My tone has changed and my astute daughter notices. She narrows her eyes at me and then suddenly gives me a wide and mischievous grin.
“Throw me, Papa!” she says, holding her little arms out to me. “Throw me up to clouds. I draw you somfing.”
I cannot resist her in this realm. I am besotted with my daughter and here, where I do not need to be the Champion or Master of a powerful line, I can simply be a daddy.
I pick her up and count to three in French and then throw her high into the sky.
The clouds part and she brushes a hand through the nearest, swirling and twisting until a picture emerges. And as is the case in dreams, Éliane only returns to my arms once her picture is completed.
I would stand beneath her for eternity with outstretched arms designed to catch her if she falls gladly.
She lets out a peal of laughter when I wrap her up in my arms and spin her around, flowering kisses across her nose and cheeks.
“See! See!” she shouts at me.
I stop kissing my daughter and look up at what she has drawn for me.
I recognise the image instantly.
“Éliane,” I whisper. But she is no longer in my arms and the dream is fracturing around me.
I come to in my office. The moon is still a ways off. But I do not hesitate. I phone my pilots and order the jet ready.
Éliane is in Wellington. The cloud picture was of the Te Papa National Museum; a prominent building in Gregor’s city. The sprite has taken my daughter there for some reason.
And the only reason that makes any sense at all to me is that my kindred,Éliane’s mother, is also in Wellington City.
I ready myself for war.
War against whomever has stolen my daughter from me.
And war with my furious wife.
Because hiding our lost daughter from Lucinda now has become impensable. Unthinkable.
* * *
“You did what?” Lucinda says as she greets me at the hangar. The sun is still up, but the airplane has taxied into the shade of the building.
Unfortunately, even I cannot enter another Master Vampire controlled city without an announcement.
Gregor saw fit to include Lucinda in the negotiations for visitation.
“I lost our daughter,” I say with as much dignity as I can muster.
Which, in the face of an irate Nosferatin, is very little dignity.
I can sense the silver in her jacket’s pockets.
I can sense Lucinda’s need to reach for it.
I do the only thing I can think of. I step closer to the danger and swallow the distance between us.
“Ma douce,” I say softly.
“Oh, don’t you ‘ma douce’ me, Michel,” she growls impressively. “Can you believe this?” she asks Amisi.
Amisi has stood silently at my kindred’s back since I exited the jet. Neither entering the conversation nor pulling a stake on me. I call that a win; for the Egyptian can be quick to strike when needed.
But right now, Amisi is looking worried. Which is what I sense most in Lucinda’s tumultuous emotions. Worry and fear and heartache and a burgeoning anger that if not directed at someone shortly will undoubtedly be directed at me.
Not that I don’t deserve it.
I lost our daughter.
The dragon-within lets out an agonised roar that I cannot hide.
Lucinda studies me.
“Fishing,” she says, dryly.
“I will never attempt such a thing without you to supervise again," I promise solemnly.
She just shakes her head at me; exasperated I think. “And Ellie drew Te Papa?”
“In clouds. In Faerie.”
“What does Aliath say?”
“The sprites are scattered. There is unrest in Álfheimr. Ljósálfar awakens.”
“Not again,” Lucinda mutters. “All right,” she quickly adds, donning her hunter’s façade. “We go to Te Papa.”
“The museum is still open,” Amisi offers. “Gregor will meet us there.”
I wish to mutter something unsavoury but hold my tongue. For now, it is better to remain quiet. Éliane is leading us there, so there is where we must go.
Apparently with Gregor in tow.
My daughter, though, is clever. I just pray to Nut that she is strong enough to withstand whatever the sprite’s master has in store for us.
We climb into the waiting limousine with its darkened windows and human driver. Lucinda slides onto the seat next to me and it is an easy thing to reach for her; both physically and mentally. The soothing balm of my kindred Nosferatin wraps around me and finally the dragon quietens enough for me to think.
“Why here?” I say aloud.
“Because I’m here?” Lucinda offers astutely.
“I thought the same, but perhaps that is a red-herring.” I look at Amisi. “Have you found your lost vampire?”
Gregor has lost one of his line and Lucinda is here helping Amisi find her. The vampire in question suddenly lost all their Light and Wellington’s Master fears she has crossed over to rogue.
It is not uncommon to have a vampire under a powerful Master become rogue without warning. But usually there is a reason for it. A battle that created too much blood lust. A mate pairing destroyed in some fashion but traumatically. Silver poisoning in such large quantities that the vampire cannot recover fast enough.
There is usually a weakness to the vampire, but not all weaknesses are apparent. I cannot blame Gregor for his lost vampire. But I wish to blame someone for my lost daughter and Gregor is convenient right now.
“She’s still missing,” Amisi says in reply. “But Gregor can feel her, so she hasn’t met the final death yet.”
“How old is she?” I ask.
“Eighty, give or take a couple of years. Old enough to have control over her vampire-within and to be trusted.” By Gregor, she means. And Gregor Morel does not trust easily.
“He did not see this coming,” I muse.
“Neither did you see the sprite,” she says defensively.
I incline my head. “No offence meant, Nosferatin,” I say. “Your kindred is an old friend of mine.”
She knows this. But sometimes it bears repeating.
“I’m sorry, Michel,” she says, looking at the window. She cannot see out of it. It’s pitch black to protect from the sunlight. “It’s been a hard week.”
I nod. It’s been a hard night for me.
“Do you think the sprite took Ellie because of Gregor’s missing vampire?” Lucinda asks.
“I do not know what to think,” I say quietly. “But it pays to think of everything.”
“Kate is a level three master vampire,” Amisi murmurs. “Not exactly a prize worth stealing the Champion’s daughter for.”
“It depends on what has made your vampire lose their Light,” I say carefully. “Has Gregor uncovered anything?”
Amisi shakes her head. “Kate was meant to be on border duty last Thursday. She didn’t check in on time and so was discovered missing. Nothing out of the ordinary at her house, either.” Not all vampires lived with their masters and Wellington was a big city.
“And her relationships?” I enquire.
“She’s very private. But Gregor would know.” The curse of being a Master Vampire; we learn intimate things of our progeny. Things they would rather we didn’t know half the time.
Right now, I can tell one of my line is unhappy with his meal. Another is enjoying a lazy morning in bed with his lover. And one more is hurting from a wound inflicted in a fight.
I send a mental thought out to Alain to check on the wounded and watch over the disgruntled diner and his donor. The lazy vampire I leave to his own devices.
The streets are busy but the limousine cuts through the traffic like fangs through an artery. The sun beats down on the roof of the car and I shift in my seat to get comfortable. The cool touch of my kindred settles me and then we are under the museum entering the underground carpark and Gregor is waiting for us
as the limousine pulls in beside his town car.
I slide out of the vehicle and offer a hand to Lucinda. Gregor bends down and kisses his wife in greeting. His eyes meet mine across the roof of the limousine. He opens his mouth and the dragon-within growls.
“Don’t say it,” I hiss.
“Say what?” he replies.
“The sprite did it.”
“I said nothing, Michel.”
“I didn’t lose my daughter. She was taken.”
“Of course she was.”
“This is not my fault.”
But it is and we all know it.
No one here, though, calls me out on that. And consequently, I feel one hundred times worse than I did before I opened my mouth.
“Welcome to my city,” Gregor says, dryly.
“Thank you,” I offer stiffly. Politics. Something I am very good at. And yet today I couldn’t care less.
“Easy, my friend,” Gregor murmurs. “We’ll get your hellion back.”
Lucinda’s hand lands on my arm and I inhale deeply. I scent my kindred. I sense Amisi’s Nosferatin Light. I’m aware of Gregor watching me.
What I do not scent or sense is my daughter.
“We go in,” I say, heading for the lift.
“Amisi and I will skirt the outside of the building,” Lucinda advises. “Ellie may have drawn Te Papa but that doesn’t mean she went inside it.”
This is true even if I am reluctant to let Lucinda out of my sight.
Lucinda, however, is an Iunctio councilor. She is also the Sanguis Vitam Cupitor, the Prohibitum Bibere, and the Lux Lucis Tribuo. The most powerful Nosferatin alive. I think my wife can look after herself without my interference.
“Very well,” I say. “We shall rendezvous in the lobby.”
“Agreed.”
She spins on her heel and with Amisi in tow, they flash away. I stare after her for quite some time.
“Tell me,” Gregor says. He doesn’t say anything else. But he does not need to. Gregor and I have known one another for centuries. He knows how I think. How I fight. How I love.
“I lost her,” I say. “I lost my daughter and the dragon is incensed.”
Gregor studies me and then murmurs, “It is not just the dragon who is angry.”
No. I am. The part of me that clings to humanity and is ruled by the Light in my life. By my kindred wife. By my son and daughter. Without whom I would not be the vampire I am today. The Light part of me is burning with frustration.
The dragon just rages.
We enter the lift and rise up the levels silently. There is nothing to say. Éliane has led me here. But where in the museum would a sprite take my daughter?
And why Te Papa? Is it a human who has done this? A Norm?
“I do not like that she is here of all places,” I say to Gregor as we exit the lift.
“Neither do I. Kate, that’s my missing vampire. Her lover worked in Te Papa.”
A prickling sensation of angst and anger fills me, threatening to let the beast out of its cage.
“Michel,” Gregor starts to say but in that moment I feel something.
I hold up my hand. My eyes bleed to magenta. I sense more than see Gregor glaze a Norm as he rushes past.
“She is here,” I say, inhaling deeply.
Gregor inhales also and looks sharply towards the front of the building.
Yes. Éliane is in the lobby.
We walk as quickly as we dare without attracting notice. We could glaze the entire building and may yet have to, but it uses valuable Sanguis Vitam we may need in the battle to come.
A water fountain takes pride of place in the centre of the grand space. People talk in a low hum of conversation. The barista at the café bangs out the ground beans. The scent of coffee and bizarrely the sea mixed with the scent of pristine spring water found in high mountain ranges invades my nostrils.
And there, dancing on the edge of the water fountain for all to see is my daughter. Humming her mother’s tune.
“Éliane,” I say rushing towards her without a thought of springing any traps waiting for me.
Gregor is more cautious, but the Norms are not even looking at my daughter or the vampires in their midst. They go about their day as if nothing is out of the ordinary.
But everything is out of the ordinary.
Éliane is dancing alone on the edge of a water feature, that should see slip could lead to disaster and not one human amongst the tens of humans present is aware of the danger that exists for my daughter.
I am surprised as anyone when I sweep her up into my arms and no trap is sprung. Gregor lets out a breath of air he does not need in relief also. And then Lucinda and Amisi are through the front door, bringing the sun’s light with them, but not enough to reach us. It’s as if our daughter has placed herself in the exact position she needs to be to avoid the sunlight reaching her father.
“Ellie,” Lucinda says in a rush of air and embraces both Éliane and me. “You frightened us.”
“Where is the sprite?” I ask, hugging what is here of my family to me.
“I send her ‘way,”Éliane mumbles into my neck. “Not safe wif you all mad at her.”
“I’m not mad at her.” I am very mad at the sprite.
“Yes you are. Coz she help me.”
“You mean she took you from me.”
“No. She help me. I had to find the sad vampire who calls to Ansel.”
Lucinda looks up at me; a question in her gaze.
I crouch down in front of my daughter and stare into her far too intelligent eyes.
“Start at the beginning, chérie.”
“Ansel hurt her feelings. She want him back.”
“Whose feelings?” Lucinda asks, not unkindly.
“The sad vampire.”
“And who is the sad vampire, Ellie?” Amisi asks, but it’s Gregor I hear swearing softly behind me.
“You’ve got a vampire called Ansel?” he asks me.
“A fledgling. Yes.”
“How long has he been yours?”
“No more than a month.”
“Damn it,” he says and then winks at Éliane.”
My daughter just giggles at her bad mouthed uncle.
I stand to full height, leaving Éliane to Lucinda’s tender care.
“Your missing vampire,” I guess.
“Kate’s lover left her four weeks ago,” Gregor tells us. “They had a very vocal and nasty row. He hasn’t been seen since and she’s been…suffering.”
“Sad,” my daughter says as if she’s following the conversation in its entirety.
“Yes, darling,” Gregor says. “Kate has been very sad.”
“And Ansel worked here?” Lucinda queries.
“Yes,” Gregor says, looking around the place and then inhaling deeply. He closes his eyes and a furrow forms on his brow. When his eyes open again, they are completely silver.
“She’s here, isn’t she?” Amisi asks, dryly.
“Well, in my defence, she is hiding her signature from me,” Gregor says sounding put-out.
“And she hasn’t gone rogue,” Lucinda offers, explaining why the Nosferatins had not picked up on her Darkness.
“But she sad,”Éliane says and then points.
We look to where our daughter’s chubby little finger is pointing and notice a door marked ‘Authorised Personnel Only.’ It’s behind the guard’s station, but it’s unclear whether or not it’s used by them. None has entered the room since we walked in here.
“Cloakroom?” Amisi offers.
“CCTV monitoring station?” Lucinda guesses.
“Storeroom,” Gregor says and crosses the lobby.
We trail behind. Éliane safely in Lucinda’s arms. Amisi walking at her side to offer additional protection. I wrack my brain as to Ansel’s work history. What he told us he used to do before he pledged to become a vampire in my city.
It is an easy thing to build a picture. He told us he had experience cataloguing antiq
ues. That is why he intrigued me. It makes sense those antiques could be found in a museum.
I sigh as Gregor opens the door, a door that has been warded against Norms. Whatever was stored and catalogued inside here has been lost to the Te Papa security section for approximately four weeks.
The room is an ante-chamber. A door at the rear of the space leads to stairs which undoubtedly lead to the basement storage area of the museum. But we do not need to go through there.
Because sitting on the floor, surrounded by various pieces of packing crates and display cases and antiques is a vampire in need of a feed.
“See?” says Éliane. “She sad. I make her happy.”
We all turn as one, even the missing vampire, to stare at my daughter.
With eyes lit from within, she shines so very brightly. I almost have to shield my face from the intensity.
And then she sucks in a gulping breath of air and starts to sing.
It’s off key and I don’t recognise the song but in moments the sprite is back; flitting around Éliane’s head and laughing.
“Found her,” my daughter says and points at the vampire. The sprite nods and then disappears in sparks of Light.
For a moment, no one says anything.
And then as lips start flapping and words start spilling, the sprite returns.
And brings with her one of my vampires.
Into another Master’s territory.
* * *
Thankfully, that master is Gregor. Otherwise, Éliane might have started World War III.
As it is, there is mayhem and bloodshed and heartache.
Rivers of red run down the female vampire’s checks. The light glints off the droplets, making them sparkle like rubies. Or that could be the influence of the sprite; she has not left yet and is flitting about Éliane as my daughter sits on an unopened crate; out of the way of the two reunited vampires.
Ansel is vibrating with anger. It takes only a moment for me to realise that anger is directed at Éliane.
“I’m not ready,” he keeps saying. A growl percolating at the back of his throat. His eyes blood red.
“Why?” Kate moans on a cry of anguish and heartache. “Why?”
But all Ansel says is, “I’m not ready.”
Gregor steps forward and the movement attracts both vampires’ attention. Kate is distraught and hungry. Ansel is a fledgling and under stress. The situation is volatile and if we do not get Éliane out of here it could be deadly.
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