Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle)

by Melissa F. Hart

  I'm the one you want. You tell me if she's all right or I will not show up!

  The train had come to a halt so I got out and entered the train that would take me to Canary Wharf, where I would change trains yet again for the Greenwich train.

  I'd settled into a comfortable seat when I decided to check my phone. Sure enough, the creep had replied.

  You are in no position to demand anything. You show up or you say goodbye to your grandma.

  I dumped the phone in the pocket of my jacket in disgust. This guy was unbelievable. The phone beeped again and I dug it out. It was another text message from him.

  And if you're thinking of not showing up, I will find you and not even the protector from HQ will keep you safe.

  I felt a frisson of fear run through me then I decided to get angry instead. The creep thought he could control me using fear, but I was damned if I was going to let him do that to me!

  Close to an hour after I left Knightsbride station, I finally got out at Greenwich station. I took a taxi but got down at the Greenwich Business Center complex, deciding to walk the rest of the way. It wasn't as though I wasn't in a hurry to get to Katrina, because I was. But I was afraid. I knew I was walking into a trap, how could it be anything else? But I had no idea what to do to avoid it. It was like I was the proverbial sacrificial lamb, but I was feeling anything but sacrificial at that moment. I had not asked for all this, it had just come to me. Now I needed to figure out a way to save my grandma and save all of humanity in the process. Well, maybe not all of humanity, but the vampire portion of it, anyway.

  I had just turned into the street where I'd lived with my family when the stone on my neck began to tingle in warning. I looked around me furtively, it was very late and the street was deserted. I couldn't see anyone else walking around, yet I had that undeniable feeling that I was being watched. It turned out I was right because a few houses from my destination, I was suddenly surrounded by a group of vampires. It was almost as though they'd materialized from the darkness. I came to a halt and stared at them, heart pounding. When they just stood there without saying a word, I became impatient.

  “All right, which one of you is the leader here?”

  There was no answer from any of them. I nodded like I'd expected their silence.

  “Fine.” I said placing a hand on my waist. “Take me to your leader.” I spoke slowly, pacing my words as though speaking to the terminally stupid. I was being deliberately provocative, I knew. But I figured I had nothing to lose.

  “You're to come with us and you are to come in peace.”

  I turned to the one who spoke. Unlike the vampires who had come at me last year, these were unmasked. I gazed into his green eyes as I addressed him.

  “You outnumber me. There are what, eight of you? I don't have much of a choice, do I?”

  “You're to come with us and you are to come in peace.” He repeated.

  I frowned. This was odd. “Who is your leader? Where is my grandmother?”

  “You're to come with us and you are to come in peace.”

  I felt a chill run down my spine as I took a second look at those green eyes. They were completely dead, not a single sign of life in them. Whatever this was, it was several times worse than I'd imagined. I began to wonder what I'd let myself in for.

  “Lead the way.” I gestured.

  They immediately formed a half circle around me, with green eyes leading the way. If any of the residents of that street had peeped out of the window, they would have thought we were mafia hit men out to make a hit.

  I walked silently, using all my willpower to keep my knees from knocking together. As we got closer to the house, I fought down nausea and tried to draw strength from inside me. To distract myself I tried using telepathy to reach Katrina.

  Grandma? Are you there?

  My darling!

  I felt relief course through me when she answered back.

  Where are you? Are you okay?

  Calm down love. Tell me something, are you actually coming to Greenwich?

  I'm just a few houses down the road.

  Is Dylan there?

  No. They asked me to come alone if I wanted to see you alive.

  Oh goodness! O Lord! Child, what have you done? Turn around now and keep going!

  I faltered at the panic in her voice. But Katrina, what about you?

  Are you not listening? Forget about me!

  I can't do that. Besides, it's too late. I'm already at the door.

  Have mercy...oh have mercy!

  Green eyes opened the door to the house and I followed him inside. The stone was so hot; I could feel the heat all over my body. It was almost as though it was trying to consume me. Yet it was not burning me. The air was filled with the smell of evil; I was practically choking in it. I looked at the foot soldiers who had escorted me to the house and one by one, they melted away until I was standing alone in what must have been the living room. There was nothing of the home I grew up in and I felt both relief and disappointment. I felt a presence and turned.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss High-and-Mighty herself.”

  Chapter Six

  I gazed in shock at Keenan Jones and as I looked at him, I kept expecting him to be an apparition. How had he appeared here and what did he have to do with the kidnapping of Katrina? My mind was full of questions, but I could only stare at him. Finally I found my voice.

  “Keenan? What are you doing here?”

  “What do you think? I'm here to finish off what my father started.” He stated with glittering eyes.

  “Your father? What does that have to do with me?” I felt like I was missing something, but for the life of me I had no idea what it was.

  “You are the stupid bitch who killed him and once I'm done with you, you will beg for his fate.” He said with venom.

  “I don't understand? Who is your father?” I asked, but I already knew. How many people had I killed in my entire life? One person, that's how many. But it couldn't be...could it? I read the answer in his eyes.

  “Lord Morrison dedicated a lot of his life to the stone, but you had to go turn on him.”

  “You're...” I almost couldn't say it, but I had to. “You mean, you're my uncle?” I choked out the words.

  “An accident of birth, I can assure you.”

  It was too much to take in so I changed tack. “Where is my grandmother?” I wanted to know.

  “She's safe, for now.”

  “For now?”

  “She's my assurance that you're going to do exactly as I say without causing any trouble. I'm glad to see you were smart enough to leave that protector behind.”

  “What kind of sick bastard are you?” I cried in frustration.

  His face turned ugly in an instant and he raised his hand and made a motion, which was too quick for me to catch. Before I could take the next breath, a force lifted me off my feet and hurled me against the wall. I slammed into the wall and landed on the floor. For a few seconds, all I saw where stars the different colors of the rainbow, dancing in front of me.

  I knew in that instant that I was not going to get out of that house alive. He was going to kill me when he no longer had any use for me. I couldn't believe I'd had the one date with him just a few short days ago. It almost seemed like forever. I'd gone on a double date with Claire and her boyfriend. That same night after the date, Dylan had showed up and after months of phone conversations, we'd finally begun dating. Keenan had gotten nasty the next day at school and it had only been the presence of Dylan and Jason, Claire's boyfriend, that had stopped him. But he'd looked at me with the same hatred glittering out of his eyes and at the time, it had bothered me deeply. Now at least, I knew why he felt the way he did even if it still bothered me a lot.

  “Now, if you mess with me I will beat the crap out of you. I have no such compunction about beating girls. You will do exactly as I say and you will not speak unless you're spoken to. Is that clear?”

  Talk about someone w
ho had delusions of grandeur. The thought flashed through my mind and I quickly squelched it. This was not the time; I knew my life was hanging in the balance, so I just nodded and began to pray with all my might that Dylan's love was as strong as he said it was. That he would check on me, at least once and come after me. I was not sure if vampires could pray. We're not supposed to have souls and not even evolution had taken care of that. Still, that didn't stop me.

  He was speaking so I tried to pay attention to what he was saying.

  “You're going to take me to your family vault. Yes, I can see you remember the place. That is where the operation will take place. Just in case you were stupid enough to bring protectors, I want to make sure they can't get to us.”

  “What do you mean by operation?” I asked before remembering that I wasn't supposed to speak. I braced myself for the retribution but he'd apparently decided to let that slide.

  He rubbed his hands in glee, like he was overcome by his own brilliance. “My father developed a robot, but it's not just any robot. For centuries we've only had a single keeper and the fate of the entire Born race of vampires usually hangs with that keeper. Well, thanks to the genius of Lord Morrison, no more.” His smile made me tense in apprehension.

  “You've heard of Genetic Engineering?”

  I shook my head. I wasn't surprised biology and math or whatever had eventually gotten married and produced an heir, but no one had bothered to tell me the good news.

  “Well, it's probably too much for you to understand, anyway.” He said with a patronizing smile.

  “Well, I'm not as intelligent as you are, but if you explain it to me I'll try to keep up.” I gave him a vapid smile and batted my eyelashes at him. To my surprise, he bought the act.

  “That's okay.” He waved his hands magnanimously. “I'll be glad to explain your demise to you. Basically we worked with genetic specialists and specialists in robotics to produce robots with the similar abilities as a born vampire. These robots are going to serve as our new keepers.”

  “Keepers?” I asked in stressing on the plural. I remembered Lord Morrison saying something like that.

  “Yes, Luanne. Keepers. Why should there be only one keeper? Why should our fate be tied to you and you alone? With these robots, I will cut the stone into several pieces and we can have as many keepers as we desire. Have you any idea how much in demand each of those lovely creatures will be?”

  “But the stone destroys anything or anyone that touches it unless it is a keeper.” I pointed out.

  “This is where my father was a genius. Pure genius. The robots are going to carry the essence of the keeper. You, Luanne.”

  His grin was pure evil and for the first time, I felt pure fear flow through me. Without an essence, a vampire was as good as dead. Only, death would have been preferable. It was like a mortal trying to live without a soul. I would practically become a zombie, a vegetable. This was too horrifying to contemplate. Worse though, I had no idea what the repercussions would be for our race if the stone was fragmented. As logical as his plan sounded, I had come to know something about the stone. It was a living creature and it took on the personality of its keeper. By destroying it that way, he would kill it.

  I opened my mouth to point that out to him but he raised his hands and silenced me.

  “That's it then. It's time to get this gig on the road.” He laughed at his own wit. “Oh by the way, you met some of our vampire robots just now when you turned into the street. It is absolutely fantastic, isn't it?”

  I remembered the deadness in the green eyes and began to tremble. He was going to go ahead with this madness. I knew beyond a doubt that unless some miracle happened, he was going to destroy our race. I'm not a victim. I can't just sit here and do nothing. There must be something I can do. I thought in growing desperation.

  My entire body was feverish and I'd begun to sweat. The heat from the stone was almost unbearable. I could feel the walls closing in on me and I struggled against the panic rising within me. I knew I needed to keep calm if I had a hope of escaping such madness. I took a deep breath and thought back to the night Dylan and I had started dating. He'd kissed me and told me that I was never getting rid of him. I felt a smile start inside of me at the memory, but kept it from appearing on my face. Instantly the panic within me subsided and I began to formulate a plan.

  “Okay, we're heading for the vault.” He stated abruptly.

  I raised a hand to halt him. He looked at me incredulously, but I ignored the pounding of my heart.

  “First, I need to see Katrina and know that she's fine. No!” I stopped him when it looked like he was going to speak. “You can throw me around all you want, or beat the crap out of me like you've threatened, but it's not going to change my mind. And if you provoke me, this place will go up in flames and you with it.”

  “Ha! You think you can bluff your way out of this? You won't kill your dear Aunt Katrina; you're too weak for that.” He said smugly.

  But I just smiled a knowing smile at him and watched in satisfaction as his smug smile disappeared.

  “Wanna bet?” I asked calmly. “You are going to destroy us all anyway, so I might as well help you do it.”

  He stared at me with hatred blazing out of his eyes. “I'm so going to make you pay for this.” He stated then raised his voice, “Katrina!”

  Chapter Seven

  I held my breath as my grandmother walked out. Her hair was caught in a loose topknot, she had on a pair of pants and a sweater, obviously the same clothes she'd had on when she'd been taken from the house. Her hands were bound with platinum bonds and there was a band around her middle. This would have effectively sucked out her powers, making her incapable of acting. I stared at her and felt tears prick the back of my eyes. Even in her disheveled state, Katrina was still the most elegant looking woman I knew. I fought back the tears and nodded to her. Head held high, she nodded back and I tried to ignore the despair I could see clearly written on her face.

  “Great, you've seen her, now let's move it!” He pointed to a door, which I recognized as the one which led to the vault. “You are coming with us.” He motioned to Katrina.

  I racked my brain trying to think up a way to keep us out of the maximum security vault. As I worried fanatically what to do, I heard Katrina in my mind.

  We need to get to the vault.

  Are you serious? We're all toast if we go there!

  Trust me, Lu. The vault.

  I noticed Keenan casting suspicious glances at us even though we'd avoided eye contact while we communicated. I decided to trust Katrina and walked toward the door leading to the vault. Walking out the door, I stopped in front of a wall which was supposed to have turned into a staircase leading to a basement, but it was just a wall.

  “Well?” I turned to him.

  “Don't play dumb with me.” He snarled, “You know very well that it's wired to your DNA. Now get the damn thing open!”

  I stared at the wall helplessly. How could I get it open? I'd gone in and out of this room when it had been installed. I'd been able to get it open then but it hadn't been something I'd done consciously. It had just opened for me. I touched different parts of the wall, in case there was a hidden switch or panel somewhere, no such luck.

  “You're wasting my time.” He tapped his foot impatiently.

  I knew there was no use explaining to him that I had no idea how to open the vault. I closed my eyes and thought back to when I was younger, when I still had my parents and my little sister. It was a period of my life I'd tried hard to forget about, but I couldn't stop the memories now. I saw my dad with his hair like Katrina's, a light auburn. He smiled at me and chucked me beneath my chin.

  My little princess. You remember that I'll always be with you, my dear. No matter what happens, don't forget that.

  The image faded and I saw my Mom. We were sitting in my room and she was brushing my long hair before tucking me in to sleep. She had the same soft, blond hair and beautiful green eyes.
r />   Lulu, you are beautiful. But remember to keep the flame of your inner beauty, don't let it go out.

  How do I do that, Mom?

  She smiled at me and dropped a kiss on top of my head. Well, for one, don't forget this moment.

  I opened my eyes and came out of my trance. It probably had lasted only a few seconds because Keenan the creep was still tapping his foot in impatience. I was not sure exactly what both scenes had meant, but I had a vague idea. I closed my eyes again and this time, I saw my little sister.