Cronin's Key II

by N. R. Walker

  Alec smiled at Jorge. “You know what? You can have it,” he said, undoing his watch. It wasn’t anything expensive, and it wasn’t like Alec needed to be on time to go anywhere. He handed the wristwatch to Jorge, and the little boy looked up at him and smiled, fangs and all, when he took the watch.

  Jorge sat on the chair next to Alec again, his feet not touching the floor, and clasped the too-big watch on his own wrist. “The time of the key,” Jorge mumbled to himself. “Jorge has the time of the key.”

  Alec glanced at Cronin, then back to Jorge. “That’s right. The time of the key.”

  When Jorge looked up, his eyes were closed but they twitched with REM, as though he was looking into the depths of his own mind. “From his blood comes the sun,” Jorge said again. “Blood from a stone. Stone from a blood.” Jorge was quiet for a moment, his eyes still closed but moving. “So many questions. Blood from a stone.”

  When Jorge looked up, his eyes were black. Alec’s blood ran cold.

  Jorge’s voice was different, and he spoke in perfect English, like he’d been possessed. “Red hand, blue moon, silver river, the earth will come to life. Blood from a stone, stone from a blood. He is risen already, as she was risen, the answer is in the stones. Blood from a stone, stone from a blood.”

  Cronin spoke next. “What does the key need to do?”

  “Blue moon, silver river, blood from a stone. You will not find him with your eyes. ” He looked at Alec like he was seeing straight through him. “Yes, through the key. Through the key.”

  Then Jorge shook his head a little and his eyes returned to normal. He grinned his little fanged smile, like he hadn’t just impersonated the kid from The Omen. “Jorge will see you again,” he said cheerfully.

  Alec wasn’t sure if it was a vision or a request. He nodded nonetheless. “Sure.”

  Cronin put a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Thank you, Jorge, Adelmo,” he said with a nod. “It is most appreciated.”

  “I hope you got what you came for,” Adelmo said. Alec didn’t know whether Adelmo was used to the random ramblings of Jorge, if he was used to the black eyes, or if he didn’t care about what he’d just seen. He made no attempt to translate.

  Cronin gave a nod, as did Kennard. They spoke at the same time. “Thank you.”

  Cronin held his hand out to Alec, which he took as his cue to leave. He grabbed it quickly, but before he left, he held out his spare hand toward Jorge. “High five.”

  Little Jorge’s face lit up and he jumped up quickly to slap Alec’s hand, and they walked out the door, leaving the vampire child giggling behind them.

  “Red hands in the stones. Forever is in the stones,” Jorge said. Alec, Cronin, and Kennard turned to face the little boy. He grinned his cute and creepy grin. “The key asks different questions, he does. Yes, he does. Red hands in the stones. Forever is in the stones.”

  Alec had no clue what that was supposed to mean, but he gave the kid a smile and a nod. Cronin ushered Alec along, and four steps into the clearing, Cronin—still holding Alec’s hand—reached out and touched Kennard’s arm, and they were gone.

  * * * *

  They were back in the London alley, behind Kennard’s nightclub. Alec shivered from the abrupt change of temperature, from humid heat to freezing cold, and Cronin pulled him close, rubbing his back for warmth.

  Alec had never been so glad to be somewhere else. He looked up the wet, darkened alley. “Oh, thank God. Back in the land of the normal.”

  Kennard laughed. His voice sounded very British after hearing so much Spanish. “He sure is different.”

  Alec shivered, this time not from the abrupt change in temperature. Out of all the vampires Alec had seen, including the rabid batshit-fucking crazy Egyptian Goddess vampire Keket, Jorge was by far the most frightening. “So innocent and so disturbingly evil.”

  Cronin rubbed his back. “It’s an unnerving combination, yes?”

  Kennard laughed. “Well, he liked you.”

  “I just figured it was best to make friends with him,” Alec said. “Get him on our side, ya know? At first, I didn’t think he was gonna tell us anything, so I figured I’d talk to him on his level.”

  “Well, it worked,” Kennard said. “What did you make of that whole blood in the stone, red hand thing?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Cronin answered. “It’s a puzzle we need to put together.”

  Kennard clearly thought so too. “I’m sure as more comes to light, as more covens move, or rumors are spread, we can piece it together.”

  Cronin nodded. “Agreed.”

  “You guys knew something was going on?” Alec asked. “In China or Russia or some-freakin’-where.”

  “Only what I read in the newspaper of repeated disappearances,” Cronin explained. “Then tonight, Kennard said he’d heard of covens relocating.”

  “And that’s a red flag?”

  Cronin nodded. “I should have told you.”

  “Yes, you should have,” Alec said.

  Kennard clapped Alec on the arm. “I’m sure if we need to know anything more, we can ask him again. Jorge has a friend in you.”

  Alec could only shake his head. “Man, I know he’s just a kid and all, but the mood swings are off the charts. Adelmo should consider cutting back that kid’s preservatives. Go let him feed on some vegans or something.”

  Cronin snorted and Kennard burst out laughing. “Oh Alec, you are a charm.”

  Cronin held Alec a little too close, and the gruffness in Cronin’s voice was one he knew well. “We should be returning home.”

  Alec, fitting so perfectly against Cronin, agreed. Unable to help himself, he ran his hand down over the swell of Cronin’s ass and ran his nose along his neck. “Yes, it’s been hours.”

  “Yes,” Kennard said with a laugh. “I forgot what it was like to be around newly fated couples.” He shook his whole body. “Now I need to go find someone to enjoy the pheromones with, thanks.”

  Alec laughed. “You’re welcome.” He slid both arms around Cronin and scraped his teeth against Cronin’s jaw and the next thing he knew, he was on his back in the middle of Cronin’s bed. His shirt was gone, his legs were spread, and Cronin knelt between them. He smiled around his fangs, his eyes a salacious black.

  Alec moaned and raised his hips. He closed his eyes and exposed his neck and waited for the pleasure to take him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Alec hit stop on the treadmill, slowing to a walk. “Did you talk to them?”

  Cronin had been on the phone to Eiji. He nodded. “Yes. They’ll be back in an hour. So when you’re ready, we can go.”

  Alec wiped his face down and stepped off the treadmill. “I’ll just go shower. You know, it’ll be twice as quick if you helped me.”

  Cronin laughed. “It’ll be twice as long. I know what your intentions are.”

  Alec grinned as he walked past him. He flicked the towel at Cronin’s ass, hitting him with a smart thwack. Alec took off and Cronin chased him, which ended with the two of them laughing through soapy hand jobs in the shower, which lead to more fooling around in bed, which of course ended with them being late to meet Eiji and Jodis.

  They were still all hands and smiles when they leapt into the small living room of the Tokyo house. It was one of Cronin’s houses—he had three: a house in Japan, an apartment in London, and the apartment in New York City that Alec now called home, though Alec always assumed the Japanese home was more for Eiji than Cronin. Alec had been to the Tokyo house once before, when Cronin leapt them all here so Eiji could heal in peace.

  He’d suffered exposure to sunlight in their battle against Queen Keket in Egypt and had almost died. It was Alec’s blood that had saved him, a source of rich sustenance at just the right time, or so Alec believed.

  It had been almost eight weeks ago that Eiji and Jodis came to Japan, and although Cronin hadn’t said as much, Alec knew he missed his friends.

  When Alec
had asked, Cronin said they hadn’t spent a whole eight weeks apart in a long time. He guessed a vampire’s version of “a long time” was a few hundred years, so that would explain Cronin’s excitement to see them.

  When Alec and Cronin finally pulled away from each other, they found Jodis and Eiji standing by the rice paper wall, smiling at them.

  “Look at you,” Jodis said, looking at Cronin. “I’ve never seen you smile so.”

  Cronin walked over to his oldest friend and pulled her in for a quick embrace. “Jodis, my dear, how are you?”

  “Fine, fine,” she said with a warm smile.

  Alec was quick to hug Eiji. “Eiji, my man, how are you?”

  The smaller Japanese vampire laughed. “Better. Much better,” he said.

  When Alec let go of him, he realized he’d missed Eiji’s smiling face. “Well, you look great.”

  “And look at you two,” Eiji said. “I assume the last weeks have been well-spent.”

  Cronin blushed and Alec laughed. “Something like that.”

  “Well, it warms my heart to see it,” Jodis said. She tilted her head. “Though we grew worried when you were late in arriving.”

  “Oh, well,” Cronin said, fighting a smile. “That was Alec’s fault.”

  Alec barked out a laugh. “Really? Because I seem to recall you—”

  Jodis put up her hand to stop Alec mid-sentence. “Uh. No need for details.”

  “Come and sit down,” Eiji said, waving his hand at the sofas. “Tell us Cronin, you said you spoke to Jorge? What on Earth for?”

  They sat down and Cronin quickly took Alec’s hand. “I read of reported disappearances in Northern China. I didn’t think much of it, but we went to London and met with Kennard and he mentioned in passing about word of a Russian coven fleeing their territory.”

  Eiji and Jodis were both silent and still, their faces serious. Alec was learning that this red flag of vampire behavior—of covens fleeing their own territories—was never a good thing.

  “So we left London and went directly to Bolivia to see Jorge,” Cronin continued. He smiled at Alec. “He liked Alec.”

  “The kid was a weird one, that’s for sure,” Alec said, making Eiji laugh. “But I mean, it’s not his fault. He can’t help what he is. No vampire chooses their talent, right?”

  “Or their mental well-being,” Jodis said. “Jorge is quite unique in that regard. He’s the only one in all our kind to have dual personalities.”

  “Thank God,” Alec said. He looked at the three vampires. “He’s probably the scariest vampire I’ve encountered.”

  Eiji snorted incredulously. “He’s not even four feet tall.”

  Alec shivered. “He gave me the heebie-jeebies. You know when the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end?”

  Cronin raised an eyebrow at Alec. “Do you always play football with people who scare you?”

  Jodis’ eyes went wide. “You played football with him?”

  “Not really,” Alec answered nonchalantly. “Just some ball skills. I didn’t think he was going to tell us anything.”

  “And what did he tell you?” Eiji asked.

  “He was cryptic, as usual,” Cronin replied. “He said ‘Red hand, blue moon, silver river, the earth will come to life. Blood from a stone, stone from a blood. He is risen already, as she was risen, the answer is in the stones. Blood from a stone, stone from a blood.’”

  Alec added, “Then Cronin asked him what the key had to do, and he said ‘Blue moon, silver river, blood from a stone. You will not find him with your eyes. Through the key. Through the key.’” Alec raised both eyebrows. “The kid needs meds or something.”

  Cronin laughed proudly. “Alec suggested the child feed only from vegans to reduce preservatives in his diet.”

  Eiji laughed again, his whole face smiling. “Oh Alec, I have missed you.”

  Jodis turned serious. “What does it all mean?”

  Cronin took a deep breath and squeezed Alec’s hand. “I think Alec’s duty as the key, whatever it is, has started again.”

  Eiji shook his head at Alec. “We just can’t keep you out of trouble, can we?”

  “I try,” Alec said with a shrug, “but it just keeps finding me.”

  “Cronin,” Jodis whispered. “Blue moon? There will be a blue moon this month.”

  Cronin was stoic, his answer quiet. “I know.”

  “What does that mean?” Alec asked. “A blue moon is the second full moon in any given month, right?”

  “Yes,” Eiji answered. “Though typically it meant a fourth full moon in any season, but yes, close enough.”

  “So when’s the next full moon?”

  “Next week,” Cronin said, giving him a tight smile. “At least we have a time frame now.”

  “We need to go back to New York,” Jodis said. “We’re better equipped there.”

  Alec looked around the small Japanese house. He loved the white rice paper walls, dark timber trims, the low-set furniture, the bare essentials. It was out of the city, far removed from the road for passersby to notice. Granted Alec had only ever seen it at night, but he felt at peace there. He always seemed to be racing against time, and he wanted to savor one night of some fun before the serious work began. “What time is it here?” Alec asked.

  “Ten-thirty at night,” Cronin said. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Well, yes, we probably should head back to New York at some point.” He smiled. “But I’ve never been to Tokyo.”

  Cronin squeezed his hand. “Then I shall take you.” He looked over at Eiji. “Are you up for a tour?”

  “Yes, of course,” Eiji said. “I really do feel much better.” He grinned at Alec. “You’ll love it.”

  “Different much since you were a boy?”

  Eiji laughed again. Alec really had missed the sound. “In ways you cannot imagine.”

  Alec jumped to his feet and pulled Cronin up. “Well, considering the key, meaning me, is on another time crunch, I say we don’t waste a minute.”

  When Cronin was ready to leap the four of them somewhere in downtown Tokyo, Alec put his hand on Eiji’s arm and a look of disbelief crossed Cronin’s face. He leapt before Alec could ask him what was wrong.

  * * * *

  The next thing Alec knew, he was in a dark secluded alley, but the sounds of a bustling city were everywhere. He looked up the short alley and saw streams of people walking past, and when they got to the junction of where the alley met the street, Alec was speechless.

  Sure, he’d seen pictures and movies of Tokyo, but nothing, nothing prepared him for what it was like in real life.

  If Times Square was lit up like a lantern, then Shibuya Station was a freakin’ Christmas tree.

  Shops, restaurants, people—so many people—and the neon lit advertising signs made it look like daytime.

  “Wow,” Alec said.

  Cronin took his hand. Alec didn’t even have to look at him to know he was smiling. It was in his voice. “It’s remarkable, isn’t it?”

  “Come on,” he said, pulling him into the flow of pedestrians. If something was wrong before, it seemed forgotten. Cronin pointed things out in window fronts, while Eiji and Jodis walked arm in arm behind them. Alec felt oddly like he was a kid being chaperoned, but they were lost in their own conversation.

  “It’s good to see them again,” Alec said quietly. They’d stopped at a window front, and Eiji and Jodis were half a block back by then. If they heard Alec, they never let on.

  “It is,” Cronin agreed, smiling as he looked at the displays.

  “You missed them,” Alec stated. “I did too. They kind of grow on you.”

  Cronin laughed. “Have I not kept you busy enough that you long for the company of others?”

  Alec snorted and nudged Cronin with his elbow. “You know what I mean.”

  “Do you like that one?” Cronin asked, pointing to a black and silver watch in the display.r />
  Alec balked. “Um, yeah. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like the price tag.” He glanced up at the exclusive brand name above his head.

  Cronin scoffed. “Alec, it’s not as though it’s a Patek Philippe.”

  Alec’s mouth fell open. He knew those watches sold for well over a million. “Uh. No.” He shook his head. “Don’t even think about it.” Alec could barely contemplate it.

  Cronin laughed and led him inside the store. He greeted the woman behind the counter in fluent Japanese, surprising Alec more than her. And in two minutes, Cronin had picked out the watch, made the woman giggle three times, and paid for his purchase. Alec saw all the zeros on the credit card screen, and his voice squeaked. “Please tell me that’s in yen.”

  Cronin laughed, but he took the watch and put it on Alec’s wrist. Alec knew Cronin had money and real estate and cash and whatever, and Alec had tried to not let the fact bother him that he came into Cronin’s apartment with a frozen bank account and nothing more than clothes and an old laptop. But when he saw the pride, the satisfaction, and the joy on Cronin’s face when he put the watch on his wrist, he couldn’t bring himself to argue.

  It took his breath away.

  So instead of whining about unnecessary extravagance or refusing the gift completely, he was so humbled by the love on Cronin’s face, all he could do was offer a choked out, “Thank you.”

  Cronin smiled, the eye-crinkling kind of smile, before thanking the saleswoman again, taking Alec’s hand, and walking outside to where Eiji and Jodis were waiting. Alec was certain Eiji smiled all day long, but Jodis’ happiness was aimed directly at Cronin and how content he was. It clearly pleased her, very much. And Alec adored her for it.

  He showed them the watch. “And I promise not to give this one to Jorge.”

  Alec expected a laugh or a roll of the eyes or something, but all three vampires turned their heads in perfect sync to something humans obviously could not hear.

  Eiji and Jodis turned back around, but Cronin’s head remained turned. When he looked back, his face was ashen, his dark eyes were wild, and he looked… afraid?