He lowered his head so that his hair hid his face. “If I were a stronger man I would have stopped her. But I’m who I am and death didn’t change that for me. I was weak in life and now in death. A curse, if any.”
Tristan glanced back at Desmond, expecting the man to say something comforting to his scion. But he only sniffed and looked away, expression hard and cold.
“Has she really been doing this that long, killing like this?”
Wren nodded. “She was careful at first, to hide her doings but she grew bored with being sneaky.” He shook his head in dismay. “I should have stopped her when I realized. It was my own weakness that let her carry on for so long.”
Tristan cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “We’ll stop her now, that’s a promise.” He paused to think and watch the trees covered in snow pass by as they puttered down Yuki’s long driveway. He wondered how many more times he’d transverse the road and then smiled at the thought that it wouldn’t be many more now.
“Do you have any idea where she might have gone in Edogawa?”
Wren flinched at Tristan’s question and turned his head enough to look around his curtain of black hair. The vampire made a small noise in his throat and looked forward again as he slowed in front of the house. “I… Perhaps. She often asked me to take her to place I died.” He bit his bottom lip and brought the car to a stop. Before Wren even put it in park, Desmond was shoving his way out of the car. Tristan slapped him with a handful of curses as he was folding practically in half as the big vampire squeezed out. When he was free he slammed the door behind him hard enough to rock the car.
Wren stopped to watch his Master stomp through the snow towards the house. After a moment he sighed, dipping his head, hiding his face behind his hair again. “I refused every time, but that didn’t stop her from asking whenever the thought occurred to her.” Wren turned in his seat to look Tristan in the face.
“You think she might have gone without you?”
Wren shrugged with one shoulder. “I think, well, I really believe she left me behind so that you would find me and in turn, I’d somehow bring you to her. After we left you, you were all she could talk about. You’ve piqued her interest.”
Tristan slowly looked up from where he’d been staring off at nothing and met Wren’s gaze. “Another short diversion in a long life.”
Wren nodded and whispered, “Hai.”
“Come on,” Tristan said with a chin jerk towards the house, “it’s getting late.”
Wren only nodded and followed Tristan out of the car.
Frowning as he approached the house, Tristan’s pace faltered. “Uh…”
Next to him Wren was frowning too. “Where is everyone?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was just wondering.” The place usually held a hum, a field of energy that Tristan could feel from as far as the driveway entrance some nights. It was the vampires, their life forces, or whatever you called it, lighting up his Uruwashi blood. But now, standing at the front door, he felt nothing. It was utterly empty. And there were no cars outside either, save for Tristan’s. The place was deserted.
A few steps inside and Tristan hesitated when he felt Desmond. It wasn’t just the vampire himself that Tristan was feeling; it was his panic, fear and anger.
Wren rushed past Tristan and he had to jog to catch up to the hurried vampire.
“What the fuck’s going on here?”
“I don’t know,” the young vampire breathed as he barged right into Yuki’s room. Desmond was sitting at her desk, staring down at nothing, gaze unfocused. The antique chair he was sitting in looked ready to break under his massive weight and groaned when he shifted ever so slightly, looking up.
“They’re gone,” Desmond muttered.
Wren glanced at Tristan with wide eyes.
“Who’s gone?” Tristan asked.
Desmond’s white brows lifted. “Everyone.”
Tristan opened his mouth but the paper Desmond held up stopped whatever he was going to say and he marched over. It was written in Japanese, sloppy at that, and Tristan cursed.
With a disparaging look, Wren took the paper and read it. “Seems that Lilith told them they must leave.”
“Aye,” Desmond said, shifting to make the chair under creak under him again.
“Does it say where?”
“Hai.” Wren held out the note to Desmond but the other man only stared blankly at his scion. With a sigh, Wren let the paper slip from his hand onto the desk where it landed on Desmond’s hand. “Most of the younger ones went their own way. Only about a dozen or so went North to Yukihime’s safe house near Tokyo.”
Yuki kept a safe house?
“And Ash?” Tristan asked impatiently.
Wren looked solemn, shaking his head. “It doesn’t say.”
Tristan took a moment to process and then blew up. “God dammit!”
Desmond sighed, leaning back in the chair and Tristan was sure that was the end of the spindly little piece, but before Desmond fully relaxed into position he was already on his feet.
A man had marched into the room, head bowed over a clipboard in his hands. “Hey guys, sorry I’m late. We should get going, we don’t have—” He looked up and stopped when he saw the others. “Wr—Wren?” The newcomer blinked huge grass-green eyes in surprise and then went to the vampire, arms out to take him in a hug. “You’re alive! Oh, wow!”
Wren chuckled softly and took the man—undoubtedly a faerie with that blazing crayon-red hair, pointy ears and green eyes, not to mention tiny stature—into a warm hug.
Behind Tristan, Desmond made a rude noise.
After exchanging hushed greetings and promises to catch up soon, in which Tristan discovered the fae’s name, Lance turned his attention to the others. “Uh, sorry to rush you, but we need to leave. Plane’s all fueled up and ready to go.” He said it with a smile but there was strain in his posture, a need to keep moving.
Desmond huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets, muttering something about “bound tae happen sooner or later” and shuffled past Tristan.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. Why did Yuki just pack up shop and run off to Tokyo? And where the fuck is Ash?” God, if she’d been taken again, he didn’t know what he’d do. It was almost too much. If he weren’t this unnatural thing, he would have said the stress would put him in an early grave. Hell, that almost sounded like a nice way to go compared to the violent deaths in his dreams, all at the hands of vampires, of course.
A hand slapped him on the back hard enough to take the breath from him. “Keep it in yur pants, mate.”
Tristan scowled.
“Happens all the time.”
“What does?” Tristan asked, fixed in place as he watched Desmond walk around him. The others were already leaving the room.
“Vampires claiming an area what already been claimed.”
“You’re telling me that someone challenged Yuki to her region and she backed down as the weaker one?” Just how much older was the one who wanted her region if she just backed down?
“Oi, got it all wrong.” Desmond stopped at the door to look back at him. “Vampires come and go all the time wanting what others have. It’s just the… whiniest of them that get what they want.”
“You’re telling me Yuki gave in to some youngster?”
“Aye, possibly. Was a bloke around a few months back, made a big showing of wanting the city. Weren’t sure he were serious but he obviously came back and rather than start a war, Master decided to concede to the newcomer.”
He frowned at Desmond as he turned his back on Tristan. “That doesn’t sound like Yuki at all.”
Desmond stopped just outside in the hallway but didn’t turn around. “Like we’s always said… don’t ken a bloody thing.”
Tristan wanted to argue, but instead, kept his caustic comments to himself. He needed to see Ash sooner rather than later. He needed to understand their situation more clearly. Sure, he’d bee
n in her mind, felt her emotions and seen some glimmers of memory but he didn’t know what she thought outside of what she’d spoken aloud.
When he caught up to the others at the front door, he said to Lance, “Do you know where Ash went?”
The fae glanced back and opened the door. “With Yukihime in Tokyo. We’re headed there now. Uh.” The group came to a sudden stop at the fae’s behest and Lance turned to look at Tristan. “Ash said you should pack anything important from your apartment and bring it with you. She asked for her guns, too.”
Desmond watched Tristan a moment and then harrumphed, pushing past him, making sure to shoulder him. Too distracted by what Lance had just said, Tristan only stared at the fae, lost in thought.
“Uh…” Just what did Ash have in mind? Were they really leaving Japan? Now? As much as he wanted to go home, he had a job to do here first. It was important to ensure the safety of the people who lived here knowing there was a freak running around killing violently at will.
“If there’s nothing you need, then we’ll just go straight to the airport.”
“Uh, no. I mean, yeah. There’s a few things.”
Lance nodded and put on a warm smile. “No problem, but we need to hustle if we’re going to make it on time.”
“Time for what?” Tristan asked as the fae walked away.
“The sun.”
With a sigh, Tristan got in the back of an SUV that hadn’t been there when they pulled up with Wren, shoving his katana on the seat between them and off they went.
It took him a minute to realize Wren was trying to get his attention by staring loudly at him.
The vampire smiled when they met eyes. “I want to thank you.”
“For?”
“Doing this dangerous thing, for wanting to stop Xuejiao.”
Tristan snorted. “Don’t thank me yet, she’s still out there. Hell, pretty sure she’ll kill me first unless I find a surefire way to take her out.”
Wren dipped his head, making his hair fall over his face. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
The vampire was quiet for a long time but Tristan felt the prickle of unspoken words so he waited patiently for the man to say what it was he really wanted.
Wren was staring out the side window when he softly said, “I suppose it’s time for me to leave…” He glanced at Tristan. “If another Master is moving into the region, I won’t be welcome.”
“But your place in Yurihonjō is three hours away…”
“Yukihime resides over the whole prefecture.”
Yuki’s region was the whole damned prefecture? Jesus. And she was giving it up just because some whiny fledgling wanted it. There was something fishy going on that Tristan didn’t like. But if her relenting actually meant avoiding a vampire war, then Tristan couldn’t complain too much. Some, though.
“Where will you go?”
The vampire shrugged and Tristan caught a glimpse of his frown reflected in the dark side window. “I was born in the States; I’m American by birth. I have many bad memories of that place, but there is good there too. Perhaps it’s the right place to start over.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Start over and make a new life for yourself.”
Tristan was aching to do just that. He just had to survive Xuejiao.
Wren turned to look at him. “I believe in you.”
From the passenger seat in the front, Desmond snorted. He’d been listening, pretending he wasn’t, and finally couldn’t keep his opinion to himself. With a sour look, Tristan gave him the finger which he knew the man saw in the corner of his eye by the tightening of his jaw.
The rest of the ride was quiet, everyone lost to their own thoughts. When they arrived at Tristan’s apartment, Lance pulled up right next to the stairs leading to the second level and parked. He moved to shut off the car but Desmond stopped him with a hand on his.
“Let it run.”
The fae looked suddenly nervous, eyes darting around and nodded. “Okay.” He climbed out with Tristan.
Tristan poked his head into the car and looked at Wren then Desmond. “You two play nice out here.”
Wren only gave him a wry smile, answered by Desmond’s snorted grunt.
Tristan let Lance into his apartment and immediately went for his bedroom. “There’s stuff in the fridge if you want anything,” he called out. It wasn’t like he was going to get a chance to finish off his new groceries now.
“Uh, thanks,” Lance answered and then a moment later added. “Nice place.”
Tristan laughed as he grabbed the bag he’d already half packed. He and Ash were planning to bug out anyway, just looked like it was going to happen a few days earlier than expected. Which meant a smaller bag than he had anticipated. Clothes, he could always buy, it was the few personal effects he’d brought with him that were important now and he started to transfer those from the big luggage bag to a small duffle. He made sure to pack his pocket watch into the bag. It was a small miracle that Xuejiao hadn’t ruined it with her seikonō.
“Yeah, right, the place’s a shoebox.”
He heard Lance’s soft chuckle and the clank of a bottle. “Oooh,” the fae practically moaned. “This tea smells fantastic. Did you make it?”
Fantastic? Tristan kicked a pile of dirty clothes into the corner by the bed. Then he stopped and decided to change into a clean set of clothes. “Uh, yeah, I did.”
Lance was making happy-yummy noises and Tristan could only imagine what the fae was doing. “Mm, do you want some too?”
“Yeah, if you wouldn’t mind pouring me a some to go.”
The sound of Lance rummaging the kitchen filtered into the bedroom and Tristan sighed, not really believing this was his last time here. The stuff he took off Mamoru in Greece, including the kitsune pearl were neatly stored away under a change of clothes in the duffle. The katana he’d grown to think of as his, the one with the beat-up saya and worn ito, was already in the car with Wren. That left his back-up katana and just a few knives and Ash’s guns that went in too. She’d had Murasaki Kaeru with her already and was wearing her locket. Outside of that, there wasn’t much else worth anything.
Tristan stopped to look over the room, making sure he got everything he wanted. Lance had been quiet a long time and as Tristan decided he was satisfied with what he had, he called out, “Everything okay out there?”
There was no answered and he frowned, wondering if he just didn’t hear the fae leave. He got one foot out of the bedroom and stopped, rigid with fear.
Lance was sprawled out on the floor in front of the sofa face down. Tristan almost couldn’t tell since it blended right into his bright red hair, but he was bleeding from his head. The little girl in the icy blue kimono that stood over him didn’t look pleased at all.
“Uh… hey,” he said casually, panicking inside and wondering if he was fast enough to pull his gun and point it at the vampire before she tore his throat out. Or zapped him into oblivion.
The girl crossed her arms over her chest, glowering. “You’re not.”
“You’re not here to sell me Girl Scout cookies, are you?”
A dark smile overtook her frown. Tristan stiffened, eyes darting for the exit, but he was reluctant to leave Lance behind.
“You’re still planning on killing me.”
It didn’t sound like much of a question but Tristan nodded anyway. “Yep, sure am. Someone’s got to stop you.”
“Stop me?”
“Yeah, from killing innocent people. Don’t think I don’t know you’re the one dropping bodies all over the place, drowning and draining humans. And I’m the poor smuck saddled with the responsibility.”
She lifted her chin to look down her nose at him. “There’s something I need you to see,” the girl answered in a low, even tone.
“And if I refuse?”
Her arms slowly fell to her sides, the tips of her fingers sparked with electricity and dripped with snow. “I’d recommend against it.”
O
f course, there was only answer for him to give. “Well, fuck me.”
18: Wight Spider
JUNO-CHAN was too fat for her own good, setting off a tidal wave when she jumped up to greet Tristan. She gave a purry meow and stomped over, rocking the whole damn bed along the way. Despite the awkwardness of the footing and her immense size, she moved rather gracefully… like a cat. When she reached Tristan she flopped herself to her back and meowed again.
With a sigh, Tristan gave in and rubbed her belly. “You’re a real fat ass, you know that? What should I do with you anyway?”
Tristan sighed and looked up out the far wall lined in tall windows to the sun shining off the snow. Even if the house wasn’t one of those ultra-modern, magazine styled homes, super clean and tidy, the kind that were meant more to be admired rather in lived in, he still would have felt wrong about sleeping in the bed.
Last night when Xuejiao let herself into his apartment, she said she wanted to show him something. After some negotiating, they’d come to an agreement. She had something to show him that would happen regardless of his will or not. So he had two options, to come willingly and be treated fairly and with respect or come as a prisoner, tied up, perhaps unconscious and bleeding. Well, the answer wasn’t too hard for Tristan at that point, even if it meant giving up all his weapons and a piece of his pride. If it were any other vampire, sure he might have tried to fight his way from her, or killed her. But as it was, she was a kodaijin, an ancient and he was absolutely no match for her. If she wanted him, she would have him.
He was actually pretty surprised at how reasonable Xuejiao was. Wren had said she was practical but this, this was beyond what he’d imagined. So, hating that he had to, but finding no other viable option at that moment, he went with Xuejiao, leaving poor Lance passed out on the floor and Wren and Desmond in the SUV never knowing what happened to him.
Xuejiao made Tristan drive, some car she’d broken into after they’d left the apartment and walked a few blocks. They drove west for about an hour and then another hour north until they reached Noshiro. She guided him to a home on the coast, a huge sprawling contemporary that looked more appropriate on the California coastline than Japan.
White Lies: (The Uruwashi Series #4) Page 20