"I have waited to do this for a very long time," he said with a sparkle in his blue eyes. He turned the larger piece of paper over to the printed side and began to rub the rock over it. The writing began to disappear, instead being replaced with lines and shapes that appeared as if out of nowhere.
"What are you doing?"
"Revealing the true location of the Eye. My original search for the Eye led me to this stone wrapped with this paper. It's a map. It wasn't until later that I discovered that it would be revealed only with two immortals present, at the right time, during this ritual." He shook his head and looked down at the old paper, his eyes glistening with emotion.
Quinn couldn't believe his eyes. It was a full-fledged treasure map. And it had appeared magically when
Malcolm ran the stone over it, as if it had been written in magical invisible ink. He shook his head and looked at Malcolm, his heart swelling. This was turning out to be the best day of his life. Finding the Eye and finding Malcolm after all this time. He wasn't sure which was better.
Malcolm beamed at him. "You see? Now the Eye will belong to both of us. I see great things for our future."
Quinn glanced at Janie. Her eyes had widened at what had just happened, and she stared at the map on the table. Malcolm went to cover it up and pull it away, but she grabbed the corner of it.
"I'm going to need this," she said.
Quinn stood up from the table. "Take your hands off that, Janie. I'm warning you."
She glared at him but didn't let go of the map. "Is that right? You'rewarning me?"
Suddenly Malcolm grimaced and let go of the paper. With a sharp gasp of pain, he clutched his chest.
Janie's face fell. "What's wrong with you?"
"I get pain sometimes," he explained through clenched teeth. "So much pain."
"But you're a vampire, aren't you?" She frowned, and her determined expression softened slightly.
Quinn made a move to go to Malcolm's side, but the old man held up his hand to stop him.
"No, I'll be fine in a moment," Malcolm said. He looked at Janie. "But… could you be so kind as to pour me a glass of water, dear? If you wouldn't mind."
She hesitated, frowning, but then moved toward the cupboard, the map still clutched in her hand. Her shoulders were tense as she reached up to grab a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap.
While she did this, Malcolm straightened up his posture, closed the small distance between them, and with one smooth motion swung his cane at the back of Janie's head.
The sound of her body falling heavily to the ground covered Quinn's gasp.
Malcolm turned to him. "It had to be done, I'm afraid."
He struggled to keep his face expressionless. He blinked rapidly, not quite registering what he'd just witnessed.
Malcolm looked down at Janie's unconscious form. "Even as a mercenary, she was a minor inconvenience until she saw the map."
He licked his dry lips. "Of course you're right."
Malcolm clutched Quinn's shoulder and squeezed it hard. "You and I will follow the map to the Eye.
Together. Then we will change the world."
"Change the world?" He glanced down at Janie out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't moving. He couldn't tell if she was breathing. Had he killed her? His jaw clenched at the thought.
"Vampires are evil," Malcolm said simply. "I feel the darkness inside me. Don't you? But I have been blessed with my intelligence. I can take what I've learned and use it to save others."
Quinn swallowed hard. "I think the hunters have that under control. Don't you think they're the ones who are evil? Has that ever occurred to you?"
Malcolm put a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Yes, of course. Hunters can be just as bad as vampires. With the Eye in our possession, we can change things. Make things better. Don't you see?"
Use the Eye to help others. Not only himself.
It was a thought.
He finally forced a nod. "What's our first move?"
"First you must regain your strength." He nodded down at Janie. "Take her. Drain her. If she isn't dead,
kill her. It must be done."
His stomach lurched. "So you're saying you don't get pizza delivery out here?"
Feeling like throwing up sometimes worked to kick in Quinn's defense mechanisms—in this case, his sense of humor. Hismorbid sense of humor.
Malcolm nodded gravely. "In the beginning, I, too, fought it until I was weak and at the point of starvation. It is a losing battle. I will tell you one thing, the more I drink, the better I feel. I need the strength to keep fighting." He looked down at Janie. "Now, eat her."
"But it's only our first date." He forced a smile that masked the storm going on inside him. A joke—yes, a joke to lighten the mood and give him a second to think things through.
He glanced down at the prone Janie, her throat naked and exposed to the air.
His fangs ached.
He glanced at Malcolm. "I don't feel right doing this with an audience."
"I knew the moment I saw her that despite her beauty she was one of the evildoers. I would be willing to bet that her selfish deeds have hurt and killed many over the years. Don't feel any guilt for what you are about to do."
Quinn stared at Malcolm for a moment and then nodded without saying anything.
The old man grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted something down. "Take these directions to a place in downtownPhoenix . Meet me there at nine p.m. tonight and we will discuss what our next step will be."
Quinn took the paper and looked at it briefly before shoving it into his pocket.
Malcolm's kindly eyes crinkled. "Everything will be fine now, Quinn. Now that we have each other."
He snatched the map from the floor next to Janie, rolled it up, and tucked it inside his shirt. Then, with a final nod, he turned away and left the small house. Quinn watched him through the window as he walked down the pathway out front and disappeared into the distance.
Then he sank to his knees beside Janie.
"Hey"—he brushed the hair off her forehead—"are you okay?"