Chapter 285 - Last Rites part 16

Dawn was not far off. The sky in the east had begun to lighten. Salmon pink clouds, faintly glowing, draped the distant hills. We had circled around the small city of Kerpen, were proceeding directly to the Rhineland nature preserve, which abutted the Schwarz Maar. Up ahead, enfolded in its wooded hills, was Justus's lair, the abandoned monastery Engel Abbey.

"Does he know we're coming?" Lukas asked. "What if he's not home? That would be a kick in the pants, huh?"

"I'm sure he knows. I neglected to tell you one thing about him."

"What is that?"

"Justus possesses a rare vampire gift. It is a mental ability, like Zenzele's Eye. He has precognitive visions."

"He can see the future?"

"They are just flashes, he has said. Glimpses, images without words or understanding, but he'll know that we are coming. I am quite certain of it."

The ground sloped upward as we marched, became rugged and rocky. On the far side of the ridge was a broad, low-lying marsh, the ground crusted with ice. We slogged across the marsh, then climbed another piney ridge. Lukas complained vociferously about his muddy boots, but I put him out of my thoughts. There, at the bottom of the ridge, was Engel Abbey.

"Quit complaining and come," I said. "Our journey tonight is finished."

He looked up from cleaning his boots with a stick. "That's it?"

"Yes."

He wrinkled his nose and snorted.