Zen and the Art of Vampires

close to destroying his friend.

I looked from Kristoff to the man who stood waiting in front of me. 'No,' I said simply, knowing to the very depths of my soul that I would rather die than allow myself be used to harm anyone. 'I won't cleanse anyone. Kristoff doesn't deserve that, nor does Alec.'

Kristoff looked stunned for a couple of seconds.

'You really should have more faith in me,' I told him.

His jaw worked for a moment, but he said nothing.

'Doesn't deserve it?' For a moment, the mild, pleasant expression on Frederic's face cracked, and rage unlike anything I'd ever seen showed through. I would have taken a step back, but Greta held me immobile.

Frederic leaned his face into mine and hissed, 'He killed one of your own people. He killed one of your brothers in the light, apparently before your very eyes. How can you say he doesn't deserve justice for that?'

'He killed in self-defense, and in defense of me,' I answered. 'I am sorry that one of your people died, but perhaps he shouldn't have been so quick to try to kill us.'

'Do you blame him for mistaking you for one sympathetic to this… this monster?' Frederic asked, waving at Kristoff.

'I blame you for a lot of things, but most of all for intolerance. I won't do it,' I repeated, shaking my head. 'I will not kill for you.'

Frederic held out his hand. 'Mikael?'

The other man gave him Alec's gun.

Frederic pointed it directly at me.

'That won't do any good,' I said with a brave little laugh that I didn't feel in the least. 'What are you going to do, shoot your own Zorya? I'm willing to bet there are some sort of rules prohibiting that.'

'There are, as a matter of fact,' Frederic said, a sour look on his face. 'There is nothing that says we cannot hurt you, however. So long as we don't actually kill you, we would not be in violation of the laws that govern us.'

'What's a little torture between friends, eh?' I said with forced lightness. 'Well, try this on for size—there is nothing you can do that will change my mind. I would rather die than harm anyone else.'

He must have seen the truth in my eyes, must have heard the absolute conviction in my voice… or perhaps it was the cloaked and tabarded figure who emerged from behind him who caused him to lower the gun.

'Difficulties?' the figure asked, the hood muffling the word slightly.

I lifted my head, something chiming a little bell of warning in my head.

'Zenith,' Frederic said, bowing. I was momentarily startled—the voice that spoke was definitely feminine.

The warning bell in my head got a whole lot louder.

'We are honored by your presence. Light bless you.'

'And you, brother.' The woman stood next to one of the spikes of stone that marked where a wall had once stood. 'I see the ritual is completed.'

'It is. But the Zorya is reluctant to assume her duties,' Frederic said, his voice filled with gentle chastisement.

Gentle, my ass. If anyone here was a monster, it was him.

'Oh, I don't think she'll give us any trouble.' The woman's hand rose and swept back the hood. A malicious, amused gaze challenged mine. 'Not holier-than-thou Pia. Not when her friend's life is at stake.'

'Denise,' I said, both surprised and, at the same time, oddly not surprised to see her. 'Somehow, it seems almost fitting that you should be head honcho in a group of self-righteous, intolerant wack jobs.'

She smiled and moved out from behind the rock a few feet. I was about to continue when I saw that she, too, held a gun… and it was pointed directly at a woman she pulled out with her.

'Hello,' Magda said, giving me a weak grin. 'Guess who I ran into on the way over here.'

I stared at her in dumb horror.

'I'm sorry,' she continued, glancing sideways at Denise. 'You were right. I should have stayed out of it.'

'It's too late for apologies,' Denise said, yanking Magda in front of her. 'I should have gotten rid of you two thorns in my side at the beginning.'

Frederic, who had been frowning, looked from Magda and Denise to me. 'You know the Zenith?'

'I thought I did. She's a member of my tour group.'

He rounded on Denise. 'You have been in Dalkafjordhur and you did not alert us?'

'Be quiet! You forget to whom you speak!' Denise snapped.

Frederic took a step toward her, gesturing with the gun, clearly baffled. 'But you are the Zenith. You should have notified us that you were coming early. It would have changed everything had we known you were here —'

'It would have changed nothing,' she snarled. 'I do not have to explain my plans to you. You are here to see that they are carried out, nothing more. Do you understand, brother!'

The emphasis she placed on the word was stark, and left me smiling to myself. Frederic was a self- aggrandized man, and he wouldn't take well to being chewed out in front of others.

'As the Zenith commands,' he said stiffly, bowing his head in a jerky concession of submission, but I caught a glimpse of his face—he was furious.

Now, how could I use that to get us out of this horrible situation?

'Just so you understand the situation, Pia—if you do not, in the next thirty seconds, begin the ritual of cleansing on this repulsive specimen, Frederic will begin cutting off parts of your friend. Perhaps after witnessing her torment you'll rethink your foolish stand. If you still refuse after we've hacked her to pieces, I'll kill you.'

'You can't kill me; I'm the Zorya,' I said, my blood chilling despite my bravado. I truly believed she would torture Magda. She seemed so cold, so heartless… and with that thought, a door in my mind opened, flooding me with an absolute knowledge that left me shaking.

'And I'm the Zenith. I can do anything I want.'

'Including killing the previous Zorya? It was you, wasn't it? You killed Anniki.'

Her expression never changed, but surprise flashed in Frederic's eyes.

'You killed our Zorya?' he asked.

She made an abrupt gesture. 'She was a fool, an ignorant fool, and impure to boot. She deceived us with a façade of piety, and we were all taken in. But I sensed something was wrong, and it was—she was ready to betray us, betray the entire Brotherhood by helping the Dark Ones. Once I found out the truth, I knew what had to be done.'

I was silent, remembering the light of truth that had shown in Anniki's face the night we spoke together in the café. Her absolute conviction was not an act, as Denise would have me believe. Which meant that Denise was lying…

'But to kill her without letting us know first?' Frederic's eyes stood out against the pallor of his skin. 'We deserved to know.'

'Do not even think of telling me how to do my job,' Denise snapped at him. 'It is my responsibility to ensure the order is protected against those who would drag us down. Your duty—every member's duty—is to protect the order at all costs.'

Frederic's jaw tightened. He didn't like what he was hearing, and I didn't blame him.

'I don't believe you,' I said, shaking my head, tears burning my eyes as I remembered Anniki's shining face. 'She wasn't like that. She believed in what she was doing. She was happy and excited about being a Zorya, about doing what she clearly thought was some way to better the world. She was not a traitor to your cause, however wrong it is.'

'You are just like her,' Denise pronounced, sending me a look of pure, venomous hatred. 'Only you do not hide your taint behind pretended piety. But we know what you are now, and we will take steps to cleanse the darkness out of you as we will your friends.'

'Friends into whose arms you pushed me,' I said slowly, remembering the stupid bet she'd forced me to accept. 'You knew they were vampires then, didn't you?'