Riley found a sad comfort when Gary stepped through the tent's opening with a hot bowl of soup and a spoon in his hands. "Oh good, you're awake. I have your breakfast-or dinner, since the sun is about to set."
"Hello, Gary." Nodding her thanks, she took the bowl and set it aside. Her body was still waking up, and she wasn't hungry. "What's happening? Where are we? Is everyone okay? How long have I been asleep?"
There was plenty of room in the three-person tent, and Gary sat down on a camping stool someone had brought in. "Jubal and Ben are fine. In fact, they're outside now." He indicated the door flap. "We're in a camp some of the locals set up as a gathering place for survivors. As for how long you slept, you have been resting for two days now."
"Two days?" she repeated, incredulously. She'd never slept so long in her entire life. Her brow furrowed with sudden suspicion. "Did the vampire hunter put me to sleep?"
"No, he didn't. Apparently, you drained every reserve of strength you had saving our butts and healing him. Which is why you need to eat now, whether you feel hungry or not." He cast a pointed look at the soup bowl.
"Two days," she muttered. "Good God." She lifted the spoon to her lips and numbly took a bite. The flavors exploded across her tongue, and she glanced down at the soup in surprise. It was really good, and as she swallowed her first bite she realized she really was hungry.
"I'm not sure you are aware of what you did, or if you even remember," Gary continued when he was satisfied she was eating. He lowered his voice so others outside couldn't hear him. "Dax, the Carpathian hunter, was badly injured and you used your gifts to directly heal him. He told me that you didn't just draw power from the earth like you did to hold the vampire, or when you redirected the volcano's eruption. You used that power, but you drew most of the energy from yourself and poured it into him. Riley, you healed him completely. And by that, I mean you regrew bone and tissue from nothing. I've been around Carpathians, and not even the strongest healers among them could have done what you did by themselves and in so short a time. It's nothing less than miraculous. After you passed out, Dax checked you out himself, but he couldn't find anything wrong, so he told us just to let you rest. So we have." He glanced down. "More soup?"
It took a moment for Riley to realize she was staring blindly at the now-empty bowl. "Yes, thank you."
Raising his voice, Gary called out to Jubal, and seconds later exchanged her empty bowl for a full one. Jubal himself only poked his head into the tent long enough to give her a huge smile and a wave, which she returned automatically. Then he ducked back outside, and the tent flap closed behind him.
"Riley, you've suspected for a while now that Jubal and I know a lot more than we've been willing to share. We keep secrets for many reasons, mostly because keeping those secrets helps protect people we care for. But because Dax sees us as your "protectors," he's given us permission to share some of our knowledge with you now." He looked like some of her fellow professors did right before they started their first two-hour lecture on a topic that would take years to fully explain.
"Wait." She held up a hand. "Before you get started, tell me about the others. You said Ben and Jubal are okay. What about the rest of the people from the boats? Did they survive?"
"Dax found Miguel, Hector, Don, and Mack Shelton when we were coming down the mountain. And following the trail of the professor and his students is what led us here." Something in the tone of his raised voice caused a sinking feeling in her stomach.
"What happened?"
"The professor fell. Oh, don't worry, it's nothing too bad, except he's in the jungle, and needs to be able to walk, but he'll be okay. He broke his leg."
"And?" she prompted when he fell silent again. "You don't get that worried look in your eyes because the professor broke something. What else?"
"Dax found two of the porters dead that first night. They were returning to see if we all made it away from the volcano. Fernando and Jorge."
She shook her head. "That's so terrible." She knew the bad news wasn't over and waited in silence for him to tell her the rest.
"One of the guides and one of the professor's students are missing. Pedro went to find clean water for breakfast. Marty went with him. They never came back." Gary's expression went grimmer. "Dax believes the vampire he's hunting might have found them." The look on his face said he believed it, too. "But just in case he's wrong, we have most of the men out looking for them now," he added.
Giving her a moment to process the news, Gary handed her empty soup bowl out to Jubal again and exchanged it for two blue metal camping cups.
Vampire. Riley shook her head in disbelief. Vampires were one of the monsters from stories. They were the thing you dressed up as on Halloween, the evil creature in a scary movie. They weren't supposed to be real. But then again there weren't supposed to be dragons, and her mother wasn't supposed to be dead, and ... her heart seemed to skip as she thought about that man. He wasn't supposed to be here, either, whatever he was.
She took the camping cup Gary held out and took a grateful sip of the tepid water. It was warm and tasted of ash and chemicals, but it quenched her thirst and soothed her parched throat.
"What else aren't you telling me?" The image of two dragons facing off in front of them rose to mind. "What about the hunter, Dax? Did you know he was here the whole time?"
"No, of course not. We had no idea Dax or the vampire was here. I don't think anyone did. From what Dax told me, he and Mitro-the vampire-were locked in the earth under the mountain for a very long time. A Carpathian woman named Arabejila, who came here with Dax to hunt Mitro, sealed them both in. Dax suspects Arabejila was your ancestor, and that she's the one who passed down the ritual you and your mother performed to keep the volcano from erupting and freeing them. According to Dax, Mitro is worse than most vampires, and he has a gift for escaping bad situations. Maybe that gift helped him wear down the barrier, but in any case, he's free now." Gary noticeably swallowed after he spoke.
"So what exactly is a Carpathian? You keep using that word like it should mean something to me." Riley needed an explanation as to how vampires and dragons had become a reality.
"The Carpathians are an ancient race-a different species, really-that has existed alongside mankind for a very long time. In fact, the Carpathians say they are of the earth itself. They have very long life spans, and possess amazing gifts and abilities, which is no doubt what spawned all the legends and myths about vampires and shapeshifters. It would take a very long time to give all the details, so I'll just hit the high points. I am sure Dax will be happy to answer any other questions you may have." He gave a small grin.