Triquetra

by Marguerite Labbe

  It didn’t take long to clear the room and I met Mr. Ussier’s eyes as he holstered his guns. “I think I might change my mind about that little toy of yours, sir. It is very effective.”

  “We’re long past flintlocks and sulfur matches; time to enter the twenty-first century.”

  “Where’s your partner?” I asked, starting to check the bodies, making sure they were all destroyed and all accounted for. “I’m a little surprised to see you alone.”

  “There wasn’t anything here we couldn’t handle on our own.” Mr. Ussier’s dark face lit up with a wolfish smile. “Besides, she’s crazy. She takes things too far. Everything’s personal with my partner, even when it shouldn’t be.”

  I’d had the dubious pleasure of meeting her before so I knew his words held some element of truth. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to impinge on your hospitality some more, my friend,” I said, rising after my grisly search through the fallen Syndicate members. “My haven was compromised tonight and I have something I wish to discuss with you.”

  “Hey, mi casa es su casa,” Mr. Ussier replied, clapping me on the back. “I’m always pleased to help the geriatric crowd with assisted living.” He gave the state of my clothing a critical look. “I know you don’t read GQ, but I’m sure even you know that rags aren’t the mode for a brawl.”

  “GQ?” I shook my head, not quite sure of what he’d meant. Some people were always trying to be a comedian.

  “Yeah. If you’re going to be my sidekick I can’t have you looking like a vagrant.” Those dimples flashed in Mr. Ussier’s hard face. He was enjoying himself.

  “You’ve been hanging around Ms. Dupree for too long. Her snobbery is beginning to rub off on you.”

  “Alette’s a snob by virtue of her being French. I have an image to maintain.”

  “Ah, I see. Well then I shall be careful not to tarnish something you hold so dear.” I gestured toward the door. “Shall we? I’m afraid to say I’m not in the habit of carrying around a change of clothes.”

  Ghedi Ussier followed me out into the street and led me to the 4Runner parked halfway down the block. “I keep forgetting you’re not really in the game anymore. I mean, anyone with a moniker like the ‘Ancient One’ doesn’t strike me as someone who gets his hands dirty squabbling with us whippersnappers.”

  “Peace and quiet, that is all I ask for.” I got into the SUV as Mr. Ussier snorted with laughter. “Let’s go; I have enough verbal sparring in my life as it is.” As we pulled away, another SUV parked in front of the silent brownstone and the Razor Children emerged to begin their cleanup.

  Chapter 20

  TONY’S EYES were haunted as he sat down on our couch, fingering the thick, white bandage on his neck. He turned to watch me as I went back into the kitchen and took a carton of eggs out of the fridge. “I’m gonna make me an omelet.” I got out a bowl and some salt and pepper. Despite my snack from the cafeteria last night, I was still pretty hungry. “Want one?”

  He shook his head, eyeing my turtleneck, and I keenly felt the lack of a similar wound on my neck. Once again, I had healed overnight. “Not hungry.” Tony looked around at the shambles of our living room. “Shit, Jake. Why’re we still alive? I don’t get it. That thing that had you, what the fuck was it?” He shuddered. “I’ve never seen anything so damned scary in my life.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond. Part of me wanted to defend Kristair, but I had to admit he had looked hideous with all the burns and gashes covering him. Add in fangs and me falling over and it had probably seemed like a nightmare come to life. I was just grateful Tony hadn’t recognized him. “I don’t think his intention was to kill us.”

  Tony turned toward me, his gray-green eyes incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “He sure as hell wasn’t here for a keg party. Last time I checked, running around and biting people on the neck wasn’t the norm.” Once again he touched his bandage and his gaze drifted to my turtleneck.

  I shrugged and concentrated on the eggs I was whipping. “I don’t know. All I’m saying is, if he wanted us dead, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

  Tony gave the room a pointed glare. “Tell that to Steve.”

  A wave of guilt swamped me. My hand jerked on the pan handle and spatters of hot oil stung my skin. “Damn,” I swore under my breath. “Steve’s gonna make it. The nurse even said we could visit later.”

  Tony turned on the TV, blocking me out. I sighed, throwing American cheese and deli meat onto the bubbling eggs, then flipped the whole mess over. Suddenly, I wasn’t all that hungry, but I still made myself go through the motions. Chewing and swallowing was an act of stubbornness.

  Finished, I tossed the dishes into the sink. I’d wash them after I came back from the hospital. I never heard from Kristair again last night, not even after his last weird message. From time to time, I had felt his touch, but nothing more. I tried not to be hurt. After all, I had ignored him first, but my emotions never did make any damn sense.

  “I’m going back to the hospital.”

  Tony shot me a surprised glance. “But the nurse said not to come back until this afternoon.”

  “There’s someone else I wanted to see,” I replied, knowing Kristair would want news on Kayla. A flash of fear crossed Tony’s face. “She was hurt in that mess at the cathedral. Wanna come? She’s hot.”

  Tony hesitated, and then shook his head. “Nah. Hanging out there all day would be depressing.” I’m sure he didn’t like the idea of staying alone in the apartment either, but he didn’t say anything as I gathered my coat.

  I paused by the door. “You gonna be okay, man? Want me to call somebody or something?” I shrugged.

  His glance was withering. “I’m fine.”

  Well, I wouldn’t have appreciated the gesture either. I left, making sure the apartment door was locked behind me before heading outside and walking down the hill to the hospital. The sunlight was pale and watery, emphasizing the dirty snow on the ground and the smog-stained concrete walls. Ugh. I couldn’t wait for spring.

  The hospital was alive with activity and no one spared me a second glance as I made my way upstairs. At least the both of them were in the same wing. I stopped by Steve’s room first. The door was cracked open, but the curtain around the bed was drawn. I could hear hushed voices, but couldn’t make out any words. I sighed and walked toward Kayla’s room instead.

  Kayla was propped up in the bed, her elfin features drawn and stark, but when she spotted me hovering in the doorway her smile lit up her face. “Jacob! Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re here.”

  I grinned back. “Jake, gorgeous. Only he calls me Jacob.” I dropped a kiss onto her cheek before hooking a chair with my foot and drawing it to her bedside, making myself comfortable. “How ya feeling?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m ready to get out. They come in here every hour poking and prodding at me. How am I supposed to get any beauty sleep?”

  “What did they say was wrong?”

  “I think they were worried about internal injuries. But I seemed to have emerged unscathed except for a concussion and a broken wrist.” Kayla shook her head, quirking another smile. “My sister did worse to me when we were kids.”

  “That’ll make Kristair feel better.” I’d like to tell him now, only I’d learned from experience he didn’t respond to anything I said or did while he was asleep.

  Her gaze sharpened and she laid light fingers on the back of my hand. “How is he?”

  I frowned, wondering just how much to tell her. I didn’t even know if she knew he was a vampire or not. “He was pretty jacked up, mostly worrying over you, I think. But he’s okay.” It was one thing to know he’d healed from his wounds, but I’d like to see it for myself.

  She studied me for a minute and I stared back at her steadily, until a faint smile touched her lips. “I know all about what he is so there’s no need to hedge with me, Jake.” She tapped her fingers on the back of my hand. “So tell me what happened. All I remember i
s a god-awful loud roar and then I woke up here. No one’s bothered to fill me in on the juicy details.” Despite her quick smiles and banter, there was a shadow of worry in her dark blue eyes.

  “Well they wouldn’t know the truth anyway.” I scratched my ear, looking toward the door, and then lowered my voice. “How much do you know about the Syndicate?”

  Her delicate brows knit. “Just that he used to get a lot of mail from them.” Her mouth thinned with impatience. “He keeps me wrapped up in a baby blanket, afraid I’m going to stub my toe if I move. I told him he should write them back but he kept insisting on throwing them away.”

  I grinned tightly. “Nice to know I’m not the only one.”

  “Trust me; you’re not.” Kayla’s voice was dry.

  “They showed up that night, when I first saw you in the office and you told him not to be mad.”

  “Really?” Kayla’s eyes narrowed. “I thought he just wanted kinky sex. I should’ve known he was up to something else. He had been so adamant about me being gone before sunset.”

  I blinked and glanced down at my hands. Okay then. Damn, how much did Kristair share with her about our relationship? I scrambled to recover my train of thought. “Um, well I guess these guys are convinced Kristair is going to die in the near future and they want him to share with the Syndicate all those neat tricks he’s learned over the centuries. They seem to be convinced that, if they lose the opportunity, then those secrets would be lost. Personally, I think it’s a crock of bullshit. I know they want something from him, but these supposed secrets?” I shook my head. “He can’t be the only vamp that knows… no, it’s something else.”

  “So they were behind the explosion?” Her eyes were lost in thought, sorrow, or maybe it was resignation on her face. It bothered me she wasn’t reacting to the possibility Kristair might be dying. I didn’t know what Kristair and she were to each other, but Kristair cared for her and I thought she returned the feeling. “I don’t know what they hoped to get from that other than pissing him off.” She focused on me and some of my animosity must’ve shown on my face because when she looked at me her brows knitted further. “What is it?”

  “They think he’s dying. That doesn’t bother you at all?” I accused, my voice harsher than I meant. Vividly, I remembered the sound of other voices in Kristair’s mind last night at the cathedral and the sense that somehow I was losing my grip on him. Even in the light of day the memory was terrifying. I had forgotten about them in the madness afterward. Now it came back.

  Her violet eyes were grief-stricken. “Jake, what would you have me do? I’d known it was coming for a long time. I’d read the family legends. Kristair tried to hide it from me at first, but I made him come clean.”

  Family legends? Kayla was a part of Kristair’s family? That explained a lot. “Kristair didn’t tell me he had had kids before, well, you know.” Lord, that was weird. It wasn’t as if Kayla was his direct daughter, but still.

  Her laughter was musical. “You’ve got it wrong. I’m descended from the woman who turned him into a vampire.”

  I scratched my head. Now I was really confused. “I thought they hated each other. Why would he help out her descendents? I mean, you seem nice enough, but I thought her hold ended on him long ago.” My cheeks warmed as she rolled her eyes. “I can’t imagine he’d want anything to do with her family, is all.”

  “They certainly fought enough. I inherited all of her journals.” Kayla’s eyes sparkled. “I even taught myself Latin so I could read them. I don’t think they had one discussion without arguing. It started out of principal and then became habit. Kristair had always been of the opinion that women were rather useless and Nerissa thought he was an unlettered barbarian.”

  She shrugged and frowned. “I read about her symptoms and recognized them in Kristair. I got suspicious when he became more reclusive than normal.”

  Lord, Kayla was as bad as Kristair was with the big words. I found myself fascinated with her tale though. “So are you like the last one in your family or something?”

  Kayla laughed again. “Nothing so fairy-taleish as that. My family’s huge and I’m sure scattered all over the world by now. We’d lost touch with him after Nerissa disappeared, though I found out later on he was looking in on us from time to time. When Nerissa realized what was happening to her, she had Kristair promise to watch over us.” She shook her head. “I went looking for him when I was fifteen. I’ve been with him ever since.”

  “That must’ve been weird.”

  “It certainly had its moments,” Kayla replied. She cocked her head, her expression mischievous. “You know, I’ve been meaning to talk to you for awhile now.”

  I was immediately wary. “’Bout what?”

  For a brief moment, her smile became even wickeder, as if she sensed my discomfort, then her face changed, turning serious again. “In all the time I’ve been with Kristair, I’ve never known him to open himself so much to someone. Not like the way he has with you.” She bit the corner of her lower lip and gave me a penetrating glance. “He’s never been in love before, at least not that I’ve seen,” she continued.

  I shifted, eyeing the door. I hated talking about things like this. With Kristair it was different; he already knew what I was feeling. “So what, you want to know my intentions or something?” I laughed, uneasy.

  “No, I just wanted to be sure you felt the same way about him.” She sounded smug. “And I think I have my answer.”

  I gave her a sour look. Chicks were certainly cute creatures, that was for sure, but they always enjoyed proving themselves right with whatever mental games they played. “Yeah, I do. I just….” I shrugged. “I just wish it didn’t feel so unbalanced, you know?” I looked up and gave her a wry smile, leaving it at that. She out of anybody would understand.

  “Yeah.” The silence stretched out. I could hear someone, a man, moaning in pain down the hall. Then Kayla spoke up again. “If you were given the chance to be like him, to stay with him, what would you do?”

  I thought about what it would mean to become a vampire. All of my life I’d had only one dream. It had driven me, given me purpose, and kept me out of the kind of trouble that I’d seen most of my childhood friends get into. It had brought me far away from home. If I asked Kristair, and he agreed, I’d have to give up that dream. And it wouldn’t fix the imbalance. Kristair was so much older, more powerful. It would take him a long time to teach me everything he knew, and given the circumstances, I’m not sure he had the time left. I remembered the brief flash of sorrow he’d felt when Kristair mentioned he had asked others before to change and they’d refused. To have the chance, to be together past the normal amount of time given us, was terrifyingly tempting.

  Finally, I lifted my head, meeting her eyes. “I don’t know, Kayla. I really don’t.”

  Thank God, she left it at that. I spent the remainder of the day with her. She told me endless stories about Kristair, giving me a rare glimpse into another side of his life. We agreed that he would take care of the Syndicate and as much as we both wanted to be involved, he’d never let us, and we’d probably get our asses handed to us.

  Then, I realized it was past four and I hadn’t been by to check on Steve. I made my goodbyes and promised to come see her again. As I headed out, the weight, banished by her bright smile and teasing, returned full force. Damn, how could I face Steve?

  I paused in his doorway. Steve was awake and looked much better. I hovered, relief warring with dread when he noticed me and gestured me in. “Where’s Tony?” I asked, coming closer, not sure if I should take a seat or remain standing. I stuffed my fists in my pockets. “I would’ve thought he’d be here by now.” Steve’s eyes were hard and unbending. I was desperate for some sort of buffer for the fight I knew was coming.

  “He was,” Steve replied, sitting up straighter in the bed. Like Tony, his throat sported a thick white bandage, but at least he wasn’t so pale anymore. “He went home to get something to eat about ten minutes ago
.” He paused. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”

  I flinched, guilt spiking again. I forced myself to meet his eyes, my fingers curling and uncurling in my jacket. “Steve, man, I’m sorry.”

  “What the fuck is going on? You’ve been acting strange for months and now the guy you’ve been screwing attacked us.” His eyes examined me. “But you seemed to have emerged just fine despite what Tony thinks he saw.”

  I sank down in the chair. It figured Steve would have recognized what Tony had missed. I raked my hand through my hair. “It’s my fault—”

  “Damn right it’s your fault. Is he the same guy that was stalking you in the fall? The one you were so freaked out about? You shut up about him pretty damn quick.”

  “It’s not like that,” I protested, moving to Kristair’s defense. “He tried to warn me that coming to my place was a bad idea, but he was hurt so bad… I didn’t think. I just wanted to help.”

  “What is he? He sure as hell isn’t human.” Steve seemed shaken by his own words. “I don’t know what the fuck you’ve gotten yourself into, but you’ve got to get out of it. It’s not just about you anymore.” He stopped, took a deep breath, and then continued with his voice quieter, but still hard. “He’s changed you.”

  I couldn’t deny the truth of that. Even now I felt his heartbeat in my chest, a sure indication that he was about to wake or had already and sensed that I was upset. There was new power in my veins, which allowed me to heal where my friends hadn’t.