We waited a few more minutes and then slowly opened the door. The hallway was still dark, but the door to Rumor’s penthouse was now open. We were about to follow the stairs to the roof when we heard noise coming from inside the penthouse. Turning back, we moved slowly into the penthouse.
Clearly, this was Rumor’s room. The penthouse was the most lavishly furnished of all the places I’d seen in the hotel. On top of that, it looked like Rumor had brought along artifacts from her former life with her. Portraits of Rumor hinted that she was much older than her contemporary name suggested. There were images of her in a white wig which dated to the late 1700s and other paintings that indicated some sort of French connection. Smaller paintings showed her in medieval dress. Figurines, matryoshka dolls, and paintings with a phoenix, bears, and Baba Yaga images revealed her Slavic roots. Again, however, we heard the strange sound; it sounded like thrashing and heavy breathing. We followed the noise to a side bedroom where we saw movement on the bed.
Jamie pulled his LED flashlight from his vest and motioned to me; I got ready. He clicked the light on to reveal a single body lying in the bed covered with a sheet. It stirred. My heart raced. I positioned the sword and moved toward the bed. Grabbing the end of the sheet, I pulled it off. There, strapped to the bed, lay one of the undead. It turned, jerking, toward the light, straining at its restraints.
“What the hell is she doing with that?” Jamie whispered.
I looked at it. It had once been human, a male with long, dark hair. His skin was only slightly wilted. He had tattoos on both arms. He hissed and bit at us.
Set me free, a voice said in my head.
“Did you hear that?” I asked Jamie.
“Hear what?”
Set me free or kill me.
I stared at the undead man. His moon-white eyes looked right at me. He’d gone still. It was like he was waiting. My god! Had I really heard him?
I lifted my sword and stabbed the creature between the eyes. The spark behind those white, undead eyes flickered out.
Then we heard movement in the outer foyer. Jamie clicked off the light. We were trapped. There was nowhere to hide. A second later, Ian’s familiar shape appeared in the candle-lit outer room.
Jamie moved forward. I tried to pull him back, but he moved before I could grab him.
“Ian?” Jamie called quietly.
What had once been Ian looked at his brother. From behind, I could see Jamie’s body stiffen as he took it in. Ian stood staring at Jamie.
“I can smell you, Layla,” Ian said after a moment.
I came out of the shadow and stood behind Jamie. My sword was lowered but my hold on the grip was tight.
Ian stared at the two of us. Then, he turned to go.
“What will you do, just stand aside and let them drain Kira and Susan?” Jamie called, taking a few steps after his brother.
Ian stopped in the doorway. He looked back over his shoulder at Jamie. Ian gazed at his brother for a moment and then walked back into the dark hallway. Jamie and I stood in the darkness.
“That was not my brother,” Jamie whispered.
“I--” I started, but I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry didn’t feel like enough. I was sorry, but it was too late for Ian. Jamie knew that now. “Kira and Susan are still alive.”
Jamie seemed to come back to himself. He looked down at me and took a deep breath. After a moment, he nodded, and we went forward. We found the door that led to the roof. Opening it as quietly as possible, we entered the stairwell. Carefully, we climbed, expecting to be greeted by a host of vampires partying on the roof. Instead, we emerged in the moonlight to find no one. It was completely empty.
Jamie and I stood on the roof and gazed at the grounds of the HarpWind. The night was nearly cloudless. Silver stars, uncorrupted by city lights, filled the sky. The Milky Way illuminated the skyline, the crescent moon hanging like an ornament. It must have been sometime after midnight. I went to the edge of the roof and looked over.
Below, we saw hotel staff coming out of the back of the hotel and heading toward the western end of the island. They were laughing and joking, their voices rising up toward us. Several minutes later Corbin, Finn, Matilda, and Katya appeared. They too made their way west across the lawns. Following behind them was Rumor. She had on a gauzy red dress. It blew all around her in the wind. Holding her hand was Susan who held fast to Kira. Anger nearly boiled over in me. They walked across the lawn and into a thicket of trees, disappearing into the shadow of the night.
“How did they get down?” Jamie wondered.
“As shadows or maybe jumped. They seem to have enhanced physical skill and strength.”