by Lisa Olsen
“W-West Virginia,” Tucker replied, his eyes still downcast.
“Some of my old stompin’ grounds back in the day. I expect we know some of the same folk,” Lee replied, his hand lightly massaging Tucker’s shoulder until the boy looked up at him. “What you doin’ way out here away from your people?”
Tucker’s mouth worked, the words fighting him. “They d-d-didn’t w-w-w-w-want me ar-r-r…”
“I think I get the picture,” Lee frowned, his brows drawing together as he let him go. “Don’t strain yourself none.”
“Their loss is our gain,” Maggie said, picking up Tucker’s hand. “And I’m grateful for it. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you during my stay here.” The young shifter’s distress eased at her kind words, but he didn’t reply.
“I am too. Otherwise we’d never have met,” I added, and he threw a bashful smile in my direction. Sensing the shy shifter didn’t like so much attention focused on him, I changed the subject. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen or heard from Jakob or Bishop lately, have you?” For all I knew, they were holed up in a different part of the Vetis House as we spoke.
“N-No,” Tucker answered readily. “Not for several months.”
That was probably for the best; I didn’t need more complications at the moment. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Rob either?” That seemed far less likely and I could tell from the puzzled look on his face that he hadn’t seen him since my last visit.
“Rob? No, should I have?”
“No, probably not,” I replied with a thin smile. “I should start thinking about where to track him down. It’s probably too much to hope for that he’s staying at the apartment with Leila or his grandma’s place.”
“If you want I can track him down for you,” Lee offered, but I wasn’t sure that was the way to go.
“I don’t know. If he sees you here, that might spook him.”
“I’ll stay out of sight,” he promised. “Rob won’t never know I’m lookin’ for him.”
“Are you sure he won’t spot you? I know you’ve probably been tracking since before I was born, but he’s kind of hard to get the jump on.”
Lee chuckled, pushing the flop of gray hair away from his brow. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t disparage my character like that, ’cause I figure you meant it nice. But the day I can’t track a body – man or vamper – without bein’ spotted, is the day I’ll turn up my toes and take a dirt nap.”
“Sorry, Lee. I didn’t mean to question your ability.”
“Don’t fret none, darlin’, I got thicker skin than that. Besides, I got a jumpstart on vampers, I can get started durin’ the day.” He turned to Tucker in invitation. “How about it, son? You feel like drivin’ this old coot around tomorrow until I get the lay of the land? It’s been a few years since I spent any amount of time in these parts.”
“Come tracking with you?” Tucker was too excited to remember to stutter. But just as quickly, his excitement faded. “Oh… I d-don’t think Brody will let me l-leave the estate.”
Cripes, he wasn’t allowed to leave the house without asking permission? I didn’t know if that was standard procedure or Brody being a jerkwad, but I was leaning toward jerkwad. “I can square that for you, Tucker, don’t worry,” I offered, starting to rethink leaving Brody’s less charming personality traits intact. “I’ll have Brody assign you to me again like last time, then he won’t be able to say no.”
“He still won’t like it,” Tucker said glumly, but Lee patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t you worry none, I can handle that dog. Unless you don’t want to come along, that’d be fine too.”
“No, sir. I’d very much like to come with you.” Tucker all but danced in place with enthusiasm like a puppy shown a new toy. “Oh, unless you’ll need an escort around the house during the day,” he turned to Maggie.
“No, don’t give it another thought,” Maggie assured him. “I keep mostly nocturnal hours these days. I likely won’t wake until just before the sun sets.”
Tucker turned to Lee, split between wanting to please them both and Lee gave him a nod. “We’ll be back by then.”
“Sounds like that’s all settled then,” I smiled, pouring myself a drink of the rapidly cooling blood. Gunnar had remained silent for the conversation, but he stepped forth with a sheepish look when I poured out my second glass of blood.
“I could go out looking for Rob tonight, boss,” he offered, when I handed him a glass.
“No, we’ll let Lee and Tucker handle it for now. I’ll need you to do some snooping around here in the meantime. Find out if Aubrey’s been trying anything he shouldn’t be with the Order banished from Vetis. If he’s done anything shady, I want to know about it before I sign any accords with him. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“Of course,” he readily agreed, glad to have his own secret mission. We settled onto the couches then for a more leisurely visit, until I started to tune out of the conversation, my mind wandering as I grew more tired.
Gunnar offered to show Lee the way to the security wing and they stood up to take their leave. Lee offered me a comforting pat. “Don’t you fret none, Anja. We’ll find him for ya.”
Cool beans. “Thanks. I know I can count on you guys.” With any luck, they’d track Rob down by the time I woke up and I could get that part of the visit over with quick, like ripping off a Band-aid. After that… it was anyone’s guess how things would shake down.
Chapter Five
“I’ll wait by the car,” Lee offered as he pulled to a stop in front of the basement apartment Rob had inherited from his grandmother. “You sing out if you need me though, I’ll be there in two shakes.”
“Thanks, Lee. I’m sure I can handle it,” I said with a tight smile. I’d already decided to leave Gunnar to his intrigue at the Vetis house, and Maggie and Tucker had been deep in a game of cards when I’d emerged from the bedroom. It seemed a shame to drag them along on what might turn out to be a very painful errand, but Lee insisted on coming along, just in case. Not that I was in any danger, but I appreciated the gesture. I probably would’ve been run off the road if I’d tried to drive myself, given how distracted I was. And there was always the option that I’d lose my nerve and chicken out if I had to get there on my own. Then again, maybe Rob wasn’t even home and I was getting all worked up for nothing?
There was no putting it off any longer, and my stomach clenched into a hard ball as I crossed the street. I got this, I murmured to myself, hesitating outside the door to his apartment, my hand poised to knock.
“I ain’t in the mood, Leila. Stop pussyfooting around and come in,” Rob called out, his voice low and gravelly. It’d been two months since I’d last seen him, and at the time I’d wanted to break every bone in his body, but the sound of Rob’s voice did things to me, despite the roughness of his words.
I opened the door, pushing it wide. “I’ll take that as an invitation,” I said, my voice breathy as I came face to face with him. Rob lounged in a worn chair in front of the fireplace, with an old ratty afghan wrapped around his shoulders and an open book turned down over his knee. He didn’t look weak, and he didn’t look like he’d let himself go. His jaw still sported the same amount of stubble it usually did, his hair just as short.
Whatever I’d been hoping to see on his face, it wasn’t the way his jaw tightened, and his words were less than welcoming. “What you doing here?”
The challenging, almost combative tone in his voice threw me for a loop. I guess I’d been expecting apologies or even a plead for me to take him back, but I saw none of those things in his cool, hazel eyes.
“Laveda said she’s been worried about you. I came to see how you’re doing.” Lamest excuse ever.
“Don’t need your help,” he scowled, picking up the book again dismissively, but I wasn’t about to let him brush me off so easily.
“Actually, I think you do.”
“I don’t want it in any case. You’d b
est be off.”
“Not before I say what I came to. If you want me to leave, you’re going to have to make me.”
His eyes flared with anger, but he didn’t move out of the chair. “Speak your piece then.”
I wasn’t sure if it was because he was secretly glad to see me or if he lacked the strength to throw me out. Either way, I took advantage of it and perched on the edge of the other chair opposite the fire. “Bishop came to see me in Chicago. He had some information he thought we both needed to know.”
“Is that where you been this whole time?”
“Yes, mostly.”
“How is Bishop then? He out waiting for you in the car?”
“No, he’s off looking for Carys with Jakob.”
“Is he now?”
There – that almost sounded like interest. I tried to build on that. “Yes, they found her diary and now they’re more determined than ever to find her.”
“Bloody fool,” Rob muttered under his breath. “Go on then, get to the point and be done with it.”
I told him about the curse. About how thanks to Jakob, any progeny that Carys or I loved would slowly sicken and die, and the steps Carys had taken to keep Bishop alive. I could see I held his full attention from the start, the ridges of scowl easing to be replaced by interest, and finally shock as I explained how he was affected by it.
“So you see, that’s why you felt the need to feed so often, and why you needed those stims so badly. It wasn’t weakness, it was Jakob’s curse.” I didn’t say a thing about Bridget. Valid excuses or not, he’d still made a horrible decision and I couldn’t bring it up.
Shock gave way to anger, Rob’s hands clenching the arms of his chair hard enough to crack the wood beneath the worn padding. “I’ll bloody kill Jakob,” he seethed, teeth grinding together.
“You’ll have to get in line. Besides, I’m not sure he can’t reverse it if he wanted to. We might need him alive for the time being.” We sat in awkward silence and when he made no move to speak, I tried to bridge the gap. “So, I spoke my piece. I guess…” Nothing. No response from him, he didn’t even look my way. “I guess I’ll go then and let it all sink in.”
I rose to my feet and quick as anything, his hand shot out to catch mine. “You still love me,” he said, a trace of wonder erasing the anger in his eyes.
“I… well, I’m not…” His declaration caught me off guard. None of this conversation was happening the way I’d thought it would. “That’s not why I’m here. I came to try and help you.”
“You do though. It must be true, because I’m still lurgy. If you hated me, I wouldn’t be getting weaker every day.”
“You’re getting weaker?” My heart wrenched at the news, adding to the muddle of emotions in my heart.
“The stims don’t hardly work no more and the token Leila gave me don’t have any effect neither.”
I realized he still wore the braided bracelet around his wrist, shiny despite the frayed edges. “Is that my hair?”
He nodded, letting go of me to twist it around his wrist. “Leila made a charm of it for me. It helped some at first. The only thing that keeps me in the pink now is to feed three times a day, and I can’t always be sure of stopping in time, so I don’t go out as much as I should.”
Three times a day. I tried to figure out how far along he was based on Carys’ diary entries, but without dates, it was hard to calculate. Without the constant excess of blood Bishop had been exposed to under her care, who knew how much quicker the effects had taken hold of Rob?
“We’d better try to find an end to this curse quickly then,” I said, and shock warred with hope in his eyes.
“We?”
“I’ll handle it if you’re too weak.”
Rob slowly pushed himself to his feet, the blanket falling from his shoulders. “I can manage.” Despite the certainty in his words, his steps were less stable than I would’ve liked, and I rushed to take his arm and steady him.
“First thing you need to do is feed, and I’ll be there to make sure you don’t take too much.”
His gaze fell to my hand on his arm, his head shaking slowly. “No, first thing I need to do is say…”
“Please don’t,” I stopped him. Whatever he was about to say, I wasn’t ready to hear it yet. It was all I could do to focus on keeping him upright without wanting to simultaneously touch his jaw and break it. “Rob, I can’t jump right back into things with you. I’m here to help break this curse, that’s all. Anything else is… it’s got to be left for another day. I can’t deal with it yet.”
Just like that his emotions shuttered away, his expression growing impassive. “Fair enough,” he said quietly. “What’s it to be then? Will you bring me back to my cage after you’ve seen to my feeding?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” God, what did I mean? I hardly knew. “I’m still your Sire, and I’m responsible for your life.”
“And you love me.” The hint of a smile was back. His emotions were all over the place, I guess mine weren’t any better.
I didn’t agree, but I didn’t contradict him either. “This doesn’t change anything between us. I understand why you did the things you did, but it still hurts. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to let that pain go. I don’t know if I want to.”
Rob pulled his arm free to sink down on the arm of the chair, sliding his hands over his face. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t.”
“Look, we need to put this all on hold for the moment and try to figure out a way to get rid of this curse, that’s our first priority. The rest of it we can sort out later. I figure the best place to start is with your sister. She’s the only one I know who might have experience with curses.”
“It’s not her style, but she might could steer us in the right direction,” he allowed.
“Good, we’re agreed then. We’d better get a move on if we want to get you some blood, fit in a visit to your sister, and get you settled back at Vetis.”
He looked up, a pucker of confusion on his brow. “I thought you wasn’t ready for me to be by your side.”
“I’m not inviting you into my bed,” I snorted. “It’s too dangerous to leave you here alone, the hunger could get the better of you at any time. I need to keep an eye on you.”
He didn’t argue the point. “What about Leila? Should we call her now?”
“You can do that from the car. I should warn you, Lee’s out there waiting and he’s not your biggest fan right now.”
“I reckon he’s a right to feel that way,” Rob sighed, scratching at the side of his jaw. “I didn’t give him much cause to do otherwise.”
“We all know you have your reasons, so I’m sure the two of you will work things out.” If only I could get over my betrayal so easily. I pushed those thoughts aside, needing to make one thing absolutely clear before I brought him back into my life, even in this small capacity. “Right now I need your promise that if you feel the hunger or weakness start to build, you’ll let me know as soon as possible. Can you do that? I won’t risk anyone’s life to save yours.”
Rob nodded, pushing himself up to his feet to meet my gaze. “I know it don’t feel like it right now, but you can trust me, yeah?”
Cripes, I hoped he was right. “Okay then, let’s go.”
It was hard to see him in such rough shape. I told myself that was why I leaned so close to him, helping him to the car, it wasn’t any other urge I had to hold him close. One way or another, I’d find a way to end the curse or get Jakob to compel me not to love Rob anymore. I’d do whatever it took to save his life, even if it meant cutting him out of my heart forever.
Chapter Six
The moment Bishop laid eyes on the mausoleum, he knew they’d found the right place. The chamber itself was impressive, stone arches forming an open air temple of sorts. The intricately carved sarcophagus bore a single epitaph in Latin – Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.
>
Jakob had fallen silent for the duration of the ride into the English countryside, and he made no move to speak as they approached the massive structure. The Ellri looked unusually pale in the moonlight, his shoulder length blonde hair stirring lightly in the breeze. His steps slowed as he reached the stone dais, and Bishop came to a halt beside him.
“Maybe she’s not even in there?” Bishop ventured as they both stared at the darkened crypt. “Maybe he’s got his wife stashed out here instead?”
Jakob shook his head, his voice pitched low in the stillness of the night. “He gave her a proper burial at sea. We do not put our dead in these morbid tombs.”
“Do you want me to open it?” Bishop asked softly, matching his tone even though there was no one around for miles and miles. When Jakob made no response, Bishop stepped up to the heavy capstone, giving it an experimental shove. The stone made a loud, grating scrape as it gave way, the glint of flaxen curls inside stealing his breath away.
This time Jakob didn’t rush forward to finish the job. This time, the Ellri remained rooted in place, even after Bishop pushed the massive stone free. The moonlight revealed Carys’ delicate features, her cheeks pale, but smooth, rosebud lips slightly parted. Jakob gasped, leaning forward to stare down at her in amazement, and Bishop’s heart clenched painfully at the sight of that lovely face. Serene and composed, she looked as though she’d merely fallen asleep, at sharp odds with the wooden stake piercing her breast.
Much like it’d been with Corinne in New York, there wasn’t much blood, her dress perfectly preserved apart from the terrible wound. She appeared to be dressed for a night at the theater, in a turn of the century evening gown, all frothy blue ruffles and lace that gave her a deceptively sweet and innocent look. Bishop knew the color would make her eyes sparkle under candlelight, he’d fallen under their spell before. His hand extended to stroke her soft cheek, half expecting her to vanish in a swirl of illusion, but Carys was flesh and blood, right enough.