Field of Blood by Wilson, Eric (pdf e book reader .TXT) 📕

exactly the most receptive kid.”

“Cut him some slack, and you just might come to like him.”

“I do like him,” Gina said.

“Not really. Admit it. Mostly, he’s your chance to redeem yourself.”

She threw another fist at Cal’s arm. “Who are you to talk about redemption? You’re the one who abandoned my baby boy. I don’t even have enough fingers and toes to count the ways you misled me.”

“There’s still stuff that I . . . Listen, it’s not all that it seems, Gina.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

“Man, we don’t have time for this right now. There’s so much I wanna tell you, but first we’ve gotta think about Dov. If we head into that town, we’ll be walking into a trap. She knows he’s coming.”

“The Collector,” Gina said. “The one I saw at Ruby Falls, that one?”

“Name’s Erota.”

“So she was there in Chattanooga. At the hospital.”

Cal gave a grim nod.

“Was she the one you ran over on the road? You think it killed her?”

“There were two of them, and at best it delayed them a little. You ask me, she’ll always be able to find more evil minions to throw in front of the bus.” Cal coughed out a sour snicker. “We’re talking about the undead, remember?”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.”

“She might get an arm broken off or an eye gouged, but she’s gonna keep on coming, and there’s not too much that’ll stop her. Think the Energizer Bunny with fangs.”

“That’s just creepy and wrong.”

“Tell me about it. And she’s not the only one.”

“Great.”

“She’s working under one named Ariston.”

“How’d she find me?” Gina said. “How’s she know about Dov?”

“That research you did on his family, it raised a red flag for Helene Totorcea, an archivist at Arad’s city hall. You might’ve even talked to her on the phone or something. Helene’s a Collector, as well.”

“Totorcea. That’s the family out by where Mrs. Amit disappeared.”

“Tortocea is a front. Flavius Tortocea is really Ariston, their cluster leader. And, believe me,” Cal said, “Dalia’s dead, and they’re all guilty. Since their release in ’89, they’ve been wreaking havoc. The orphans across Romania, the thousands with HIV . . . Who do you think infected them?”

Gina pressed her lips tight, breathed deeply through her nose.

“That goes back,” Cal said, “to their first stinkin’ day in this country.”

“And that wasn’t enough for them? Now they want Dov too?”

“ ‘The leech has two suckers that cry out, “More, more!” ’ Straight from the book of Proverbs, and if you ask me, it’s a dead-on description.”

“Will they ever be satisfied?”

“Not until they can drag down the Nistarim. Erota’s got her house-hold all riled up over that, ever since the attack in Chattanooga failed.”

“Failed? How can you say that? She killed Jacob.”

“It failed to usher in Final Vengeance. Guess she still thinks you’re a key.”

“Why?” Gina’s fingers swiped at her brow. “My Letter’s gone.”

“I know. And, I’m sorry to say this, but my guess is you won’t be having any more of your own children—not any of the Nistarim candidates anyway. But you’ve got a mother’s heart, and there’ll always be more kids for you to watch after.” He angled a thumb at the bus, at the row of curious onlookers. “Not just the Concealed Ones, but the others caught in the crossfire.”

Months earlier, this conversation would’ve had Gina’s head spinning. Now, with animosity held in check, she began to bring things into focus. These Collectors, these vile creatures from the abyss, they were her enemy. Their basic objectives: blood, infestation, and destruction.

From here, it was a matter of choosing the most accurate end-game maneuvers.

“So,” Cal said. “What’s our next step? Fight or flight?”

She looked toward the bus and wondered if she could survive the heartbreak of another loss. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. A diesel truck lumbered past, spewing fumes.

“How ’bout both?” she said.

“What’ve you got in mind?”

“You take the kids and hide them away. Don’t tell me where. You just do it. Then we meet back up later, far away. Say, tomorrow in Bucharest.”

“And what’ll you be doing in the meantime?”

“I’ll be up there.” She gestured toward Sinaia. “Keeping the Collectors occupied.”

“A queen sacrifice?”

“Just living up to my name.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I think it’s a fine name.”

“Hah. You know what I mean. I don’t like you facing these things alone. Sure, you’re immortal, but what if they turn you to their side?”

“Can they do that?”

“None of us are without fault,” he said. “But that’s up to you, isn’t it? The Power of Choice. Not to mention, they could just tear you apart and then bury you where I can’t find you. Three days, that’s it. Sayonara and c’est la vie.”

“Cal, I’m not asking your permission here. They’ve destroyed the lives of children all over Romania, and they took my own son away from me. That’s all I need to know. They can take, take, take, and take some more, but eventually they’re going to lose.”

“The Immortal Game,” Cal commented.

“The . . . What’d you just say?” Gina gave him a sidelong glance. For years she had wondered how she’d learned to master chess and all its intricacies, and his random comment seemed loaded with implications. “Are you telling me you’re a chess player?”

“You know, you can be one uppity little girl. I mean, really. Who do you think taught you how to play?”

The Bucegi Mountains, Romania

The Collector was nothing.

He was particles of soot at the foot of a cliff, subject to the elements. He was swatches of shadow, overlapping, drifting, then disappearing, as the night’s monstrous maw swallowed him into its collective black bosom. He had scarcely the wherewithal to dredge up the identity of his chosen host.

Ariston. Of Apamea. The House of Ariston.

In the Bucegi Mountains.

A niggling thought told him that his destination was the cool caverns up the mountainside. He had to get there.

A blast of cold air sent him hurtling in the opposite direction.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-TWO

Sinaia

“You were the one?”

“Yep.”

“But . . .” Standing on the