by Kayleigh Sky
This time Solomon is there. When Otto introduces himself, Solomon sneers and says, “Useless cops.” Otto asks him what’s wrong, and Solomon states that he was robbed, and nobody’s done anything about it. Otto confesses that it doesn’t look like any robbery occurred. Solomon scowls and says he rearranged a few things, but they stole two paintings, two pieces of glassware, and a brass figure. Solomon has pictures of the items, and Otto notices that the vase that hung suspended from the ceiling is gone. A new piece has replaced it. The figure Rune made that reminded Otto so much of Jessa is still there. Solomon is watching Jessa with a suspicious expression, and Jessa deliberately steps sideways when he passes Solomon to look around. Solomon turns beet red. Otto knows the side step is an insulting gesture among vampires. Otto insists on asking Solomon a few questions but learns next to nothing from him. Then Solomon looks at Jessa and says, “What’s a prince doing wearing paste?” Startled, Jessa touches the amulet Solomon is staring at and says Rune made it and it’s not paste. “It’s a knockoff,” Solomon says and Jessa bristles. “Rune is your prince,” he says, and Solomon just laughs and replies, “So are you, little drainer, and I don’t care about you either.”
After they leave, Otto admires the amulet more closely. “Is this supposed to mean something?” “Not really,” Jessa tells him. “It’s an imitation of the royal necklaces.” Otto is curious as to why it’s only an imitation since Jessa is royal. The real ones were lost in the Upheaval Jessa tells him. Otto wants to know their history, but Jessa doesn’t really know and says that Mal would know. That surprises Otto until he remembers that Mal is a history teacher. Jessa goes on to say that Solomon gives him the creeps and “Besides. That vase he said was stolen is as valuable as my amulet. It’s an imitation. We have one at home. Rune brought it back from one of his trips. I even saw one in a store next to my shop.”
As Otto and Jessa are driving home an earthquake hits. This one is fairly strong and the bridge back to Comity is closed for an inspection. Jessa gets them a room in an inn that caters to vampires. Their suite is beautiful with a view of the foothills. Both Otto and Jessa know that their feelings are deeper than mere attraction, and Otto can no longer resist Jessa’s allure. He feels bewitched and enticed. They spend the night making love, and Otto knows in his heart he’ll never be able to keep Jessa for long. Their night is intense and bittersweet.
Back home the next day, Otto meets with Mal at the local college where she is a teacher. He’s stunned when he sees a prim librarian type when he was expecting Mal’s usual wicked-assassin look. She laughs at his shock and buys him a cup of coffee. They sit outside and talk. Mal tells him what she knows about the “myths”—she emphasizes that these are just stories, attempts by primitive peoples to explain their world—of the Ellowyn’s fall from grace and the treasure held as reward on the day of their redemption. The Ellowyn believe that they are descendants of the angels that followed Lucifer until they finally rebelled. God cast them into the dark anyway, but promised them their eventual reward. Nobody knows what the treasure is, but over time it’s taken on the meaning of an actual treasure—the jewels and gems that the Ellowyn believe lined the banks of the rivers in Eden. Otto is disappointed because it just seems like a dead end to him, although it is another jewelry connection.
The next time Jessa visits the blood donor center, he is attacked while waiting for Isaac. Wen interrupts and the attacker flees. Jessa’s guilt comes rushing full force to the surface at Wen’s bravery. He feels disloyal and ashamed of his weakness where Otto is concerned. Otto on the other hand is overwhelmed with guilt because he wasn’t there for Jessa. Once again he has failed somebody he cares for. Both retreat as this puts an obvious rift between them.
Confused about who Jessa’s attacker was, or even if Jessa was the target, Wen confronts Rune again, this time insisting that if “Rune’s” cop couldn’t protect Jessa, Wen wanted him under his own protection. Rune reminds him of vampire custom. Jessa isn’t thirty-five yet, and Rune decides that he is safe with Otto. “It’s with you he’s not safe,” Rune says. Rune arranges for Isaac to come stay at the castle. Rune has another job outside of the province and won’t be available if Jessa needs him, so this will be best for everyone.
In the meantime, Otto has fallen off the wagon so badly he gets himself arrested. Zev will be informed and will call Rune, who bails Otto out. He takes him to an all-night diner where they sit and talk. Otto tells Rune about Maisie. Rune confesses that he knows what it is to let down a loved one. He tells Otto that the Upheaval is still felt. It created rifts among the Ellowyn. The Adi ‘el Lumi want a return to their glory no matter the cost. The crown prince wants peace at any cost. Otto asks who the Adi ‘el Lumi are. Rune shrugs. “A sect,” he says. “They are set in the old ways and want your kind enslaved.” “Ah,” says Otto. “The good old days.” Rune laughs and says, “My father thought so.”
The next day, Otto takes Jessa to an ornamental garden. He wants to deny his feelings, but he can’t. Jessa confesses that he is an awful person because he has no desire to be with Wen. They have a wonderful day. Afterwards, Jessa takes him to the warehouse where he runs his florist business. It isn’t a shop per se. Jessa makes arrangements for large events and doesn’t have an open storefront. While they’re there, Otto sees his sister’s favorite flower and takes it as a kind of sign that she is still with him and approves of Jessa. Otto takes Jessa back to his place where they make love.
Otto keeps a police radio at his place and in the morning is awoken by a call about a body found at the blood center.
Otto and Jessa rush to the scene. The body is Mateo’s. Wen is missing, and Isaac is in near shock. Isaac says that he was waiting for Wen who was supposed to take him to the castle, but when Wen showed up, he had Mateo and another vampire with him. Mateo was like a zombie. After that everything was blurry. The vampire rushed at him, and Isaac fled, but Wen grabbed him. Then a strange fog engulfed him, and he passed out. When Isaac talks about the fog, a strange look appears in his eyes, and Otto knows that he is hiding something. (This must be where I knew Isaac and Rune would be together.) He admits that he knew where Mateo was hiding but never told anybody.
Otto and Jessa take Isaac back to the castle. Shortly thereafter, Otto receives news that Wen’s body has been discovered at Solomon’s shop. He and Jessa return there.
Jessa is sickened at himself. Wen is dead, and he’s secretly glad he doesn’t have to deal with the conflict anymore. This makes him pull away from Otto. He isn’t worthy of love. He is supposed to serve the needs of his family, and the first time he forgets that, people die. He knows Otto can feel the distance growing between them, but Jessa can’t and doesn’t want to explain.
The local cops are still in Solomon’s shop. It’s been ransacked and Wen’s body abandoned in the studio. The cops speculate that the murderer had been about to dismember it and burn it in the kiln when somebody or something interrupted him.
Otto takes Jessa home but receives a summons by Zev. Otto’s fine with this because the largest gem show—exclusive to vampires—occurs in a few days near Dinallah Manor, so when Zev’s driver appears, Otto takes Jessa with him. Zev is personable and conversational at first. Otto and Jessa sit with him while he cooks a meal. The scene is weirdly domestic. Afterwards, Zev takes Otto away for a private talk. Otto takes the opportunity to review what he knows about the case, and Zev expresses his anger that a boy and another vampire are dead. The degree of Zev’s anger intrigues Otto. He comments that people are killed everyday. Vampires too. “What is it that I don’t know about this case?” he asks. “Clearly everything,” says Zev. “Solve the crime,” he orders. “It is threatening the royal families, and that’s all you need to know.” (What made sense later is that Zev feared the dead blood whore was Asa, and that’s why he got so upset.)
On their return to the kitchen where Jessa is waiting, Otto comments on the amulet he notices in one of the portraits lining the hallway walls. “That’s like Jessa’s,” he s
ays. “My sister had one too.” Zev seems startled at that last comment, but he shrugs and says, “It’s a popular vampire design.” Otto inquires into the meaning of the letters carved into the stone. Zev says it’s nothing that he knows of. “They’re just symbols for different things like heaven, sacrifice, love.”
A few minutes later, Otto collects Jessa, and Zev’s driver takes them to an inn near the ocean side.
Jessa tries to remain distant, but the surroundings are romantic, and he’s keyed up from the travel, having never been far from home. He loves the ocean and decides to enjoy this time. When it’s over, he’ll return to his old life. But for these few days, he’s going to give into his emotions and the passion in his heart.
They make love and walk along the beach.
The next passes quietly, and the following morning they attend the gem fair. Otto is allowed entrance in Jessa’s company and on Zev’s orders. He isn’t sure what he expects to find. Jessa is interested and excited and treats it like an adventure. After several hours and no sign of Solomon, Otto and Jessa head back to the entrance to the park. On the way, Otto sees a booth selling used books. They aren’t old because they are vampire texts and little of vampire history survived the Upheaval, but Otto pauses to look anyway. When he sees a small book with an image of a vase that resembles the one stolen from Solomon’s on the cover, he asks about the booklet. The seller says it’s a treatise about the Adi ‘el Lumi. When Otto asks, the seller says he knows nothing about the significance of the vase. Otto tries to buy the book, but the seller is resistant, insisting that only vampires can buy the book, so Jessa buys it for him. Back at the inn, Jessa takes a bath and Otto reads the book. He finds a passage that references the amulets, of which there were supposed to be seven true ones, one for each of the royal families. A passage later on references a map for the proper placement of the stones but doesn’t elaborate on the significance of the placement or what they’re supposed to do. Otto keeps reading until Jessa emerges naked from his bath. Tossing the book aside, he motions Jessa over, and they make love. Later they go out for dinner.
In the middle of the night Otto awakens from a dream of his sister. Unable to fall back asleep, he takes the booklet to the patio and reads by lantern light. This time he finds a reference to the treasure chamber which can only be opened with the stones in the order recorded on the Adini vase. Now the clues begin to tumble like dominos in his mind. The scratch on the neck of the first victim and the missing amulet. Then he remembers the necklace he’d seen on Maisie and was never found again. The vase like the one Rune made. Jessa’s necklace. Rune’s job as a cartographer—was he searching for the treasure? Rune’s knowledge of the Adi ‘el Lumi. His dismissiveness about it. His connection to jewels. His art in Solomon’s shop, though the clerk said it came from another gallery. Did he know Solomon? And then there was his confession about knowing what it was like to let someone down and the loss of his family’s honor. Otto is sick when he realizes that everything is now pointing to Rune.
When morning comes, he doesn’t know how to tell Jessa what he suspects. He isn’t sure if Jessa’s amulet is genuine, but maybe it is, given to him as a kind of cover, and if it is, Rune will want it if he is the one that stole the vase and now has the order of the stones.
Otto waits until they are on the train and headed home. He doesn’t want Jessa to be able to run off. But it’s apparent Jessa doesn’t believe him. He laughs. Otto outlines the evidence, and Jessa becomes agitated and angry.
In reality, Jessa is hurt and feels betrayed and let down by Otto. He knows the history of his family and their dishonor and the crushing blow it was to Rune, but Rune is his brother, and he loves him and refuses to listen to Otto anymore. Worried about Jessa’s safety, Otto persists, but before he can make any headway with Jessa, another earthquake strikes. The train derails, and Otto and Jessa are separated.
Jessa is wounded but not badly. After helping as many people as he can, he glimpses Otto and runs off. (As I was writing, two new characters appeared. One of them was a blond guy. I was very unsure of him at first, who he was or whether I wanted him to complicate the plot, but then Rune showed up, so I went with it, and the blond guy became Asa/Emek.)
While looking for Jessa, Otto notices the wisp of fog he’s seen several times before now. It’s always out of place, but once again, he dismisses it because they are near the ocean. But Rune is a powerful vampire and can do more than dim himself (I don’t think I even mentioned this before). He can transform and travel great distances. He has been following Otto all along. Now he sweeps down and grabs Jessa. After finding Solomon’s vase and the location of the treasure, with Jessa’s stone and the others that he’s collected, he can open the vault. So he grabs Jessa and returns home. The treasure is deep within the mountains where they live, accessible through the old mines that have been there for more than a hundred years. But he’s also driven to get to the vault before another earthquake, assuming that he still has access.
Jessa tries to get away and rationalize what’s happening while Rune explains to him the treasure is both vengeance and redemption. He will use it to restore the family’s honor. Jessa is horrified when he realizes they really share the same goal—devotion to family that sacrifices themselves. He calls Rune a murderer and an expression of hurt crosses Rune’s face. “No brother,” he says. “Not murder.”
Meanwhile, after her earlier conversation with Otto, Mal has been piecing the clues together too. She knows Rune better than anyone else and she is suspicious. After the earthquake, she feels a sense of impending doom. She is very close to Rune and can sense his emotions. The castle is damaged, but she’s okay. She looks for Isaac, who is staying in the servant’s quarters downstairs near Rune’s studio. Noises are coming from the work shop where she finds Isaac on the floor. She helps him up, and as she turns toward the door, she sees a table angled against the wall. A dagger is sticking out of the map on top of it. The dagger impales a spot at the base of the mountain Comity surrounds. Now all the pieces start falling together, and she realizes Rune has been hunting the treasure. Isaac is looking at the map too. Mal tells him to stay where he is in case Jessa and Otto return. Then she heads for the mines. Before she gets very far inside though, she is attacked by Solomon, who has been keeping watch on the castle. As they fight, Rune appears and kills Solomon. Mal is injured, but before Rune can reach her, there’s another aftershock and the ceiling comes down, cutting Rune off from her. She passes out.
Rune grabs Jessa, who is still struggling with his injuries, and continues deep into the mines.
Isaac, who decides to ignore Mal’s order, absconds with another car while the other servants were dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. He creeps into the mine with a flashlight, looking for the fog that had surrounded him at the blood clinic. He’d sensed a presence in it and that presence was at the castle too. Never in his life had he felt such safety and gentleness as in that fog, and after sensing it at the castle, he believes it is Rune. But then, as he ventures in deeper, Otto appears behind him. He tells Isaac to wait outside, but Isaac follows him anyway. They come on Mal, who is gravely injured, and Isaac tells Otto to go on, and lets Mal drink from him.
Soon Otto reaches Rune, who is moving aside a pile of debris to get to the chamber door. Jessa is clearly hurt and sitting groggily against the wall. But when he sees Otto he raises his hand, motioning Otto back. Rune turns, and Otto attacks. Rune doesn’t use his full strength against him, and Otto knows this. He’s a vampire and could crush Otto, but he doesn’t. The air in the chamber is poor and Otto is fading. Otto stumbles back at a sudden jerk from Rune and looks up in amazement. Jessa is hanging onto Rune, wrenching him away from Otto. To Otto’s shock, Jessa bites Rune’s neck. Rune shakes him off and pushes him back against the wall. Otto doesn’t have the strength to rise. Rune smiles at Jessa and says, “So be it, sweet brother.” He backs away and looks at Otto, then says, “Your sister’s murderer is dead. I’m sorry I wasn’t on time to hel
p her.” Otto is shocked into silence, and a second later, Rune drops a small leather bag on the ground and disappears.
The next scene takes place at Senara Castle. There is a large party. In addition to Mal and Jessa and Otto, Isaac, Zev, and Zev’s entourage are there. Through a conversation between Zev and Otto, a few more loose ends are tied together. The stones are still somewhere in the mountain. Before Otto could reach them another aftershock hit and it was all he could do to get Jessa, Issac, and Mal out before the mine collapsed. To Zev, Otto says, “You know what was in that mine, don’t you?” Zev denies it, but Otto knows he’s lying. (It wasn’t until I reached this scene that I decided to make Otto work for Zev for a future book.)
The celebration goes on into the early morning hours when Otto and Jessa finally sneak away to Jessa’s greenhouse where they make love under the stars shining through the skylight. Otto tells Jessa that he’s now the prime prince, and Jessa asks Otto to be his prince. Otto agrees, and Jessa reflects on how he has become an equal partner in his family and safe relying on someone he loves.
The last scene is of Otto and Jessa late the next morning, sitting out on the patio with their coffee. Otto reflects on how far he’s come. As he sits there, he takes Jessa’s hand, fingers entwined, knowing that it is forever. But as he looks out across the lawn, he sees a wisp of fog in the trees.
Don’t go yet!
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Ellowyn Found and the bonus content. If you’d like to read about Rune and Zev during the Upheaval and the decision that set Rune on his path, sign up for my newsletter and get the bonus prequel as a thank you! Kayleigh Sky’s Story News is right here. I promise I won’t drown you in emails!