by J. L. McCoy
“That is Ruarc,” Jameson said as he leaned into me to whisper in my ear. “Ruarc is the second in command of all An Dílis and the first in command of this field unit. He’s been around a very long time.” I studied Ruarc’s handsome face and emerald eyes as he turned to speak to The Mausoleum vampires.
“I’ve called this meeting with you because we have found a link between the victims,” Ruarc said as Aoife passed around the glasses of blood to everyone. I was shocked when she set a glass of whiskey in front of me and I tentatively smiled my thanks to her.
“We looked extensively into everyone’s background and acquaintances and came up empty handed,” Ruarc said and took a sip from his glass. “It wasn’t until we started doing research into their bloodlines that we found our first clue. It seems that all of the victims come from one bloodline in particular. Everyone who was killed had an Original’s blood in them…one Original to be precise.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the room. It was quiet as everyone hung onto Ruarc’s words, patiently waiting for him to continue. I realized I was holding my breath and slowly resumed breathing.
“Cináed (pronounced kin-awd) only made three in his time, but that was enough to spread to over fifty descendants currently alive today,” Ruarc said as he finished his glass of blood and ran his hand through his short blond hair. I heard Aoife gasp as she put a hand to her chest. Ruarc looked poignantly over at Archer and seemed to have a quick silent conversation with him in his head.
Archer sighed and looked around at his family for a moment before finally speaking. “Cináed was my maker. He died 82 years after turning me.”
“What does this mean, Athair?” Hunter asked. “We are of your bloodline and you are of Cináed’s. Does this mean that whoever is doing this will come after us next?”
“We believe that you are all in significant danger,” Ruarc answered. “All of the victims have been vampires so far with the exception of the human we found today. I think it is best that you all take the proper precautions at home and here at your establishment. I am assigning three Faithful to be stationed with you at all times. If this monster makes a move on you, you will be covered. I’ve also alerted our leader and he is dispatching more Faithful to the United States.”
Archer stood and took a deep breath. “Has anyone informed my brother that this thing is after Sliocht Cináed?”
My head perked up at the mention of Archer’s brother. I hadn’t ever given any thought to Archer possibly having a blood brother from his maker. I watched his unsettled face as Ruarc answered him.
“We haven’t been able to locate him yet,” Ruarc said regretfully. “Ríoghán has been trying to contact him and his Sliocht, but we haven’t been able to reach them. We have a crew from Éire in route to his estate in Gairloch as we speak.”
Archer sighed, closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. I desperately wanted comfort him and was glad when I saw Aoife slide over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. When he looked up, I saw that his eyes were filled with unshed tears.
“It’s too late,” Archer said steadily, his voice not betraying his emotions. “Someone would have answered the phone. I know Treasach and his children and that isn’t like them.”
Ruarc nodded his head and sighed. “We are praying for the best news possible, but I think we should prepare ourselves for the worst.”
Jameson’s arm slid around my waist and he pulled me close to him. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. I didn’t know how well Jameson knew Archer’s brother Treasach, but I could tell he was upset by the news.
“Um, excuse me, Ruarc, but I have a question,” I said tentatively. He turned the full gaze of his stunning emerald green eyes on me and I almost forgot what I was going to ask him. He was insanely handsome with his blond hair, deep green eyes, oval face and cleft chin. I swallowed hard and continued. “Do you know why this monster is going around killing everyone?”
He silently regarded me for a moment before he turned back to Archer. “Other than the link we found in the victims’ blood, we don’t have any other clues. We still do not know why this person is only going after Sliocht Cináed. What I can tell you is that the Dark Ones firmly deny any involvement in the killings. They are a boastful species, so I am inclined to believe they are telling the truth. I can also tell you that whoever is doing this is most definitely preternatural. This thing has been slipping in and out of homes, businesses, and cities without being seen. All the video surveillance we’ve uncovered shows nothing; no one going in or coming out. It’s very worrisome. This monster is either drinking the blood of his victims or taking it with him somehow because every one of them had been completely drained of their supply. He or she is also very strong. The heads of the victims were not removed by blade, but instead ripped off by brute force.” I swallowed hard and tried to keep my stomach contents in check. All I could see were Jesse’s cloudy brown eyes looking up at me from the seat of my car.
“This…thing…is stealthy, fast, strong, and smart. He will be looking for your weaknesses, so be sure you don’t allow yourself to have any. Stay with someone at all times. Carry a weapon that you are comfortable using and never take it off your person. Be vigilant. Watch your surroundings and be mindful of the people you interact with. All of the victims show no signs of struggle; no evidence of fighting back. Whatever is doing this has got to be taking them by surprise or somehow manipulating them into trusting him. We don’t understand yet, but we are doing our best to,” Ruarc said standing up. “I am giving Sliocht Fearchar (pronounced far-char) Marcán, Hagan, and Pádraig until this thing is caught.”
“What is Sliocht Fearchar?” I asked leaning into Jameson and whispering in his ear.
“Sliocht means descendants and Fearchar is Archer’s birth name. He changed it to Archer a few hundred years ago to modernize it. Sliocht Fearchar literally means the descendants of Archer,” Jameson answered quietly.
Ruarc raised his hand to his side and three towering men got up from the barstools and stood at attention. He pointed to the man closest to me and spoke. “That is Hagan. Hagan has been with the order for over 700 years. He is one of our best fighters.” Hagan nodded his head to Archer and then to the group. Hagan had wide set brown eyes, a straight nose, a clean shaven rectangle face, and long brown hair that went down past his shoulder blades. He was easily 6 feet 5 inches tall and devastatingly handsome. I swallowed hard and looked away.
“This is Marcán,” Ruarc said pointing to a man who was two seats down from Hagan. Marcán turned to Archer, nodded his head in greeting and then did the same to the rest of us. Marcán stood out from the other Faithful. He had olive skin, shoulder length black hair, and heterochromatic eyes. One was a beautiful grey and the other was a greenish-brown. You could tell that most of The Faithful had come from Ireland or Great Brittan based on their accents. I couldn’t tell where Marcán was from, but I knew it wasn’t Ireland originally. “Marcán swore his oath a little over a century ago and we are very lucky to have him,” Ruarc continued. “His eyesight is completely unparalleled.” Marcán smiled briefly as Ruarc moved on to introduce the last person.
“And, this is Pádraig,” Ruarc said, gesturing to him with his hand. I watched as the last man stood at attention and nodded to Archer and then the rest of us. “Pádraig has been with us only a short time, but he has proven himself to be invaluable time and time again. He is fast, he is sharp, and he is deadly.” I took a good look at Pádraig and my first thought was how young he looked. He couldn’t be more than 18 years old if he was a day. He was relatively short compared to the others; he stood about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, had an innocent looking round face, short dirty blond hair, and dark blue eyes. He was very cute, in a boyish sort of way. I immediately felt a little bad for him. I imagined that it wouldn’t be easy for him; he was a vampire and would look this young for the rest of his life. Pádraig looked over at me and smiled broadly before turning back to the group.
“With my men
guarding you, nothing will happen to you or yours, Archer,” Ruarc said as the other men in his group stood too. “That is a promise. I have the utmost faith in my men and their God given abilities and you will too by the time this is all over.”
Archer walked up to him and shook his hand. “Go raibh maith agat, Ruarc. I sincerely appreciate An Dílis’ help in these matters.”
Ruarc smiled and slapped one hand to Archer’s back. “We will be in touch soon, brother. Let us pray that Treasach and his family are safe.” I watched as everyone in the room bowed their heads for a second and reverently cross themselves. “Either way, good or bad, we’ll know something as soon as the crew in Ireland gets to Scotland. I’ll call you as soon as I know something, Archer.”
“Thank you, brother,” Archer said as he nodded to Quinn. I watched Quinn escort the group of seven down the stairs and disappear down the hall to the back door.
I turned back around as Jameson bent his head down and nuzzled my ear. “Will you ride home with me?” he asked sweetly.
I tilted my head into his and smiled. “Of course I will.”
I watched as Archer and Seamus talked quietly with Pádraig, Hagan, and Marcán for a minute. They were figuring out who would ride with whom back to Archers. We now had four cars including Jameson’s, so all twelve of us would have a ride.
When it looked like everyone was ready to leave, Archer turned to Jameson and handed him a blue bank bag full of money and a set of keys. “Put this in the safe and lock up my loft for me.”
“Aye,” Jameson said as he turned and went through the stairwell door. I quickly followed him up, grabbed my messenger bag, and waited for him to finish. When he was done, we interlocked our fingers together and I followed him and the rest of the crew out to the employee parking lot.
Left by the back door were three black duffle bags and each of The Faithful picked one up. I watched as Quinn, Hunter, and Lochlan climbed in the black truck, Pádraig and Trey got into the Audi, Seamus, Hagan, and Marcán rode in the Cadillac, and Aoife and Archer got in the Lamborghini. Jameson led me over to a sleek black Porsche 911 Turbo S and held the door open for me.
“Nope,” I said crossing my arms over my chest and grinning sweetly. “It’s my turn to drive.”
Jameson laughed and held up the keys for me. “Alright, but be careful, love. We’re running out of cars.”
I rolled my eyes, snatched the keys out of his hand, stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and ran around to the driver’s side. It took me a minute to find everything and adjust the seats and mirrors. By the time I was finished, our caravan of vamps were starting to pull out.
“We’ll be the next-to-last to leave,” Jameson said as he leaned back in his seat and got comfortable. “Archer will bring up the rear.”
I nodded my head and looked over at Jameson, biting my lip. I had wanted to tell him something all day, but I didn’t want to upset him. “Jameson?” I said his name hesitantly.
“Yeah, baby. What is it?” he asked, turning to me.
“I…I just want to say that I’m sorry about your friend Callum,” I said gently. “I remember you saying that he was your friend and I’m so sorry that monster killed him.”
Jameson’s usually carefree face fell at the mention of Callum’s name and my heart instantaneously hurt for his loss. I took my hand off the gearshift and ran my fingers through his soft, shoulder length brown hair. “I’m sorry I brought it up, babe. I just wanted to let you know that I’m here for you if you want to talk about it. I’m sorry I was out of my mind with grief over Jesse earlier. I would have realized sooner that you were hurting too if I had been in my right mind.”
Jameson reached over and rubbed my upper thigh. “I appreciate it, love. I really do,” he said with a sigh. “Callum and I kind of grew up together, if you know what I mean. Callum was the blood son of Treasach and he had turned Callum a few weeks before Archer turned me.”
He stopped rubbing my thigh and looked out his window distractedly. “Treasach and Callum had a falling out in the 1860s and Callum left Ireland for Boston. Archer and I tried to get them to see reason several times over the years, to forgive each other, but neither would without the other apologizing first.” He looked over at me and swallowed hard. “I doubt Treasach even knew Callum was missing. Archer said he didn’t bother to call him because he doubted that Treasach would do anything about it anyway. It was a very bad falling out they had.”
I bit my lip and shifted gears. I didn’t know what to say to him to ease his pain so I just reached out and held his hand. After a moment, I started thinking about Treasach and his family in Scotland and how no one could reach them. I bit the inside of my cheek, took a deep breath and turned back to Jameson.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories for Jameson, but I was really curious to know.
“Always, Skye,” Jameson said as he turned my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist.
I downshifted as I drove up a high freeway overpass and took a deep breath. “How many lived with Treasach in his estate? And, how many vampires has he made that still live today? I mean, Ruarc said there were over fifty today that were of the Original’s bloodline and I’m just trying to gauge how many vampires are still left in danger of being slaughtered by this monster.”
Jameson was thoughtful a moment and then he answered me. “Treasach lived with his wife and twelve sons, not counting Callum and has only turned them, no others. By my estimates, fourteen vampires have been murdered so far in Boston, Chicago, Houston, and now here. And those are the only ones we know about. Who knows what this monster has been up to or for how long. I’m sure Ruarc and The Faithful are busy tracking down every vampire from Cináed’s lineage and warning them as we speak. An Dílis will take care of us, Skye. They have been our protectors since 544 AD and they have never failed us once. They train for years before they are allowed out in the field to serve our race. By the time they finish their training, they are thoroughly skilled in the art of hand-to-hand combat, are experts at every weapon ever made, and their divine powers are honed and perfected. If anyone can catch this monster, it is them.”
“Can I ask you one more question?” I asked with a small smile. Jameson shook his head, chuckled and nodded. “I saw a pretty bad ass hot tub in the back yard earlier. Would you be up for taking a dip with me when we get home?”
Jameson looked over at me and licked his lips. “I don’t know… Will there be skin involved?”
I looked over at him and winked, biting my lip. “Lots. I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
Jameson made a rumbling noise in the back of his throat and I could tell he was turned on by the thought.
The rest of the drive was quiet on both of our parts. We may not have said much to each other with our mouths, but our hands were busy speaking to each other’s bodies the whole drive.
Chapter 10
When we arrived at Archer’s house, Jameson reached over and hit a button on his key ring. Two of the five garage doors opened and I slowly pulled in as Trey parked the Audi beside us. I got out of the Porsche just as another garage door opened and Archer entered in his Aventador.
“Marcán and I will search the house while Pádraig does a perimeter check,” Hagan said as he and Marcán moved to the side door.
“I’ll get the alarm,” Trey said as he unlocked the door and followed The Faithful in.
The rest of us gathered together in the Garage and waited for them to be done. Pádraig came back first and gave the all clear. After another minute, Hagan and Marcán strolled out of the house. They informed us that everything was safe and we eagerly followed them into the house.
The Faithful set their bags at the end of the stairs and I briefly wondered where they would sleep.
“There will be two of us on duty at all times, Mr. Rhys,” Pádraig said as he looked around the grand foyer. “Hagan and I will take the first watch while Marcán eats and rests.”
“
Of course,” Archer said nodding to Marcán. “All of our bedrooms are taken at the moment, but I may be able to free one up for you.”
“That is unnecessary, sir,” Marcán said with a hint of an accent. “All I require is a floor.”
“Nonsense,” Archer said waving his hand at him dismissively. “If you refuse a room, the least I can allow you to take is the couch in the formal sitting room.”
Marcán nodded his head in thanks.
“Well, we’re going to get to it,” Hagan said as he and Pádraig turned for the front door.
“There is blood in the refrigerator in the kitchen, gentlemen,” Archer said as he turned to walk through the arch between the double staircase. “Help yourselves to as much as you want.”
I watched as Hagan and Pádraig nod and walk outside.
Jameson turned to Marcán. “Come, Marcán. Let us get you something to eat.”
I silently followed them through the archway and turned off to go to my room. As I passed the kitchen, I saw that it was packed as everyone got out bags of blood and took turns warming it up. I smiled at the familial scene as I made my way down the hall and into my room.
I set my messenger bag on the floor, quickly got undressed and stepped into the glass shower stall. I bathed and washed my hair and the gobs of makeup off my face. When I was done, I got out and wrapped up in the towel I had used earlier that afternoon. I quickly dried off, brushed my teeth, and headed into my closet. I threw on a black thong, my Daisy Duke blue jean cutoffs, and my black ‘Keep Austin Weird’ off-the-shoulder crop top. I grabbed a new towel and made my way out to the family room to see if Jameson was ready for our hot tub adventure.
I was surprised to see everyone sitting around the kitchen table laughing and drinking their glasses of blood. They were having dinner like a normal family would and I smiled.
“Well there you are.” Trey called out when he saw me walk into the kitchen. “You skedaddled out of here faster than Aoife can piss off Archer.” A chorus of hearty laughs sounded as Aoife leaned over and elbowed Trey in the ribs.