Jazz rolled over to face her. ‘Well, at least we should have plenty of that. I saw the Wamphyri castles on the stacks. They were miles away. And then there’s the length of the pass, too.’
She shook her head. ‘Jazz, even now it’s almost too late.’ As she spoke, Wolf came loping, tongue lolling. Behind him the southern gap of the pass was lit with a fast-fading golden haze.
Too late?’ Jazz repeated her. ‘You mean because the sun’s down?’
That wasn’t my meaning.’ she answered. ‘And anyway, it isn’t down. A mile south of here, the pass rises briefly to a shallow crest, then dips sharply and turns a little toward the east. From there it’s a steep, steady slope down to Sunside. The sun’s just over our horizon, that’s all. On Sunside there are still many hours of light left. But. . . Shaithis will be here very soon.’
‘He has transport?’ Jazz was puzzled, half-flippant.
‘Yes, he has,’ Zek answered . . . ‘Jazz, I can’t turn face-down. There’s a large rock sticking in me. But if you can manage it, then I’ll tell Wolf to chew on your bindings.’
‘You’re crediting old Lupus here with a deal of intelligence,’ Jazz was sceptical.
‘A mind-picture is worth a thousand words,’ she said.
‘Oh!’ Jazz said. He struggled to turn face-down, but –
‘Before you do,’ she said, breathlessly, ‘will you kiss me?’ She wormed herself fractionally closer.
‘What?’ he stopped struggling.
‘Only if you want to, of course,’ she said. ‘But. . . you might never get another chance.’
He craned forward, kissed her as best he could. Out of air, finally they broke apart. ‘Are you reading my thoughts?’ he said.
‘No.’
‘Good! But now I know what you taste like, the sooner Wolf gets to work on these bindings the better.’ He rolled over onto his face. Trussed like a chicken, his legs were bent at the knees, feet uppermost. His wrists were tied behind his back, and tied again, to his feet. Wolf at once began tugging at Jazz’s leather bindings. ‘No, dammit!’ Jazz spat out dirt. ‘Don’t pull, chew!’ And in a little while Wolf was doing just that.
Jazz could see his packs, gun, Zek’s too, lying only paces away. The weapons had a metallic sheen in the dark. ‘I notice Arlek took my compo,’ he said.
‘Compo?’
The hard-tack. The food.’
She was silent.
‘I mean, he did tell Shaithis he’d leave everything except my hatchet.’
Quietly she said: ‘But he knew Shaithis would have no use for the food.’
Jazz tried to turn his face her way. ‘Oh? But he eats, doesn’t – ‘ And he paused. He could see her eyes, unblinking in the dark shadow of her face. The Lord Shaithis of the Wamphyri,’ he grunted. ‘Of course. He’s a vampire, right?’
‘Jazz,’ she said, ‘hope springs eternal, but – maybe I should tell you something of how it could be. I mean, if we’re taken.’
‘I think maybe you should,’ he said.
Something small, black, chittering, flitted close by, came closer in dips and swoops, then darted off again. Then another, and more, until the air seemed full of them. Jazz had frozen into stone, stopped breathing, but Zek said: ‘Bats – but just bats. Ordinary bats. Not Wamphyri familiars. The Wamphyri use the real things for that. The big ones. Desmodus, the vampire.’
A thong parted behind Jazz’s back, and very quickly another. Jazz flexed his wrists and felt a little give in his bindings. Wolf carried on chewing. ‘You were going to tell me about Shaithis’s transport,’ Jazz reminded Zek.
‘No,’ she said, ‘I wasn’t.’ Her tone of voice told him not to ask any more. But in any case he didn’t need to. As the last thong parted and his straining wrists flew apart, he straightened his aching legs, rolled over onto his back and looked up. His eyes were drawn to an ominous stirring overhead. Level with the high walls of the pass, a black blot – several of them – shut out the stars as they began to descend.
‘What the hell – ?’ Jazz whispered.
They’re here!’ Zek breathed. ‘Quickly, Jazz! Oh, be quick!’