Undaunted

by HELEN HARDT

  “What makes you think I wouldn’t believe it?” Jay asked. “I’m a cop in New Orleans. I’ve heard it all. But shit, man, did you have to go all fangs on me like that?”

  Erin turned to her brother, her eyes wide. “You knew?”

  “I’ve known for a while. I didn’t know you were one, though.” Jay shook his head. “Makes a lot of sense.”

  “How?” River asked. “I’m very discreet.”

  “Yeah, you are, but you see things before I do. I mean literally.”

  “Our sight is better, especially at night.”

  “Do you do that hypnotizing thing?”

  “It’s called glamouring,” River said. “I never do it on the job unless it’s absolutely necessary for our work. And before you ask, no, I’ve never glamoured you. At least not until recently, and that was only because I needed this leave of absence.”

  Jay’s eyes shot wide open. “You fucking hypnotized me? You’re my partner, River. We’re supposed to trust each other.”

  “I know, man, and if it’s any consolation, I feel terrible about it.”

  “Not terrible enough.” Jay stood. “Get the hell out of my house.”

  “Jay,” Erin began, “I know how you feel.”

  “You know how I feel?” He regarded me, anger pulsing off him in waves. “If he’s one, that means you are as well, right?”

  I nodded.

  “And you knew all this?” He turned back to Erin.

  “I know. And believe me, it was hard to deal with at first, but right now we have a big problem, Jay. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Christ. I need a drink.” He walked into his small kitchen, pulled a bottle out of a high cupboard, uncorked it, and took a long swig.

  “Jay…” Erin began.

  “Shh,” I said. “It’s a lot for him to take.”

  “He’s more upset about the glamouring than about the existence of vampires,” Erin said. “On what planet does that make sense?”

  “Not anywhere on this planet,” I said. “Except for New Orleans. He’s a cop, like he said. He’s sees all kinds of shit, just like you do in the ER. Didn’t you ever wonder?”

  “No. Not really. I heard all kinds of stories, but I figured it was all a bunch of garbage, honestly. Until Abe Lincoln.”

  Jay took another long drink from the bottle and then returned to the living room and sat down. “Don’t glamour me again, River.”

  “I won’t have to, now that you know about me.”

  “Why’d you need the leave of absence anyway? Why couldn’t you just be honest with me?”

  “I had no idea you’d be so accepting,” River said. “Plus, Erin is involved.”

  “All the more reason you should have been honest with me. She’s my sister, for God’s sake.”

  “I know. And her safety means everything to me. As much as it means to Dante. And your safety means everything to me too. That’s why we’re here.”

  “My safety? I’m not in any danger.”

  Erin cleared her throat. “But you are. That’s why you need this.” She handed him the amber bottle. “Apparently you and I have a scent that vampires find irresistible.”

  River quickly explained how humans all have unique scents that come from their blood. Some were better than others, depending on their ancestry. Erin flinched at the word ancestry. Was River going to tell Jay that his grandmother was most likely a vampire?

  “Most of us don’t feed on humans. We’re taught that it’s immoral, but there’s a gang of rogue vampires that hang out under Claiborne Bridge—”

  “Fuck. You’re talking about the drug runners, aren’t you?” Jay said.

  “Yeah. They’re thugs, and they don’t give a shit about morals. They smelled Erin once and have been after her since.”

  “Shit.”

  “It’s okay,” Erin said. “A Wiccan priestess helped me. She made this potion out of basil and calendula oils. It keeps them away.”

  River nodded. “It works. I can’t smell her. But I sure as hell can smell you. You need to use this shit, man. It’s the only way to keep them away. Our sources say that if they can’t have Erin, they’re coming after you.”

  He took the bottle from Erin. “What do I do?”

  “I told you,” she said. “Put a little bit on your wrists and neck, all four pulse points. Do it every twenty-four hours.”

  “And…?”

  “And they won’t be able to find you. Even if they find you, they won’t be able to smell you, and they’d rather have someone they can smell. That’s how our noses work,” River said.

  “Unbelievable.” But he opened the brown bottle and applied the stuff. “Good enough?”

  “Yeah. Just do it every twenty-four hours, and you’ll be good,” Erin said. “Let me know when you’re going to run out. I have a lady in the Quarter who’s making it for me.”

  “How much does this shit cost?” he asked.

  “Not too much. About ten dollars an ounce.”

  “Whatever.” Jay shook his head. “Level with me, River. Why the leave of absence?”

  “Dante and I are working on something.”

  Erin cleared her throat. “And I am too.”

  “What?”

  “The disappearances from the hospital. We’re all taking leave until we figure it out.”

  “Then work your hypnotic magic for me and get me a leave too. If my little sister is involved, you can count me in.”

  “Jay…” Erin began.

  I touched her shoulder. “Let him. We could use the help. As long as he uses the potion, he won’t be in any more danger than you are.”

  “But why would you want him involved?”

  I couldn’t tell her one of the reasons, which was so he could get to know River and me and our family. That way, when he found out he was going to be a father to Em’s baby, maybe it wouldn’t be much of a shock. But there was another damned good reason as well—an even more important one. “He’s a cop, baby. We need him.”

  “And if you think you’re taking my baby sister into this without me, think again.”

  “Easy, Jay,” Erin said. “He’s in favor of it. You don’t have to fight him.”

  “He’s a vampire. And you’re…with him. You’re… Christ.”

  “I love her, man,” I said. “I’ll protect her with my life if I have to.”

  “You damned well better.” He turned to his sister. “I’m just as glad you’re out of that hospital for now, with all those women disappearing.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Me too. I’m really worried about Lucy, though.”

  “We’ll find her, baby,” I said. “I promise. We’ll find all of them.”

  “I know, Dante. But I’d prefer to find them alive.”

  I borrowed a suit from River for court the next morning. Emilia showed up looking a little green.

  Make that really green.

  “Morning sickness?” I asked.

  She nodded. “All nine months for a vampire woman. So not fair.”

  Still, I didn’t remember my mother looking nearly so bad. Em’s skin truly did have an emerald tinge to it. “Have you talked to the doc?”

  “Yeah. Jack says it’s normal.”

  “Has he seen you?”

  “Not for about a week. My next appointment is in a few days.”

  “Call him today. This is ridiculous.”

  “Hey, guys.” River walked into the courtroom and sat down next to us. “Here to ‘work my magic,’ as Jay says.”

  “Jay?” Emilia reddened. Or browned, when the blush hit her greenish skin. “What about Jay?”

  River and I exchanged a glance. “Jay knows what we are,” I said. “You have no reason to keep this from him any longer.”

  “I don’t know. He doesn’t know I’m your sister. Or anything else.”

  “You don’t look too good,” River said.

  “Thanks,” Em shot back with sarcasm. “Is Dad going to be here?”

  “He didn’t say,�
�� I said.

  “All rise!” the bailiff said.

  We stood. In a few hours, I’d be a rich man.

  The judge entered and sat down at his bench.

  “First case on the docket is the estate of Julian Guillaume Gabriel.” Then the judge looked straight at Emilia and me. “I’m afraid we have a problem with this case.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Erin

  I lay on my couch. Dante and River were in court. I’d decided not to go along because I’d just be in the way. Dante had fed, and I was relaxed. I yawned, stretching my arms above my head and closing my eyes.

  Until my doorbell rang.

  So much for a little time for relaxation. I stretched again and rose, making my way to the door. Thank goodness I’d showered.

  I gasped when I opened the door.

  There, in all her glory, stood Dr. Zabrina Bonneville. Her long blond hair was twisted on top of her head into a severe bun, and her fair skin was still fair. No tan at all. Wasn’t she supposed to be vacationing in the tropics?

  “Doctor,” I said. “I thought you were in Barbados.”

  “Doctor? Who are you talking to, dearie?”

  I blinked.

  Not Dr. Bonneville, but Bea stood in my doorway. Her dark-brown dreads were pulled up into a messy mass on top of her head, and her skin was the usual mocha color. She wore her red gypsy skirt that was tattered, and on her fingers were the cymbals she’d worn the day she’d found Dante and me at the café in the Quarter. Had she been playing them? I hadn’t heard anything.

  I shook my head to clear it. How had I mistaken Bea for Dr. Bonneville? Bonneville was, of course, on vacation as she said she was.

  And what in the world was Bea doing here? At my home, no less?

  “How did you find me?”

  “A little bird,” she said, cackling.

  “Seriously. How did you get this address?”

  “Bea sees all.”

  Of course. I wasn’t going to get an answer. But I was sure as hell going to change all my privacy profiles and passwords as soon as I got rid of her.

  “What do you want, Bea?”

  “I need to give you some information.”

  “About the most important work of all?” I asked, hoping. The Vampyre Texts still sat on my coffee table. “Come in, please.”

  “Not about that.”

  “Please, sit down.” I led her to the couch I’d just vacated—the couch adjacent to the coffee table where the Vampyre Texts were on full display. I’d see for sure if she knew that book. “Can I get you something? A glass of water?”

  “Fruit juice, if you have it, with a shot of vodka.”

  “It’s nine in the morning,” I said.

  She cackled. “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”

  Bea had never struck me as a drunk. What the hell? I poured a glass of orange juice, added a tiny amount of vodka—when had I bought vodka?—and handed it to her. “Here you go.”

  “Obliged.” She took a sip. “Delicious.”

  “What can I do for you, Bea?”

  “It’s not what you can do for me. It’s what I can do for you. Or what I’ve done for you.”

  Of course. She’d somehow heard that her advice had worked, and she wanted payment. I reached for my purse on the coffee table, nudging the book as I did. I pulled out a twenty. “I appreciate your advice. Thank you.”

  She took the twenty and stuffed it into her cleavage. “Obliged,” she said again, “but that’s not the only reason I came. I won’t turn it down, but I meant what I said. The ashes are payment for some time.”

  “Oh.” Still, her advice had been well worth the twenty bucks. “What have you come to do for me then?”

  “I have news for you. But first things first. There’s a vampire woman who’s breeding. Your boyfriend’s sister.”

  “Emilia. Yes, I know.”

  “She’s ill. Very ill. If she’s not treated, she will be in danger of losing her baby and her life.”

  “Oh!” I touched my fingers to my lips. “I’ve heard pregnancy and childbirth are sometimes difficult for vampire women. Is there anything we can do to help her?”

  The grandmother I’d never known popped into my mind. She’d been beautiful, at least in the photos I’d seen of her when she was young.

  “Yes,” Bea said. “She’s suffering from severe morning sickness. It’s worse than usual because the baby she carries has B positive blood. She’s B negative. The baby’s blood is attacking her and making her ill. She needs relief.”

  B positive. That blood type again. But Bea had her information wrong. “That’s not how it works. When a mother is negative and a baby is positive, the mother’s immune system attacks the Rh positive cells as a foreign substance, which destroys the baby’s red blood cells and causes hemolytic anemia. This is Emilia’s first baby, so she’s probably not affected. It’s more of an issue with her next baby. Even so, treatment with immunoglobulins will take care of the problem. She’s under the care of a physician. I’m sure he’s taking care of her and following protocol.”

  “But this is a vampire pregnancy, dearie. Things are different. Everything comes down to blood with vampires,” Bea said. “‘We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones.’”

  “Thoreau again,” I said.

  “A genius,” Bea said. “Women are sculptors. They create life within them and bring forth art from their bodies. Their material is their flesh, blood, and bones. But vampire women are prisoners of blood at times. You can help, dearie.”

  “How can I help? It sounds like you can help.”

  “You will help through me. If I show up at this woman’s home with a remedy, she won’t accept it. But if you show up, as a nurse, she will.”

  “Why doesn’t she just ask her doctor?”

  “Her doctor is a learned man, but this remedy is new.”

  “How do you know about it, then?”

  “I see all.”

  She’d been quoting Thoreau again. Was he inhabiting her? Probably not. Thoreau was a writer and philosopher, not a physician or scientist. He wouldn’t know anything about vampire medicine.

  “Who is with you, Bea?”

  “No one is with me.”

  What the hell? It couldn’t hurt. “What is the remedy for Emilia?”

  She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from a pocket in her skirt and placed it in my hand. “Give her this. It will help with the sickness and help her to carry her child to term.”

  I flattened the paper and glanced at it.

  Nettle leaves, gingerroot, peppermint, chamomile. Wild yam.

  Wild yam?

  “But—”

  She stood. “It will help.” When she got to the doorway, she turned. “I almost forgot. I have news for you. That book on the table? It’s a fake. Someone has been here. Someone stole the real one.”

  The paper fluttered from my hand.

  She hadn’t come to give me a remedy for Emilia. Emilia was under a physician’s care and was most likely fine.

  She’d come to warn me that someone had stolen the Vampyre Texts.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dante

  My heart pounded. “A problem?”

  “Someone has contested this will,” the judge said.

  I looked to River. Can you fix this? I hoped he understood.

  “I’m trying,” he whispered so only I could hear. “Nothing is happening.”

  What was going on? Was this judge a vampire?

  “Who would contest the will? My sister and I are our father’s only heirs.”

  The door to the courtroom opened, and a whoosh of energy hit me like a bolt of lightning.

  “Mr. Guillaume Tyrus Gabriel,” the judge said.

  Emilia, River, and I all stiffened as Bill entered.

  “Mr. Gabriel is the deceased’s father,” I said. “No provision was made for him in the will.”

  Bill waved a hand, and all the human
s in the courtroom went glassy-eyed. “Really, Dante,” he said. “Did you think you’d get away with this?”

  Emilia, River, and I stared at him, our eyes wide.

  “What did you just do?” Emilia asked.

  My father had said he’d never heard of a vampire being able to glamour a group of people. But Bill had done it, and if Bill could do it, perhaps another vampire, an elder, could also do it. Not only a courtroom of people, but a hospital full of people.

  Bill ignored Em’s question. “You won’t get away with this.”

  I bristled. “Get away with what? Claiming our father’s estate? He’s dead, Bill. You know that as well as we do.”

  “That’s not the issue. The money is yours. I’m not denying that. But I can’t let you have it.”

  “You have no power over it. It’s what our father wanted. He helped us find his body so we could get the money.”

  “Yes. I’m aware of what has gone on. Did you really think you could keep everything from me?”

  “Dad?” I said.

  “Your father is otherwise occupied,” Bill said.

  “What the hell did you do to him?” I said, baring my teeth.

  “Nothing. He’s my son. I would never bring any harm to him. Not that I could in his current state anyway. I just made sure he was out of the way for this little session this morning.” He came closer, meeting my gaze. “Formidable, Dante. Very nice. But those teeth will do you no good until you can control them and learn to use them properly.”

  “Dante…” Emilia urged.

  “Stay out of this, Em. In fact, River, get her out of here.”

  “Uh…hell, no,” Em said, whipping her hands onto her hips.

  “I’m staying too,” River said. “Look, Bill, you have no right to do this. We need Uncle Jules’s money. He wants us to have it. People are disappearing. The woman I love has disappeared!”

  He loved? River loved Lucy? “Riv?”

  “Sometimes it takes losing someone to realize it,” River continued. “We’re going to find out what’s going on, and we’re going to find out the secrets behind what is happening.”