Triton beat me to the shack, but I could tell he hadn’t spilled the Lynn bean the moment I joined the confab gathered at the coffee table. The warning glance he sent me as I sat on the floor at Saber’s feet said it all.
I won’t tattle, I projected at Triton, but you better fess up soon.
Don’t get your fangs in a bunch.
I rolled my eyes then jumped when Cosmil slapped the coffee table.
“Francesca, are you listening?”
Yikes, the reprimand reminded me of Mr. Genopoly, the first schoolmaster in St. Augustine. I hadn’t lied then and didn’t now.
“Actually, no, I wasn’t. Sorry.”
Saber squeezed my shoulder and winked when I looked up.
Cosmil puffed an exasperated breath and pulled on the sleeves of his wizard robe. Yes, he wore his uniform of white tunic and pants, but also sported a purple robe tonight. Lia was similarly dressed, but in what looked like light blue scrubs and a green sorceress robe.
“We will begin,” Cosmil said pointedly, “by evaluating your individual skills. After that, we will teach you an energy exercise to deepen your collective connection. Francesca, you will go with Lia, and I will coach the men.”
“We’re not working with the amulets?” I asked.
“Not tonight,” Lia said. “Come along.”
“No.” I folded my arms on the coffee table. “I’d like some answers first.”
Behind me, Saber snorted. Across from me, Triton shifted in his seat.
Guilty conscience? I projected at him.
No.
Hah.
Lia looked from one to the other of us, genuine puzzlement on her face. “What answers do you seek?” she asked.
“For starters, did you find Starrack?.”
“Only two faint traces of him, and we estimate those are five to seven days old. It is apparent that the goblet is contaminated with other DNA. But come. I will demonstrate.”
Saber and I bolted in Lia’s wake as she crossed to the island, with Triton and Cosmil bringing up the rear.
“As you see, we’re using three maps. A detailed map of St. Augustine,” she said, pointing, “an area map of nearby counties and cities, and a world map. Simply put, we sprinkled a luminescent powder over the maps, added scraping from the wine goblet, and pushed our intention to find the DNA owner into the spell. The glowing green points indicate hits.”
I squinted at the city and area maps, each smudged with a single, barely-there glow. In contrast, bright dots on one section of the world map looked like an outbreak of green measles.
“I take it,” Saber said, “you don’t think Starrack is touring Western Europe.”
“Just one or more nymphs or other guests who used Starrack’s goblet. But look here and here.” She waved a hand, and the two local maps slowly magnified. “We are certain Starrack has been in these locations.”
“Daytona Beach,” I murmured to Saber. “You think he was hanging out near Ray and the crew?”
“It’s this King Street at US 1 hit that bothers me,” Saber said. “That intersection is a just a few miles from your cottage.”
“And not much farther,” Triton piped up, “from my place.”
“We don’t yet know,” Lia continued, “if our poor results are due to the diluted DNA, to time lapsing, or to the strong possibility Starrack is deliberately covering his tracks.”
“Why would he be covering his tracks?” I asked. “Does he know we’re looking for him?”
“If he has contacts on the Council, yes,” Cosmil replied. “I mentioned in my report that the Void needs to be found and destroyed.”
“Does Starrack know where you live, Cos?” Triton asked.
“And know Lia is here now, too?” I added.
“I do not know for certain, but we must presume he is aware on both counts.”
“Which is why Cosmil and I began casting protection spells over each of you today. We will tweak the location spell later tonight, but you must understand that the magick doesn’t give us real-time readings like a GPS tracker does. When Starrack is stationary for thirty minutes, the map flares to light his location and an alarm sounds.”
“And then you call us,” Saber said. “Day or night.”
“But of course.”
“What about other information on Starrack?” I asked. “His appearance, his personality.”
Lia stiffened so subtly that, had I not been standing beside here, I wouldn’t have noticed. I did catch the glance Cosmil gave her, though. One that spoke of shared history, shared secrets. Secrets that better not have squat to do with our search.
“When I knew Starrack, he fluctuated between being a free-spirited, charming rogue and an arrogant, devious SOB. He was more a wanderer than a man of home and hearth, and more a trickster than a fighter.”
“We think he’s behind the attack on Triton,” Saber said, “but why would he want the amulets?”
“Because they can destroy the Void, I suppose,” Lia replied. “He’d want to protect his creation. However, the amulets are also valuable artifacts, so perhaps he would sell them. Starrack was never easy to read, or to predict.”
“What does he look like, Lia? Cosmil said there is a family resemblance, but I could see this guy on a ghost tour and not know him. Maybe he was even in Triton’s store, casing the place.”
“Starrack and Cosmil looked a good deal alike when they were younger, but Starrack’s proclivity for spirits and general debauchery aged him rather severely in the last years I knew him.”
“Hold on,” Saber said. “Starrack drinks a lot?”
“He had that reputation.”
“He’s a boozer, yet he came up with the Void? Doesn’t that strike anyone but me as odd?”
“Not necessarily,” Triton put in. “Several men that history considers geniuses have been giant lushes or addicts. Poe, Hemingway, Fitzgerald.”
“I wouldn’t call Starrack a genius,” Lia said, “but he has a highenough tolerance for alcohol to make him quite functional.”
“Functional enough to create and control the Void,” Cosmil agreed.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Saber said. “What else can you tell us about his appearance? Does he use spells to change his looks?”
“If so, he made only minor changes. Much the way Cosmil does.”
Triton crossed his legs, ankle on his knee. “Too bad you can’t conjure up a photo so we can see him.”
“Such an image would be an old one from my memory, but I was rather a dab hand at sketching once. Perhaps I can draw a portrait that will project an aged Starrack. Would that do?”
“It’s better than operating blind like we are now,” I said.
“Very well, I will work on a sketch. Now, we really must proceed with your evaluations.”
Our tutors led the way, and Triton hustled after them. Saber helped me to my feet and gave me a hug. “Way to beard the lioness, honey.”
“You helped.”
He grinned. “Always.”
“Cesca, Saber, now,” Lia called.
We complied, Saber peeling off to join Triton and Cosmil, me following Lia to the far arc of the circle of trees.
“All right, Cesca, Cosmil tells me you are a master at draining life force energy, and that is excellent. But before I begin formally evaluating your other skills, a woman-to-woman talk is in order.”
My hackles rose. “I’ve had the sex talk, Lia. I think I’ll pass.”
“No you will not. Sit.”
Much as I wanted to rebel, I reluctantly dropped to the grass.
“Cosmil has sensed you fear your power, and I sense that fear stems from ignorance.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Cesca, listen to me. When a woman claims her sexuality, when intimacy is her choice rather than being coerced or outright forced, she claims a great fullness of her feminine power. In most cases, this relates to her body’s reproductive power. You being a vampire, that issue is moot, but the power is v
ery real, and it is potent.”
“I know. I’m much better at flirting now.”
“Cesca.” She gave me an exasperated look then narrowed her eyes. “Normand didn’t allow a single male to touch you, correct?”
I squirmed. “He kept me fairly isolated.”
“Of course he did. Normand did not want you to come into your full powers until he deemed it time. He might have lost command of his own court.”
I snorted. “Not likely.”
“Perhaps not, but that was his fear. Legrand, the vampire killed in the Veil, inherited many of his sire’s powers and ultimately challenged Normand.”
“So Normand lost and hightailed it to the New World?”
“He did not lose. He left Legrand at the mercy of his loyal followers and brought those who sided with Legrand to America.”
“Huh.” No wonder there had been such an odd vibe in the nest. I thought the other vamps had resented me because Normand had proclaimed me his daughter and princess of his realm. Seems they’d hated Normand long before that.
“So you understand now,” Lia was saying. “Your powers—all of them—are natural and normal.”
Sure, yeah, whatever, crossed my mind, but I wasn’t rude enough to speak the words aloud. Lia might be right about the natural and normal part, but I didn’t trust that embracing my powers wouldn’t destroy my soul.
“Up with you now, so I may assess your skills. First, I want you to fly over the cabin and back to me.”
“All right, but I have a little vertigo.”
“Then don’t look down.”
Easy for her to say. Sure I’d flown higher and farther, but not by much and not with an audience grading my performance. Still, off I went. I completed the circle and subsequently flew to the main road, but I looked down on the return run and dizziness hit. I lost altitude, coming in low over the trees. Lia made a moue of disappointment.
“You’ll need to work on distance flying,” she said, and I psychically saw her make a check minus on her mental list.
Her brows arched in surprise. “You read my thought?”
I shrugged. “An image that clear is hard to miss.”
“Only because you wanted a peek at your report card.”
“Okay, I’m busted. I wanted to know your opinion, so I looked.”
She gave a sharp nod. “Good, we can build on that. Now we’ll test your other vampire skills.”
For the next half an hour, Lia tested my vamp speed, sight, hearing, and sense of smell. I did wind sprints fast enough to make a running back weep with envy, spotted a bird’s nest through twenty feet of overgrown woodland, and heard a raccoon foraging from seventy feet away.
I tracked the animal by her scent with Lia trotting at my heels. I swear the limbs seemed to move out of her way, because her robe didn’t snag on a single twig. When the raccoon stopped, backing her hindquarters into a fallen pine tree near a stream, Lia soothed the agitated female coon with a word.
The next trial, though, was a stumper.
“All right,” she said in hushed tones. “The creature is calm now. Your turn to enthrall her.”
“Um, Lia, I don’t think that works on animals,” I whispered back.
“Of course it does. Did King Normand not teach you?”
“I must’ve skipped that class.”
“How is your ability to enthrall humans?”
“It sucks. I laugh every time I try it.”
She held my gaze. “You never saw enthrallment used for good, did you?”
I snorted softly. “In a nest of vampires? Not even close.”
“Then I take it Normand only demonstrated the death gaze.”
I gaped. “That’s a real thing?”
“I fear so. Legrand excelled at it. He even used it on other vampires.”
“Well, we can skip right over that trick.”
“No, we cannot. The death gaze is an extreme version of enthrallment and is related to your ability to drain life force. You need to know how to enthrall in order to send energy as well as take it. Now, when I lift my calm spell from the little mother, I want you to will the raccoon to be easy again. Ready?”
“Wait, no. She’s a mother?”
“Her kits are nearly six months old. Listen to them in the log.”
I tuned in and heard the scratching of claws.
“Lia, I’m not messing with a mother. Find me another animal or move on to the next test.”
“No, you need to prove to yourself that you won’t injure the creature. Think becalming instead enthralling. Now squat on your haunches, look at her, and assure her she and the kits are safe.”
I followed orders, and to my shock, I connected with the coon’s confusion and fear. She paced at the opening of the den, the instinct to protect her family strong. I sent her gentle thoughts, mentally told her that she was a wonderful mother with beautiful children and that I meant no harm. As I crooned to her in my head, she ceased pacing, stood on her hind legs, and made eye contact. A moment later she shambled away to hunt.
I rose slowly, in awe.
“There, now you understand. You did not compel her to leave her den, you only helped her understand it was safe to go about her business. You must remember that distinction. Manipulation isn’t necessarily destructive.”
“Sit in a circle on the grass,” Cosmil instructed a short time later. “Get close enough to comfortably hold hands. Left hand up, right hand down.”
Surrounded by four white candles in tall jars, Saber, Triton, and I folded to the ground cross-legged then closed ranks until our knees almost touched. We clasped hands, Triton on my left, Saber on my right, and looked up at Cosmil for further direction.
“The point of this exercise is to connect by channeling energy. You will be tuning into each other, so to speak.”
“This will help us fight the Void how?” I asked.
“If one of you is weakened, the others will quickly be able to transmit an energy boost.”
“Once learned,” Lia added from where she stood opposite Cosmil, “the technique will work even if you’re separated. You’ll also be able to locate each other through your energy, but you must practice until you can create a vortex.”
“Correct.” Cosmil turned to Saber. “You are neither shifter nor vampire, but you carry the mark of both. You are the balance between Triton and Francesca, so you will start the flow for the first session.”
“What do I do?”
“Fill yourself with a thought or an emotion that brings you joy. Hold that energy until you feel its pressure. When you’re ready, imagine turning on a water spigot. Let the energy flow through your right hand into Triton’s left. Triton and Cesca, picture yourself as pipelines and let the energy pass through you and back to Saber.”
Sounded easy enough. I relaxed my shoulders, closed my eyes, and wondered if I’d know the energy when I felt it.
Less than a minute later, I sensed the first trickle of the warmth I associate with Saber pass from Triton to me. I kept the pipe analogy in mind and felt the fingers of my right hand tingle as the energy moved back to Saber. Then, the tickles and tingles came faster, flowing up one arm, through my chest, and out of the opposite hand until I thought I might float away.
“Excellent,” I heard Cosmil say. “Now do not break your handclasps. Saber, imagine slowly turning off the spigot and dial down your flow of energy the same way.”
The tickles and tingles gradually stopped.
I opened my eyes when Triton freed his hands and wiped them on his jeans. Cosmil and Lia beamed their approval.
“Fine job, Saber. You have done this before?”
“I did similar exercises when I studied Eastern and Western disciplines to improve my skills as a slayer.”
“Your studies serve you well.” Cosmil pointed at me. “All right, Francesca, your turn.”
I held hands with the guys, closed my eyes, and pictured surfing. Catching a wave, flying across its face, and being rocked by the sea whe
n I paddled out again.
The smells and sounds and splashes of the ocean enveloped me so much, that I almost missed Cosmil’s signal to ease up and stop.
Saber gave my hand a warm squeeze. “If that’s what surfing is like, maybe I’ll learn.”
“You saw what I pictured?”
He nodded. “Did you see the image, too, Triton?”
“Yeah.”
Even Cosmil blinked at the terse reply. “Is something amiss, Triton?”
“I’m fine. Just tired. Can we get on with this?”
I narrowed my eyes at him but only read a jigsaw puzzle jumble of pictures.
Until we all reclasped hands. In seconds, a rogue wave of ecstasy rolled through my body, and so did a slideshow. One featured Triton in his dolphin form meeting Lynn in hers. Others depicted the pair racing and chasing and leaping from the water. Then the image switched to a man and silver-haired woman wearing only towels, falling onto a bed. I didn’t know if it was Triton’s bedroom or Lynn’s, but I wanted out of the vision before the towels came off.
I jerked my hand free of Triton’s.
“Geez, you couldn’t stop with the Flipper scene?” I snarled. “You had to go X-rated?”
“Francesca,” Cosmil snapped, “why did you break the flow?”
I turned to Saber. “Did you see pictures this time, too?”
“Leaping dolphins, and a woman with light hair.”
“It’s blond.” Triton pulled his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs. “Silver blond.”
Cosmil’s bushy gray eyebrows shot up, two gull wings of surprise. “It has happened, Triton? You have met a mate?”
We retired inside to the living area for Triton’s revelation. Cosmil and Lia shared the sofa, Saber took an armchair, and I leaned a hip against the stainless steel counter sipping water.
Okay, my body language screamed that I was divorcing myself from the group, but I wanted to watch their reactions.
Triton started his tale with the men who assaulted him, answered a few questions, and agreed to have a look at mug shots. He didn’t commit to a date, I noticed, but then Saber would have to contact Detective Bob March with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office to arrange a viewing. Good thing we had an in with law enforcement.
Always the Vampire Page 15