DARK ORIGINS (Scarlett of the wolves, Book 4)

11.

Pitt had foreseen it. It was snowing.

The road was slippery and the two 4x4s we had hired had been slowly following each other on the E68 for almost four hours. Night had almost fallen already. There were about a hundred kilometres left before we reached our destination, so it would be a short stopover at a hotel. I was with Gwen, Simon, Paul, and Grigore but tomorrow, leaving for Hunedoara Castle, I would find myself confined in the same car as Pitt.

Paul and Grigore were perfectly silent. Paul took his role very seriously and I wouldn’t have thought of starting a conversation with him because he seemed so hostile and focused. As for Grigore, I was aware that it did something to him to come back here, to this country where he was born. I had seen his eyes widen in surprise when we arrived in Sibiu, no doubt nothing was the same, and it was with a faint tremor in his hands that he had started driving on the roads crossing the plains. They took us straight to the foot of the mountains in the southwest of the Carpathians.

Transylvania was beautiful. It was too dark to make out anything now, but while I had never seen it other than in books or news, as we drove in the fading light, I had been able to appreciate the scenery. The vast expanses covered in snow as far as the eye can see, the fields dotted with tired fences, the enclosures in which the forgotten haystacks bravely faced the winter, the wooden chapels, and the thatched roofs, it was raw, authentic, and wild. The houses were rare, all built of grey stone, and the leafless groves, rising here and there, gave a particularly picturesque breath to the countryside. In the distance, the snow-capped mountains that could be perceived high, dark, and proud, ended the panorama as remarkably as a masterpiece. I hated being here, but I loved this place.

“We’re going to stop at Sebeş for the night, Grigore informed us. Then we’ll have a good hour to reach the castle.

I sat behind him, I looked up to meet his gaze in the rear view mirror.

“What does this castle look like?” I asked him 

“Exactly what you would see in the films of chivalry. Moats, turrets, dungeons… The Strigoi had it built anonymously towards the end of the 14th century.”

“Where are you going to present yourself?” I inquired. 

“At the reception, quite simply.”

“What if it’s too late?” Simon suddenly blurted out. 

I glared at him so hostile that even though no one had spoken yet, he was careful not to insist on an answer. From there, the rest of the journey was in a heavy and tense silence that no one dared to break.

We arrived in front of a hotel that was reminiscent of high mountain chalets. The first floor was surrounded by a wooden balcony whose paint had been eaten by the cold, while the second was an attic and opened onto large bay windows of dubious transparency. This establishment was in a sorry state and had only the ageing sign of a three-star hotel indicating it and which hung desperately on the wall. Without luggage, we got out of the vehicle.

“It contrasts with the private jet!” Pitt hissed, slamming the door of his SUV. 

“We aren’t here to take it easy!” Gabriel replied, in a brittle voice. 

Of the three members of the Council, this man was the most imposing. He must have been almost two meters tall and weighed over a hundred kilograms, while Remus and Paul were rather short and as thin as long-distance runners. Nevertheless, having seen them at work, I knew that their strength was spectacular. But Pitt didn’t seem to be overly impressed. He had guts; I could concede that quality to him. Remus, Paul, and Gabriel were hostile towards him and probably didn’t appreciate his being back in St Andrews. The looks they had exchanged during the flight proved how suspicious the Council members were of him and it reassured me that they would keep him under guard.

We pushed open the hotel door to take four rooms that we would share. It wasn’t about money, of course, but that way everyone could keep an eye on everyone. The situation was extremely tense because of what we couldn’t foresee. Grigore would stay with Pitt. I assumed they had a significant amount of information to exchange.

Before going upstairs, Grigore came over to talk to Gwen and me.

“I know it’s still early, but Simon, Rufus, Pitt, Gwen and you will have to infiltrate the castle before the arrival of the museum staff and the guided tours that still operate there, since then all possible access to the basement is supervised. I recommend you sleep now. And don’t waste your strength, you’ll need it.”

I looked up at the wall, the clock barely reading seven-fifteen.

“Do you have the other locket?” he asked me. 

“Of course.”

“You’ll lend it to Gwen to wear.”

I frowned.

“I don’t know if this can work on her, Grigore. No one ever told me it worked on Dark Angels.”

Annoyed, Grigore clicked his tongue against his palate.

“You’ll try and if it doesn’t work, we’ll know. Now go upstairs to rest.”

Then he gave us our key.

We nodded without even trying to protest. In truth, we were too nervous to sleep but far too tired to resist.

We walked up to the stairwell to reach the first floor, Grigore called me before I stepped on the first step.

“Scarlett, wait!” 

He tilted his head slightly to the side, gesturing for me to approach.

“I’ll meet you afterwards,” I whispered to Gwen.

She nodded and quickly disappeared.

I stood in front of Grigore, my eyes raised.

His blue gaze became soft and protective, I felt an intolerable blow to my heart. It was Elgin who looked at me like this.

“I sometimes tend to forget that you’re the only one who needs to feed yourself often. Are you hungry?” 

I shook my head. I would have been unable to eat anything. I hadn’t eaten anything all day except a few glasses of water.

“Okay. Don’t think I’m rambling, Scarlett, but what we’re about to do takes energy. You don’t know what can be found in this castle. I guess you’ve learned to gauge your physical strength. Feed yourself if you feel like you need it.” 

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Exactly, yes,” he said severely, running his hand nervously through his dark blond curls reaching above his chin.

To have that shade of hair, darker than his peers, Grigore must have been very dark when he was human. Naturally brown. Not like Gwen who was tinted raven black when I first met her. In reality, she must have been much lighter than that and that is why she had become as blond as wheat afterwards.

Grigore had kept a dark side. He had those deep, enigmatic, and obscure eyes so uniquely Latin. With a slender mouth, a straight nose and a square jaw covered with an eternal three-day beard, a mole on his cheek, he emanated manhood that no one could have ignored. I found myself wondering if, like Rucker, he was capable of changing his appearance, or if he had that face at the time of his transformation. I liked to think so. It suited him so well. Grigore was handsome. Beautiful.

As I reflected as I looked at him, he fixed tormented eyes on me.

“Nothing must happen to you, Scarlett.”

“We can’t predict anything, Grigore. I didn’t come here to save my life, but Elgin and Rucker’s. What will happen will happen.”

With an unexpected gesture, he reached out and, with the back of his hand, gently stroked my cheek.

Surprised, I froze completely.

“I hate you wearing it,” he snarled.

I widened my eyes.

“What?” 

He electrified me a little more when he ran his fingers under the collar of my sweater to pull out the cord of my amulet.

“Your locket.”

“W-why?” I stammered. 

“Because your smell drives me crazy.”

All my hair stood on end at once.

Then suddenly, he left me there and joined the others.

I stood still for a few seconds, thinking. He hadn’t said it that way on the plane. I had simply understood that my scent made human by the amulet surprised him, not that I was once again bringing up his demons from the past. Grigore was tortured, pulled apart beyond what I had thought and I had two good reasons for not liking it. He had become a close and sincere friend, whom I could count on. I hated to see him suffer. And I knew that I was the half-cause of this disorder and what resulted was unmanageable for me: as a human, I attracted him. Savagely, irremediably, and painfully, I attracted him. 

A long shudder, the meaning of which I categorically refused to interpret, spread down my spine.

I buried my fists deep in the pockets of my coat and, my nerves on edge, I went upstairs to find Gwen.

To sleep. Forget. Recover. Just for a few hours...

Simon had just knocked on the door to wake us up. I opened my eyes to a starry sky gently lit by the moon. The skylights didn’t have curtains. It was still very dark and the sun wouldn’t rise for three hours. It was barely four in the morning. Gwen and I hadn’t exchanged a word all night, while we hadn’t fallen asleep, we could only doze off. We were as if gripped by fear, weighed down by the morbid terror of discovering that we had lost what was most dear to us, that a terrible void was born within us. Subconsciously, I wished I’d been able to turn back time so last night would never see the day again and remain in the simple hope of not failing, for the more the hours went by, the closer we got to the truth. And I wasn’t ready for all the truths.

I got up first, in my underwear. Gwen remained on her bed; the sheets pulled up to her nose. I turned on the bedside lamp and, without a word, I walked towards the bathroom, smeared with anguish, as I had never been in my life. We had to hurry because time ran, always runs faster than us. I just splashed cool water on my face to get my thoughts back on track and walked back to the bedroom. There, I jumped into my clothes, quickly tied a ponytail, and tore off the sheets abruptly above Gwen who hadn’t bothered to move an inch. 

“Hurry, we don’t have a minute to lose!” 

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the second amulet and threw it at Gwen’s chest.

“Don’t forget to put this on!” 

I slammed the door out of the room and joined the team. They were all already there, so I felt guilty that I hadn’t woken up before everyone else.

“Is it too early!” Pitt shouted at me. “Since your girlfriend is ready, let’s go!”  

I turned to see Gwen coming down, her dark angel scent completely gone. She again gave off the floral scent she had when she was still human. Each of us was speechless in amazement for a few seconds.

“Scarlett has to eat,” Grigore announced.

I nodded. I had no more appetite than the day before, but I had to eat, I needed it.

“And me, if I’m hungry, can I also take the time to have breakfast?” Pitt queried, snapping his teeth once. “She smells good with her wet dog stench camouflaged.” 

Then he smiled at me, licking his canines.

“Is she moving?” Remus annoyed, blasting me with his eyes. “We’re not going to spend the day here!”  

I didn’t want to reply. Remus, Paul, and Gabriel probably didn’t understand why Grigore trusted an ex-dark angel turned werewolf, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t matter more than whoever stood in my way. Reluctantly, I walked to the dining room and saw that a table had been prepared for me, probably the day before. I sat down and lifted the lids. Mint tea was in a thermos and the food was still lukewarm. Omelette with mushrooms, sausages, soup, cheese, jam, rolls… just smelling it all, I was nauseous. I opted for the most energetic, protein and starchy foods, and gulped it down in no time, accompanied by a large cup of tea. Ten minutes later, I was ready. Paul was left behind. He would wait for our return.

The road had proved difficult, it had snowed all night long so that we arrived in the city of Hunedoara around seven o’clock, the day was just beginning to rise. Pitt had parked outside a police station, making sure to leave the keys under the sun visor. He knew what he was doing. Once out of the castle, we probably couldn’t escape by car, the vehicle would remain abandoned. Pitt made sure that the authorities recovered it and returned it to the agency. Coming from someone so unscrupulous, there was something to be surprised about.

As we waited for him on the sidewalk, Pitt got out of the vehicle and joined us.

“Let’s go, the castle is a few kilometres away.”

Pitt darted like a shadow into the dawning day. We followed him at the same pace and travelled for several minutes before reaching the edge of the castle. I looked up to admire it better. It was magnificent and worthy of the most beautiful fairy tale although it was transformed, over the centuries, into a military fortress. I was captivated by the restored drawbridge, the ornate Gothic turrets, the delicate battlements, and the corbelled windows. I had a violent pang in my heart which quickly brought me back to reality. Elgin was locked inside.

“What are we waiting for?” I called out to Pitt. 

He veered aside to face me.

With a superior look, he leaned against the wall that surrounded the castle.

“I never said I would take you to your boyfriend.”

“Stop playing smart!” Gwen said, annoyed. “We won’t be leaving without Elgin! So, you might as well tell us what you know right away. We’ll manage, with or without you.”  

“But I don’t know anything about him,” he assured us. “I don’t know anything except that I think he’s not here.”

“You’re lying!” I cried.   

Pitt sneered, forcing me to refrain from throwing my fist in his face.

“Where do we start?” Rufus interjected. 

Pitt didn’t answer and lingered to consider me carefully. I didn’t take my eyes off him. He knew that I was boiling inside, that I was dying to tear his guts out and make him swallow them. I pointed to the drawbridge and exaggeratedly breathed out.

“I guess we won’t go through the main gate. What path do you recommend?” 

“Staff generally use the main entrance. As for the Strigoi guards, they’re everywhere. They block all access.”

Then he smiled, lowering his head in the direction of the moat.

“All except one.”

With his chin, he pointed to a boulder against the interior slope of the moat. Looking at it like that, it seemed obvious to me that it wasn’t there by chance.

“Behind is a room leading to a completely unused level. For years, kids had fun sneaking in, the Strigoi blocked access.”

“A level?” Rufus wondered. “But how many are there?”  

“Three underground. This is the first. It makes it possible to camouflage what is happening in the levels 2 and 3.”

I evaluated the distance between the lower stones of the castle and the bottom of the moat, there must be a good ten meters. The basements must have been huge.

“What’s going on there?” 

I imagined all kinds of things. People imprisoned, others tortured as Elgin and Rucker could be at this very moment, executions, men and women stored to serve as pantries...

“Prisoners were locked up at level 2.” 

“And below?” Simon wanted to know. 

I thought I saw Pitt clench his jaws and imperceptibly swell his nostrils.

“The Moroi.”

“Who are they?” I asked because Grigore had already mentioned their name. 

He looked into my eyes, and instead of the usual mockery, they seemed to me driven by what I thought I interpreted as fear.

“Very powerful vampires who only serve the leader of the Strigoi. No one has even seen them except him. Besides, pray to heaven that we never do.”

“The leader of the Strigoi?” repeated Rufus.  

“Their master. The one who is at the origin of our species.”

Simon and Rufus raised their eyebrows at the same time, wondering what credibility to give to this story, and for good reason, according to legend, the dark angels were born from the coupling between a vampire and a Strix. If all of this was true, how could he still be alive? 

I almost wanted to believe what Pitt was saying. The man didn’t know this story accurately, it was surely the same for the other dark angels. The legend was incomplete. 

“Is he really?” Simon whispered, dazed. 

Pitt nodded.

“Probably, yes. He’s ageless. With immense power and knowledge.”

“But… how?” asked Gwen who was very familiar with the subject. 

“Nobody knows.”

He looked up to gauge the condition of the sky.

“Let’s not delay, it’ll soon be too light to go unnoticed.”

Without adding anything, with a controlled and elegant gesture, he leaned a hand against the wooden railing and jumped over it to land smoothly several meters below.

Gwen, Rufus, Simon, and I looked at each other furtively, then we followed suit.

Pitt moved almost invisibly and as silently as air. Arrived in front of the rock, he asked the boys to come and help him move it. It was done in just a few seconds. Behind, a thick studded wooden door, with an old rusty lock and latch, stood proudly in front of us, daring us to try to enter. As I expected, Pitt only had to push it gently to open it. One by one, we entered a dark and damp cell that only a few rats and insects had graced with their presence. With Simon’s help, Pitt manages to pull the boulder and sneak behind to close the access.

“As soon as we get out of this room,” Pitt whispered, “you don’t make a sound. Even your breath should be imperceptible.”

“What about our scent?” Simon inquired. 

“Several dark angels are in the service of the Strigoi. Our presence won’t be particularly noticed.”

“And for them?” Simon continued, gesturing towards us. 

“For everyone, they are human. Human and generous. They come to share their blood with the staff,” he said without joking in the least. “It’s commonplace. To preserve their anonymity, the Strigoi haven’t hunted for a long time, the humans give themselves to them of their own accord. Well… this is never one hundred per cent the case. They have been manipulated to offer themselves to the guards.”

“They are killed?” Gwen worried.

“No. Never.”

“Will it be okay?” Rufus asked us, a little panicked. 

Gwen and I looked at each other in the dark and nodded in agreement.

“Very well,” said Pitt, satisfied. “There’s one last thing. I must not be seen for any reason. Many vampires knew me here, centuries ago. The Strigoi have an excellent memory and my presence here would be more than suspicious, they know that I’m from St Andrews and will make the connection with Rucker. That’s why I’ll go scouting, getting at least five or six yards ahead of you so that I don’t get spotted. You’ll have to follow me precisely and in perfect silence. If you see someone, say you bring the red pittance. Use these words well, it’s a code. For the rest, no one will be surprised to hear you speak another language. Dark angels from all over the world make a pilgrimage to Hudenoara, everyone speaks English. This is where Ewan met the Strigoi with whom he negotiated your sacrifice,” he added, looking at me. “Be careful not to chatter too much, keep a low profile, and remember that even for the simplest guard, you are inferior to them. Is that understood?”  

We all nodded silently, kept at bay by the fear that grew a little deeper each time Pitt said a word.

“We’ll get them back,” Pitt whispered, deliberately meeting my gaze.

My God… He said them. He had said them.     

I didn’t have time to think about the fact that maybe he was about to set a trap for me. He turned his back and, with his thumb, gently pressed the latch separating the cell from the hallway that would lead us to Elgin and Rucker. Almost unconsciously, I put my hand in Gwen’s. She approached me and squeezed it very tightly between her fingers. Heart throbbing, I saw Pitt quietly open the wooden door. As we were about to cross the threshold into the darkness of the corridors, a howl of pain tore the silence.

Rucker.