I look up at him. He’s finished stitching his own wounds, I suppose. He’s just sitting with his beer, staring at me while I bandage his leg. I look back down at the bandage.
“Yeah. Piers Dagher—he said he’d leave me alone for a while if I could bring back something that proved I met the monster.”
Helsing snorts and downs the rest of the beer. Again, he throws it. Again, I hear it shatter in the bottom of a trash can somewhere behind me.
“Stupid thing to do. Stupid dare to take, too. Bring me the sack when you’re done with that bandage. I think I’m patched up enough.”
I do as I’m told. I cut off the end of the bandage and secure it, then go get the sack. He sits up straight and opens it.
“Not many people at the school knew your parents personally,” he says, reaching into the sack and pulling out one of the al’s disembodied hands. He pushes some things off his work bench and finds what looks like a cleaver. In my opinion, that’s a dangerous thing to have just lying hidden where you put your hands a lot, but it’s not my cabin, and it’s not my workbench.
“Waldman talks about them a lot, huh?” He brings the cleaver down on the hand, chopping off four of its fingers in one motion.
“Yeah,” I reply, feeling butterflies in my stomach. I hope he hasn’t found out about the iratxoak and the vial of Piers’ blood they delivered to Professor Waldman. That would be a little hard to explain away. I’ve just done my best to forget it and hope it doesn’t creep back to bite me in the ass one day.
He rips his ruined shirt in half and wraps one of the al’s fingers in it. “Be careful around her. It’s weird she seems to have known them so well. Never heard Riley or Samson mention her.” He hands me the bundle. “Show that to your boys.”
Hands shaking, I take the bundle. “Thanks, sir,” I say quietly. I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. He gets to his feet and winces.
“Lemme get changed. I’ll drive you back up to the school.”
Chapter Fourteen
I decide not to remind Helsing that he’s had a couple beers. It’s late, it’s freezing, and I really don’t want to walk all the way back to school. He drives just fine, though, and I sit in the passenger’s seat with the finger wrapped in cloth sitting in my lap.
“Are you gonna tell anyone?” I ask him after we pass through the village and start the long, winding journey back up to the school.
“Nah.” He slows down to allow a horse and cart to cross the road in front of him. “Don’t see the point. You did just fine out there.”
“Thanks.” I turn to look out the window. There’s something I want to ask him, but I haven’t quite gotten up the courage. He’s already given me so much to think about tonight.
The rest of the ride is quiet. The radio faintly plays some song in Romanian, and Helsing hums along. Just around the corner from the main gate, he pulls over to a thick patch of brush.
“Better let you out here,” he says. “Too easy for you to be seen if I drive you all the way up.”
“Yeah.” I reach into the backseat to grab my spear, and then notice that I still have Helsing’s knife. “Oh, uh—” I offer it to him, but he waves his hand dismissively.
“Keep it. If you’re gonna go around fighting monsters without permission, you’ll need a proper weapon.”
“Thanks,” I say again. I reach for the door handle, and then hesitate. It’s now or never. I might not get another chance like this again. “Professor Helsing … can I ask you something?”
“Sure, whatever.”
“How, exactly, did my parents die?”
He looks at me. The lights from the dashboard only illuminate half his face, casting the other half in shadow. The scar on his forehead is especially lurid now.
“I wish I knew, kid,” he says softly. “All I know is something went wrong on that hunt … and they didn’t come back.”
I nod. “Okay. All right. Thanks, I guess.” I open the door and am halfway out when he speaks up again.
“Avery.”
I glance back at him. “Yeah?”
“Maybe ask Mason Dagher next time he’s at the school.”
“What would be know about it?” I’m ready to climb back into the car and demand answers, but Helsing is already reaching to shut the door behind me.