Seven Days

by Richardson, Shari

  I swallowed hard. I hadn’t come to Mairin only for comfort. One of my sister’s gifts was the ability to see auras. Different auras told her different things about the people to whom they were attached. Human auras and wereanimal auras were different colors. I wanted to ask her if my aura had changed. I needed to know what she saw in me now, if she could see for certain what Dr. Coffman’s blood tests didn’t.

  “Maire...”

  “Kerry, I...” She paused and looked hard at me. I could see the wheels turning as she tried to come up with a gentle way to tell me what she was seeing or not seeing. She sighed. “I know what you want to know,” she said. “But I’m no more certain than the doctor was. Your aura’s a little different than it used to be, but it’s not what I’d expect from a wereanimal. Your aura is still blue, but it’s not quite the same shade. If your aura had changed to orange like Xavier’s, sis, I’d tell you.”

  “Would you?” My heart thumped heavily in my chest. I wanted to believe Mairin, but I also knew how often she would go out of her way to protect me if she thought doing so was in my best interest.

  “Yes I would,” she said. “I know the waiting is killing you and if I could ease your mind, you know I would, but there seems to be nothing we can do but wait.”

  I sighed. I realized, again, I wasn’t the only one waiting. I knew Mairin was just as worried as I was and I’d been so focused on my own issues that I hadn’t even thought of what she might be going through. It was amazing how small your world became when you realized you might have only a few days in which to live a normal life, if my life could be considered normal, of course. Every time I felt like a regular teen-aged girl, the reality of my life: the sister who had premonitions, who could see auras and who dated a vampire; my own boyfriend and his change into a panther when the moon was full or the power of his cat was needed; and my own healing abilities would smack me in the face. What was one more weird thing added to all of those things? Especially a weird thing that would be something I could share with Xavier.

  “We should take Kerry back to Elise’s home, my heart,” Mathias said from the kitchen doorway that opened onto the deck. “The pride will worry if she is not back before dark. I think it would be best if they did not come here until some of the European vampires are a little more in control of their...baser instincts.”

  I knew that was Mathias‘ diplomatic way of reminding me that somewhere in this house were vampires who were far less civilized than he was. I shuddered. I always forgot how dangerous my sister’s world was until either she or Mathias said something about the other vampires. I might not know the details, but I knew Mairin was dealing with something difficult and dangerous. Suddenly, I felt like a selfish, self-centered jerk. Here I was whining about something that would certainly change my life, but wasn’t going to kill me while my sister spent her days trying to separate herself from creatures who would kill her if she wasn’t careful. I unfolded myself from the chair and followed Mairin into the house, silently vowing to stop being such a baby. I would be fine, no matter what happened at the full moon.

  The big Italian vampire, Gino, waited by the front door. Gino always seemed to be near Mairin and his presence irritated Mathias to no end. If I hadn’t known how volatile a vampire’s temper could be, I’d have laughed at the look on Mathias‘ face. He hated Gino’s ability to appear out of nowhere to hover around my sister, but he was too civilized and polite to say anything while I was there.

  “Your orders for the evening, little queen?” Gino asked as Mairin approached.

  “I hate when you do that, Gino,” she said. Mairin hated nicknames, had all her life. She tolerated Mathias' use of "my heart," but I could tell by the tightening of her jaw that "little queen" was completely unacceptable. “Just take care of yourself and the others. We’ll be back in the morning.”

  “Of course, little queen,” Gino said.

  “Does he always talk to you like that, sis?” I asked as we all got into Alfred’s SUV. I tried to hide my giggle, but Mairin heard and frowned at me.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I’ve even ordered him to call me by my name, but he insists on that ‘little queen’ crap. It’s kind of annoying.”

  I had to agree. Aside from amusing me because he annoyed Mathias, Gino kind of freaked me out. I had caught him watching me and my sister as though he was waiting for us to do something significant. I couldn't begin to imagine what he was waiting for; I just knew that every time I caught him watching us, it gave me chills. He looked at me as though waiting for me to transform into something worthy of worship. I wanted to be grateful to Gino for saving Mairin on the beach during the battle with Azael, but his insistence on being over-protective of us both made it difficult to like him. Both Xavier and Mathias had asked Gino to back off a bit when the search for Lane had begun, but the Italian vampire had refused. Despite being bound by his tie to Mairin, Gino seemed able to ignore orders that put him at a distance to me and my sister. I didn't really care what the deal was between Gino and Mairin; I just wanted him to leave me alone. He creeped me out.

  The ride to East Hampton was a mostly silent affair. Mairin and Mathias sensed my desire for silence. Exhaustion weighed heavily on my body and my soul. I didn't want to talk about how furious I was with Xavier for cutting himself off from the family and the pride. I didn't want to talk about the fact that neither the panthers nor the vampires had been able to find either Xavier or lane. And most of all, I didn’t want to talk about the waning hours between the present and the future. I didn't want to put to voice the fears that rode within my heart. I just wanted that time to pass quickly so that my wait would be over. I wanted to be able to move forward rather than remaining in stasis.

  When we rounded the corner and Elise’s house became visible at the end of the street, I sighed. More and more this tiny house in this old, run-down neighborhood felt like home and it was good to be home.

  Several members of the pride were already in the house when we arrived. Christian’s wounds had healed nicely and he was sitting on the floor with Claude. They had commandeered the television for some video game and the other boys were jockeying for position to play the winner. Elise had set out food in the kitchen and kept reminding the boys not to spill anything on her carpet that they didn’t want to have to clean up themselves.

  “Thank you for allowing Mairin to stay with you this evening, Ms. Meyers,” Mathias said. “I will return for her in the morning.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked. I’d assumed Mathias would be staying with us while we waited for Xavier to come home. No matter what the pride thought, a vampire was an asset when it came to protection from dangerous enemies like Lane.

  “Into the city,” Mathias said. “I am meeting with Alfred and others of our kind to ask if any have come across Lane since his arrival.”

  “Oh,” I said. I was pretty sure “into the city” was a euphemism for “going to feed” for the vampires, but I didn’t press for details. Elise barely tolerated the vampires in her home as it was. I didn’t want to remind her of what she considered to be their less than civilized habits.

  “You and Mairin should be safe with this much of the pride here,” Mathias said, glancing at the group of ten young panthers arguing with each other in the living room. “However, if either of you feel you need me, Mairin has my cell. If you need me, call and I will return quickly.”

  “Thanks, Mathias,” I said. “I probably don’t say that enough.”

  “There is no need for you to thank me, Kerry,” he said. “Your family has done more for me than I can ever repay.” He watched Mairin helping Elise refill the plates on the table in the kitchen. I knew he was thinking of how Mairin had saved him in England. The depth of his love was evident in that gaze and I trembled.

  “She loves you,” I said. “So much it frightens me sometimes.”

  “I know,” Mathias said. “I have tried to convince her I am not good for her, but she will not listen. I am selfish enough to want her in my
life even though I know I am not what is best for her.”

  “You’re what she wants, Mathias,” I said. “When you left her, she disappeared. She went back to being the ghost she’d made of herself before you came to Highland Home. If you hadn’t come back, we would have lost her.” Mathias flinched and I felt just a little twinge of guilt for having been so blunt. I knew Mathias didn’t like to think about the months during which my sister had become a ghost because he’d left her, but he needed to know that to leave her again would probably kill her. I wouldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t lose my sister because the man she loved thought he was not what was best for her. “Whether you think you’re good for her or not, she needs you.”

  “She is lucky to have family like you, Kerry,” he said, a soft smile lifting the corners of his mouth. He turned toward Mairin and called, “I am going, my heart.” Mairin crossed to Mathias, kissed his cheek and walked with him out to the porch.

  “For a vampire, he’s not a bad man,” Elise said, following Mairin from the kitchen to join me in the living room.

  I nodded, surprised to hear Elise speak so highly of Mathias.

  “Mathias is a good man, Elise. Better even than you or I think he is. Mairin loves him and he loves her. That should have been enough to tell us what kind of man Mathias is."

  “She does love him,” Elise said. “but who we love is not always the best way to judge another's character. Lane loved Dorothy and she believed him a good man until he showed her otherwise. Sometimes love is the worst way to determine the type of person someone is when no one is watching.”

  An explosion of glass, snarling, and growling stopped the questions I wanted to ask Elise. The sounds from the living room couldn't come close to matching the horrific vision that greeted me as I turned the corner.

  A panther growled low from where it stood in the destruction its arrival had wrought in Elise's living room. Glass glittered on the carped and from where it had embedded itself in the walls. Wood crumbled under the cat's paws as it pounced forward, bringing Claude down as he'd back-peddled across the floor. The panther flexed its paw, sinking its claws deeper into Claude's chest. The scream that erupted from Claude's lips was that of a rabbit in a snare.

  The other pride members backed away, trembling as their beasts erupted from their human bodies. Claude's screams became whimpers as blood poured from beneath the panther's claws. When I would have run to him, Elise's hand on my shoulder stopped me.

  "You can do nothing but get yourself killed if you go to him now, Kerry," she said. "Give the boys just a little time and then we will help Claude."

  The panther turned at Elise's words and I was caught by its gaze. It watched me, panting and savoring the scent of the blood washing through the house. It flexed its claws again and Claude's renewed screams echoed in the small room. My own screams joined Claude's and I clapped my hands over my ears. Elise was right. There was nothing I could do to help Claude, but I couldn't stand to hear him scream.

  The panther coughed a roar and I heard Lane's laughter in the deep recesses of my mind. He was enjoying the pain he inflicted on Claude, but something about my pain fed him even more. The cat dropped its head and licked the blood as it flowed past its claws. Revulsion rocked me back into Elise, nearly taking us both to the floor. Lane's beast bared its teeth, preparing to rip the life from the boy under its paws and I screamed again.

  "Get away from him!" Xavier shouted.

  I turned to the destroyed window and saw Xavier standing in the front yard. Already I could feel the waves of energy pulsing between us as he ran and leapt through the gaping hole Lane's entrance had left in the wall of Elise's house. As he passed through the place where the window had been, Xavier's body flowed from man to cat in a way that was so natural and beautiful it took my breath away. I'd never before watched him transform, though I'd seen some of the other pride members change. Xavier's transformation was a natural flow of flesh to fur; something I could only hope would be my experience when I changed at his side.

  As Xavier landed in the living room, his beast roared--a thunderous bellow of pain and anger that shook the china in Elise's cabinets. Lane's beast turned to face his son and for just a moment, I believed I saw fear in the eyes of Lane's cat. Xavier's panther was larger, stronger, and surely angrier than Lane's. What Lane might have believed to be an easy fight had suddenly become a battle of far more epic proportions.

  Lane's cat roared--a weak imitation of Xavier's--and turned away from Claude's still form. It lowered the front half of its body, its entire shape quivering with suppressed power. Xavier growled low and matched Lane's aggressive posture. The last thing I saw was Xavier's beast leaping forward to meet Lane. Christian dragged me into the kitchen, blocking the doorway and my view of the battle I could hear raging beyond him.

  “Christian, I need to be there,” I screamed. I struggled in his grasp, using the little strength I had against him until all I could do was batter his chest with my fists and sob. How could I let Xavier face his father alone? How could I stop him from destroying the beast his father had become if I couldn't see him?

  “Christian, that’s his father in there,” I cried. “We can’t let Xavier kill his own father.”

  “No, Kerry,” Christian said, standing his ground and refusing to let anything I did change his posture or position. “Xavier needs to focus. If he’s worried about you, he’ll get hurt. He can handle that cat, no matter who he is, but not if he’s worried about you.”

  "You don't understand. It's his real father and the panther who infected him. Do you want your friend to live with that kind of guilt if he kills Lane?"

  "Xavier is my pride leader, Kerry. I am sworn to obey him and his last order to me was to ensure your safety. Do you want him to live with the guilt of losing you or live without him at all if you distract him and that panther gets the better of him?"

  I stopped struggling. Christian was right. I couldn't live with myself if I lost Xavier because of some selfish thought of saving him pain distracted him and Lane gained the upper hand.

  “Kerry, help me with Claude,” Elise said. She'd pulled the bleeding boy into the kitchen and knelt calmly by his side. Her calm voice helped me focus, though her lack of concern for what was happening in the living room seemed cold and distant to me. How could she focus through the roaring battle? My reality shifted slightly and I stumbled against Christian. He helped me kneel beside Elise, but I was unable to do anything until she spoke again.

  “Kerry, I need help,” Elise said softly. “Xavier can take care of himself. Body and soul. Claude, on the other hand, will die if you don't help him.”

  I glanced at Claude's pale face, noting the bluing of his lips. Elise was right. I could do nothing but harm Xavier. I could help Claude. I lay my hands over the gaping wounds on his chest and willed the healing energy to rise. When it came, the power rocketed up my back and poured from my hands into the dying boy who lay in front of me. The force of the energy pulled a scream from my lips and a low groan from Claude. I almost jerked my hands away, but caught sight of the wounds closing with amazing speed. Something about my healing ability had changed just since I'd worked on Christian the night before. Was it the were virus? Had it made my healing ability into something akin to a super power or was it just my heightened state of concern for the panthers brought on by the battle ragging in the next room? Whatever it was, Claude lay still, but whole on the floor in front of me within moments. His eyes fluttered, but didn't open. Elise checked his pulse and smiled at me as she cut the few stitches she'd managed to get into Claude's arm before my power had pulled the wounds together and knitted them without a trace.

  "I...I don't know what that was," I stuttered. The energy was still with me, though banked like a fire made to burn slowly through the night.

  "Your power is growing, Kerry. I told you that would happen with practice."

  I shook my head and tried to block out the sound coming from the living room. Surely Elise was going to nee
d new furniture and several contractors to repair the damage the fighting panthers were causing. Every so often, the house would tremble beneath the vehemence of the battling cats. I edged toward the doorway so I could at least see Xavier, but Elise and Christian both stopped my passage.

  “Kerry, it isn’t over yet,” Elise said. “Let them finish this without distraction.”

  “He’ll hate himself if he kills Lane,” I said. “I can’t let him do that.”

  “Xavier will make his own choices,” Elise said. “And you’re going to let him. I know you love my grandson, but you have to let him make the choices that will make him the man I see him becoming. You can’t live his life for him. You have to trust him to do what’s right.” Elise turned back to Claude, folding kitchen towels to place under his head. Having said her piece, she dismissed me and expected me to abide by her words. I waited until the growls, screams and crashes faded from the air before I crawled to the doorway and peered into the living room. Christian remained near to keep me from entering the room, but allowed me to see what destruction the battle had wrought on the men and the room.

  “Why,” Xavier demanded. “Tell me why you did this.”

  Lane lay battered, bleeding, and human on the living room floor. Xavier stood over him, blood trailing down his back and sides from small scratches. His body, though bruised, was otherwise whole. Lane, on the other hand, had several obviously broken bones and gashes that drained blood into Elise's carpet.

  Russell handed Xavier a pair of sweat pants after pulling on a pair himself. The rest of the pride stood sentry behind Xavier. Their bodies showed signs of fighting, but none were as hurt as Lane.