Guardian's Joy #3

by Jacqueline Rhoades

  “I’d like to say it was a matter of love conquering all, but I think it’s more than that.” Grace eyed Manon with sympathy. “Going against everyone you know and everything you’ve been taught isn’t easy. To be shunned by the Paenitentia would mean total isolation. It’s not like humans where you can find new friends who think like you do. If you’re a member of the Race, where would you go? Canaan had men who would stand with him and with me. He and his House were already breaking with traditions and Guardians are a stubborn lot. His love for me became part of the rebellion.”

  “It opened the door for Nico and me,” added Hope.

  “And it brought Otto’s love out into the open,” Manon chuckled. “Something I couldn’t do in a few hundred years.”

  JJ nodded as if she understood, but something in the story bothered her. Did the Paenitentia still have the ability to beguile the Daughters of Man? Did these women truly love these Paenitentia or were they under some kind of thrall? It probably wouldn’t be wise to ask these questions aloud. But she really needed to know, because every time Nardo looked at her… “So what’s a Guardian?” she asked instead.

  *****

  “What do you mean three?” Canaan’s looked like he wanted to hit something or someone and Nardo hoped it wasn’t him.

  He sat at one of the computer stations, pointing at the screen. "I've got an email here from Dr. Shirley, the coroner, to the Police Commissioner. He’s referencing an incident, previously discussed, that occurred last month.” He read from the email, “It would appear that the current party was subject to the same physical anomalies as previously discussed.”

  “And that would mean…?” Col asked, “In English please.”

  Nardo ignored the interruption and continued reading. “Questions have been asked by inquisitive parties and I am unsure of the appropriate response. Please advise.”

  “Ah, the Fourth Estate has caught wind of it,” the professor nodded as if it all made sense. “Can you find the original communiqué?”

  “What the hell is the Fourth Estate and what did they catch wind of? Boss,” Dov whined his complaint, “Col’s doing that to improve your vocabulary with a new word a day shit and if he doesn’t understand, how the hell am I supposed to.”

  Canaan, elbow on the table, massaged his forehead with his fingers. He huffed a laugh. “I think he’s trying to write in code. He’s saying the current victim was attacked in the same way as the other one. Now the press is asking questions.” He looked at Nardo. “How’d we miss this?”

  Nardo appreciated the ‘we’, but knew it was his responsibility. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he spoke.

  “There’s nothing here, my lord. They either spoke in person or over the phone. I check police and coroner reports regularly. We had a DBD three weeks ago, but Dov and Nico got the bastard and the victim was badly decomposed by the time they found him. I swear there was nothing that should have caught my attention. And I promise you, a victim drained of blood would have caught my attention. There’s probably a hard copy somewhere. A paper copy,” he explained before either of the twins could ask.

  “Shit, even I knew that one,” Dov muttered.

  “I would venture the speculation that they wished to avoid public panic. They were hoping the original attack was a singular incident and no further action need be taken.” The professor finished packing his pipe and carefully returned the leather pouch to the inside pocket of his jacket. “I don’t suppose humans would take a possible vampire attack lightly.”

  “I imagine most humans would write it off as some insane killer simulating a vampire, but there are others who would be more than willing to believe,” Nico said from his end of the table. “The press will have a field day with this. Once it’s out, there’ll be reporters crawling everywhere. It won’t make our job any easier.”

  “Any thoughts?” Canaan addressed the old vampire who was staring off into the invisible distance. “Otto?”

  Otto shook his head to bring himself back to the present. He ran his hand over his mouth. “This isn’t making any sense. You have one attack at least a month ago, I assume it’s a human and a female or the difference in sex would have been noted. Then another, what, ten days ago and another tonight. What’s he doing in the meantime? The Blood Lust is impossible to control during those first few months, the thirst impossible to quench. You remember what it was like, Canaan. I couldn’t have gone more than a couple of days without feeding. How can this one be going weeks? I’ve seen a few vampires in my time and as you boys like to say, been there, done that, got my very own t-shirt. I’ve never seen or heard of something like this. It doesn’t make sense.”

  He ran his hand through hair that was now completely grey though still as thick as a young man’s. The old man was aging so fast. Nardo could see the difference in just the two years he’d known the vampire. Turning sped up the aging process, making it similar to that of human men. Otto was well along in years when he was turned and would now die of old age much sooner than he should. How old was this new vampire? How many years would he have to wreak havoc unless he was caught?

  “We need to get some sleep,” Canaan was saying. “Nardo, I mean you as well. Share the pain, son. This isn’t all on you. Tonight, after you’ve had some rest, you see if you can find a pattern, a clue, anything about where the attacks occurred. We need to think about where this guy is hiding and what he’s drinking between kills. Dov, you and Col check with Eddie down at the blood bank and see if he’s heard anything and if anyone comes up with anything, anything at all, let me know immediately.”

  Nardo had no intention of going to bed. He’d be up all day if that’s what it took to find something, anything for Canaan to go on. But first, he needed to see Joy. Having lived her life in the human world, she was probably having a hard time sleeping through the day.

  He knocked quietly on her door and when there was no answer, he opened it quietly to peek inside. Manon was sitting in the chair in the corner with her index finger raised in the air. Slowly she brought it to her lips warning him to be silent. She rose with some effort and went to the bed where Hope was sleeping with her feet on the pillow and her head at the foot and Grace was curled with her head on Hope’s stomach. She roused the younger women, made the same quieting gesture to them and guided them toward the door.

  Nardo held it for them while they stumbled out into the hallway still half asleep. Manon was last out and she paused to give his cheek an affectionate pat as she passed.

  “Our Joy is a lost child,” she whispered, “She needs someone stronger than she to bring her home.”

  He took in the room with a glance; saw the empty plates piled on the tray, the four empty wine bottles on the dresser and the fifth, half full, on the nightstand. An empty box of chocolates lay in the middle of the bed, the little brown papers scattered over the spread except for the few crumpled on the table by Manon’s chair.

  Joy slept peacefully with her hands folded over her stomach, fingers entwined and the pillows fanned out like flower petals behind her head.

  Nardo took the chair Manon had vacated and watched the woman sleeping peacefully in the bed. She didn’t need him here. It was obvious from the condition of the room she’d had plenty of company and was well enough to participate in the festivities. He ought to leave, return to his own lonely rooms in the building next door or to the War Room, but he couldn’t. He watched as she turned onto her side with her hands folded under her cheek, her mouth slightly open and twitching occasionally at some thought or dream. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

  He slumped down in the chair until his head touched the back rest and extended his long legs full length in front of him. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the scents of the room. Above the smell of wine and food, over the aroma of rich, dark chocolate and the sweet fragrance of woman, he caught the scent of Joy. Red cinnamon candies, red-hots Grace called them and he thought the name fitting. Sweet sugary spice with just enough bite to m
ake a man’s tongue take notice. He drew the scent in again and closed his eyes.

  There were demons out there and a vampire on the loose and none of it mattered while he was here in this room. The troubles would be there tonight when he awoke and would no doubt be there for nights to come, but for this day, Nardo found peace in the presence of Joy.

  Chapter 14

  JJ was awake long before she opened her eyes and she was well aware that she wasn’t alone. Sometime during the night… no, during the day… the other women had left and Nardo had taken Manon’s place in the chair. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know it was him. She just knew, though she did wonder why he was there. Did they think she needed watching?

  Over dinner and way too much wine, the other women had seemed friendly and open. The question was why?

  Grace was an odd combination of fun and fierce. She laughed a lot and liked to tease, but you could hear the love in her voice when she spoke about the people in her ‘family’ and how readily she defended them from anyone else’s criticism. Hope, though more reserved, was no Mary Poppins. She evidently left the housekeeping to Grace while she busied herself with running what was quickly amounting to a multi-million dollar enterprise. Manon was something of an enigma and JJ wondered if the French had a word for steel magnolia. They were all so different and yet all so… feminine.

  She knew they were honest. One of the things that had always given her an edge as a cop was being able to detect a lie almost as soon as it left the lips. She didn’t know how she did it and wished she’d had the gift when she was younger and really needed it…

  JJ frowned. Why had she needed it? She reached for the memory, but as always, it eluded her grasp. Pursuing the elusive thread would only bring about a massive headache. She’d tried it a thousand times before. Four years of her life had been swallowed by a black hole of amnesia and it wasn’t coming back. She’d adjusted to it, took it one day at a time. John had taught her that. But lately, the flashes of memory had become more frequent and her reaction to them more pronounced; witness her response to being carried in Nardo’s arms.

  His name brought her attention back to the slow breathing of the sleeping man across the room. His face was long and narrow with high cheekbones, a long, slightly irregular nose and wide mouth. It was a face that would harden and grow craggy with age. The long dark lashes surrounding those tender hazel eyes and full lower lip would keep it from looking cruel. He wasn’t handsome in the conventional sense, but he was attractive and when he smiled, he looked kind.

  Someone knocked softly at the door and JJ almost laughed when Nardo’s eyes snapped open and darted about the room. He quickly recovered when he caught her staring and gave her a wink.

  “I meant to be gone before everyone was awake,” he apologized, “I wouldn’t want them to think I was…”

  JJ scratcher her itchy head and sniffed at her underarm. “Don’t worry, they won’t,” she said, “You don’t look that desperate. Come on in,” she called when the knock sounded again.

  Faith entered carrying a tray loaded with eggs, pancakes, bacon, juice and a pot of coffee. She was followed by a man in a dark brown turtleneck and a tweed jacket who smelled like pipe tobacco. He had dark eyes and a long, slightly hooked nose. His body looked like it was mostly arms and legs which made him seem taller than he really was. His dark hair was slightly mussed like someone who ran his hand through it regularly. He looked both surprised and embarrassed.

  “Oh. I do beg your pardon. We haven’t interrupted anything, have we?” he asked as he watched Nardo lace up his boots. “We can come back later.”

  “No!” they both said together, “He/I was just leaving.”

  “I see, ah, er, or perhaps I don’t,” he said, looking from one to the other. “In any event, Grace requested I deliver your breakfast tray and I was waylaid in the hall by this young lady who has apparently decided to attend to your waking meal.” He nodded and smiled at Faith.

  Nardo laughed at JJ’s look. “Joy, allow me to introduce Broadbent and yes, he always talks that way. You get used to it after a while. It’s one of the reasons we call him the professor.” He stepped back as Faith scooted past. “This is new,” he referred to Faith who was already tucking a napkin into the neck of JJ’s gown.

  “It seems our little Faith has taken a liking to our guest. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked JJ. “Very pleased to meet you, by the way.”

  “Likewise and the name’s JJ,” she answered. “Faith and I met last night. I’ve taken a liking to her, too, and I’d be happy to share my breakfast with her.”

  “Good luck with that.” Broadbent smiled at Faith affectionately. “The poppet doesn’t eat enough to satisfy a bird. We argue over it daily. Don’t we, luv?”

  Faith showed no sign that anyone had spoken, nor did she smile. She was too busy pouring syrup over the pancakes and offering the first bite to JJ.

  JJ was going to tell the men to run along, they’d be fine, but her mouth was full of pancake before she could speak and she ended up shooing them out with her hand instead.

  After the first half dozen bites, she held up her hand between her mouth and the fork. “No,” she said, “Not unless you eat some too.” She laughed when Faith’s mouth set in a firm, stubborn line and the tiny woman tried to force the fork past JJ’s hand. “Nothing doing, kiddo. One bite for you, two bites for me or we’ll both starve.”

  It took another few minutes of one sided arguing, but Faith finally gave in. They shared the pancakes and the eggs and JJ used a wineglass from the night before to share out the juice. She lost the battle of the bacon and thought she saw a tiny wrinkle of Faith’s nose when JJ offered coffee so she didn’t push it. All in all, JJ considered it a successful breakfast and she thought it was over when Faith picked up the tray from the bed.

  But Faith had other ideas. She set the tray on the chair and went into the bathroom, returning with a washcloth and comb. She washed JJ’s face and combed her hair in the same robotic way she’d fed her and then she touched the fingers of JJ’s casted arm.

  It was the same tingle she’d felt the night before only stronger and this time concentrated in her broken wrist. It wasn’t painful, yet it was so odd a feeling that JJ wanted to pull away. She forced herself to keep still and as she watched Faith’s fingers play over her own, she saw a faint gold glow.

  “You have magic in your fingers,” JJ whispered and when Faith showed no reaction to her words, she said, “So do I.”

  She called up the fire to her free hand and wiggled her fingers in front of Faith’s nose. Faith stopped what she was doing and stared.

  “It’s not the same as yours, but it’s magic nonetheless.”

  JJ never expected Faith to reach out, fingers sparkling with gold, and touch her bluish glow. She snatched her hand back, but it was too late. The contact sent a shock through them both. Faith’s eyes widened with the buzz. It was the first reaction JJ had seen in them.

  “I’m sorry,” JJ said quickly, “I should have warned you not to touch. Please, I’m so, so sorry.”

  She thought she saw the corner of Faith’s mouth twitch before she turned and scurried from the room. A door across the hall slammed shut.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed. All that these people had done for her and the one thing they ask in return, she blows.

  “Something I can help you with?” Grace poked her head around the door.

  JJ stared at her hands. “No. I’ve just screwed things up.”

  “Yeah, but it brought you to us,” Grace said, thinking JJ meant her injuries. “Silver lining and all that stuff.” She held out a plastic bag. “I brought this for your arm. I figured you might enjoy a shower. I can help if you need me.” The smile left her face and she sat on the foot of the bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why are you all being so nice to me? What do you want?” She may as well find out now as later. “And please don’t lie. I’ll be able to tell.” She knew it sou
nded rude, but she had to know.

  Instead of being insulted, Grace laughed. “Ooo, does that mean when I open the box with the ugly green sweater and say ‘Oh Canaan, it’s beautiful!’ you’re going to point a finger at me and yell ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire’? Because if you are, you’re not invited for Christmas.” She laughed again and began filling the abandoned breakfast tray with dishes and glasses from the night before. “Hope can hear the questions in your mind. How do you think we knew about Betty Crocker and Mary Poppins? I can read emotions. Your little lie detector gift fits right in. Rule number one among the Daughters is we don’t lie to each other. It wouldn’t work anyway. So, to answer your questions, we’re being nice because you’re one of us. You needed help and we didn’t see anyone else doing the job. We don’t want anything from you except friendship, but that may change and when it does, you’ll be the first to know.” She set the tray aside and held out the plastic bag. “Now, care to go get your shower or would you rather stink for the rest of the day?”

  *****

  It did feel good to be really clean again. Along with her own freshly laundered underwear, Grace had left her a way too short pair of sweats which she’d rolled up to her knees and a way too big sweatshirt the sleeves of which she rolled far enough up to free her hands. She was pretty sure the sweats belonged to Grace and she wondered who’d donated the shirt. Without makeup and her hair combed flat, she looked like a college kid lounging around the dorm.

  Of course, this room wasn’t the least bit dormlike. Grace called it the Rose Room and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why. The cream colored wallpaper was covered in tiny red rosebuds and the pattern was repeated in the larger print of the spread. Even the curtains had a rose design woven into the lace and the cream colored carpet had a border of full blown red blossoms. The traditional chair and the nightstand looked new and blended well with the bed and dresser which hadn’t been new since the turn of the previous century. It wasn’t her style, but JJ had to admit it was warm and cozy and from the basket of toiletries in the bathroom, it was designed to welcome guests.