The phone began to ring before Kaitlin found the strength to bring it to her ear. Once.. twice... and then, “Hello?”
“Cassie,” Kaitlin breathed.
“Kaitlin!” Cassie sounded half relieved, half angry. “Why didn’t you call? I was afraid the vampires had captured you again. Did they? Are you a vampire now?”
“I’m at Alexander’s compound.”
“And you just woke up from a coma this morning?” Cassie asked. “Because if that’s not the case, I’m going to be really, really pissed at you.”
Kaitlin actually considered lying, but only for a fraction of a second. “No, I woke from a coma three days after I got here. I’ve just been... ashamed. And scared. And there’s nothing you can do anyway.”
“I never said that.”
“You never didn’t say it. You as much as told me to get here.”
“There was probably your best bet at first, since you were about a thousand miles from here, but Evan and I came up with a plan, which we’d have told you about if you’d have called me back like I asked you to do.”
“You have a plan?” Kaitlin’s heart sped up and she looked longingly at her child splashing in the tub. Could she save him from the same fate that had befallen his father?
“The first thing we need to do is get you to Eagle Rock,” Cassie said. “Once you’re here, you’ll stay with us while we set the rest of it up. Vampires can’t get to you behind a threshold.”
“Okay,” Kaitlin said slowly. “Then what? I assume I don’t have to stay there the rest of my life.”
“Would you rather stay there for the rest of your life?” Cassie asked, and she sounded a little hurt. “Never mind. I don’t think you will. Evan has been putting his head together with Master Wolf and Clark Eagle, who think they might be able to create a threshold around the entire town.”
“That sounds... interesting. But I hear a lot of hypotheticals.”
“Well, it’s never exactly been tried before. They might need to get a few other sorcerers in on it. Scott Lee is intrigued and has spent the last week holed up in his house, although since Madison was there with him, he might not have been working on it the whole time. But even if it takes a while to get this going, you can just stay with us. You’re safe inside the house.”
Kaitlin’s heart sank. They didn’t have an idea. Not really. Jason and Xavier were too smart to let a little thing like a threshold stop them, and all they had to do to get Kaitlin to surrender herself was threaten anyone she loved. Unless the entire town stayed indoors until this was all over, it would never work. And then everyone she loved would have to stay in town, never traveling beyond the city limits.
“It won’t work,” Kaitlin said. “Xavier hasn’t been alive for two hundred years because he’s stupid. He’s cunning and if he has any morals, I don’t know what they are. In a year of living with him the only thing he seemed to care about was Jason, and taking control of the vampire race.”
“He won’t be able to get to you. We won’t let him get to you.”
“He’ll get to you. Or your family. Or my mom. Or anyone who sets foot out of town.”
“A town with over a hundred powerful sorcerers.”
“Who will, of course, want to declare war on the most powerful vampire in existence because of me.” Kaitlin hated that she sounded bitter, but it was the truth. She didn’t doubt that they’d do it for Cassie, but not for her. She didn’t want them to, of course, but they wouldn’t.
Cassie was silent on the other end of the line for a while. “It’s hard to know what to say because this line is probably bugged but Kaitlin, Alexander’s an evil man.”
“He gave me a place to stay. I’m safe here.”
“And happy?”
“Jay’s safe here,” Kaitlin said. At least for the next fifteen years or so.
“Alexander is a powerful mind mage, Kaitlin. He’s got a firm grip on his people. I wouldn’t be so sure you’re safe there.”
“So’s Matthew,” Kaitlin said.
“Huh?”
“Matthew is a powerful mind mage too. You know that better than anyone, after what he did to you. So why did you sign on with him? Why are you in the White Guard?”
“I-I guess because he’s not Alexander. And Evan’s not sure... I mean no, we don’t trust him exactly but... Kaitlin, what’s going on?”
“He’s here.”
“Who’s there?”
“Matthew. He had lunch with Alexander and took me out for a stroll tonight where he told me–” Kaitlin stopped, knowing there were things she couldn’t say on this line. But there were things she desperately wanted to share with her best friend. “He kissed me.”
“What?” Cassie yelled so loudly that a moment later there was an echoing squawk.
“Is that Ana?” Kaitlin asked.
“I-yes.” Cassie started shushing the infant, who became increasingly more fussy. “Darn. I just had her asleep too. Hang on.”
Kaitlin kicked off her shoes while she waited for Cassie to – by the sounds of it – hand her baby off to her husband. Kaitlin rubbed her aching feet, wishing she had the money for comfortable shoes. She’d left the vampires with nothing, and while she received free room and board here, the money she made for personal purchases was depressing.
Finally, Cassie came back to the phone. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“He kissed you?”
“Yeah.”
“And?” Cassie asked.
“And what? Did I like it? Of course I did. You know from firsthand experience how he can manipulate people.”
“I do. He’s a control freak and a first-class power-hungry jerk.”
“So just the kind of guy I’d go for, right?”
“I didn’t say it.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” Kaitlin sighed. “I don’t know what happened out there. It was confusing, and then I... I ran away.”
“Okay.”
“What would you have done?” Kaitlin asked.
“I don’t know. Kaitlin, come home. I miss you.”
“How would I even get there? The vampires have my blood. I’d have to fly.”
“Hm.”
“You have an idea?”
“Maybe.”
“You do.”
“I said maybe. I have to think it through. It might be a very bad idea.”
“I can’t think of the last time I did something that wasn’t a bad idea.”
“You called me.”
Kaitlin didn’t answer.
“I’ll call you back tomorrow morning.”
“I’m at work by 6:30.”
“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon. What’s your number?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll call you back when I’m off work.”
“Will you this time? Please? If you don’t, I might have to send Evan to tear the place down.”
“I promise.” And this time, she meant it.
Chapter 14
IT WASN’T THE END OF THE world. It was not the end of the world. Other people knew that Matthew was a telepath. His family knew. Scott Lee knew, and kept figuring it out no matter how many times Matthew erased his memory. Now that had been bad. Scott was a powerful sorcerer, after all. And Cassie knew, and some other people suspected, though he usually managed to avert those suspicions with a subtle suggestion or three.
Immune to mind magic, though? Matthew had never met anyone completely immune to mind magic. Some took more work than others. His family kept him on his toes for certain, but completely immune?
No, wait! What was he thinking? She couldn’t be immune. He’d used mind magic on her before. Memory charms, in fact. He had wiped her memory, along with the rest of the town, when Cassie had killed a vam
pire and the sheriff had tried to arrest her for it. But that hadn’t been the only time. He’d wiped her memory once when she’d been in high school and some stupid drunk sorcerers had played a mean prank on her. And he’d ordered her to stop that day when Cassie had broken up with him. She’d hit him – thrown him to the ground with the force of her then-unborn son’s gift, and he’d ordered her to stop. She had.
She wasn’t immune to mind magic. He was just tired. He wiped his brow for the fourth or fifth time – he had long-since lost count – and managed to get to his feet, swaying a little.
Kaitlin had run like she thought he would come after her, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure he could walk to the compound unaided, although somehow he did. As soon as he got to the doors he collapsed, and security had to help him the rest of the way.
“We’ll take you to medical,” one of them said.
“No! To my room.” Matthew struggled to his feet, cursing himself as ten kinds of a fool for letting himself get so weak here. “You know what? I can make it. Just help me to the elevator.”
One of the guards – an empath, judging by the slight echo effect – insisted on seeing him not just to the elevator, but to the door of his suite. At least the young man wasn’t sinister. He thought “Mad Matt” needed psychological help, but unlike many of the others here, he was inclined to offer the help instead of condemnations. Well, that was a pleasant change.
“I can get you a healer,” the young empath said when Matthew opened the door to his suite. “Or an empath.”
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. I just overextended my magic and need some sleep.”
“If you say so.” The young man nodded and left, heading for the stairs instead of the elevator to go back up nine flights.
Matthew slipped into his suite and locked the door behind him, though he had little doubt that Alexander’s men could enter. He hoped that the circle of protection he’d begun inside the bedroom would hold; he only wished he didn’t have to test it under such harsh conditions. Slowly, painfully, Matthew made it to the bedroom and to the bed. He collapsed atop it, fully clothed, without washing or even removing his shoes. Within moments he was asleep.
* * *
He dreamed of Cassie, remembering her as she’d been the night he had proposed to her. She’d wanted him that night; she could deny it now or try to pretend that he’d coerced her, but it wasn’t true. Oh, he might have taken advantage of her during a weak moment after she’d learned the most shocking news of her life, but he hadn’t even used a subtle suggestion or a single do-over to persuade her to take his ring. For a moment, a pure, joyful moment, he thought that perhaps he had found the woman who could truly love him without needing to be manipulated into doing it (never mind that he’d had to use a few simple little spells in the first place). But it hadn’t worked out that way. Maybe he’d moved too fast, or maybe he hadn’t moved quickly enough. He didn’t know. He only knew that out of a long line of conquests, this one was going to come to him honestly.
He dreamed of kissing her, of her enjoying his touch, moaning and pressing closer against him. He dreamed of running his hands along her body, of the sights, sounds, and smells of her response. And then he looked her in the eyes to tell her he loved her.
Except it wasn’t Cassie. It was Kaitlin.
* * *
Matthew awoke in a sweat, and he couldn’t recall the last time he had felt so miserable and grimy. He had no idea what time it was, here in this underground tomb. He glanced at the clock by his bedside which read 1:32, but he honestly had no idea if it meant a.m. or p.m. He felt chilled, weak, and disoriented. But he couldn’t go back to sleep until he was clean and had something to eat and drink. He staggered into the adjoining bathroom, turning the taps to fill the garden tub while he peeled off his clothes. Going into the small kitchenette, he grabbed a glass and filled it with water – twice – before feeling well enough to check his cell phone to see if it was afternoon or after midnight.
Apparently, he had slept most of the day away. He had also missed three calls from Cassie. He did a double-take when he saw that, but it was no mistake. Cassie had called him. Not Evan, but Cassie.
As curious as Matthew was, he was in no shape to handle the woman he had almost married two years ago. Kaitlin had probably called to complain about him, and now Cassie wanted to tell him off. He only prayed Kaitlin hadn’t mentioned his telepathy over the phone, or Alexander would know. Matthew didn’t doubt that all the phones in this place were bugged. His own cell phone might not even be safe while he was here, but he had cast a few protective spells on it so that as long as he used it from within his warded bedroom, he should be okay. He hoped.
Nothing he could do about it now. He got into the bathtub, closed his eyes, and sought his quiet place. Many sorcerers couldn’t cast a spell without first finding their quiet place. Matthew could bypass the exercise when casting certain mental compulsions he used so often that they almost felt as much a gift as his telepathy. But they weren’t, as he was remembering to his cost in the wake of a serious overextension of his skills. He only hoped he hadn’t done permanent damage. He didn’t think so. When he relaxed into the familiar peace of his quite place – a brilliant, glistening, larger-than-life diamond – he felt the pulse of magic he had always known. It was just raw. He flinched when he brushed against it, and decided to spend the rest of the day in his room.
He felt better when he was clean. He changed the sheets in his room, even though he’d been told that “there were people for that.” His security measures wouldn’t let those people in, however, even if he would. When he finished, he fell asleep for several more hours.
This time when he woke, he was fairly sure it was 6:03 in the evening, not in the morning. He felt better. Not up to facing Alexander yet, but better. Better enough, he decided, that he could return Cassie’s phone call.
“You son of a bitch,” she said as soon as she answered.
“I hope your daughter isn’t there to hear such language,” Matthew said, leaning back against some pillows and closing his eyes.
“She’s seven months old.”
“They understand more than you think.”
“Stop trying to distract me. Kaitlin called last night.”
“I see.” He didn’t entirely. Not for the first time, he wished telepathy worked over the phone. There was a reason he usually liked to deal with people in person, although Cassie herself had been wary enough of him during their courtship that he’d let some of it take place over the phone to ease her mind a bit.
“What are you doing with Alexander, anyway?” Cassie asked.
“Joining up?” Matthew joked. “Everyone here loves me and is clamoring for me to join them.”
“I wonder if you would, if Alexander asked,” Cassie muttered. “I’ve never really been able to tell the difference between you.”
Matthew felt his blood go ice-cold in his veins. To hear it from Alexander was one thing, but from Cassie? Was this the woman he had once loved? And did she really see him that way?
“I can’t talk about what I’m doing here,” Matthew said stiffly. He was using his own personal phone, and speaking from within the security of his ward, but he couldn’t trust Cassie and her compromised blood. He wanted to believe that maybe Alexander was somehow controlling her now, trying to alienate them perhaps, but he didn’t believe that. Their problems ran much deeper.
“Fine, then we’ll just talk about Kaitlin. Leave her alone.”
“That girl doesn’t need protection from me.” If anything, it was the other way around. Matthew was still trying to decide if he should confront her one more time to try to wipe her memory. He couldn’t believe what he had feared last night – that she was completely immune to mind magic. She was just an ordinary girl, after all, and he’d been worn out.
“I mean it,” Cassie said. “How dare you
kiss her? She’s messed up right now, vulnerable, and –”
“She knows what she’s doing. Don’t you think I’d know if she didn’t?”
“I don’t know if you’d know or not. I think Kaitlin thinks she knows what she’s doing, but I’ve known her for enough years to see what happens every time she gets hurt.”
“You don’t know her as well as you think you do.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, forget it.” Matthew ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “I’ll leave her alone. You’re right; approaching her was a mistake.”
“Really? That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it.” He started to sit up, more than ready to end this conversation.
“Great, because I need you to do me a favor.”
“What?” Matthew asked, his mind still on Kaitlin and how she had thrown off his spells.
“I assume you flew to Pennsylvania?”
“Yes.”
“Then when you leave, will you bring Kaitlin with you?”
“What?” Matthew sat bolt upright. “You just had me promise not to have anything to do with her.”
“No, I asked you to leave her alone. Don’t kiss her again, in other words.”
For some reason in that instant, Matthew was struck by the thought that Kaitlin didn’t really like kissing anyway, but he shook the foolish notion aside. Cassie had nothing to worry about on that score. Kaitlin would never let him touch her.
“I want her home,” Cassie said. “If she drives, Jason and Xavier might be able to catch up with her, but the last I knew, they couldn’t fly.”
“They might wait for us there.”
“I’ve got fourteen volunteers to meet you at the airport and escort you back to my place.”
“And then how will you protect her? Shut her inside for the rest of her life?”
Kaitlin's Tale Page 14