Vampire Bound: Book Two

by R. A. Steffan

  “Vonnie.” Edward’s voice was quiet, and not without compassion. “Please remember—demons are treaty bound not to interfere with humanity.”

  Again, that odd emphasis. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply for a moment to get my emotions under control.

  “Right,” I grated, before leveling a death glare at Leonides—one that promised dire consequences if he didn’t spill every single word Nigellus said to him afterward. He held my gaze, but I couldn’t read him. Surprise, surprise—no change there. I set my jaw and headed out with Edward. “Sandwich. Great.”

  SIXTEEN

  THERE REALLY WAS a sandwich waiting in the kitchen. I ignored it in favor of squaring up to Edward and crossing my arms stubbornly.

  “This is a really stupid system,” I told him. “Chinese whispers, only with demons?”

  Edward’s lips thinned. “As systems go, I’m afraid it’s marginally better than the alternative.”

  “Which is?” I pressed.

  “Supernatural war between two powerful, long-lived races, with Earth as the battlefield. Again.”

  I blinked at him.

  He didn’t break my gaze. “Tell me why you wanted to know about human magic and Dhuinne. It’s important, Vonnie.”

  I dithered for a moment, biting my lip. But... I already knew that I had no chance of getting to Dhuinne without help. Part of me was pointing out rather insistently that putting my trust in a guy who’d sold his soul to a demon was asking for trouble, even if he was sweet and brave and great at making coffee. A larger part was painfully aware that Edward and his demon master were currently the best leads I had when it came to finding Jace.

  “I was thinking that if I could somehow go to Dhuinne directly—to the Court—maybe I could petition them for Jace’s return. They seem interested in humans with magic, or at least Teague does. Maybe the fact that I have magical powers would make them more sympathetic toward me, or... something.” It sounded ridiculous when I said it aloud; much more so than when I’d merely been thinking it within the privacy of my own mind.

  Which was why it was so surprising when Edward only nodded, the tension in his expression from earlier returning.

  “I’d wondered if it was something like that,” he said. “There is a way you might gain access, but you must be careful, my dear. The world of the Fae Folk is not like our world.”

  I opened my mouth, failed to come up with anything useful to say, and closed it again with a snap.

  “Nigellus will be discussing the details with Mr. Leonides right now,” Edward continued. “It’s possible that certain elements of your companion’s past will allow him to gain safe passage to Dhuinne, and an audience with the Fae Court. But... in all honesty, it would be safer if you allowed him to go alone.”

  Something inside me balked at the idea.

  “Safer for me, or safer for him?” I frowned, trying to wrap my mind around what Edward was saying. “Besides, what makes you think Leonides would even agree to something like that? The Fae already have it in for him, or Teague wouldn’t have come barging in with magic blasting in the first place. He’s not a fool—he has to know how dangerous it would be for him to show up on the Fae’s doorstep.”

  Edward looked grim. “There is another... motivating factor, I suppose you could say. From what I know of Mr. Leonides, it may well be enough to sway him.”

  I set my jaw. “Well, if he goes, I go. Just tell me what I need to know about not losing my marbles while I’m there. You’ve explained what happens to non-magical humans in Dhuinne, but not why it happens.”

  Edward gave me a pained look. “Unless the Fae themselves have studied the phenomenon with an eye to research, no one knows the mechanism, Vonnie. It’s not as though there have been scientific studies. And while I have seen examples of the outcome over the centuries, I’ve never personally been to Dhuinne.”

  The words ‘over the centuries’ snagged in my mind. I pushed past the distraction. “But you told me there have been examples of humans with magic going there and coming back with no ill effects.”

  “Yes. There have been,” he said, still looking troubled.

  “So, is it just a matter of possessing magic?” I pressed. “Or did they have to do something intentional using magic? To protect themselves, I mean.”

  “I don’t know the answer to that,” Edward said. “I wish I did.”

  I threw up my hands in frustration. “Oh, come on! I though magical research was supposed to be your thing! Aren’t you an expert?”

  Edward’s bushy brows drew together. “I’m old... and I’ve had a front row seat to many seminal events in the supernatural world. But what accounts exist of human visits to the Fae realm are largely cloaked in allegory, and having magic does not allow me to talk to people who died centuries before even I was born.”

  I paused, sorting through the statement. “Hang on. Just how long has it been since a human with magic visited Dhuinne and returned unharmed?”

  “The most recent written record of which I’m aware is a second-hand account dating from the Roman occupation of Britain,” he replied. “There was a period of a few hundred years where the druids maintained somewhat cordial relations with Dhuinne’s residents, apparently in exchange for assistance in stabilizing the gateway between the two realms, located in what is now County Meath.”

  “The Roman occupation of Britain,” I echoed flatly.

  His expression softened. “As we’ve discussed, both of us arose from that same Celtic heritage, my dear. I don’t encourage you to pursue this course— although Nigellus will almost certainly encourage you to do so. But you are a direct descendant of the same magical peoples who briefly forged a partnership with the Fae. And two thousand years to the Fae is far less imposing a span of time than two thousand years to a human.”

  My head was spinning. I pulled out a chair next to the kitchen table and sat down rather abruptly.

  “I just want my son back,” I said weakly.

  Edward lowered himself into the chair next to me, covering my hand with his gnarled fingers. “Of course you do, my dear.”

  I swallowed hard, my throat clicking dryly. “Okay. Assume that I’m going to do this. How should I prepare? What would you do if you were going?”

  His tone grew dry. “I would brace for an extended stint of imprisonment and torture, I daresay.”

  My eyes flew to his, and he shook his head ruefully. “Vonnie, I’m bound to a demon of the first rank. My only value to Dhuinne would be as a bargaining chip. The question is, what should you do? And aside from bringing along enough provisions that you won’t be forced to eat Fae food or drink Fae wine, the first thing that comes to mind is to consume as much of Leonides’ blood as you possibly can before you leave.”

  An odd feeling halfway between queasiness and warmth churned in my stomach. “To boost my power again, you mean.”

  “Precisely,” Edward said. “He’s a young vampire, unlike Ransley. But with Ransley’s blood unavailable, it would definitely be better than nothing.”

  “Tell me why Nigellus thinks the Fae will even agree to meet with Leonides,” I demanded, unwilling to go into this without knowing more about the details. “Because I still don’t understand that part.”

  Edward seemed to debate with himself for a moment before speaking. “I believe you’re already aware that Mr. Leonides sold his soul to a demon—but for the time being, at least, has regained his freedom from that debt.”

  “Yes,” I said cautiously, aware of what a sore subject that was.

  Edward breathed in deeply and let it out. “Let’s just say, he didn’t accomplish that herculean task by politely asking the demon in question to let him go.”

  I let that sink in, a prickle of gooseflesh running across my skin at the implication of his words.

  * * *

  When we returned to the sitting room, Leonides was alone.

  “Where’s Nigellus?” I asked, looking around as though I expected the demon to jump out from behind
a bookcase and yell boo.

  Leonides’ lips twisted down. “Gone straight to Hell, just like this situation in general.”

  I looked at him incredulously. “So he dragged us out here and popped in just long enough to tell you he wants you to go to Dhuinne, then popped right back out?”

  The vampire’s gaze landed on Edward for a moment before moving back to me. “Heard about that part already, did you?”

  “Yeah,” I told him. “And I immediately thought, no, that’s crazy, Leonides would never agree to that. But Edward says Nigellus planned on dangling a carrot in front of you to convince you. Did it work?”

  He looked grim. “It worked.”

  I nodded, feeling my heart start to race at the idea that we were actually going to do this. “What was the carrot?”

  Leonides’ face might as well have been carved from stone. “I owe a debt to someone, and they’re in trouble.”

  “In trouble... in Dhuinne?” I asked, just to confirm.

  “Apparently.”

  I nodded, things making a bit more sense now. Helping a friend in need—or at least, a person who’d helped him in the past—was one of the few reasons I could think of that would convince Leonides to do something so crazy.

  “I case it’s not obvious already, I’m going with you,” I told him.

  Leonides’ focus cut back to Edward, and this time a violet glow swirled in the depths of his eyes. “Can she do this safely?” he asked. “Because no offense, but I trust your employer to tell it to me straight about as far as I can throw him. Which I’m guessing wouldn’t be far.”

  Edward didn’t hesitate. “She and I have just been discussing the matter, sir. Historically, it seems that humans with strong magic have, indeed, been able to withstand Dhuinne with no ill effects. However, details are difficult to come by. I’ve advised Vonnie to let you go alone, but...”

  “We both know that’s not going to happen,” I finished for him, without missing a beat. “So, is there a plan?”

  Edward shot me a quelling glance. “I also advised her that, if she still insisted on going, anything she could do to further boost her magic before the attempt would be wise.”

  “He means I’m supposed to drink your blood,” I said, once again struck by that odd feeling in my stomach as I contemplated the prospect.

  Leonides was silent for a moment before speaking.

  “Do you ever have those moments where you look at your life and wonder what the fuck happened?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

  “Occasionally,” Edward said.

  Leonides scrubbed a hand over his face roughly. “Do you even understand what you’re getting yourself into here, Vonnie?”

  “Sure,” I retorted. “Just call me Daniel, and someone tell me where to find the lions’ den. I mean, it’s not like people aren’t trying to kill me here on Earth, right? What about you, though? Do you really think the Fae will let you in rather than just, I dunno, trying to stake you or something?”

  “It’s possible they’ll want to talk to me,” he replied. “I get the impression the Fae haven’t quite connected the dots when it comes to who I really am.”

  “And... who are you?” I asked, frowning.

  Dark eyes bored into me, lit from within by pinpricks of violet. “I’m the guy who hacked up a demon with a chainsaw, and packed the dismembered body parts in salt to be transported and hidden in locations spanning the globe so they couldn’t regenerate,” he said.

  SEVENTEEN

  THERE... WASN’T really a good way to respond to a statement like that.

  “Wow,” I settled on eventually. “So, um—there was a lot of pent up aggression involved in the situation, I’m guessing?”

  “He was protecting Ms. Bright—his granddaughter,” Edward said quietly. “And it was rather a group effort, though it might be advantageous to downplay that aspect when negotiating safe passage with the Fae.”

  “I assume we’re talking about the demon you made the deal with?” I asked. “And not some other random demon who pissed you off?”

  “We are,” Leonides said flatly.

  It was pretty clear he’d prefer not to be having this conversation, but it was equally clear that this was kind of an important aspect of our plan to get into Dhuinne.

  “And the Fae and the demons are enemies, so it’ll be a case of ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’?” I pressed. “Even though they’re angry because Rans turned you into a vampire?” A frown crinkled my brow. “While we’re at it, why, exactly, do they have their panties in a twist about that?”

  “Politics,” Leonides said. “Not really my department.”

  Edward saved me from the painful process of having to drag more words out of him. “Vampires were allies of the demons in the last war. They were massacred by a magical Fae weapon... all of them except Ransley, whom Nigellus managed to spirit away to Hell for protection. Ransley’s continued survival is a provision of the peace treaty that ended the war—a provision, I might add, that came at some considerable cost at the negotiating table.”

  Leonides made a sound of derision. “Don’t make it sound so altruistic. Nigellus just wanted to make sure he still had a source of vampire blood available, so he could build a new vampire army if he ever needed one.”

  Edward sighed. “We shall have to agree to disagree on that point, I fear. At any rate, the treaty did not specifically address the creation of additional vampires on Earth. Not that Ransley was inclined in that direction, given the losses he’d already suffered.”

  I looked at Leonides with new understanding. “You said Ransley turned you to save your life after the demon tried to reap you.”

  “And shortly thereafter, I turned Zorah, to keep her from dying after a skirmish with some rogue Fae,” he said, his voice heavy.

  “Are you... saying that you three are literally the only vampires in existence?” I asked, just to make sure I was understanding this properly.

  “Yes,” he replied. “And as far as the Fae are concerned, only one of us is ‘sanctioned,’ for lack of a better term. But on the positive side, they shouldn’t have any idea that I’m responsible for killing a couple of their compatriots who attacked Zorah. And while they can probably place me at the battle where Teague’s predecessor was killed, I wasn’t directly responsible for his death.”

  “Caspian was a traitor to the Fae, anyway,” Edward put in, adding for my benefit, “He was consorting with the demon we... er... neutralized.”

  I supposed the word ‘neutralized’ was a nicer way of putting it than ‘dismembered with a chainsaw.’

  “So, this demon and Teague’s predecessor are both dead? Their little cross-species conspiracy isn’t going to come back and bite us if we go to Dhuinne?” I asked them.

  Edward frowned. “Dead? Oh, no, my dear—you can’t kill a demon. Caspian is deceased, but Myrial is merely... inconvenienced.”

  I looked between them warily. “After being cut up with a chainsaw and packed in salt?”

  “Demons are immortal,” Leonides said. “In the truest sense of the word. But Myrial isn’t in a position to accomplish much of anything at the moment.”

  My stomach did an odd little flip. “You mean Myrial is still alive, but in pieces? And... aware?”

  Leonides shrugged. “Alive, yes. Aware? I’m guessing not, or the fucker would have tried again to reap me by now, I expect. Don’t really care that much one way or the other, to be honest.”

  What happened to your wife to make you this angry? The words almost escaped, but I choked them back at the last moment. Leonides sold his soul to save the woman from terminal cancer. There had to be more to it, though. The last few minutes’ conversation spoke of an implacable bitterness for the demon he’d done a deal with.

  And, yes, to be fair, the demon in question had apparently tried to reap his soul recently. But I didn’t think that would account for it. Leonides didn’t strike me as a man who would harbor this degree of
hatred for someone just because they’d called in their part of a contract.

  I swallowed and licked my lips. Would I be so ready to move past the horrific nature of what Leonides had apparently done, if I weren’t fresh off my own recent education in brutality at the hands of Ivan and his goons? I wasn’t sure.

  “Right,” I said. “So the plan is to show up on the Fae’s doorstep and tell them that you’re a professional demon exterminator, and I’m a magical descendant of their old buddies, the druids?”

  “Basically,” Leonides replied, not sounding terribly happy about it.

  “Remember, sir,” Edward said, sounding worried. “You must not allow Vonnie to accept any Fae gifts. No food, no drink, no clothing or trinkets.”

  I shivered, half-remembered fairy tales rising from the depths of my childhood and taking on new weight. The idea that humans knew, on some level, what was going on around them, but had relegated it to the status of myth...

  Leonides’ hard expression grew harder. “I’m well aware.”

  “What happens if I accept a Fae gift?” I asked, trying to remember more details of those long-ago childhood stories.

  “You give the Fae who gifted it to you a connection to your soul,” Edward explained. “Depending on their particular aptitudes, that could mean the ability to track you anywhere you go, or even to summon you. Since you have magic, it could also extend to draining your power to bolster theirs.”

  “Oh—kay,” I said weakly, trying very hard not to picture someone like Teague being able to summon me to his side or drain me with a snap of the fingers. “Definitely won’t be doing that, then.”

  “Best not,” Leonides agreed, still sounded grim.

  Edward nodded, turning his attention back to the vampire. “Did Nigellus give you contact information for the go-between?”

  “He did. We’ll need to stay here tonight while I arrange for tickets and passports, though.”