The Fires of Tartarus

by Emma V. Leech

  He gave me a tentative smile, and I led him into the building. He was looking around, clearly overwhelmed by everything around him, when Rodney came bounding back down the stairs. His hair was currently an interesting combination of purple and pink Mohican with the sides shaved short and dyed a bright canary yellow. His ears were festooned with the usual array of dangly earrings and studs, and his wrists and waist were also heavy with various belts and chains that clanked gently when he moved. Combined with layered T-shirts in red, black and white and ripped jeans with his favourite DM's, Rodney always made an impression. He certainly appeared to have made an impression on Kai who had fallen asleep on the back seat of the car the moment we got to it. As Rodney had turned up after he was sleeping, they had yet to be introduced.

  “Ah, 'ello, sleeping beauty. Joined the land of the livin' 'ave we?” Rodney grinned at him and stuck out his hand. “Name's Rodney, pleased to meetcha.”

  I heard Kai take a breath. At least he didn't look terrified this time, more ... awestruck.

  He took Rodney's hand and then turned it over, inspecting the word LOVE tattooed across his knuckles and the variety of rings. He seemed especially taken with Rodney's favourite skull ring. It had little glittering jet eyes. “Pretty ain't it?” Rodney said with a kind smile, apparently unperturbed that Kai was still holding his hand.

  Kai looked up at him from under his thick lashes. “Pretty,” he whispered, staring at Rodney.

  I wasn't entirely sure they were both talking about the ring.

  “Uh, Kai, let's get you settled shall we?” I said.

  By the time I'd shown Kai his room and explained the mysteries of the bathroom, with both of us vying to out-blush the other, it was time for dinner. I led Kai back down to the kitchen and left him with Rodney and Dimitri while I went to hunt down Cain who had disappeared with the pearls.

  I took a breath before walking into the large dining room that housed the Château's magnificent fireplace. It was intricately carved with scenes of the labours of Hercules. It was also the gateway to the Underworld. On the other side of that gateway was a furious Dis Pater. It wasn't just that which set my heart jumping and my nerves on edge though.

  Cain had set a powerful ward around the gateway to stop Dis Pater setting foot in this realm. It had taken a blood sacrifice, his own blood, and at the cost of another piece of his soul. He didn't have many left to spare. He wasn't supposed to have inherited my power when I died in my first lifetime on earth. It wasn't possible for him to regenerate as our kind, Les Dames Blanche, did. To keep himself alive - ready for when I would return, reincarnated from Jéhnina to Jéhenne - there had been many such sacrifices. No one could look into Cain's eyes for long. It was too obvious what he had done.

  The large dining table was gone and the room was a hive of activity under Cain's ferocious supervision.

  There was a massive titanium cage being assembled. The bars were coated in silver. Even though I knew the silver would make Corvus feel weak and ill, it would also keep him contained. If he really did turn out to have lost his mind, he would be a danger to everyone and Cain was taking no chances.

  I'd argued with Cain until I was blue in the face, I'd screamed and shouted and eventually wept and pleaded, but he'd been immovable. He would help me get Corvus back on one condition - that we used every available means to contain him.

  Cain looked up as I came in.

  “How's Stalag thirteen coming along?” I asked, grimacing as I looked at the huge cage. I felt like we were going to be treating Corvus like some wild animal, and it made me sick.

  “Good,” he said, ignoring my sarcasm. “If we're really lucky we might be able to keep a dangerously unhinged Master vampire from getting loose and murdering the villagers in their beds.”

  “Maybe ...” I didn't dare finish the sentence, as Cain's face spoke volumes.

  “Don't, Jéhenne,” he said, his voice harsh. He took me by the arm and towed me away from the workmen, specialists in their field apparently - I hadn't had the stomach to ask what that field was. He pushed me into the corner of the room and made me look at him. There was fury in his dead eyes. “I've said I'll help you with this madness, Jéhenne, and I will but you will understand this. Corvus will not be the man you knew. You have to accept it, Jéhenne, because if you don't you're going to be no use to me when we come face to face with him. He's going to want to kill us, do you understand that?” His grip on my arm loosened a little, his voice softening. “He won't know you, Jéhenne. I know you don't want to believe that, but I need you to understand it's the truth.” He sighed and gave my arm a little squeeze, the closest he'd ever likely get to hugging me. “I'm not saying it to hurt you.”

  I nodded, too choked to speak, and fled from the room. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me. I knew he was telling me the truth ... but it hurt so much I didn't know if I could bear it.

  Chapter 5

  It was a bad idea. I knew it, knew it like I knew the sun would rise in the morning, but I couldn't stop him. The wedding would take place as soon as he returned. Once he'd known I was pregnant there was no stopping him. He wouldn't listen to reason, wouldn't understand what I was trying to say to him.

  He'd taken me to his house there and then, warmer and safer than the hovel that passed as my home now, in his opinion. He didn't understand that hovel was heavily warded, that no soldier could have crossed it, none would have wanted to. His servants looked at me, making signs against witchcraft when they thought I wasn't looking. I could see the fear in their eyes.

  “You'll be safe here, while I'm away,” he said, holding me against him. He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, his big hand remaining behind my neck, a warm, solid presence.

  “Don't go,” I whispered, holding him tight. Fear coiled in my belly, a weight of foreboding so heavy on my chest I felt my lungs were crushed by it. “Please ... Don't go.”

  “I ...” I looked up at him, to see such anguish in his eyes that I regretted burdening him. He had no choice, no more than I did. “I don't want to but ... Nina, I'm under orders, I can't ...”

  I smiled, blinking back tears and reaching up to press my fingers to his lips. I shook my head. “I know, it's alright. I'll be fine,” I said, trying to make it sound real. “I'm just being foolish.”

  “I'll be back in a few days, as soon as I can, my heart, I promise you, and then ...” He smiled, such love in his expression that my heart swelled.

  “And then we'll be married,” I finished for him, wondering why the idea made me so very afraid. I wanted to marry him, so much, it was everything I dreamed of but ...

  I smiled up at him. It would be fine. It was the baby and coming to his house making my nerves leap. There was no need for this unreasonable fear, no reason to suppose the next few days would be in any way eventful.

  “I love you,” I said, helpless to stop the tears in my eyes.

  “And I you, my love ... my heart,” he whispered as he bent to kiss me goodbye.

  ***

  I screamed, tearing myself from the flames in my dreams to the warmth of my bed. I sat up, shivering and crying, my arms wrapped around myself. Before I was even aware that I was fully awake, Lucas was beside me.

  I hadn't let him stay tonight. The scene with Cain had left me so raw I couldn't bear the idea of anyone near me, least of all him. So of course the dream about my life as Jéhnina had come to plague me. The one where Corvus left me alone and the soldiers came for me - the one where they burnt me at the stake for being a witch.

  “Jéhenne,” he whispered, pulling me against him. I pushed him away, angry and miserable, and he sighed. “Tell me about it.”

  I shook my head, sobbing and moving farther away from him.

  “Why won't you let me help you?” he snapped, smacking his hand on the bed in frustration.

  “Fuck off, Lucas!” I yelled, only too aware that I was an ungrateful bitch. “You think I should feel better when Corvus is dying every night that passes?” I screamed. “I saw i
t,” I said, wanting to shock him. “Did I tell you that? I saw him in my dreams, the monsters that chase him and tear him limb from limb. I felt his fear, Lucas, I felt his pain. I ...” I couldn't go on.

  He just looked back at me, such sympathy in his eyes. I could feel that he meant it. “Punishing yourself won't change anything.”

  My anger dissolved into despair and this time when Lucas reached for me, I let him. I let the comfort of his arms and the familiar scent and embrace of Corvus' family take away the worst of the pain and lead me into sleep.

  I woke hours later. It was almost dawn, not that I could see it. The windows of the Château were shut down tight during daylight hours and only opened if a room was used and there were no vampires in it. The idea of frying Lucas to a crisp was appealing on occasions, but I didn't want to do so by accident. My head was pillowed on his chest, his arms around me still, and I tried to summon the energy to be angry with him but somehow it was hard to muster. I closed my eyes and pretended for a moment, pretended that the silent chest beneath me belonged to another vampire. I felt my throat tighten and gave up. He would be back soon. I would make sure of it.

  I moved carefully, trying not to disturb him, only to look up and see Lucas' brown eyes on mine. They were guarded. He was waiting for me to yell at him.

  “Hi,” I said, pushing my hair from my eyes.

  “Hi,” he replied, after a moment's hesitation.

  I gritted my teeth for a moment. “I ...” I took a breath. “I'm sorry ... for last night.”

  He was so surprised I almost laughed, and I waited for him to make some sarcastic comment in reply. “It's OK,” he said. It looked like he wanted to say something else, and I waited, but he looked away.

  “You should sleep,” I said as I headed for a shower, avoiding more conversation. Soon after Kai interrupted me as I dressed, knocking softly and looking lost and cold. Lucas sleepily conceded to lending him some of his clothes.

  “There's some of mine in your wardrobe,” he said with a yawn.

  “There is?”

  Lucas snorted. “The attention you give your wardrobe, you wouldn't notice if there was a ten foot boa constrictor hiding in there.”

  I cast a self-conscious glance down at my ancient jeans and sweatshirt. Well who gave a damn? It wasn't like I cared right now.

  I showed Kai to the wardrobe. “Help yourself,” I said as he began inspecting the rail. “I'll be downstairs. Come and find me when you're done, and I'll get you some breakfast, OK?”

  “OK,” he repeated, giving Lucas a worried glance.

  I laughed. “You're quite safe, I promise.”

  He gave me a crooked smile and I left him to it.

  On the way down the stairs I ran into Guillaume. We'd got off to a rocky start together as the first time we'd met he'd tried to snack on me, and Corvus had been none too pleased. Guillaume had been severely punished, but he never seemed to hold it against me. Quite the reverse in fact. He always wore a suit, no matter the occasion, and it always looked strained to its limits across his massive biceps. Despite looking like the muscle-bound bouncer of a dodgy night club, since Corvus had gone I'd found he was a calm and reassuring presence and had begun to be glad to have him around. He rarely said much but had a dry sense of humour. His flinty grey-blue eyes sparkled as he told me I was being awaited in the kitchen.

  “Why are you still up?” I asked in surprise. He shrugged and I didn't press him further. He'd found life without Corvus difficult to adjust to, and just as I felt comforted by being close to Lucas, I'd found he needed to be around me more than some of the others. I figured I'd let him hang around for a bit before commanding him to get some sleep. Sleep deprived vampires can be tetchy. Tetchy was not a good thing.

  We made our way to the kitchen to find my grandmother, Inés, looking younger and prettier than me as usual, Rodney, Cain and the big fire demon, Dimitri with their heads together over the kitchen table. There was a pot of coffee between them, a large bowl full of croissants and a chopping board with a baguette on. As I came in Rodney got up and fetched the teapot he'd left brewing on the range cooker and poured me a cup of tea.

  “Mornin', luv,” he said, handing me the mug.

  “Thanks,” I said, cradling the tea gratefully and hoping no one expected me to speak before I'd drunk it.

  “I still think the best way is create a distraction,” Inés said, pushing the bowl of croissants in my direction. I grabbed one and bit into it, watching as Cain nodded at her.

  “I agree. If Dis Pater thinks she is making her attempt via the gates he will focus all his attention there.” He took a sip of coffee, his face grim. “It means we'll need help from Sariel though.”

  My heart skipped. “Why?” I demanded. I didn't want to use up any favours from Sariel. I already needed his help when we had Corvus back.

  “To get you back to the Underworld, luv,” Rodney said, his voice gentle. “Like he did before ...” He hesitated. “Before all the business with Tacitus.”

  I nodded, remembering the tiny glass bottle, water from the river Lethe, the river of forgetfulness.

  “Non.” We all looked at Inés. “She doesn't want to ask Sariel; we'll need his help soon enough. I can get her back.”

  Cain looked at her in surprise. “You know how?”

  She nodded. “I've only tried it once but ...” I saw the pain in her eyes. “But I know how. I can get her back.” She looked down into her coffee mug, and I knew, knew that she had gone back to try and find Adrian, my grandfather. The man Corvus had killed. He had turned vampire in order to stay with Inés forever but he'd been betrayed by Tacitus and shut away, unable to feed. By the time Corvus had found him he was crazed with blood-lust. There had been no choice but to put an end to him.

  “How do we make bastard god believe Jéhenne is at the gate?” Dimitri asked. “If Inés help her go back ...” He shook his head, his eyes full of concern. “Is bastard god, da.” He nodded, his face grave. “Da, is proper bastard but ... is no fool.”

  We all sat silent, and I felt the croissant lodge in my throat.

  “I ...” We all looked at Cain, there was an uncertain look on his face which puzzled me. Cain was never uncertain about anything. “I ... have a solution but you're not going to like it.”

  Inés got to her feet, her face white with horror. “Non!”

  “It would work,” he insisted, and I flinched as Inés banged the table with the flat of her hand. “Non! Not that, Cain, you can't.”

  I felt the wave of alarm that ran over Guillaume at the possibility of losing another Master and automatically touched his arm to reassure him even as I shouted myself. “What?” I demanded. “Inés, you can't say no for me. Whatever it is, it's my decision not yours.”

  Inés looked at me, and I could see she was seriously afraid. There was little that seemed to frighten my unassailable grandmother so this was terrifying on too many levels. “Jéhenne, you don't understand,” she said, her voice low. “He means to take a piece of your soul.”

  “I ...” I felt cold suddenly, a rush of ice that pulled at something inside of me I wasn't sure I'd ever been aware of before. I swallowed and looked to Cain, into those empty eyes. “Is that ... I mean ... you could ... do that?”

  He nodded, his face grim. “Not like for me, Jéhenne. It would only be temporary. As soon as you were back here I could ...” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking strangely awkward. “Put it back.”

  “It's insanity!” Inés raged.

  “I know that!” Cain erupted, making the whole table jump. “I don't want her to do this at all.” He got to his feet and prowled around the kitchen with his fists clenched, looking very much like he wanted to kill something with his bare hands. We all watched him and kept our mouths shut. “I have done a lot of things to keep Jéhenne safe, do you really think I want to put all that at risk?” He looked at Inés, and she flinched under the expression on his face. She didn't reply but shook her head. “I know it's a bad idea,” he car
ried on. “But ... But if she insists on going through with it - this could work. It's dangerous and unpleasant and immoral but ... It will work.” He sat down again, his shoulders slumped, and I felt a sudden surge of affection for him.

  How ridiculous. I had thought I could never forgive him for what he'd done to Corvus and now here he was talking about lancing a piece of my soul, and I wanted to hug him. So I did.

  He froze, rigid under my embrace, looking up at me in alarm. “I know you don't want me to do this, Cain,” I said. “But you're helping me anyway and ... I'm grateful.” I kissed his cheek. He hadn't shaved this morning and it was prickly with stubble.

  He glowered at the table. “Don't thank me yet, Jéhenne,” he said, not looking at me. “You don't know how it feels.”

  “I know that you did it for me, many times over and ... I'll never be able to repay that.”

  He was quiet for a moment before he looked up at me. “I killed him, Jéhenne. After everything you'd both been through and I ...” His voice faltered, and he looked away.

  There was a part of me that still wanted to rage at him, but I knew, in my heart, that it wasn't fair. “You helped him,” I said, my voice thick. “He would still have done it. He'd have still found a way to the same end, with or without your help. I know that now.”

  “You can forgive me?” His voice was incredulous and I smiled at him.

  “If you'll still help me get him back.”

  He nodded and we both looked up to see Rodney handing Dimitri an oversized hankie as a wail sounded around the room.

  “Oh, my gods, is so beautiful,” Dimitri sobbed, dabbing at his eyes with the hankie clutched in one huge fist. “Family, is everything,” he wailed.

  I caught Guillame's eye, and he sighed and moved closer to give Dimitri's vast shoulder an awkward pat. On his other side Rodney ruffled Dimitri's hair with affection, grinning at me at the same time. “Yeah, mate, we know. There, there.” Cain just watched, looking vaguely disgusted.

  My attention was taken by a flash of vivid colour, moving into the room like some strange and exotic bird. Everybody was stunned into silence. Even Dimitri forgot to sob but sat looking at the vision in the doorway with an open mouth. Kai blushed. It looked kind of charming with the bright pink blouse he was wearing. My blouse.