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22.2: AGGRESSORS (part 2)

Anyone with a shred of sense, hearing the steel in Gustav's voice, would have done as he said. Charlotte's father, it turned out, was not possessed of that crucial shred. For, "I shall not!" he declared.

Fang grimaced in anticipation. A split second later, Gustav landed a punch on the man's jaw that sent him sprawling.

"Papa!" Charlotte screamed. Dropping to her knees, she gave her father's prone form a shake, but he was out cold. "Papa, wake up!" she shrieked in his ear, making Fang wince. When that didn't work, Charlotte bounded up to Gustav, her own small fists clenching. "How dare you do that to my Papa! I'm going to call the authorit-"

The look on Gustav's face stopped her. This was not surprising. Gustav's countenance at that moment would have halted a rock-troll in its tracks. For an instant, Fang even felt sorry for the precocious child. Judging by Gustav's tensed shoulders and heaving chest, Fang would not have put it past him to hit Charlotte as he had hit her father.

So, "Get on with you," Fang snapped. His words brought Charlotte out of her frozen terror. She turned, stumbled, righted herself, and scampered away to where a crowd of onlookers had gathered, losing herself in their midst.

Fang half-feared that he would catch the brunt of Gustav's fury in Charlotte's absence, but fortunately (for him), it was Harriet whom Gustav rounded on next.

"Now tell us where the vampire is," Gustav demanded.

Harriet winced away from Gustav's sudden hostility. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"Harriet-" Winkton began, moving toward his daughter, but Gustav interrupted him.

"Don't lie to me!" he barked, lunging forward and catching Harriet's wrist. "We know you were with him. We've been on your trail since Barthane."

"Ouch!" Harriet twisted and pulled, trying to free herself, but Gustav's grip was like a manacle. "I told you, I don't know any vampire. I don't know what you're... Ouch! Let go!"

Gustav yanked her closer, fingers digging into her skin. "Don't lie to me," he hissed. "Where is he? Why can't I sense him? How has he hidden-"

Winkton hurried to lay a hand on Gustav's arm. "Please, Mr. Brightmann, control yourself! This is my daughter, sir."

Gustav favoured Winkton with a look that would curdle blood. Winkton made an involuntary whimpering sound. But, "Very well," Gustav snarled. He gave Harriet's wrist a final warning twist before releasing her so suddenly that she almost fell. Winkton caught hold of her. Then: "You!" Gustav cried. This time, the object of his attention was the unlucky Henrick. "Show me your vampire! And let's see what else is hiding in that so-called 'House of Horrers'."

Henrick shifted in surprise. "Look, this is nothing to do with me," he grumbled. "I'm just trying to run a business here."

"SHOW US THE NIGHT-CURSED VAMPIRE!" Gustav roared.

"Mr. Brightmann- Gustav!" Winkton stammered. "Please, calm down. We have found my daughter, after all."

Gustav's reply was cold. "You came for your daughter. I came for the vampire."

Fang was a creature of Night-and, he liked to think, a particularly fearsome one-but nevertheless Gustav's tone sent a shiver down his spine. He hoped very much that Rupert was not in that tent nor anywhere in the vicinity. He cast a sidelong glance at Harriet, who was nursing her wrist and watching Gustav warily. She's lying, thought Fang. She must be. We know she's been travelling with Rupert and Juggalug. A half-banshee can easily slip away, but Rupert... Where in Night's dark halls is Rupert?

"Entry's still thruppence," Henrick was saying, his desire for profit evidently greater than his intelligence.

"Night take your thruppence," Gustav snarled. Fang couldn't say exactly what happened next, apart from that it ended with Henrick flying through the air and landing with a winded oomph! on the grass, and Gustav barging his way through the entrance to the tent. Where Gustav found the strength to send flying such a mountainous man as Henrick, Fang did not know. However, he did know that if Rupert was in that tent, and if Gustav turned that same power upon him... Well, Elizabeth would never forgive Fang for letting that happen.

So Fang followed Gustav inside. The tent's interior was cool and dark, the only illumination a red glow from a shrouded oil-lamp. With his nocturnal predator's eyes, Fang had no trouble spotting Gustav, who was peering through the bars of a cage on the right-hand side of the tent.

"Show yourself," Gustav yelled at a curled-up form within the enclosure. "Show yourself, you murdering scum."

Yes, that'll really give him confidence. While Fang's inner voice was still attempting sarcasm, it was only to mask the anxiety running through him. But one glance at the creature huddled in the cage told him that it was not Rupert; this being was older, taller, with a ragged mop of auburn hair. A rapid survey of the rest of the tent confirmed that Rupert was not present. The only other occupant of the pitiful 'House of Horrers' was a ragged, stinking werewolf, which was sprawled unfazed in the corner of its own cage watching Fang and Gustav with one bloodshot eye.

Returning his attention to Gustav, Fang's gaze came to rest on the back of the vampire hunter's neck. Why not end this here and now? If he were rid of Gustav, Fang would not have to worry about Rupert's safety. He and Winkton could continue the search alone, and with Winkton's daughter in tow that was bound to be easier. They'd get her to talk, she'd lead them to Rupert, and everything would be well again.

Fang took a step toward Gustav, but as he did so the man whipped round and fixed him with a shrewd stare. Fang managed not to jump, but it was a close thing.

"Foul creatures, vampires," Gustav said, his tone low and-did Fang imagine it?-carrying a note of threat.

Fang mustered his considerable powers of composure. "I couldn't agree more. But leave this one, Mr. Brightmann. He is not the Nightspawn we seek."

At Fang's words, the creature in the cage peered up through its matt of hair, and for the first time Fang got a proper look at its face. It was all he could do to keep his expression schooled. For there, sitting amongst that fetid straw, was Dolphus Lexius Gurgletone Scarletsucker, with whom Fang had shared many a sanguinary tale over a warm goblet of blood. Dolphus Lexius Gurgletone Scarletsucker, who had been one of the most exemplary vampires of Fang's generation, an icon of tradition and decorum, reduced to this.

Winkton's doing, Fang realised. A wave of guilt broke over him, and not for the first time. How many vampires had Winkton broken over the years? How many had Fang turned a blind eye to, only to save his own selfish skin? But no, he reminded himself, not only my skin. My family's too. I'm doing this for family. That brought Rupert fresh into his mind. If he could not save Dolphus, Fang would make sure he saved his own nephew from a similar fate.

It wrenched his non-beating heart to turn away from Dolphus's pleading eyes and take on the imperious tones of Lord Bloodless. "Leave the wretched thing," he urged Gustav again. "It's not worth our attention."

"Yes, a dirty creature," Gustav said. His lips curled. "Perhaps I should put it out of its misery."

"Oh, why bother, Mr. Brightmann," Fang put in hurriedly. "It is hardly worth the effort. The evil beast is learning its lesson most thoroughly in this place, I imagine."

Gustav grunted and, at last, moved away from the cage holding Dolphus. The most recent fit of rage finally seemed to be waning. "As you say, Lord Bloodless," Gustav said, following Fang back into the daylight. "I shall preserve my strength for the fiend who dared kidnap Miss Winkton. He, I vow, will beg for the mercy of a stake before I am through with him."

And I vow that you will not touch one hair on my nephew's wayward head, Gustav Brightmann. But echoing under this thought, another loomed: The question is, am I strong enough to stop you?