The Universe gave the gifts, but it was the Universe’s daughter, Diana, who asked the Gray women to carry one more gift, one that they couldn’t use, one that they would never keep for themselves, one that would cause them to be hunted and persecuted, chased across continents. Amy understood.
The carrier of the gift was burdened with the memories of the first. The Universe didn’t always properly judge the character of the recipient of certain gifts. It gave freely and abundantly to all, rewarding the recipient based on how often the gifts were used.
A Death Keeper in ancient times, centuries before, had received the gift of Time. The gift passed from generation to generation, with always and only one person able to use the gift, the ability to travel across centuries, to change patterns and events. A powerful gift coveted by many.
When Petrodus used the gift, he did so with evil intent. A delight in the wicked, a taste for women, and a twisted personality led to carnage across the centuries. He found one of Diana’s children, an Elemental beloved of Air. After taking her body, he murdered her, hiding her in the grotto of a temple. Her sisters found her.
They cried out to Diana, cried out for help. She answered, stripping Petrodus of power and shoving him into a prison built of Time and Space where not even the Death Keepers who crossed dimensions could go. The gift of Time had to go to someone. Diana refused to return it to the Keepers.
She gave it to one of her daughters. The sister of Petrodus’ last victim. Whoever carried the gift of Time also carried the memory of the Elemental’s death at the hands of Petrodus. Emblazoned in their memory was the reason why only the Gray family would carry Time, why they would protect it at all costs from the Keepers and the Void…and anyone else who wanted to abuse it.
Tony believed her when she lied, when she told Tony she had no idea where the gift of Time was. She carried Time once. She had seen the evil that had been committed with it before, and protected the gift with her life…and the life of one of her daughters. He said, “I’m sorry, Amy. Lawrence said you didn’t have it. I just thought he was blinded by love.”
Lawrence had been. Blinded by love. That was how she kept the secret from him. By some strange humor of the Universe, the Elementals often found themselves falling in love with Keepers.
Tony spent most of the day with Amy, showing her the estate as if she were his honored guest and not a prisoner. He introduced her to other women who lived as guests at his estate and then quickly hurried away before she could become more than a passing acquaintance with any of them.
Shortly before dinner, his phone rang. Excusing himself, he took the call. When he returned, his demeanor had changed. He watched Amy more carefully. He no longer trusted her. Not that Amy cared. She no longer trusted him. The cook had prepared roast chicken with a side of green beans and potatoes.
Amy picked at her food as they ate in silence. She felt betrayed for a second time when Tony plunged a needle into her neck. The world went fuzzy and then dark.
~~ Jade ~~
Jade spent hours curled up in the dirt, fighting the beast for control of her mind. It was a special kind of insanity. She knew she could disconnect again, fly to the top of the world and watch while events unfolded beneath her. But then the vampires would win.
She felt them now, and she knew that they felt her presence like a beacon on a dark night. The vampires had moved closer, two hundred and twenty-three of them. Counting in the darkened hole, Jade knew they were coming for her.
The beast’s hunger chewed on her from the inside out. She wanted to be free. The sunlight trapped her, a cage that knew no end. Sunlight that made her skin itch. She dug deeper, her brown hair clumped with mud and dirt under her fingernails. The deeper she went into the darkness, the stronger the relief.
Jade stopped digging.
The beast roared inside.
Burn it out.
The words whispered from inside, from outside. She heard them as clearly as if they were spoken.
Jade crawled backwards and almost pushed the cover of pine branches and detritus out of the way to meet the sun and let it destroy her. The beast poured fear and loathing into Jade’s mind until she couldn’t think straight.
But the words kept playing like a song inside her head, Burn it out.
Another sound overwhelmed the words, a thousand voices rising in her mind. “We are strong. We are powerful. We will overcome.”
She was linked telepathically to hundreds of vampires. Jade didn’t know if it was every vampire in the world or those nearby, but they all spoke the same words. It reminded her of a school rally with the cheerleading squad leading the kids in the bleachers in a cheer.
Jade struggled to overcome the tide of thought that threatened to drown her singular voice. She spoke again and again, “I am an individual. I think my own thoughts. I am human.”
A few of the other voices faltered. She heard a question in her mind, “Who are you?”
“Jade. I am not one of you.” Jade pushed the beast down. It reared back and forth in her mind, searching for weakness with a surprising intelligence. Jade said to the beast, This is my mind. I’m in charge.
A single thread separated itself from the throng, “Jade, this is Gladys. Come to us tonight. We will join forces.”
“And together we will rule the universe.” Jade joked. She forced herself to turn in the hole. She almost poked her hand out to see if she would burn.
Gladys spoke in her mind, “A vampire can not live alone. You’ll need a place to rest, a safe place to wait out the sun. Give me your oath of loyalty and all this you will have.”
Jade remembered the sheds. With the beast roaring in her mind, she knew now what happened. The people inside those bodies were weak. Their souls had gone away as hers had or maybe they stayed, but couldn’t control the thing that shared their blood. The beast wouldn’t stay silent. It wouldn’t go away. She had to be strong.
Jade said, “No. I belong to no one.”
“My poor daughter. We are family. Tell me how I can help.”
“How do I get rid of it?”
Jade didn’t expect an answer. Gladys was old, even for a vampire. Jade could feel her power overwhelming the many voices in her head.
It wasn’t Gladys who answered.
Some other voice, inside, outside—Jade didn’t know. Another voice answered, Burn it out.
~~ Amy ~~
Amy felt herself carried up the stairs, her mind a sudden blank. She knew she should fight, but didn’t know why or even how. Tony tossed her on the bed. It was a gentle drop. Lawrence had done exactly the same thing once. But Tony wasn’t someone she trusted and with the drugs, the fall felt sudden and shocking.
Tony wrapped his fingers around her neck.
“Please don’t. I can’t leave my daughters,” Amy slurred the words, hating herself for the begging tone.
Tony’s breath smelled like rosemary and chicken. He was so close. Amy felt claustrophobic. She closed her eyes and waited for the end. Her arms longed to hold Mindy one more time, her little angel.
“I need to look out for Mindy. She’s so fragile,” Amy fought to keep her eyes open, but the drug claimed her.
When Amy woke up in the same bed in her beautiful prison, she realized immediately what was missing. She touched her throat. The sharp feeling of loss threatened to overwhelm her.
The necklace was gone.
She scrambled out of bed, falling to the floor when her legs refused to believe that she could actually walk and dumped her to the ground. The world seemed to have a permanent tilt. Pushing up from the lush peach carpet, she wobbled her way to the door.
She held herself up with one hand on the wall while she walked barefoot down along the hall. Her feet felt cold against the smooth wood. When she reached the stairs, she faltered on the second step. Grabbing the rail, she half-fell, half-skidded down to the bottom.
Groaning, Amy held her knee. Her cheeks felt too warm, her eyes scratchy. Silent tears flooded her eyes. She r
eached for the necklace.
Somehow the necklace had come to be a security blanket of sorts for Amy. It was the first Christmas gift Lawrence had given her, a year before they were married. She wore it every day since. A bit flashy, Amy loved the intricate design and the tiny gems that sparkled like flowers among the delicately carved leaves.
Whenever she felt lonely or afraid, she touched the necklace.
Now it was gone.
Amy limped carefully down the second set of stairs, holding firmly to the rail and moving at a slug’s pace. Tony hadn’t killed her. He’d stolen her most cherished possession, a gift that meant more than her wedding ring. Her mind was still muddled. She tried to think of what to do next.
She tried to imagine why he would take it. The only thing she could come up with….He thinks I won’t leave without it.
There were no bars on the windows, no gates in front of the property. Even if the prisoners were watched, it didn’t seem that they were watched closely. The Keepers would need a way to hold her there.
Amy loved the necklace, but it was only a thing. The loss hurt, a sharp pain that hung in her heart, but it was the reminder of losing Lawrence that caused that sharp pain, not the actual loss of the necklace itself.
Amy thought about finding the other women that were kept here, asking if they wanted to escape with her, but in the end, she walked out the front door alone. When she stepped onto the front porch, she expected an alarm to go off or for a group of goons or maybe Tony to come running.
The house was surprisingly silent.
As Amy ran with a lurching gait across the front lawn, seeking the cover of the woods, she couldn’t help but feel that this escape had been too easy. Surely someone was watching. Surely someone would come for her.
Chapter 14
~~ Claire ~~
Claire would have attacked her dinner with a vengeance except she wanted to be graceful and proper in front of Wayne. The food was exquisite. If only Mindy weren’t acting like such a weirdo. She hid under her chair and hardly ate anything. Not even Raven could coax her out.
The worst was that Mindy kept saying, “Vampire. Jade. Vampire.”
The last time, even Raven said, “Shhh…” and added a Mom-glare that Claire didn’t know Raven had.
Wayne took it all in stride. He passed Claire more potatoes and even asked if she’d like him to butter a roll for her. She felt fluttery inside when she said, “Yes.”
Mindy said, “Jade. Vampire.”
Cindy and Raven exchanged a glance.
Wayne wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin, “Your sister sure likes vampires. Is that a movie?”
“Is what a movie?” Claire asked.
“Jade Vampire?”
Claire felt her face redden. How to explain her younger sister’s upset because her older sister had turned into a vampire. There was just no way. Instead, Claire said, “No. She’s just mental.”
“Ah.” Wayne said. He picked up his steak knife and cut a slice of beef on his plate, “Because if there were vampires nearby, the Keepers would be able to help. If needed…”
Mindy crawled from beneath the chair to under the table, piping up, “No vampires.”
Raven leaned down to watch Mindy. Somewhere Mindy had gotten a roll and was chewing on it while she knelt under the table, carefully circling, like a caged tiger. “Mindy, can you come out now and eat?”
Mindy shook her head.
Sometimes dealing with Mindy was a lose-lose situation. Mom said that they couldn’t always give in to her. If they did, Mindy would learn that throwing a tantrum would get her what she wanted. On the other hand, at this moment, surrounded by enemies and with Jade and Mom missing, maybe letting Mindy crawl under the tables wasn’t that big of a deal, even if it made Claire feel by turns mortified and homicidal.
They sat in awkward silence, only the sound of forks and knives scraping on plates to ease the quiet. Claire could tell that Wayne knew she was lying. She couldn’t keep the warmth from her face. She was relieved when he winked at her and said, “I could tell you tales of vampires. Did you know that vampirism is reversible? Until a new vampire gives an oath of loyalty to its master, the creature tainting the blood can be removed.”
Claire and Raven sat stock still, like a pair of rabbits pausing while an eagle circles overhead. Raven forced a laugh, “How would you reverse something like that…if it’s not too late?”
Wayne’s half smile fell on Claire like a miniature sun. She couldn’t help but smile back. He said, “I have no idea. Only that they say it can be.”
“Who is they?” Raven asked. She picked that one up from Mom.
Waving his hands, he said, “Other Keepers. Those who’ve dealt with the darkness.”
“Do you fight a lot of different monsters?” Claire felt a sense of awe. Mom had hidden everything. Sure, she’d told the girls that there were dangerous people out there, but nothing like vampires. That’s something a mother should tell her daughters.
Wayne broke a roll, buttering it, the edges of his lips quirking up when he saw both girls sitting on the tip of their chairs waiting for his answer. He teased, “Are you sure you want to know? Once you know, you’ll never look into the night the same.”
Claire gulped and nodded.
Raven said, “Please just tell us.”
“Let’s put it this way. If you’ve heard a myth about it, there’s a version of it walking or flying out in the world. The most vicious monsters you’ve ever watched on television exist somewhere, in some dimension. The Keepers walk into worlds where everything has teeth as long as a man is tall.” Wayne leaned forward and lowered his voice, “It’s best not to go out at night. In any dimension.”
Claire shivered.
Raven put her napkin down and pushed back her chair, “You’re right. There are monsters everywhere, but we still have to go out. Thanks for dinner.”
“Wait, but I’m not done.” Claire protested. She couldn’t believe Raven would end the dinner right there in the middle of the most interesting conversation of her life.
“You haven’t taken a bite in half an hour. It will be getting dark soon, and we need to go.”
Claire whispered, “I’m sorry,” to Wayne. Both of her sisters were embarrassing.
He put his hand over Claire’s. It was so large and warm. He said, “Don’t worry about it. Be careful out there. I’ll give you my business card. Call day or night. I know you girls are into something big, and I won’t keep you. Just know that I’m here if you need me. ”
Claire fell a little bit more in love. As he handed her his business card, she looked at him with adoring eyes and said, “Thank you.”
~~ Raven ~~
Raven checked the speedometer and immediately let up on the gas. Even though Claire wasn’t talking to her or Mindy, Raven’s relief at finally getting out of that chapel was palpable, a physical thing.
She had no idea where to go next. They stopped at a grocery store and shopped for snacks. Raven started in the fruits and veggie aisle, grabbing plastic bags and filling them with apples, pears, and bananas. She also grabbed a bag of carrots.
Claire wore a frown on her face as Raven reached for yet another healthy food, “Uh, Raven. What are you doing?”
“Shopping,” Raven tossed the bag of carrots in the shopping cart.
“We can eat whatever we want. Let’s get potato chips and soda,” Claire picked the bag of apples up, “I’ll put these back.”
Raven held her hand out, “If you want potato chips, get them, but I’m keeping the apples.”
Shaking her head, Claire dropped the bag back in the cart, ignoring Raven’s outstretched hand. Grabbing both of Raven’s shoulders and staring her in the eye, Claire joked, “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
Raven pushed Claire off playfully, “Get out of my aura, will you?”
Mindy tugged on Claire’s jacket. She said, “Water.”
“Argh! Fine, we’ll get water,” Claire said.
Raven stopped at the garlic. She filled a plastic bag with handfuls of cloves. Tossing it in the cart, she said, “For tonight. Just in case.”
They gathered chips, cheese and cracker snacks, jerky, soda, and lots of water. No matter how many bottles of water they grabbed, Mindy wanted more. Sometimes she would say, “Wrong water,” and Raven would pick a different brand. After fifteen minutes in the beverage aisle, Raven was exasperated. She lifted her hands and said, “Mindy, do we have to get the kind of water you want here?”
“No.”
“Good, let’s go.”
There was a tense moment in the checkout line. Raven handed her mother’s credit card to the cashier. She prayed that the card would be accepted. She’d never shopped without her own money.
Loading the van with groceries, Raven shivered in the chill breeze. The sun was going to set soon. The vampires would be out. She said, “Should we try to check into a motel or stay with the van?”
Water nudged Claire, droplets shimmering on her arm.
“We need to camp. I think I know what Mindy has been trying to tell us,” Claire touched the water on her arm, a thoughtful look on her face.
“Care to share?” Raven asked.
“Let’s hit the road. I’ll explain on the way,” Claire said. She tousled Mindy’s hair as Mindy climbed in back, a huge smile on her face. The wind flirted with Claire’s hair and for a moment, Raven felt jealous. Air was happy, too. What had Claire come up with?
Raven didn’t waste a moment. After everyone was buckled in, she started the van. She shushed Claire until they were back on the highway, “Okay, I’m ready. Tell me.”
“Holy water! Jade must have pure water untouched by man and born of starlight, held in Earth, and open to Air. If she drinks the water, she will be cured,” Claire leaned her head back, soaking up the moment of triumph. “Piece of cake.”
A Time To Kill (Elemental Rage Book 1) Page 15