Resurrection

by Lissa Kasey

  “And the other children?” Gabe inquired. “Are they part fae as well?”

  “No. All witch. Their mother is in New York right now. She’s the director of Foreign Magic Relations for the Dominion.”

  Gabe wondered if her distance was a temporary thing, or if they were not in any sort of relationship. Though the idea of Seiran in a relationship stirred the jealousy again. He swallowed it down. Max had led him to believe that the witch had been his lover, but enough time had passed that Gabe would not have faulted the man for finding someone else. “Are you married?”

  “To their mother?” Seiran laughed. “No. Her wife would gut me. The twins’ birth was an arrangement.”

  “And the fae?” Would the fae marry a witch? They were sort of similar in species, though there was a bit of a class war between witches, whom the fae saw as mortal, and the fae. Gabe startled at the memory, realizing somewhere he had a lot of knowledge of the fae.

  “Another arrangement,” Seiran said as he stepped up to the door. It opened before he could reach for it, and a big, muscular man stood there, his shoulders broad, blond hair pulled back, expression stern. “I’m fine,” Seiran said instantly.

  But the man’s gaze fell to Gabe, and an unfriendly scowl was directed his way.

  “It’s fine,” Seiran assured him again, stepping through the doorway. “Gabe, come in,” he added, and Gabe felt the magic of the house jump to him. It was a bit of a quirky sensation, like ghost hands running over his skin to memorize the feel of him. But he followed the witch inside, the creature trailing after them. The large man closed the door behind them.

  “He looks strange,” the man said.

  Seiran sighed. “Gabe, this is Jamie, my brother. You’ll probably remember him eventually.”

  “Remember me eventually?” Jamie’s voice went frigid. “He doesn’t remember you? After all the things he did?”

  “What did I do?” Gabe asked.

  Jamie opened his mouth as though to fill Gabe in, but Seiran held up a hand to stop him. “No. Let him remember on his own. Max says it will keep the revenant from rising.”

  “If the revenant returns, I’ll put that piece of shit back in the ground,” Jamie snarled.

  “Sounds like you’ll have to get in line,” Gabe said.

  Seiran sucked in a deep breath, then stepped forward to give his brother a hug. “I’m fine. Go to bed. You have to be up early.”

  “There’s blood in the freezer,” Jamie said. “You don’t have to feed him. There’s enough for a week, and I can get more.” His glare made it clear that Gabe was not a friend. “I left a new phone for you on your nightstand. Everything is already programmed in. Maybe put the golem in the arboretum? You can ward the area to keep it in there.”

  “Thanks. I might do that. Everyone is in bed?”

  “Of course,” Jamie agreed. “I’ll make sure everyone is up and off to school tomorrow, so you can get some rest.”

  “I appreciate it.” Seiran let go, and Jamie headed upstairs. “Forest, come,” Seiran directed the golem again. Golem. That brought another flash of memory that Gabe couldn’t quite sort out. Had he seen one of these before? The weave of it seemed familiar, but not enough to jog any old memories loose.

  Seiran headed through the main hall below the stairs and the golem followed. Gabe trailed along. They entered a kitchen, and Seiran paused to point at the giant fridge. “The blood is in the freezer there if you need it.”

  Gabe thought about that for a minute, even gazing around the room to try to identify the different pieces of technology. His gaze finally landed on the small metal box that looked like a microwave. “Okay?”

  “Do you need blood right now?” Seiran’s tone had gone tight again, reserved and a bit tired.

  “No. I fed on the shifters Max had visiting.” The bitter edge of their blood still lingered as an aftertaste. He hoped he didn’t have to feed on shifters regularly, they didn’t really appeal. Though he’d take the nourishment from wherever he had to.

  “Good.” Seiran turned and opened a wide double door that led out into an enclosed arboretum. If the outside garden had been a little wild, this insolated glass box was a jungle. And the dancing pops of color weren’t from any actual light, but fairies. Another trickle of memories hit, and Gabe felt a bit dizzy. He got flashes of faces, fairies and fae, he’d met in the past. The notation settling in place that he knew the difference, fairies like these were a type of fae, one of dozens. Then there was the garden itself. The space echoed with an overlayed memory of barren ground, and a roll of pain through his gut that felt like the revenant rising.

  Gabe took a step back, returning instead to the kitchen, sucking in gulps of air and clutching the counter. Seiran returned a few moments later, minus the golem and stared at Gabe from a few feet away.

  “Are you going revenant?” He asked, not daring to get closer.

  “No.” The darkness wasn’t rising, but the memories were overwhelming in that moment, even if he couldn’t sort them out enough to understand them. “Too many memories at once, and not enough to clarify.”

  They stood in silence for a minute or two, until Gabe could breathe again.

  “I have all your stuff still,” Seiran said after a few minutes. “It’s a bit of a mess,” he admitted. He turned toward the far wall and opened a door, which showed a stairway leading down. “This is probably a good place for you to hang out during the day, too. Mostly light proof.”

  Gabe followed slowly, keeping a hand on the wall as they descended into a dark space. The basement below was finished, walls bland, and floors a hard type of tile. Boxes were everywhere. The only windows were covered in thick curtains, and the overhead lights were a scatter of those inset can lights.

  Seiran went to a set of boxes, opening the top two and then putting them aside before finding another. “There are some clothes here. I don’t know if they will fit anymore.” He turned and pointed to the corner of the room. There was a large box bed covered in a dust sheet. “That was your bed. There is still grave dirt in it, not much. We will probably have to add more. I’ll send Sam a text to get some. Bathroom is through that door.” He pointed off to the side, then wrapped his arms around himself as though he were cold. “Do you need anything else, right now?”

  Answers? But he could see the witch was tired, and he had his phone. Maybe he’d do some researching. “No, thank you,” Gabe said, weaving his way around the space to keep distance between them. The witch seemed nervous enough without him getting too close. “And I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” Seiran asked.

  “Whatever I did to hurt you.”

  Seiran sighed. “Doesn’t mean much when you don’t remember.”

  Gabe could understand that. “I’m still sorry. You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest?”

  “Don’t touch my kids, okay?”

  “I don’t plan to,” Gabe promised.

  Seiran turned as if to go, then paused, like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. He shook his head and mounted the stairs, even shutting the door behind him as he vanished up into the main part of the house.

  The silence was intense. The weight of the space and the memories it held, strong enough to make Gabe want to sit down and meditate again. Dozens of boxes, probably filled with details of his past. At least the space itself seemed void of memories. New to him, perhaps? He made his way to the first pile of boxes and began opening them, mentally categorizing their contents. The space itself was pretty organized. Clothing on one side, books and documents on another. There were no photo albums or anything really sentimental. Had he been that cold before? How long had the darkness been pulling at him before he’d gone to ground? He’d always thought himself a bit more human than that, even if vampires didn’t have a lot of humanity after a couple of centuries passed.

  He found a laundry area on the other side of the bathroom and began to sort through the stacks of clothes to remove the musty smell. Everything had been
sealed in plastic bags, and seemed in good shape. Lots of business-like attire. Not all that unlike Max. But they had said he had managed businesses before.

  His phone pinged, a dancing sound that made him jump. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen for a minute, making out the words.

  Mike: Heard you’re back. How much do you remember?

  Who was Mike?

  Not enough. Gabe replied. Max said I should remember naturally. But Gabe was more than willing to admit how frustrating that was. He needed answers. Can I ask you some questions?

  Mike: Of course. You are my sire.

  And that was a revelation. This Mike was a vampire, and Gabe had made him. Well, this was a place to start at least. He made his way to a chair, clearing off the dust cloth and sitting down. Maybe he would find some clarity.

  Chapter 7

  Seiran had gone to bed, finding Kaine curled up in his space, and rather than waking him, crawled in beside his youngest to sleep. He’d need to press his kid in the morning, or sometime the next day. Find out what was happening with Kaine, and how he could help. If he hadn’t been so tired, and the clock reading after two in the morning, he’d have woken Kaine then. He wrapped his arms around his baby, pulled the blankets up, and closed his eyes.

  He felt Kaine leave sometime later, but didn’t rouse. He also heard Kura come in, felt her kiss him on the cheek, before the house settled into silence again. Only then did he sleep hard. Falling into dreams of watching Gabe unravel again.

  That was when someone shook him, and he jolted awake, sitting up in bed and breathing hard. He’d had enough abrupt awakenings over the years to not instantly attack, but finding Gabe in his bedroom, leaning over him, made his heart race and put a spell on his lips. Seiran stopped just before unleashing it.

  The windows were shut tight against the light, though fingers of the glow still made it through, illuminating Gabe, and Seiran stared at him. Had he gone revenant? His eyes were green, and he didn’t really avoid the bits of light spilling into the room.

  “Gabe?” Seiran asked, wondering if he was actually awake. Gabe kept looking toward the door. That was when Seiran heard it. A banging. It was a thud that shuddered the house, the vibration rolling through Seiran’s core.

  “That golem thing?” Gabe said. “It’s trying to get out. Sorry to wake you. But no one else is home, and I was worried when it started throwing itself on the wards.”

  All of that was a lot to process straight from sleep without any coffee, but Seiran jumped out of bed and headed toward the door. He was surprised to find the hallway filled with sunlight. How had Gabe gotten upstairs? Normally the pull of the sun made him super tired and he’d be in bed by sunrise. Vampires claimed it felt like it burned, though Seiran had never actually seen sunlight make a vampire burst into flames. It appeared to be closer to midday, but the vampire seemed wide awake and unharmed.

  “Doesn’t the sun burn?” Seiran asked.

  “No,” Gabe said, appearing thoughtful as if only realizing that vampires didn’t normally spend a lot of time in the sun. The banging shuddered through the house again.

  Seiran took that for what it was, unimportant at the moment, and raced down the stairs. Gabe was right. The golem was throwing itself at the door, bouncing off the wards, battering itself against the magic. It didn’t bleed, but it didn’t look human anymore either. Somehow the tie Seiran had to it wasn’t strong enough. Why was it trying to get out at all? It should have been at peace among the organic matter of the garden. The fairies wouldn’t have messed with it, and in fact, seemed to be missing from the garden, likely disturbed by the golem’s unnatural presence.

  Had something called it? Was that why it was freaking out?

  Gabe stood in the kitchen, keeping his distance from the door. “Shouldn’t you unravel it?”

  “I need to find who made it before I do that. People died to create that,” Seiran defended keeping it whole.

  “All death magic requires death, and blood,” Gabe said quietly.

  “Are you remembering more?”

  “A little, in small chunks.” He looked away. “If you give it blood, you might have better control of it.”

  “But?” Seiran could tell he left something unsaid.

  A wave of darkness crossed Gabe’s eyes. Almost like something lurked inside. Though Seiran knew there was a revenant inside of all vampires, he hadn’t before Gabe went to ground. He had studied long enough now to know a lot of their secrets. Him standing in the sunlight surprised him, the revenant not so much.

  “I can’t help the jealousy that rises at the thought of someone else having your blood,” Gabe admitted. He kept his gaze focused on the floor. “I don’t know how I will react. Which is not fair or rational, and I’m sorry.”

  Well, that was a conundrum. “You’re saying that I need to give the golem blood to control it, but that if I do so, you might lose control of your revenant?” Seiran clarified.

  “Maybe?” Gabe sounded apologetic.

  Seiran thought about that for a minute but headed to the door to the arboretum. He threw open the door, almost expecting the golem to charge him through the ward, or stop, but it continued to throw itself into the ward like a mindless battering ram. “Forest, stop,” Seiran called, trying to bind it by the name again. That was golem basics, bound with their name and blood.

  Bam! Forest didn’t even pause. Seiran wasn’t sure he recognized the name at all. Okay so maybe it did need blood. He called roots from the earth, asking them, rather than demanding because the earth hated demands, for the roots to wrap around the golem, to stop him. Maybe if Seiran cut his finger? Gave it a few drops? He glanced back at Gabe who stood a few feet away, gaze on the golem.

  The roots rose, and tried to create a bond, but the golem ripped right through them. “Fuck,” Seiran said. He had two choices now, tempt it with blood, which meant bigger than a pricked finger, or unravel it.

  “Should it have this much power away from its creator?” Gabe asked.

  No. And that was the problem. With Sei’s power wrapped around it, True Named, and distance from the creator, it should have been little more than a clay doll. “I’m going to have to give it blood,” Seiran admitted, bracing for Gabe to go nuts.

  The darkness flashed over the vampire’s face again, and he swallowed hard, but focused on the golem. “I can try to hold it. You’ll have to feed it blood as well as etch symbols of ownership in your blood on it.”

  Seiran gaped. “You know a lot about death magic?”

  “I’m a vampire,” Gabe said. “We are death magic.”

  And obviously he was remembering things he’d never before shared with Sei. Maybe he’d been that far gone, forgotten most of it, or Tresler, the former head of the now dead Tri-Mega, had already had control of him.

  “Fine,” Sei agreed. “Try not to attack me.” He made his way to the knife board on the counter and took out one of the small steak knives. Jamie kept them sharp, but it was still going to hurt.

  Gabe waited beside the door. He put a hand up, and said, “You’ll have to drop the wards so I can get through. I have to be fast.”

  “Will you be strong enough?” Sei wondered.

  “We will find out, won’t we?” He waited, braced like he was ready for a sprint.

  Seiran raised a hand toward the door. “On the count of three. One… two… three.” He relaxed the extra ward meant to lock the golem into the arboretum. It slammed through the door, causing a ripple in the wards of the house, nearly knocking Seiran off his feet.

  And that fast, Gabe was on him, wrestling him to the ground. It wasn’t easy as Seiran thought it might be for a vampire. The golem was supernaturally strong, fueled by death magic, earth, and whatever the caster had juiced it with. In fact, Gabe barely seemed to be holding it back.

  “Spell,” Gabe said with a grunt, trying to use his body as an anchor.

  “Blood coming,” Sei warned as he put the knife to the inside edge of his arm and slice
d. It was a sharp pain, fast and stinging. He set the knife aside and squeezed his arm to let the blood pool, then coated his fingers in it. Of course, getting close to the vampire was part of the trouble.

  Gabe’s eyes went black, but he held onto the golem.

  Sei carefully bent to spread blood on the lips of the golem. Well, not lips so much as a gape in the mass of clay and sticks that created it. He had to recoat his hand, pressing for more blood even as he was healing the cut at almost vampire speed, to draw the symbols of ownership. He’d always hated this sort of thing, an enslavement really, rather than a spell. Total control, which shouldn’t have bothered him because Forest was a thing, not a person, but it didn’t feel that way.

  The spells began to wrap around the golem. An invisible tie that made it hard for Sei to breathe for a moment. He could feel souls within it, struggling, trying to escape, and deeper, something dark, almost like a vampire revenant, twisting and flailing to answer a call. Not a golem of the normal sort at all. Not just fueled by will and death, but by actual souls. He might have suspected before, but now he was certain and could even feel the distinct difference of each. Three. There were three souls trapped inside the golem.

  Strangely enough the signature of them didn’t feel normal. Not human, Seiran realized, as that pulsing memory of revenants brought a startling thought to sink like a stone in his gut. Not human souls, at all. Was that possible?

  Seiran tried to follow that call with his magic, even while tying the spell around the golem so tightly it felt like a spiderweb wrapped around an unwitting fly, squeezing tighter and tighter. But the call vanished, cutting off before Sei could reach any recognition of the source, not even a direction.