Grave Expectations (Jess Vandermire, Vampire Hunter Book 4)
Page 26
Britt gripped the edge of his seat to stop himself from following. Regent needed some time alone with the sister he’d saved and protected his whole life.
“What happens now?” Fisk asked, still greedily eying the sword.
Uriel smiled in a calming way. “The sword has returned to me. I’m afraid you will have to make do without it.”
Fisk paled and sat quietly on the bar stool next to it. Britt wondered if he was considering a snatch and run. He looked desperate enough.
Suddenly, Regent shouted from down the hall. He tore into the living room breathing hard, his cheeks flushed. “Britt! Get down here, fast.”
Britt flew from his seat and bolted to Jess’s room. What the hell? Had someone gotten to her body? They’d been right here. Surely, it wasn’t possible.
Inside her room, it was nearly pitch black. In the daytime, her windows were impenetrable with only a tiny red nightlight to illuminate her features. Britt reached out and switched on the light. He’d spent enough time here to know where the switches were. To know Jess in every way. She’d been loving and tender, even though she thought she was evil. His heart ached as if it were truly fractured. Pain seared through him anew, when he looked at her flawless beauty.
He touched her hand, then reluctantly let it go. What the hell had Regent been doing bringing them down here? Nothing had changed. She was still dead.
He expelled an angry breath. Not at Regent, but at himself. He’d failed her. He should have protected her.
“I don’t think she’s gone,” Regent said, his voice wobbling.
“I’m afraid she is gone, my friend.” Britt didn’t want Regent to get his hopes up.
Uriel stood outside the door. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Certainly,” Regent said, stepping aside for the man, who now glowed with angelic presence.
Uriel approached Jess on the bed. His expression was serene, if not a little sad. “I had hoped she would regenerate.”
“Thank you, Uriel,” Regent said with a sob. “But even Jess would forgive you for not being able to bring her back. She gave her life willingly, and for the right reasons. Through her unselfish act in saving you, I have to believe that wherever she is, she has regained her humanity. Hopefully, God will take her into his realm.”
Britt slumped onto the bed at Jess’s feet—hearing Uriel’s last statement was like another punch to the gut. Jess was dead. If everyone wasn’t here staring at her, he would have grabbed her up and never let her go. He’d lost the only woman he’d ever loved. Would ever love. But he had to stay strong for her brother.
Uriel cleared his throat. He leaned down and monitored Jess’s facial features. “She’s stunning,” he said. “Like marble. Beautifully carved marble.”
“I need her back,” Britt said finally, in a voice so hoarse, he could hardly get the words out. “I refuse to give up. Sampson, there must be something at the lab you can use. Get those damned vampire scrolls. Is there a resurrection text?”
Sampson’s eyes took on a glaze of shock. “No, Britt. She wouldn’t want to come back like that. Even if I could find such a text, I don’t think she’d be the person you’d want to return.”
Uriel held up his hands and Britt’s urgent plea melted away. They stared at the man—if he was a man. Britt swallowed. Was he really somehow related to this angel? Was he really the progeny of a Fallen one? If he was, he should have been able to save Jess, not just vaporize vampires. His gifts were wrong. They’d failed him.
“Father, I didn’t say anything earlier because I wasn’t certain, but I believe you are right about your sister. You have amazing abilities when it comes this woman. I do detect a spark of life force buried deep inside her daytime vampire stasis.”
Britt’s knees nearly gave out and he dropped to the edge of the bed again. “Jess! Jess! Come back to us.”
SOMEHOW, FROM her deepest death sleep, Jess heard Britt call her name. She clawed her way to the surface and broke through her mind-numbing slumber. Her body was frozen, but her mind regenerated. She opened her eyes. “Britt?”
“How is this possible?” Fisk asked. He’d slipped in behind Uriel.
Britt looked at Fisk. “I thought you’d make a dash to escape with the sword. Maybe there’s hope for you after all.”
“Maybe,” Fisk said, as if he hadn’t known he’d had that kind of strength either.
Jess looked at each of the men standing around her bed. She smiled at Regent first, then frantically searched for Britt. Had they made it through the battle? Had he really called her name and pulled her out of the darkness?
Britt pulled her still partially paralyzed body into his arms. “Jess. I thought I’d lost you. I thought I’d killed you.”
“How is it possible she’s awake in the daytime?” Fisk asked.
“Through prayer, my son. She’s always been able to go out in the daylight with a regime of prayers,” Regent said, his voice humming with excitement.
Jess felt Britt’s lips on hers and wished she could wrap her arms around him. If only he’d give her a minute to work on waking her body. “I’m okay. I’ll be able to move soon.”
A couple of minutes later, she sat up. “What happened? Did you kill the vampire?”
“I’m right here,” Uriel said in his melodic, soothing voice.
She looked at the man and smiled. “Zeke? It was you?” She turned to Regent. “I told you I saw him at Britt’s funeral.”
“It was really him?” Regent asked. “I’ve been a priest my whole life, and you’re out there talking to angels. Why am I not surprised, my love?” Her brother chuckled.
Shock crossed her face. “A what?”
“It’s true, Jess. I am a Grigoroi. The last of my …” Uriel turned his attention to Fisk and Britt. “One of the last of my kind. It seems we’re making a bit of a comeback. And with Britt and Fisk’s help, we might find out if there are more of us hiding in plain sight.”
“Let’s go to the living room,” she said, getting off the bed and allowing Britt to continue to hold her hand. Apparently, he didn’t want to let go, and that was just fine with her.
“Before we leave your bedroom, may I speak to you and Father Vandermire in private?” Uriel asked Jess.
“Anything you say can be said in front of Britt …” she answered.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. This is something for your ears only.”
She frowned and started to object again, but Britt let go of her fingers. “I’ll wait outside, my love. As long as you’re okay, everything else is fine with me.” He grinned at her.
Jess watched the men leave.
Uriel walked over and closed the door. “I am very impressed with the two of you,” he said. “Father Vandermire, for having faith strong enough to help others through the scourge that is vampirism. Not many humans could accomplish so much. And Jess, may I call you Jess?”
She nodded.
“You, my child, are one of a kind. You aren’t just a vampire, you’re an amazing soul in a vampire’s castings. You may be the only person on the planet capable of saving mankind from vampires. It is a gift I believe you’ve been given from above. You are special, Jess. Very, very special. And you must continue your quest. But, there’s something you must do for me.” His blue eyes implored her.
“If I can, of course I will.”
“You must not tell John Brittain that you can never become human. Ever.”
Jess felt her gut react, and she reached out in panic for her brother. “Oh, no. You mean there’s no hope for me?”
“You can handle this news, and so can your brother, because you have become a vampire in order to accomplish your good works. I now understand that you’ve been chosen as a guard, just as I was, at the gates of the Garden of Eden. Only, you must guard humanity from vampirism. It’s His way. He seeks out the righteous, but the path to success is always fraught with dangers. And even though you’re being tasked to accomplish this difficult job, you c
an fail and lose yourself, just as I did. This is not a gift most people would want. We are not saints. We are warriors.”
Jess nodded. She understood. She’d been a warrior from the moment she awoke as a vampire, and now she needed to believe in herself. She’d left that challenge to Regent and Britt, but not any longer.
“But why can’t Britt know? He’s one of you, isn’t he?”
Uriel lowered his head for a moment. He considered his words. “Britt needs to believe that he can help you to become human again. It’s in his DNA. He won’t understand that being a vampire is a gift for you. For the world. Because he loves you beyond this world. You are his life and his soul. He will always try to save you and that will keep him strong.” Uriel looked heavenward. “And who knows? Maybe someday, he’ll succeed. But, Jess, don’t get your hopes up,” he said. “The odds aren’t in your favor.”
“I have to admit it’s hard for me to take, as well,” Regent said, reaching out a hand and grasping Jess’s fingers in his.
“I know, but you can handle it. Britt, on the other hand, might not have the strength to accept his new role as a Grigoroi if he isn’t fighting for your humanity, Jess Vandermire. He might not understand exactly what you’ve been given.”
Jess swallowed. “I see.”
Uriel tipped his head and headed for the door. “You will in time. Everything will make sense to you. You’ve done amazing things. Britt couldn’t have returned three vampires to humanity without his undying love for you. He needs a reason to fight. Otherwise, he’ll take the road safest for you.”
“And, I him,” she said.
“Then you will keep the secret from him?”
“We will,” she said, and squeezed Regent’s hand. Regent nodded in agreement.
They went back to the living room, but Jess felt like she’d swallowed a bitter pill and it was stuck in her esophagus. She’d always be a vampire. She’d have to come to terms with that thought, too.
“I must go now,” Uriel said picking up the sword and holding it sheathed against his side. It clicked somehow and stayed there.
Britt jumped to his feet. “But what about Fisk and me? Won’t you tell us more about what we are? How we can control our … abilities?”
Uriel shook his head. “No. You must make your own way. I think Brother Dom told you that.” He glanced at Jess. “But I have the feeling you know what you must do now that you’ve both been given a second chance.”
Britt nodded and smiled at Jess. “Always.”
“What about me? I’m screwed six ways to Sunday with the vampires at the Lumination Building. I can’t control them without the blade.”
Uriel nodded as if he understood. “I’m afraid you’ve misused your abilities, Mr. Fisk, and you’re going to have to decide which side of the light you want to be on. Whichever way you decide, I think you’d better leave town for a while.”
“But vampires have an impressive reach.”
“I have an idea how we can help you,” Britt said.
Uriel looked pleased. “You are already taking up the task I’d hoped you would, Britt. Someday, maybe, you and I will be able to talk. But, not now.” He went to the door and opened it, then looked back. “Oh, and by the way, your light of power can never hurt anyone you love. Even if Jess didn’t already have abilities that can deflect your light, you wouldn’t hurt her.” He winked and left.
Jess’s insides jumped and she smiled at Britt. “Oh, my darling. We’re back to our lives the way they were before.”
“You mean as kick-ass vampire hunters?” he asked.
“That too,” she said and gave him a sexy little grin.
The End
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Lina Gardiner, award-winning author of the Jess Vandermire, Vampire Hunter Series, has writing in her blood. Her books have been well received by such reviewers as Kirkus Reviews and USA Today’s HEA blog, including a 4.5-star rating from RT Book Reviews and a nomination for a Romantic Times Reader’s Choice Award. On the home front, Lina lives in New Brunswick, Canada, a hot spot for legendary ghosts, tall tales and odd happenings, which probably add to her love of a good mystery. The spooky stories her grandfather told his grandchildren in the “parlor” when their grandmother wasn’t paying attention didn’t hurt either… .