Always the Vampire

by Nancy Haddock

  Surprisingly, the young man thanked me with as much sincere warmth as the girl did. They went off toward the bay front, juggling their dinner and drinks. I hotfooted it to my truck, calling Saber to leave the message I was running behind.

  Time to pick up Lia’s things at Saber’s. Time to burn rubber to Cosmil’s shanty.

  Time to see if Lynn was the innocent our research indicated she just might be.

  SIXTEEN

  Saber waited on the porch as I climbed from my truck, my change of clothes slung over one arm, Lia’s things in a plastic Publix bag.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “You didn’t get my message, did you?”

  “Cosmil’s protective wards here must be interfering with our service. That or reception is iffy out here. What happened to hold you up?”

  “I bought a pizza and drinks for a homeless girl and her boyfriend.”

  He shook his head and hugged me. “Word will get around that you’re a soft touch.”

  “Maybe,” I said, holding him tightly, “but the girl got to me. She looked like I was her last hope for a meal. Speaking of girls, how is Lynn?”

  “Sleeping. I called Mrs. Tidwell with an update. I told her Lynn had a severe reaction to something she ate, but that she’ll be fine in a few days.”

  “Is Triton hovering over her?”

  “He’s in there watching her breathe.” Saber gave me a kiss and a pat on the butt. “Better get a move on. Cosmil is getting testy.”

  I entered the shanty to see Cosmil and Lia on the sofa quietly talking. Triton stood at the bedroom door.

  Lia glanced at me, then did a double take. Her brows rose in surprise, and her lips twitched. I held out the bag to forestall a comment.

  “Here are your clothes and pouches, Lia.”

  “Thank you. Now scoot on into the bathroom and change. I’ll be supervising the three of you tonight, and we have a great deal to do.”

  “Did you make that sketch of Starrack for us yet?”

  “I’ve begun, but not completed it. Healing work has taken most of my time.”

  “So your location spells haven’t panned out, either?”

  “No, and we feel like old dogs following a muddled scent.”

  “We surmise,” Cosmil added, “that Starrack is using a cloaking spell. He excelled at those, as I recall, and before you ask, Francesca, yes. We have added our own cloaking spells to the other protection we have cast on all of you.”

  I doubted the cloaking would help if Starrack already knew our physical addresses, as we suspected he did. But, hey, the more spells, the merrier.

  “Cosmil,” Saber said, “you told us you might have been able to track the Void to Starrack if the Veil hadn’t been closed.”

  “I did.”

  “Then what about using Void residue in your spell? The Void may not have typical DNA, but it must’ve left some foreign material on Legrand’s remains. Have the forensics lab rush a tissue sample to you.”

  A smile bloomed in Cosmil’s eyes, and Lia beamed.

  “Brilliant, Saber,” she praised. “Cosmil will make the call while we train.”

  As I squeezed past Triton on the way to change clothes, he barely glanced at me. Man, he did have it bad. Pandora, though, in her hefty-house-cat form, lifted her head to meow a greeting from the foot of the bed.

  When I was ready, my ponytail resecured, I stowed my costume in the truck and joined Lia, Saber, and Triton in the yard.

  “We’ll be running through several exercises tonight, then we’ll work with the amulets. We’ll start with telepathy, but you’ll be sending information via pictures rather than words.”

  She handed each of us a magazine and tiny flashlights like I’d see at the dollar store.

  “All right, pick any page and project it as a whole but with as many details as you can. Cesca will send first. Gentlemen, raise your hand when you first begin receiving an image, but don’t speak what you see until I ask.”

  I opened the decorating magazine to a kitchen-remodel photo and mentally sent the image. Saber and Triton raised their hands almost simultaneously and accurately describe the photo. Saber took the next turn, and his image of a meadow with a background of snowcapped mountains came to me a few moments before it did to Triton.

  “That’s to be expected, Triton. Cesca is more bonded to the two of you, than you men are to each other. Proceed.”

  Triton’s image of a shipwreck came, and I saw it first, but Saber mentally read the name of the ship in the photo legend.

  “Very good.” She clapped her hands, and the magazines and flashlights disappeared. “Now, you know that every living organism has an energy signature, down to each leaf of each tree. You recognize a rose by its shape, color, fragrance, yet every rose on a bush resonates with its own vibration.

  “Saber, sight is your most enhanced preternatural sense. Smell is yours, Cesca, and Triton has the sharpest hearing and the gift of echolocation even in his human form.”

  I snapped my gaze to his face. “You do?”

  “Cesca, attend me please. Using your unique talents and skills, your next task is to find Pandora.”

  “Do we spread out or stay together?” I asked.

  “Follow your instincts.”

  Triton found Pandora first. He blasted sound high and low in every direction, and let me tell you, it was freaky hearing him make dolphin sounds with a human head. Yes, the clicks and whistles were different from those he made in dolphin form, but they did the job.

  Pandora moved locations, of course. Saber spotted her on the high branch of an oak tree where she’d sat perfectly still. I tracked her scent to scrub brush.

  “Excellent. We’re moving right along,” Lia said. “Next you will locate Pandora only by her energy signature.”

  It was easy for Triton to simply not use his echolocation, and for Saber to close his eyes. Lia made me stuff rolled gauze doused in rosemary oil up my nostrils. I felt like an utter dork.

  The bad news, none of us found Pandora by her energy alone. The good news, the rosemary did wonders for my sinuses.

  At midnight, when the guys and I were dragging, Lia lectured us on stamina. “You must stay awake, alert, and aware. Enemies strike the hardest when you let down your guard. Here.”

  She passed the Mu amulet to me, the Atlantean one to Triton. The symbols immediately shone in my skin.

  “As you know, the amulets may be used to hurt or heal. Cosmil told me you all had a lesson in these properties before I arrived.”

  “Yeah, when Cesca blasted me across Cos’s living room. Do I get to return the favor?”

  “Triton,” Lia said repressively.

  He grinned, that schoolboy smile that used to spell mischief.

  “There are two trees about ten yards beyond your cars. Both are diseased, but one has a chance of thriving while the other does not. You will locate the trees using your enhanced senses then use the amulets to heal the one tree and kill the other. Come.”

  She led the way to the general area and set us loose. Within minutes, we found the fifteen-foot oak that didn’t have a squirrel’s prayer of surviving. Saber saw the rot in the tree, I smelled it, and Triton’s small burst of sonar confirmed the oak’s core deterioration.

  “Cesca, Triton, hold your amulets against the trunk. Saber, stand close enough to sense the energy. Focus your intent that the tree should pass over, and remember, Cesca, this is an act of mercy, not malice.”

  We moved into position, not on opposite sides of the tree, but with me on the left, Triton on the right, and Saber in the middle. We placed the amulets on the rough bark, and Saber held his hands above ours. Squeamish as I was to kill anything but spiders and roaches, I projected my intent that the tree should die. In seconds, pure white light rays burst from the amulets. They weren’t as intensely bright as they had been in the comedy club. In fact, they seemed almost gentle as they pierced the tree, as if escorting its life to a leafy ever after rather than blasting it there.

>   Then the amulet suddenly sucked the rays back into itself.

  “Back away now,” Lia instructed.

  We’d moved about eight feet when the tree imploded. Sawdust rained in the spot where the oak had stood.

  Wow, would these babies wipe out invasive vines? We could retire as billionaires in months. No, megatrillionaires.

  “Cesca, focus,” Lia scolded. “Go locate the tree that can live.”

  I followed the guys, and we found a sad-looking palm sending the vibe that it was fighting for life. Again, we positioned ourselves roughly on either side of the trunk, placed the amulets on the bark, and sent healing intent. A lizard dashed over my fingers, scampering for safety and startling me so much that I started to jerk away. Saber grasped my wrist and held the amulet tight to the tree. This time when the rays shot from the amulets, they circled and climbed the trunk like Christmas lights. And the lights didn’t all retract into the amulets. Instead, the rope beams continued to glow on the bark and slowly be absorbed into the palm.

  I exchanged a glance with Saber and Triton.

  “Super cool,” I breathed.

  “No shit.”

  “I felt it just holding your wrist, Cesca.”

  Lia chuckled. “Lovely job, all of you. Your last tasks of the night are these. Saber and Triton, you’re doing twenty minutes of martial arts drills. Cesca, you practice distance flying and jump-flying. I’ll return the amulets to Cosmil’s care.”

  I started to ask her to define jump-flying, but I saw the image in her mind of me leaping into a fray or out of one. The only difference between jumping and jump-flying was that I’d stay airborne longer.

  Okay, so I didn’t make it through a whole twenty minutes in actual flight. Maybe I was a natural sprinter instead of a distance flyer. I did cruise higher over the tree line than before, and when an owl out hunting caught my eye, I followed it. The owl was faster, of course, but then I flew upright, feet toward the ground. That created wind resistance, right?

  Cosmil emerged from the shanty and called a meeting just as the guys and I quit for the night. The wizard stood beside the cabin door, Lia and I took the chairs, and Saber and Triton sat with their backs propped against the pillars supporting the porch.

  “First, the forensics lab will send a tissue sample. The Veil is still in flux and safe only for short trips, but the sample will arrive with all possible speed. In the meantime,” he continued with a twinkle, “it occurred to me that we have clippings of both Triton’s and Lynn’s hair from the healing ceremony.”

  “Oh, well done,” Lia exclaimed. “The Void’s essence is so distinct, even a small bit of it may help overcome any cloaking spell Starrack is using.”

  “Just so,” Cosmil agreed, a blush tinting his cheeks as the continued. “Next, Lynn is responding well, but she is weak. I believe she should stay another day.”

  Triton leaned forward. “Is she awake?”

  “She is stirring, and you may see her when we are finished here, but we must consider her immediate future.”

  Saber turned to me. “We told Lia and Cosmil about our research on Lynn.”

  “Yes,” Lia said, “and from our own reading of her, we agree she’s probably not under Starrack’s control.”

  “What’d you do?” I asked. “Mind-probe her while she was sleeping?”

  Lia waved a hand. “But of course. A case of simple self-preservation. She was not sent to harm any of us or to steal the amulets. Odd as it may seem, her meeting Triton seems to have been pure synchronicity, not part of a malicious plot.”

  “More important,” Cosmil said, “we discovered a birthmark on the bottom of Lynn’s foot.”

  I blinked at that, and so did the guys.

  “You would not have noticed it,” Cosmil continued, “but Lia has heard of such a mark and has contacted the Council of Ancients for more information.”

  Triton huffed. “Aren’t you going to tell us what you do know about the mark?”

  “No,” Lia said firmly. “However, if I am right, the birthmark will explain Lynn’s origins.”

  “But for now, you think we can trust her,” I said.

  “I believe we may offer at least limited trust,” Cosmil answered.

  “Why limited?”

  “Because now that she and Triton have met,” Saber said, “Lynn could be on Starrack’s radar.”

  Lia nodded. “Precisely, Saber.”

  He straightened. “We talked about putting her in a safe place last night,” Saber said. “Can she hide out here with you and Lia?”

  Cosmil grimaced. “No. We must remain focused on tracking Starrack and training you, and no one on the Council will shelter an unknown shifter. There is still too much suspicion among the factions.”

  “Damn.” Triton looked from Saber to me. “Do you know any supernaturals who would take her in? What about that old vampire couple? Or are they infected, too?”

  “The Clarkes have a clean bill of health for now,” Saber said, “but they can’t watch over her in the daytime.”

  Cosmil eyed Saber. “Have you considered your law enforcement contacts? Would one of them be willing to house Lynn for a short time?”

  “If this were a threat from a human source, maybe, but most cops steer clear of preternatural matters. That’s why they call me to consult.”

  I sighed. “It sounds like we have two big questions. One, if Starrack were to come after Lynn, where is the last place he’d look? Two, who is strong enough, fanatic enough, or foolhardy enough to protect her from a nonhuman threat?”

  No one in the group answered. My little voice whispered an idea, but its solution was ludicrous. Laughable.

  We’d have to be drop-dead desperate to even consider it.

  Back at my cottage, Snowball was pathetically happy to see us. Or rather Saber. From me, she wanted food.

  And, gads, how many days had it been since we changed her litter?

  We took care of pet chores, then I showed Saber what I’d found on the networking site.

  “Can we get an ID on magicman1463?”

  “We’d need a warrant, and we don’t have a tangible crime to ask for one.”

  “Could a hacker get to the user’s profile?”

  “I’ll ask Bob March when I take Triton over during the lunch hour, but it’s doubtful.”

  “So this website is a dead end unless Lynn can tell us anything else.”

  “About as dead as I am tonight. I haven’t been this tired since—”

  “Your nest-closing tour of Florida?”

  “Hey,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “We’re going to beat this.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because you keep telling me, and once you’ve made up your mind, it’s a done deal.”

  “Yeah, well, let’s get you into the shower and then bed, big guy.”

  Since we’re water conservation conscious, we showered together. Since I worried that he’d have nightmares, I watched over him through the night and worked on more design homework in on the side.

  Fortunately, Saber spent a restful night and was up by eight thirty Friday morning. I sat with him while he breakfasted on cereal, a scrambled egg, and orange juice.

  When he left at 9:05 to look in on Triton and help move some display tables in the shop, I set the perimeter alarm, brushed my teeth, and fell into bed at nine fifteen. Snowball purred from her place on Saber’s pillow, and I drifted off hoping daymares didn’t invade my sleep.

  A deafening siren jerked me awake. My gaze darted to every corner of the darkened bedroom, looking for the source of the noise. The digital clock read 12:10, but the alarm was never set for that time of day.

  Then it hit me.

  The perimeter alarm.

  It seemed stupid to go to my hidey-hole, but I scrambled out of bed. That was the drill, and Saber would stake me himself if I didn’t follow the plan.

  I tripped into my walk-in closet, slapped shoe boxes out of the way, and shoved the hidey-hole door open. A
forty-watt bulb in a white ceramic fixture lit the way as I stumbled down the two steps into the concrete bunker. Snowball shot inside, too, stampeding over my back. Heart pounding, blood pressure soaring, I shut the safe room door.

  The phone tied directly into Sam’s Security rang, and I grabbed the receiver off the wall mount.

  “Yes.”

  “Ms. Marinelli, do you know what triggered your alarm?”

  “No, I was sleeping.”

  “The police are en route. Sit tight and we’ll call back.”

  My hidey-hole was more attractive and better ventilated than a dark, dank coffin, but being underground in a small space still made my stomach cramp with unpleasant memories. Plus, even sealed in the bunker, I heard the siren blare on.

  I waited. Wondering how quickly the police would arrive. Attempting to calm Snowball. Picking at a frayed cuticle Snowball had scratched.

  When the phone rang again, I dove for it.

  “Ms. Marinelli, are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is your all clear. The police are waiting for you at your door, and we’re remotely shutting off the alarm now.”

  The house went silent, save for the faint knocking sound that got louder when I exited the safe room.

  “Ms. Marinelli,” a deep voice boomed as I came out of the closet. “St. Augustine police, ma’am. Open the door.”

  “Just a minute,” I called back, frantically searching for a robe.

  I settled for a long, terrycloth swimsuit cover-up and threw it on as I raced to the living room and flipped open the dead bolt.

  Two officers stood on my cobblestone patio, both male, both buff, both wearing grim cop faces.

  Across the way, my neighbor Hugh Lister stomped to the jasmine hedge separating our back yards. “Jesus H. Christ in boxers, Marinelli, can’t you people be goddamn quiet?”

  “Bless His holy name,” his wife Selma said, standing at his side, wringing her hands. “Hugh, come have some sweet tea.”

  The younger officer covered a snicker with a cough. The older one eyed me sternly.