It Started in Budapest by Julie Daines

Author:Julie Daines
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2020-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

Almost midnight. Molly took her extra clothing out of her carpetbag. She would not need them where she was going. The banknotes were tucked inside, ready to bribe the vampire when she found him. Dracula had been very interested in money. The glass vial was there also, wrapped in two handkerchiefs to keep it from breaking.

There was a soft knock on her door. She was dressed and ready to go. She put on her cloak and opened the door.

Dario was there. “Ready?”

“Yes,” she whispered. She picked up her carpetbag and followed him silently down the corridor to the stairs and then down to the kitchen.

On the table lay an assortment of items. Dario’s mother stood there, polishing something silver with a cloth.

“What’s this?” Molly asked softly. The last thing she wanted was to wake up Mr. Hunt. They should hurry and leave.

His mother said something in Romanian, her voice rising and falling as the words spilled out so fast that Molly wondered if even Dario could understand her. His mother did not look happy.

“I told her what you are looking for. She say you must carry these. To be safe.” He handed her a small book. “Book of psalms.”

She took it, flipping through the pages, which were written in a foreign language.

“Here is garlic, blessed from St. Andrew’s Eve. Is very powerful against evil.” He handed her a small pouch made of pearly white silk.

She did not reach for it. He held it out farther. They were all waiting for her to take it. From her cloak pocket, she found Mr. Hunt’s blue handkerchief and unfolded it. “Put it here.”

He dropped it into the center, and she wrapped it with lightning speed.

Next, his mother handed her the item she had been polishing. It was a crucifix in gleaming silver. Dario took this and pocketed it inside his overcoat.

His mother spoke again, a long stream of words that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

Dario smiled at her a little sheepishly.

“What did she say?” Molly asked.

“She thinks not a good idea to go looking for evil. Especially not on St. George’s day.”

“Ah.” She and Mr. Hunt would get along quite well. Thoughts of Mr. Hunt only called yesterday’s kiss to her mind.

He would never trust her again. Not that there was any real future for them in the first place. He was American, and she needed to stay with Matthew. Even with this, she was ahead of herself. He had been very kind. And in the quiet of her room, in the aftermath of white sheets and painful stories, they had had a moment. But that was all it was. A moment lived and now gone.

“Very much danger,” Dario’s mother said, shaking her head. “Very bad idea.”

Dario responded in his language. Then he turned to Molly. “Don’t worry about her. She is superstitious.”

Molly almost laughed. They must think the same about her as she set off to find a vampire.

“We go,” Dario said.

They left through the kitchen door and rounded the corner of the house to the front.

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