Totem of Aries

by D. N. Leo

  This mansion was called Little Bird. He’d bought it as a present for Juliette just after they got married. It was their secret getaway just outside Oxford. Apart from his family and his close circle of subordinates, nobody knew its location. He loved the mansion, a Georgian-style building, grand but not extravagant. But he hadn’t set foot in it since the day Juliette died.

  If he wasn’t mistaken, the eyes of the man in the portrait were the same as those of the man who had carried the woman who was now in his care out of the hospital. But it might only be his imagination.

  Doctor Thomas had been checking on the woman every twenty minutes. He wasn’t the best surgeon in the country, but for Ciaran, Doctor Thomas had been like a second father ever since he had lost his first when he was sixteen.

  And who was the woman he had just brought to Little Bird?

  The stunning woman had no form of identification. She was incredibly strong, and she owned a strange and powerful sword. When she’d left it at the hospital, he had kept it. It had vibrated and heated up—he didn’t know how or why—and then there was a sort of calling in his mind. He had followed the sound until he found the woman again.

  She had again protected him, this time against a bunch of vampires he couldn’t even see until just before they attacked the two of them. She fought them off. What a magnificent scene it had been. She looked like a warrior.

  When she passed out in his arms, somehow he just knew she either didn’t need to go to the hospital or wouldn’t care to be there. So he took her to Little Bird and called Doctor Thomas.

  What was it about her that was so familiar?

  As he waited in the corridor, he made some calls and business arrangements. His CEO, Lindsay, handled most of the everyday business. Still, there were many things he had to handle personally, and this side trip to Oxford had delayed several important matters. He finished his calls with a short message to his stubborn brother, Tadgh, to let him know everything was fine.

  He heard the door squeak and watched as Doctor Thomas came out with his usual fatherly smile. “Your friend is fine, Ciaran. She doesn’t appear to have suffered much physical injury. But her blood pressure is low, and her energy is weak. She needs to rest. I’ve given her vitamins, but she refuses to take any medicine. So that’s your job.”

  “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

  “Of course, and yes, I will keep this visit discreet, Ciaran.”

  He smiled. Doctor Thomas had introduced him to this world. There wasn’t much about him that the kind doctor didn’t know—except that Ciaran thought the woman resting in the master chamber was irresistibly attractive.

  “Well, I should leave now. You know what to do to take care of the lady, Ciaran.”

  He nodded and saw the doctor to the door. Before getting into the private helicopter Ciaran had sent for him, Doctor Thomas turned around and said, “I think it’s time for you to move on. It’s been six years, Ciaran. Juliette is long gone.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “Her name is Madeline. I think you two have chemistry. Why don’t you check her out?” The doctor smiled then boarded the aircraft. Ciaran stood there for a while, watching until the helicopter was out of his sight.

  Madeline sat up, leaning against the headboard. She ached everywhere. The room was grand but warm, and the decor was elegant, modern but still embracing the English charm. As soon as she saw Doctor Thomas, she knew she was in Ciaran’s care, and this was one of his properties.

  Now that she had interacted with Doctor Thomas and Ciaran, she couldn’t undo those experiences. Her time travel had become part of their current reality. She had no idea what the consequences would be. Her psychic ability, as usual, had decided not to help when she needed it most.

  Ciaran knocked on the door and entered after she answered. He approached her bed. “Doctor Thomas said you need to rest. Concerning your injuries, you have nothing to worry about, Madeline.” He smiled at her.

  “Thank you.”

  “This watch doesn’t look like any model I’ve seen before.” He put her wrist unit on the bed, the only device that connected her with Eudaiz so that she could communicate with Jo and return home.

  “It was a gift.”

  “I’m sure it’s special.”

  He looked at her, and judging by his look, she knew his next question wouldn’t be about the weather.

  “I am open-minded about extraterrestrials, but I don’t know anything about the paranormal world. I can’t even accept the idea of it, even after seeing those creatures with my own eyes. Judging by the weight, the look, and the feel of it, the sword you left behind has silver properties. If you carry that sword to kill vampires, then either the thing that tried to kill me wasn’t a vampire, or your weapon is defective.”

  “I’d prefer the former.”

  “But what’s the true answer? If you’re worried about the weapon, I can give you a gun for self-defense.”

  “Does your gun have silver bullets?”

  “No, but that can be arranged. Are you a vampire hunter? If you are, do you know when they’ll be trying to attack me again?”

  “There’s a bounty on your head, and they’re going for it.”

  “Given that you’re trying to protect me, you would know who placed the bounty on my head and sent vampires after me.”

  “I don’t know. That would be pure speculation.”

  He smiled. “So who do you speculate wants to kill me? I’m taking all speculations seriously because it’s much better than no information at all. As I said before, I’m open-minded.”

  “You also said you don’t believe in the paranormal.”

  “But I believe your version of the truth. Are you a vampire hunter? Why are you protecting me? As I said, any version of the truth from you is fine.”

  As usual, he had cornered her. If she didn’t give him the real answer, she would be doomed. He would go about investigating the incident by himself. So she would rather take control of the situation herself. “Here is my version of the truth, Ciaran. I time traveled here from the future, and in that version of reality, in the future, we’re married.”

  Chapter 14

  Alex opened his eyes and found himself bound with silver chains. His muscles were in knots, and his flesh sizzled with every move. The pain was unbearable. His captive was most likely relying on the belief that the pain caused by the silver on his skin would restrict his movement. But he wasn’t just any vampire. He was the mayor of the vampire city in the cross zone in Antarctica. He didn’t get to his position for no reason.

  The chains were loose enough for him to sit up and look at his surroundings. He was definitely in some kind of dungeon. He needed to get out of here. Concentrating, he breathed in the scents around him. The smell of the filthy damp ground and rotting flesh engulfed him. Then he smelled a living creature. He focused. If there was even one living thing around, he would be able to control its mind and make it do what he wanted. That was a part of his vampire talent.

  The living creature he smelled was a dog. He sighed and cursed inwardly. He had never tried to control an animal before. But he had no other option. He focused and sent commands to the animal.

  In a few moments, the dog walked in as if sleepwalking.

  “Oh, come on!” he exclaimed when he saw the black poodle. “Well, I suppose you’re better than nothing,” he said to himself. Nobody—dead or alive—needed to know he had collaborated with a poodle.

  The dog yanked, and pulled at the chains until they became loose. Alex lay in the dark, patiently waiting for his injuries to heal. Soon his body was completely mobile. He stood up and surveyed his prison. There were several wine barrels and some tubs of fermented liquid that he figured must be ale or spirits. He also saw coffins of various shapes and sizes. He worked his way around all of them and found a small door. Pushing it open, he stepped outside.

  There was a large gray dome above. The vast landscape in front of him was a version of Antarctica
without the snow. He had never seen Antarctica looking like this, but it didn’t take much intelligence or imagination to predict what the pole would look like without snow.

  It was very quiet. Although there was really nothing that would give him cause to describe it as eerie, there was one thing that bothered him. It almost felt like he was in a cemetery—but without the graves. Then it dawned on him.

  This was the underworld.

  He had never been there before, but he had been with the undead for long enough to know of this place.

  He needed to find Madeline. Of course, he could just go back to the real Antarctica and pretend this had never happened. But there were two problems with that. One, he didn’t know how to time travel. And two, he never left his people behind, let alone a friend. Seeing that he wasn’t being followed, he sat down on a stone bench to think.

  To his surprise, although free of his control, the dog approached, hopped up, and sat on the bench next to him without invitation.

  “Just so you know, we aren’t friends.”

  The dog looked at him dismissively and then lay down with its head on his front legs and slept.

  A faint female voice brushed across his ear. “Alexander!”

  Alex scrambled to his feet. The voice was gentle. Seemingly close but echoing in to him as if from a distance. There was something in the voice that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

  “Who’s that?”

  “Please help her. I’m Margaret’s guardian. It’s my job to protect her soul.”

  Behind him stood a woman, perhaps in her late fifties, as beautiful as an angel. Her image flickered and didn’t blend in with the underworld environment. He thought if he reached out to touch her, he would find only air. He knew this must be some kind of psychic communication, and the woman wasn’t truly in this world.

  But he had an important task to complete, and it couldn’t wait. So he walked away as fast as he could. He spoke to the woman as he traveled with speed. “What does that have to do with me? Dragging me all the way to the underworld and then chaining me up isn’t a smart way to ask for a favor.”

  “Please don’t be mad at me. I wasn’t the one who captured you. I asked Ciaran to help Margaret, but he was reluctant because he didn’t trust me. Plus I didn’t know about you at that time.”

  “Why do you think I would help? I trust you know what I am.”

  The woman smiled. “Because you are rooted here. You owe Margaret’s family.”

  “Another favor? I’m here because I owe Ciaran and Madeline. I don’t even know Margaret—I don’t owe her anything.”

  “Your family is in the soul trading business.”

  Alex snorted. “Well, that’s good to know,” he said and then asked, “Can I have my human life back then?”

  “A vampire doesn’t have a human life, but he still has a soul. Yours was traded a long time ago with Margaret’s family.”

  “You’re saying I don’t have a soul?”

  “You do. The deal was made before you were turned. But your family cheated you out of the deal by letting you be turned, by letting you become the undead. Therefore, they never fulfilled the agreement.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Still, it doesn’t mean I owe Margaret anything.”

  “No, but I’m calling on your conscience.”

  He stopped, turned, and growled at the woman who had been following him for some time. “Well, that’s what I don’t have. Having a conscience in order to fulfill an elusive agreement with creatures in another world is the last thing I need. Being turned against my will was bad enough. But now I’m in charge of a city of creatures similar to me. They rely on me for their survival.”

  “But this won’t cost you anything more.”

  “I don’t care.” He kept walking.

  “You share the same enemies.”

  “Sharing enemies isn’t relevant here. She doesn’t take a load off me, obviously. But again, I don’t care.” He looked at the dog, who had been following him the whole time, and said to it, “Stop running after me. I don’t need you anymore. You’re free to go.”

  “Margaret’s family is powerful. These underworld vampires captured you to use you as ransom to force your family to go to war with Margaret’s to get what they want. They haven’t yet had a chance to report your captivity to their superior. All you have to do now is to go back and destroy their headquarters here. Do it now, while it’s unguarded.”

  He stopped, thinking, and looked at the woman. “Does this have anything to do with Ciaran?”

  “I don’t know. I asked for his help because he was in contact with Margaret when she was attacked, and I can tell he has a very powerful soul.”

  He glanced back at the place where he had been held captive. It looked like a temple of dark spirits. “They caught me before. What makes you think I can beat them now?”

  “You’re a lot more powerful than they are. You were attacked when you were off guard.”

  He nodded then turned and began to walk back. If these vampires had any plans to go further into his world and threaten his people, then it was his duty to stop them now.

  He flicked his fingers, and the dog followed him. “You obviously want a job,” he told the animal. “But after this, you stay here where you belong. You can’t follow me forever. Got that?” He wasn’t surprised when the dog gave him no response.

  Chapter 15

  Madeline stared straight ahead, looking at the road, and had remained silent the entire time they had been in the car. But she wasn’t brooding or daydreaming. In the last fifteen minutes, she had attempted to read Ciaran’s mind—without success. Perhaps her ability to read minds became patchy with time traveling. Or maybe it was an aftereffect of the near-fatal attack. Ciaran had said nothing, and silence didn’t help her move forward considering she had just dropped a bombshell on him about the fact that they were married in the future.

  It felt kind of like proposing to a guy on the first date.

  “Do we have children?”

  Well, that question really helps with the awkwardness, Ciaran! she thought and cursed silently. “Yes, two.” She wanted to say two and a half, but the memories were too painful for her to handle, so she let the thought pass. “They’re twins. Caedmon and Lyla. Caedmon was named after a statue of a god in Mon Ciel. You and I were in a fight, and I prayed to that god. I told him if we survived, I’d name my firstborn son after him.”

  Ciaran had a strange expression on his face. She figured he was a bit uneasy. Mon Ciel was his childhood home and a top-secret LeBlanc location. The fact that she knew Mon Ciel and what was inside meant he had to trust that what she told him was true.

  “Look, Ciaran, the less I tell you, the better it is for both of us. I was supposed to just dash in, kill the soul trader who’s about to mark you, and go back to the future. Now I’ve interacted with you, and I’ve lost contact with Alex. I can’t get info or instructions from Jo because this stupid wrist unit stopped working. I don’t know what to do now, so if you can at least tell me where we’re going, that would be great.”

  He nodded. “The most important step is to get you reconnected with your people. I mean, if what you said is true, then they’re my people, too.”

  “More interactions. Jo will freak out.”

  “I predict she’ll be more concerned about her lost connection with you. I’m driving you to an area, an open field so to speak, where your wrist unit should get a better signal. I don’t know the paranormal world. But I’ve researched some extraterrestrial matters. When we talk to Jo and get more information, then I can help you with a plan.”

  She nodded.

  They drove for another hour and entered a national park. The country road became so narrow she had no idea what would happen if there was a car driving the other way. But Ciaran was excellent behind the wheel, and he always seemed to know what he was doing. She sat back and let him be in charge.

/>   She looked at him from the side—her beautiful husband and the father of her beautiful children. She unbuckled her seatbelt, leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. Then she sat back down and fastened the seatbelt again.

  He chuckled and shook his head. Obviously, she was still a stranger to him, regardless of what she had told him.

  Madeline had just enough time to yell, “Look out!”

  Standing in the middle of the road in front of them was a very tall middle-aged man with pale skin, red eyes, and long dark hair. His ankle-length coat was unbuttoned and billowing in the wind. Madeline knew he was a vampire even though he had not shown any fangs. The gray sky and dim light created an eerie atmosphere.

  “That’s a vampire,” she said.

  “Then he won’t mind if I don’t hit the brakes.” Ciaran pressed the accelerator to the floor, aiming the car straight at the vampire. He jumped aside just before the car hit him.

  “I thought they were undead,” Ciaran muttered. He slowed the car down a bit.

  Looking in the rearview mirror, Madeline saw that the man had disappeared. But in front of them, a group of menacing vampires charged down the country road, heading right for them. Ciaran accelerated once again, but unlike the previous vampire, these were more like frontline soldiers. They didn’t move out of the way. It was as if they were on a suicide mission.

  The car hit the first row of vampires. Their bodies smashed against the windshield, and the glass cracked and buckled inward with the impact. The car spun and crashed into a tree at the side of the road. The car’s airbags were discharged.

  Ciaran worked his way out of the tangled airbag in the driver’s seat. “Madeline! Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she responded as she disentangled herself from the passenger-side airbag.

  “Give me your sword,” Ciaran said. As he spoke, they felt the thud of a vampire landing on the roof of the car. Others approached threateningly on the ground. Another leaped onto the roof.