by Maria Lima
"How much, Niko?"
He turned then, the threatened tears becoming reality, leaving tracks across his pale skin. “All of it."
All right. Not an option. I couldn't be killed by normal means, but I was pretty damned sure that draining all my blood might do it. I wasn't ready to volunteer any other sacrificial lambs, either. I'm sure we could find someone to volunteer. Suicidal idiots and fang hags notwithstanding, I wasn't prepared to go that far.
"I take it this can't be animal blood?” My brother was suddenly behind me, his large hand resting on my shoulder.
"I don't know, but I don't think so,” Niko said. “I heard about this once, nearly a century ago, when we were hiding out. Before Europe erupted into war ... the first big one. We'd all managed to escape becoming involved in the various quests for power—the Seven Years War, Napoleon—but Adam correctly reasoned we couldn't escape this one. We considered many options, including the Americas, but Adam knew of a place he thought would remain obscure and safe. A friend of his owned a large estate near Iani, in Romania. The gypsies and peasants took it all in stride. They were used to the tales of the Mountain Lords and a few more of us wouldn't upset the status quo too much. In any case, Adam thought we should all know what to do in case the war reached us there and we were hurt."
"So you'd be sacrificing peasants?"
Niko shrugged. “I don't know what his plan was. We never had to do it. Of course, Romania did enter the war—disastrously—and we faced grim times indeed. Fortunately, we were in a fairly isolated region far enough east to escape occupation. Adam had made sure to explain how much a measure of absolute last resort it truly was. He made us swear we'd never go down that path unless there was no other choice—and only if it meant we'd save the others by doing so."
I sagged back into the chair, my muscles suddenly unable to support my weight. This wasn't a story of what had been and what could happen. This was now. Last resort. This meant that Adam really thought he was dying ... the real thing.
"Fuck.” The word barely had any sound as it left my mouth.
Tucker crouched down next to me and patted my knee. He looked over at Niko, who was staring out the window again.
"You don't hold out much hope, do you?” Tucker's voice was barely louder than mine.
Niko came over to us, his movements slow and painful. The normally energetic vampire was walking like a human man of ninety. I couldn't look at him. As he reached us, he crouched down next to Tucker and took Tucker's free hand between his own, the slender pale digits a marked contrast to my brother's sturdy ones. The two of them were so different and yet so alike. The tall, slender, nearly ethereally pale redhead seemed no match for the taller, more muscular darker-skinned Viking whose own hair had been compared to a fierce flame. At heart, they were both predator, both comfortable in their nature, their being. Adam, for all his lordly elegance, tried to avoid what came naturally. As for me, there was no telling.
"I'm his second,” Niko said, “Effectively, Adam's heir. I have no interest in running the tribe. I don't want him to die. I'm afraid I don't hold out much hope right now. The one way I know for sure to bring him back is the one way he'd never allow."
"Is he going to get any worse?” I had to know.
"I doubt it,” he said. “At least, I don't think so. I know this can be done for several days without any damage. After that, I don't know. All I know is folktale and legend."
"Damage?” I didn't understand.
"Revenant.” Tucker was about as blunt as he could get. Evidently, he was quicker on the uptake here than I was.
"Isn't there anyone who can help? Some sort of vampire council or healers?"
Niko looked down at the floor again, a habit that I knew too well. It was my own method of not wanting to answer. “We have no council, no ruling body. Each tribe is separate, self-sufficient. There is no one who can know. If we ask for help, if we let it be known he's out of commission.... “He let the words trail off.
I didn't really need for him to draw me the whole picture. I was slower than Tucker, but I was finally getting with the program. If the other vampire tribes knew of this weakness, they could attempt a hostile takeover ... and in the vampire world, I was guessing that this wasn't done with mergers, acquisitions and three-piece suits.
"So we wait?” I wasn't happy with the answer that kept cropping up but, really, what choice did we have? What was I going to do? Find some poor illegal alien and feed him to the comatose vampire? Even if I'd been that cruel, I knew any chance of Adam sticking around after that would be nil.
A thought occurred to me—Ignacio's missing brother. No, it couldn't be that, no way. Adam kept strict control over his vampires, especially now, after what happened last October. There was a greater chance of Texans electing another woman Democrat for governor than for one of Adam's group to be taking human lives. There was another possibility, though.
"Niko, is there any way outside vampires could be in the area? Not specifically at the Wild Moon, I mean in Rio Seco County."
"I'm sorry?” I could see the puzzlement in his face. He wasn't following my non-non sequitur.
"Alex Robles.” My brother, on the other hand, had plenty of practice with my thought paths.
"Exactly,” I said. “What if—"
"Hold that thought,” Niko stood from his crouch. “I see what you're getting at but, believe me, even if Adam might not know, I'd know ... and if I know, Adam knows. We keep a tight perimeter here. If there were any others in the area, we'd know."
"You're sure."
"Positive.” The normal confident, if not cocky, expression was once again in place. I'd given Niko something to think about other than Adam.
"Okay, then,” I said as I stood. “Then that's a place to start."
"Start what?"
"Looking for answers."
I didn't know exactly what we were offering or where we were going or even what the hell we were going to do, but I couldn't sit around and bemoan the fact of Adam's coma. No matter how much I wanted to change it, right now, there was nothing I could do to alter the fact. Short of finding some voluntary sacrifice—and I was so not going there—we'd have to leave things as they were for now and hope that Isabel would get one of the many messages I had left and planned to leave.
In the meantime, the three of us could get off our respective asses and get to work. Niko had a ranch to run and vampires to interrogate and maybe figure out a way to get Adam out of this predicament. My brother and I would continue doing what we were doing: looking for Alex Robles or some knowledge of what happened to him after Jolene dropped him off. We'd take the daytime, Niko, the nights. Something was bound to turn up. Something had to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I went to stand by the stairway leading downstairs to the master bedroom. Everything inside me screamed to go down there, to do the inevitable and open a vein. I was fairly sure I could get him to stop ... maybe. At least it was something, some sort of action, not this hand-waving and angst-ridden discussion we'd been having.
"Keira...” Tucker warned.
"I'm not going down there,” I said, staying right where I was. “But..."
"I know. But I can't risk you."
"I know."
Behind me, Tucker and Niko whispered together. I stole a quick look at them, sitting close, sides touching, heads bent together. Tucker had both of Niko's hands in his. I couldn't help but envy them their closeness. Tucker raised a hand and stroked Niko's cheek, his thumb wiping away a tear. I turned away, my own tears threatening to fall unchecked.
This was not how this was supposed to go. When I'd taken up with Adam, such a damned short time ago, I'd been so free, so happy. In England, we'd been flirting, not even friends, really, just occasional acquaintances who'd see each other at various evening events. We'd never even gone out together. And then he'd had the audacity to fall in love with me, come to Texas to woo me and win me and I was won. Big time. And now, this.
Finally,
someone like me, who wasn't all about dark magick, who wasn't human and who wanted me for myself and not for what I could do for him ... or her. So many of my previous liaisons with cousins had been about games—and not the fun kind. I hated games. I guess I'd been a little stupid not to realize that games could be played outside the clan. Why on earth had he decided taking blood would offend me? I closed my eyes, letting my shields down a little, reaching for Adam again. I couldn't help it. I wanted to reassure myself that in the time we'd been upstairs, he hadn't actually expired. I reached, my awareness sliding down into the bedroom, over to Adam. The same deathly stillness floated at the center of the room, a negative place in the overall energy of the—Wait. What was that? I concentrated harder. In the back of the room, a shimmer, like seeing something out of the corner of your eye. I lessened my shields even more, and there it was again. I reached for it, it wavered and was gone with a pop.
With a rush, I came back to myself. I whirled away from the stairs and promptly sank to my knees.
"Keira!” Tucker and Niko helped me up. “You okay?” My brother put an arm around my waist and walked me over to the couch.
"Wow, yeah, okay, but...” I turned to Niko, who was hovering over me, concerned. “Was Adam ever at that old graveyard at the edge of the property?"
"Graveyard?” Niko seemed puzzled.
"The place I told you about earlier, when I first got back tonight,” Tucker said.
"Oh yes, that's right. Why?"
"Has Adam been there?” I repeated.
"I told Tucker I saw it when we first bought the land a couple of years ago. I could tell it wasn't active, so I haven't been back to that area in a while. As far as I know, Adam would have no cause to go out there."
"What is it, Keira?” Tucker asked.
"I tried to feel Adam again,” I began.
Tucker warned, “Keira..."
I waved a hand. “I know, dumb, but I needed to make sure he hadn't ... Anyhow, I felt something down there. Like a shimmer. When I reached for it, it vanished with a pop, exactly like in the cemetery earlier.” I looked at Niko, who'd sat in one of the armchairs. “Tucker and I think this might be a ward or perhaps some sort of energy field left by one of our clan when we were here. Whatever it is, I think we should check it out."
"First, sister mine, before we go haring off again and get whammied by that energy field, I think we should try Isabel again and, if we don't get her, then call Dad.
"Okay, you've got a point."
"Of course.” Tucker smiled. “Look, Niko and I will go downstairs and check on Adam, make sure he's comfortable. You call. We'll be back in a minute."
I took the hint. He probably wanted a little private time with Niko. Fine, I could deal with that. After all, Adam's coma affected more people than me.
Isabel's voice mail picked up after four rings. Once again, I left a message, providing enough cryptic information I hoped she'd figure out this was urgent. As soon as I hung up, I dialed Dad.
"Keira, sweetheart, so good to hear from you, despite the time.” His quiet baritone made me smile despite myself.
"Hi, Dad, ditto,” I said. “And sorry about the late hour.” Unlike me, my dad kept fairly normal daylight hours. “I'd love to chat, but we're in a bit of a pickle here and need some information."
"Shoot."
I gave him the quick rundown, from what happened earlier, Adam's coma and the energy downstairs. “Do you know if anyone left a warding behind or if we set one on purpose?"
"Hmm, doesn't ring a bell,” he said. I could picture him stroking his chin as he thought. My father, bless him, could have easily passed as an absent-minded professor, sans the requisite horn-rimmed glasses. I adored him, but his attention to magick and the doings of the clan often seemed to take secondary place to his interest in science and nature. “I remember going up that far a few times during hunting, but that was when we first came to Rio Seco. ‘Bout a hundred years or so ago? Place was still in use then, so I had to be careful. Avoided it pretty much ever since."
I sighed in disappointment. If my dad avoided it, it was likely others did, too. Gigi may be the titular head and our matriarch, but in matters of the mundane and day-to-day, my dad ruled the Kelly roost—at least our branch of the family. Gigi's business rarely extended to such small things.
"Hang on a second, sweetheart, your brother's here. He may know.” Dad dropped the phone onto a table. (I could hear the thunk.) A moment later, someone picked it up.
"Hey, gorgeous, what's up?"
"Rhys,” I said. “Hey there. Did Dad tell you why I called?"
"He did and, yeah, I remember that place. Ianto and I used to run around there all the time, in between burials—especially after it got abandoned. Lots of deer up roaming around there. Gigi found out about it and put a stop to it. I can't remember exactly when, but I think you'd just come to live with us. Then, a few months later, she said we could keep hunting there if we'd erect the statue."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"The angel statue. Gigi ordered it carved and Ianto and I had to go put it up."
"Whatever for?"
"Hell if I know. I imagine she wanted to keep people from going there and getting into the cave. I know you used to clean graves there as a kid, didn't you ever wonder why the angel had no name carved into the base?"
"I did,” I admitted. “I never actually asked about it. So there's a cave?"
"Yeah, behind the angel. I don't really know why she wanted the entrance hidden, but you know Gigi."
Yeah, I knew Gigi. And I was pretty damned sure she didn't have the twins put up a statue for the hell of it, not even to hide a cave entrance. Gigi wouldn't have been worried about attractive nuisances or other liability issues, especially on land she didn't own.
"Did you ward it?” I asked my brother.
"Me? No. I'm not good with that kind of thing. I don't remember if anyone else did. We put the statue in place, helped plant some trees and that was it on our end."
"Rhys, look, this is really important,” I said. “I don't want to into all the details right now, but who around there would know? Who can you ask?"
"Sorry, Keira, but no one else is around,” he said.
"What do you mean?"
"They've all gone to Vancouver with Gigi for a big holiday prep meeting with some of our B.C. cousins. Gigi says this Beltaine will be extra special so she wants to do it up in a big way. Honestly, when Dad said you were on the phone, I thought that's why you were calling, to make arrangements for you and Tucker to come home, since it's less than two months out."
"Sorry, hon,” I said. “I'd really forgotten how close it was.” And I had absolutely no intention of celebrating it with clan, matter whatever the reason my double great granny thought it was so special. “How come you're not in Vancouver, then?"
"Dad and I stayed here because we're meeting with one of the area game wardens in the morning. He's one of our cousins and we need to arrange hunting privileges for visitors during the feast. You know how long all this negotiating takes. Look, I need to run, but I promise I'll ask around about the wards. I'll call you on your cell if I find out anything, ‘k?"
"Thank, Rhys."
"Okay, simple,” I said after Tucker and Niko came back upstairs and I'd filled them in. “We go to the cemetery. Niko, you can have Lance and a couple of the others sit with Adam."
Niko grimaced and crossed his arms. “Can't,” he mutters.
"I'm sorry—what? Why the bloody hell won't you?"
"I'm sorry right back,” he said. “But it's not won't, it's can't. It's a cemetery, right? Even though it's not active, it's still used as one? We can't cross onto the grounds."
"Holy ground,” Tucker answered. “I get it."
I shook my head. “I don't. Niko, you told me last year that the whole ‘holy object’ thing with vampires isn't true. That you're as religious as you were when you were human."
"We are,” Niko said. “It's not that it's holy, it's consecr
ated. Cemeteries are specifically consecrated against us. It's not a religion thing so much as part of ritual. It's hard to explain, but most orders of service to consecrate a burial ground contain language that effectively keeps us out. Statements like ‘set apart from all profane use'—we'd be the profane."
"That doesn't make sense. Why that and not a blessed cross or a church?"
Niko shrugged. “How would I know? I mean, why do we walk and talk and have sex and live our lives, but we're actually not alive? I'm not a scientist. I simply know that I can't enter consecrated grounds."
"Well, damn it,” I said. “This is going to put a crimp in my plans."
"I have an idea,” Tucker broke in. “Niko, directly behind and above La Angel is a outcropping, kind of an overhang. The entire place kind of sits in this little bowl of land. Would the consecration extend to the land surrounding it, or to the cemetery proper?"
Niko looked thoughtful. “Usually, it's the cemetery land itself. As with any spell or ward, there must be a boundary."
"There's a small iron fence surrounding the graves,” Tucker said. “I bet that was the boundary. I bet if you go up onto the overhang, you can get close."
"Did you say ‘spell or ward’ in regards to the consecration?” I asked. “Could that have been it? A ward cast by those consecrating the cemetery that affected Tucker, me and somehow, Adam, since he owned the surrounding land? Could it be that easy?” It was an exhilarating thought. If Adam was affected by that, by Tucker and me blundering across the ward and triggering it, then he wasn't actually in a self-induced coma after all, and fixing it was a matter of removing the ward. And that, once I got family involved, was a piece of cake.
Tucker burst my shiny bubble. “I doubt it. We didn't encounter anything until we were actually at the Angel and I tried magick. Don't forget, you went in and out of there plenty as a kid, per Gigi's direction. Even if she had warded it, it's unlikely the wards would affect Kellys ... and in turn, Adam."