Blessed

by Cynthia Leitich Smith

  Harrison, on my right, ignored us. He told Zachary, “If you want to fly down with Freddy and the kids, I can drive the car to Austin.”

  Zachary glanced over his shoulder. “It’s not that I don’t trust you —”

  “You don’t trust me.”

  “True,” the angel agreed. “But it’s not that. It’s — whoa! Holy crap!” He swerved the SUV hard to the right, hitting the brakes.

  “Everyone okay?” Freddy called from the front.

  Through a window, I saw Kieren stagger to his feet. The car had barely missed him. Then a Wolf jogged up and kicked him in the gut.

  I pushed Harrison aside, opened the door, and leaped out.

  “Stupid!” one of a dozen or so Wolves shouted at Kieren.

  Though they had been spared Brad-Dracula’s worst, the group still looked scabbed and beaten. Two limped. The nearest bitch had a patch over her right eye. No one had fully shifted yet, but their beards — both boys’ and girls’ — had thickened. Their eyebrows had become bushier, and their claws long and sharp.

  “I told you,” Kieren said as I stopped only steps behind him, “I take full responsibility for Quincie and the rest.”

  “Selfish!” yelled another. “Traitor!”

  “But I have no idea,” he went on, “how the vampire found us.”

  I’d never said in so many words that Bradley had extracted the pack’s location from my mind, but I was sure Kieren had already figured that out.

  “Leave him alone!” I shouted.

  Zachary and Freddy — yelling at Aimee to stay in the car — moved to flank me, Harrison right after them.

  “Vampire!” exclaimed the bitch with the eye patch.

  Baffled, I checked my incisors with my tongue. They weren’t especially pointy. Then I glanced back at Harrison. His control had slipped.

  “Traitor!” Wolves pointed at Kieren. “Traitor!”

  Now they’d never believe that he hadn’t led Brad-Dracula here. I didn’t want to do it, but the situation had gone nuclear. I showed my fangs, too.

  “Traitor!” the shifters chanted at Kieren. “Traitor, traitor, traitor!”

  It was thirteen against five, the odds in their favor. Growls deepened, grew fiercer, and I braced for an attack.

  From behind me, the SUV’s engine revved. Aimee leaned out of the open driver’s window. “Back off, you losers! Back way off!”

  Then, from the sidewalk in front of the biergarten, Ivo barked at his Wolves to stand down. He ambled over, with the aid of crutches, to what had almost been the middle of a bloody fray.

  “Kieren,” the professor began, “as you know, there are those who have questioned your fitness for pack life, for advanced studies. They pointed to your upbringing, to your hybrid DNA.

  “Jealousy, directed at a newcomer whose intellect made them look like mere animals by comparison.” A chastised male began to whine, and Ivo conked him on the head with a crutch. “I say a Wolf is as strong as his loyalties, even more so when they are tested to extremes.

  “I won’t pretend to understand why you would fight alongside Satan’s minions or take one as your mate.”

  His words shocked my teeth back to normal. Zachary had to be horrified.

  “Yet as it was foretold, the End Days are coming. We face an era of great change, fear, and uncertainty, but at the same time, an era of great heroism. Should you succeed in defeating the Abomination, young one, you shall be welcomed back to the training pack as a member in full standing. You shall be admitted to study demonic history and sorcery by my side. You shall be welcomed back with feast and song and remembered in legend until the last Wolf draws his last breath.”

  Very poetic, but what? Was Kieren leaving with us to chase down Bradley? Was that what he and Ivo had been talking about in the biergarten?

  “You will be celebrated . . .” Ivo glared at me. “No matter the mistakes you have made. We understand too well the seductive power of evil.”

  Ouch. Still, the professor had just offered everything that Miz Morales had ever dreamed of for her son, everything that Kieren worked his whole life to earn.

  So long as we succeeded in defeating the Abomination.

  Kieren raised his gaze to challenge Ivo’s and reached for my hand. “Quincie has never been a mistake.”

  The SUV had been crowded before, but I didn’t mind sitting on Kieren’s lap. I curled my fingers in his hair, feeling guilty because, inside, I was celebrating.

  I understood that Kieren had seen the pack as the answer to mastering his shift. I understood that — like me — he’d have to struggle not to hurt anyone. I knew what a burden that could be, and it made more sense to me now why he’d felt he had to leave in the first place. But despite all of that, the ongoing threat, Clyde’s dire condition, and the fact that the infected — including Aimee — were facing impending undeath . . .

  No matter that none of it could end well, in that moment, my only thought was, Kieren is coming home. With me.

  I glanced at Aimee in the back row with Clyde’s legs in her lap. She opened my copy of Dracula and offered me a little wave that said she was happy that Kieren and I had been reunited for good, even if he was in a big, bad mood.

  I appreciated the support. I’d needed more girlfriends near my own age.

  Since I’d had to get along without Kieren, I’d connected with new people . . . Mrs. Levy and Mr. Wu . . . Clyde and Aimee . . . Nora, Freddy, and Zachary. And I’d nearly cemented myself in the Morales family.

  Harrison, I could take or leave. Because of course the person that I liked least was the other neophyte. It still mystified me why Zachary had let him come along. Maybe, though, it was because he had access to things like on-call private jets.

  Over an hour later, we arrived at Detroit Metro Airport. Alongside a small business jet that Harrison called Dracul One, Zachary pitched the car keys to him.

  “You’re sure?” the vampire asked. “I’d understand if you’d rather that Freddy —”

  “Nice of you to say so,” my GA replied. “But you were her friend, too.”

  Zachary’s great love, Miranda, I realized. The SUV had belonged to her.

  “How ’bout I ride with you?” Freddy asked his twin.

  Harrison paused. “I was hoping to stop by the castle. There’s something I’d like to pick up along the way.”

  “No problem,” was the reply.

  The plane’s interior resembled a long, narrow luxury-hotel suite. Custom cabinetry, black leather chairs, ottomans, and sofas. Plush black carpet with a red border, two bathrooms with black marble sinks, a shower. There was even a new-car smell.

  On a side table, I noticed a glam shot of Sabine on the cover of Eternal Elegance magazine. Beside it, a silver decanter held a warmed bottle of blood-infused Cabernet.

  Aimee, still carrying Stoker’s Dracula, observed, “Evil travels in style.”

  Zachary and Kieren hauled Clyde up the stairs and through the length of the jet to a bedroom in the back. Aimee followed, saying she’d watch over him.

  The angel grabbed a cup of coffee from the galley and then slid into the desk chair of the small executive office. “I’ll give Nora a call, see how it’s going at Sanguini’s, and ask her to contact Kieren’s parents. That’ll give them time to process what she has to say before we touch down.” Damage control.

  Up front, Kieren sank into the leather sofa in the lounge area, but I lingered outside the office doorway. “About Freddy, you know, traveling with Harrison . . .”

  Zachary looked out a side window at the twins walking toward the hangar. “Don’t let their bickering fool you. They’re more devoted to each other than either would admit, and Freddy is much tougher than he seems.”

  “Still, Sabine’s castle? Where humans equal appetizers?”

  “Freddy has been there hundreds of times before,” Zachary replied. “Remember, he and Harrison were raised by servants of the vamp aristocracy. As an adult, Freddy spent much of his career interacting with
the undead hierarchy, royalty included, as an event coordinator. Plus, Harrison is a neophyte.”

  Leaning against the doorway, I said, “So he still has a soul.”

  Zachary pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket. “That’s right.”

  “But no GA,” I whispered, shooting a look down the aisle at Kieren.

  “That’s right, too.”

  I moved to stand across from the desk. “It’s not right. It’s not fair. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not Harrison’s biggest fan. But he needs help, too.”

  “Which,” Zachary said, “is why Freddy wanted to spend some time with him.”

  Kieren and I hadn’t talked much on the way to the airport — too crowded. But I knew him well enough to tell he had mixed feelings about leaving the Wolf pack. And I suspected he wasn’t looking forward to dealing with his mama’s disappointment, either.

  I understood that Miz Morales was concerned about Kieren’s inability to fully shift and the dangers that came with that, but the pack hadn’t been able to help him. And while I didn’t know the whole story, it struck me as deeply hypocritical that Meara seemed to want her children to take exclusively after their Wolf heritage, especially since she herself had given up pack life over twenty years earlier.

  “How’re you doing?” I asked.

  Kieren held up the copy of Eternal Elegance magazine. “Scary.”

  With a grin, I reached into my backpack and presented him with the U.T. admission letter that I’d found when I cleaned out his school locker. “Check this out.”

  Kieren briefly brightened, then sobered again. “Quince, I’m still not safe to be —”

  “How about we try some optimism?” I suggested. “We’re together again. So what if everything’s not perfect? Let’s take it one disaster at a time.”

  He still looked doubtful. “Some things never change. My mom, for instance.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I booted my cell and showed him a pic of his folks decked out as Gomez and Morticia.

  “Quincie!” Zachary called. “Phone!”

  I hurried to join my GA in the small office toward the back of the plane.

  “Can’t talk long, hon,” Nora cheerfully reported on the other end of the call. “Sergio’s waiting to go over some changes in the meat order. How ’bout you swing by tomorrow, and we’ll get caught up?”

  It didn’t surprise me that they’d both gone in on a Sunday. With Sergio hovering, though, she couldn’t speak freely. Especially since he was among the infected. I was sure Zachary would fill me in on whatever he’d gleaned from the call, but I also wanted to hear the latest news from the chef herself.

  “On a scale of one to five,” I began, “one being a picnic basket of bunnies and cream puffs and five being ‘holy crap,’ how’re we doing?”

  “Between three and four,” she replied. “I’d say I should have some time to chat then. But you feel free to stop by anytime. After all, you’re the boss.”

  Translation: some funkiness had ensued at Sanguini’s, but nothing that couldn’t wait till morning. I hoped.

  At Zachary’s suggestion, I’d hung back in the plane and let Kieren go down first to meet his parents, so all I knew about their reunion was that, afterward, he was quieter.

  Later, back at the Morales house, Roberto had called Clyde’s parents while Meara examined the Possum, who’d been stationed on the fold-out sofa in their home office.

  I’d expected yelling, grounding, that the Moraleses would confiscate the keys to Kieren’s truck and The Banana and ban me from Sanguini’s until I turned twenty-one.

  At least for the moment, though, they’d seemed too relieved to see us home alive and too freaked out about Clyde’s coma to bother.

  “It’s not good,” Miz Morales told us, “but you were smart to bring him to me. I have a call in to Detective Zaleski. He should be able to obtain a few spell ingredients.”

  Unlike the students at the Wolf pack, Meara didn’t turn to healing magic lightly.

  Good magic. Evil magic. The cost of magic. I was starting to appreciate why Sabine avoided it to the extent possible.

  “How can we help?” Kieren asked.

  His mama poked him in the injured ribs, making both of us wince. “Stay out of trouble.” She frowned at her son. “I want to hear everything that happened — later.”

  I briefly considered cutting out of the house for a few minutes, giving the Moraleses their privacy and swinging by Sanguini’s for fresh porcine blood. But Roberto had mentioned ordering pizza, and it was time to play human girl again.

  That’s when Meghan opened the front door, having just been dropped off by a friend’s parent. She caught Kieren’s scent and, yelping, thundered up the stairs.

  We intercepted her halfway on the landing.

  “Kieren!” she shouted, clamping onto his leg. “Kieren, Kieren, Kieren!”

  I understood exactly how she felt.

  I begged off the pepperoni pizza, explaining that I didn’t have the energy to eat, and trudged upstairs to Kieren’s room to turn in for the night. He’d insisted that I take the water bed, claiming that it was easier on his ribs to sleep on a more solid surface.

  I’d wanted to say . . . I wasn’t sure what. But Dr. Morales was there, asking a thousand questions about the Wolf pack and Dracul One, and just being a dad.

  On my way, I ducked into Meghan’s room to turn on her pink Barbie night-light. “You should be asleep,” I said, though I couldn’t blame her for being excited.

  “He’s home,” she whispered, brown eyes bright above the waffle-weave blanket.

  “Yeah.” I almost kissed her good night. But I knew she still didn’t trust me. And I didn’t totally trust myself, either. “Try to sleep. He’ll still be home tomorrow.”

  Lying on the water bed, I stared at the ceiling and thought about Meghan. About how vulnerable she was with me staying only steps down the hall. I couldn’t keep trying to fool myself that carrying around holy water or maintaining an animal-blood diet would be enough to defang me.

  That night in the castle courtyard, I’d drunk from Bradley, greedy and grateful. I’d relished it, and I couldn’t blame that on being newly risen. He’d been spinning my mind. But the blood had still called.

  Afterward in the throne room, it had seemed so clear. I couldn’t go on this way much longer. But now that I’d been reunited with Kieren, I couldn’t imagine giving him up again.

  Miranda had been a teenage girl, just like I was. She’d had her humanity ripped away and known what it was to love. She’d not only been immersed in the demonic world; she’d briefly ruled it. But ultimately, she’d made the right choice, the brave choice. I’d try to help rid the world of Brad-Dracula. But then what would I do?

  When I heard the knock, I hoped it was Kieren, but Miz Morales walked in instead. “Clyde!” I exclaimed as I sat up in bed, sloshing a bit. “Is he —?”

  “Still stable,” she said. “His parents are a wreck, though. They’re with him now. Don’t worry, Quincie. I’ll find a way to save him. Somehow.”

  I wished she sounded more confident.

  “I know you will.” I wished I sounded more confident, too.

  As Miz Morales pulled up the desk chair, I readied myself to hear my punishment.

  Instead, she said, “I understand why you did what you did, running off with your friends like that. I know it wasn’t your fault, the massacre at the training pack.”

  So Kieren had told her at least that much.

  “I understand,” Meara went on, folding her hands in her lap, “that you feel responsible for the vampire Brad because of his history with your uncle and Sanguini’s. I also understand that you didn’t tell me what was happening because I would’ve forbade you to leave.”

  Boy, we were just bursting with understanding.

  “You’re a brave girl, and no one would call you irresponsible, least of all me. But Roberto and I, we can’t help noticing that you’ve been begging off meals, complaining of stomach trouble, ac
ting a bit strangely. At times, it’s like you’re trying to avoid us. Even Meghan has noticed it. She keeps saying that you’re ‘weird’ now.”

  Uh-oh. They knew.

  “Is there anything you want to tell me, Quincie?”

  This was it. They’d stake me, cut off my head, and stuff my mouth with garlic.

  “What do you mean?” I wasn’t ready to face my end, not yet.

  Miz Morales scratched behind her ear. “Well, I’m a Wolf, a full Wolf, with a Wolf’s senses. You’re living with me. I’m your guardian now, and I’ve known you since long before you hit adolescence.”

  Had Kieren told her? No, why would he? I began toying with his crucifix.

  “When’s the last time you got your period?” his mama asked.

  Before I’d died. I no longer needed a menstrual cycle anymore. Dead things couldn’t reproduce. Was Miz Morales waiting for me to admit it?

  Clasping her hands again, she forged on. “I know how close you and Kieren are. And I respect that your feelings for each other are more than puppy love.” She offered a reassuring smile. “If you two are facing the possibility of becoming parents, please don’t worry about confiding in me and Roberto. We love you both very much, and you have our one-hundred-percent support.”

  Oh, my God. She didn’t think I was undead. She thought I was pregnant!

  Relieved, embarrassed, mortified, I burst out laughing.

  I couldn’t tell if Bradley had invaded my mind or if I’d entered, unnoticed, into his. Given what Ivo had said, I’d begun to hope that he’d abandoned me and turned his full mental forces to the inner battle between him and Dracula Prime.

  I didn’t know where Brad was, but I could feel his presence. Watching.

  A clump of teenagers wandered up a gravel road. A private driveway?

  The fog was thick. Two of the girls clung to each other, wide-eyed like they expected a boogeyman to leap out. Their friends marched forward. The vivacious blonde up front skipped. They looked more city than suburbs, more style than cash.