Alucard laughed as he shook his head. "You misunderstand me, Slayer. I have left you what bread crumbs I might." Alucard's laughter came to an abrupt halt as searing pain swept through his soul. The bonds Glasya had set upon him cut into his essence, warning him away from his act of defiance. Still, he fought against them, summoned his familiars to guard his mind for a moment more. "Find the witch. Or the wizard, if you would rather. Destroy him before he sets the children in the oven. That is your only hope of regaining what Hellsing intended me to be."
The effort sent him to his knees. A grimace stretched his lips away from his teeth, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He'd seen the bolt loosed from the crossbow, but could do nothing to halt it as he mind reeled from the cruel bite of Glasya's influence. The Knight of Ren had ordered Alucard never to endanger him; Alucard had moved perilously close to crossing that line. With a clatter of steel and silver, the Jackal fell to the earth while Alucard clutched his skull. The bolt buried its length in his shoulder. Blood hissed and burned as though touched by fire. Glasya's orders urged Alucard to move, get up, follow the woman into the woods.
A lurching step brought Alucard to his feet. He staggered forward, heedless of the discarded gun, and opened his senses to the forest.
"If you insist," he whispered, to no one in particular, his thoughts not entirely his own as the hunger and his imperative drove him onward.