frantically for a means to open it. There was none. "Son of a bitch!" Maybe Oleg had set me up after all. Or maybe there was just some mechanism that wasn't apparent to me. Regardless, I felt pretty confident there was one way to get it open.
I ran to the side of the room where Galina had sat and grabbed an ornate wooden chair. It was obvious this window wasn't made of the hard-core glass that had been in my room. This stuff was similar to the library's French doors, delicate and engraved with fanciful designs, even though darkly tinted. It couldn't require that much force to break. After all that fruitless beating in my room, I took a kind of smug satisfaction in slamming the chair into it with as much force as possible. The impact made a huge hole in one side of the window, glass spraying everywhere. A few shards hit my face, but it was nothing to concern me now.
Behind me, the sounds of battle raged on. There were grunts and muffled cries as they fought, as well as the occasional sound of some piece of broken furniture. I yearned to turn around and see what was going on, but I couldn't. I took the chair and swung again, breaking the other half of the window. There was now a huge hole, perfect for me to get out of.