He snatched at the ribbon, rounding as Goosevar returned. The beast’s jaws hinged open as he let out another howl of rage.
Harker swung the cross by the ribbon and let it go. It sailed directly into the gaping maw.
There came a loud hiss, the smell of singed flesh, and a broken yap of pain. The purple ribbon trailed down over the teeth of Goosevar’s lower jaw. As he began to sputter and shake his great head, Harker’s hand closed over my arm.
“Run to the village,” he said urgently. “Tell them the constable’s been attacked by the Wolf of Roche Rock. Bring back help.”
I could see the sense in this, yet I stood frozen. What would happen to him?
“Mina!”
“Aye,” I said, tears stinging my eyes.
The choking noises gave way to enraged snarls as the shadow behind him rose.
Harker took warning from the look on my face, but before he could act, Goosevar lunged and swung. I heard a loud snap as he flung Harker to the ground several yards away. I let out a coarse, desperate cry as the monster followed, each strike of the trunk-like legs shaking the earth.
Then came more snarling, and barking, too—but this timebehindme. Something whooshed by my head, followed by a quietthunk.
Goosevarstaggered, almost falling, an arrow sticking out of the bark-like flesh of his shoulder. It hadn’t gone in deep; one brush of the long fingers would likely free it. And it wasn’tmuchof an arrow—crude looking, and hardly thicker than the wooden spills I used to light the stove. Where had it come from?
Gazing up the heath, I saw a man walking slowly toward us. He carried a bow with another arrow nocked.Jack!
Whoosh.The second arrow curved away from its target, and Jack scrambled to nock another. I ran around behind Goosevar to reach Harker. He’d raised himself on one arm, face gray with pain, but he wasalive.
“Go, Dolly!” someone shouted, followed by three deep-chested barks.
Trailing Jack, there were others. Father Kelly, holding a great wooden cross before him, and Mr. Couch, owner of The Wolf’s Head. And Dolly—apparently the name of his sleepy old wolfhound, who now streaked down the heath like a nightmare come to life.
Teeth bared and snarling, she barreled into Goosevar, closing her jaws over a mossy leg, neck twitching back and forth as she tried giving it a killing shake.
The monster howled and bent to the still-snarling hound, wrenching her free and tossing her away like a sack of grain. She hit the ground with a yelp, and Mr. Couch let out an angry shout as he ran toward her.
Goosevar made a clumsy lunge for Jack, but Dolly had given him time to nock and aim ... The second arrow whistled through the air and stuck fast in the monster’s chest.
After a single frozen moment, Goosevar folded and crashed to his knees.
“Another!” barked Father Kelly, stepping closer. With the big cross held like a shield before him, he looked very like one of the figures in the painting at St. Gomonda.
Jack’s next arrow lodged in Goosevar’s neck, and his head tipped, tongue lolling as he crashed backward onto the heath. Jack moved to stand directly over his foe’s great head, taking aim again.
Goosevar let out a half-choked growl as the arrow sank into one eye socket. At last the beast stilled, the flame of his remaining eye dying to a dark smolder.
“Well,that’sdone for you, hasn’t it?” growled Jack. Relief washed over me—how like himself he sounded! Raising his bow to his lips, he pressed a kiss into the wood.
“Thanks be to God,” muttered Father Kelly, crossing himself.
“He’s gone,” I breathed, turning back to Harker. The smile froze on my face.
Harker still rested on one elbow, his other arm wrapped around his ribs. His eyes looked empty and distant, and I felt a wrenching in my chest.
It struck me that although we’d wondered whether Goosevar’s death might remove the vampire curse from his family, we’d never thought to question whether anyharmmight come to Harker from it. The two of them shared a connection we still didn’t understand.And likely never will now.
I moved close, laying a hand against his face. “Harker?”
He gave no sign he’d heard me.
“I Have Failed”
