Kaitlin's Tale

by Christine Amsden

  “True.” Matthew shivered, wishing he had a cross or holy water or anything that might protect him from this creature. “What do you want?”

  “An alliance. I believe it will be good for both of us. Your new hunters won’t come after us, and I won’t go after them. I’ll send vampires to help you when I can, and you will agree to recognize the vampire king.”

  “Who is the vampire king?” Matthew asked, already knowing the answer. But he didn’t want Xavier to even guess that he had a glimpse into his mind.

  “Me.”

  “If I openly ally myself with vampires, the White Guard will die.”

  “Don’t do it openly, then. At least not yet. I’ll want someone in your inner circle of course.”

  “Of course.”

  “She’ll help you work towards convincing the magical population that vampires can be trusted.”

  “Can you be trusted?”

  “More or less,” Xavier lied. He wanted... he wanted... Matthew couldn’t quite glimpse what it was Xavier really wanted. Or maybe he simply didn’t understand it.

  “So do we have a deal?” Xavier asked.

  “Where’s Kaitlin?”

  “You are single-minded, aren’t you?”

  “And you seem resistant to letting me see her.” Matthew frowned and felt a sudden sharp pain burst across his forehead. He had just rammed headlong into a powerful spell, one he hadn’t even known was there until he butted against the roots clinging to his mind.

  “You’re a strong one,” Xavier said.

  Normally, yes, but now it was all Matthew could do not to gasp. Don’t show weakness. Not here. It will be fatal. “Where’s Kaitlin?” he demanded.

  “She is not part of the deal.”

  Matthew felt a stab of pain crash through his skull and only just managed not to double over and bury his head in his hands.

  It’s a good deal. It helps you long term and it gets you out of here alive. Power. It’s all about power. You could have everything you ever wanted.

  “And Kaitlin?” Matthew managed to whisper.

  “She’s a threat to you, immune to your power. Immune to mine, for that matter.” She’ll destroy you. Don’t trust her.

  Matthew knew he’d thought of her that way at first. It had seemed like the obvious conclusion, but things had changed. Hadn’t they? Were these his thoughts or Xavier’s? If they were his, they had such a cold, alien quality to them that he wondered if he was human himself.

  You’re me, thirty years ago, Alexander had said more than once. But would Alexander make this deal? Would Alexander let an innocent woman get hurt in the process?

  Yes and yes, Matthew decided, especially if he was so weak that fighting might cost him his magic.

  He was dangerously close to burning out. His exertions over the past days had been bad enough, but this even more powerful foe would be the death of his magic unless he said yes.

  The death of his magic would be the death of him. He couldn’t imagine a world without magic in it. A world like these past few days when he’d been weak, helpless, and utterly at the mercy of his enemies. A world in which he couldn’t protect Kaitlin.

  “Come downstairs with me,” Xavier said suddenly. “I’ll get you something to drink and we can discuss this properly. Don’t worry – I have wine.”

  Matthew imagined a liquor cabinet stocked with bottles of blood but quickly pushed the thought away. Now wasn’t the time to consider the sort of monster Xavier was. Now was the time to figure a way out of this mess without losing either Kaitlin or the essence of himself. Slowly, his head still throbbing with the effort of resisting Xavier’s will, he followed the ancient vampire along a hallway, down a flight of stairs, and into a den with a fully stocked liquor cabinet. Xavier poured Matthew a glass of wine, but did not pour one for himself.

  Matthew did not drink.

  “I can offer you more than you’re imagining right now,” Xavier said when they’d both chosen seats in matching leather armchairs. “I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I have a hidden talent, one that no living man knows about.”

  “Mind magic,” Matthew said.

  “Alexander has far more mind mages than you do, even though you’ve recruited most of your extended family to join you. Alexander himself is one of the most powerful mind mages I’ve known, and I’ve been alive for more than two hundred years. But I’m stronger. How do you think I’m able to cripple so many hunters?”

  “Are you suggesting that you’ll use your mind magic to help me gain followers?”

  “Of course. And to keep this little alliance between the two of us a secret until the time is right. It wouldn’t do to announce it too early and lose support. No, you need to take down Alexander’s movement first. Finding the blood was a good start.”

  “Kaitlin helped me find it,” Matthew said.

  “Kaitlin turned out to be a more powerful weapon than I would have guessed,” Xavier said. “I underestimated her.”

  “And what do you plan to do with her now?”

  “Persistent, aren’t you?” Xavier asked, but his thoughts were erratic. Why her? Why not anyone else? Why not me?

  “You don’t know what you did to change her,” Matthew said, remembering what Kaitlin had shown him of her conversation with Jason. “You have no idea.”

  Xavier scowled. Not true, he thought. It was probably the DNA splicing potion. Just need to dissect her... Probably shouldn’t have thought that.

  Matthew stared at Xavier as it dawned on him that the vampire knew he could read his mind – knew it and permitted it, perhaps as part of his ploy to convince Matthew to trust him.

  “I won’t dissect her,” Xavier said smoothly, but his mind was now closed. “I need her. I need to reproduce the experiment in others, in the hunters who Alexander has twisted with the use of blood magic. Do you think your people are the only ones he’s hurt?” Now Xavier did let a bit of emotion show – his vampires. “We can work together. The future of mankind rests on your shoulders.”

  “I think you need me more than I need you.”

  Xavier scowled, a sound almost like a hiss, and again Matthew felt pain knife through his skull.

  “Don’t be a fool,” Xavier hissed. “I’ve been alive for centuries and will live for millennia. If you refuse me, there will be others. There will always be others. You’re convenient, and you’re the best man for the job at this moment, but make no mistake. I am willing to wait another ten or twenty years for your successor if I must. I do not need you. I want you. That is all. If you value your life, you will agree.”

  And Matthew knew it was true. All of it. Everything Xavier said – that he could help Matthew, that together they could overthrow Alexander and get the vampire population under control. Jason had made a counter-offer, but he himself had acknowledged that he wouldn’t be as good an ally.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Matthew spotted Jason enter the den. Xavier glanced that way too, but immediately dismissed the younger vampire. Just Jason.

  Jason nodded at Matthew, an unspoken reminder that Matthew had a choice here: Accept Xavier, or fight him. Fighting him might mean his life, but it would definitely mean his magic.

  Not fighting him would almost definitely cost him Kaitlin.

  Closing his eyes, Matthew made his choice. He found his quiet place, stared at the diamond still glowing at fractional strength, and mined it for every ounce of power he possessed. He drew it within himself – all of it – and he flung it at Xavier in one last, desperate move.

  “Wh-?” Xavier managed to say before he froze.

  Matthew’s eyes blinked open, even as he fought to maintain the hold on his spell, but he might not have bothered. What happened next took place so quickly that the gift of sight couldn’t help him perceive it. One second Jason was across the
room, and the next second he was hovering over his sire. There was a stake protruding from Xavier’s heart.

  Matthew dropped the spell, knowing it was too late for him. He was powerless, at the mercy of a vampire and his dubious word.

  “Thank you,” Jason said simply. “Kaitlin’s in the car outside, waiting for you.” With that, Jason zoomed out of sight.

  Chapter 32

  FOUR WEEKS LATER...

  Kaitlin sat on the floor in Cassie’s enormous living room, watching her son play with Cassie’s eight-month-old daughter, Anastasia. The latter was just now pulling herself into a standing position, something Jay had done by the time he was two months old, but Anastasia was already clearly saying “Mama,” something Kaitlin yearned to hear from her eighteen-month-old. It made her heart ache a bit every time the little girl spoke.

  They had been having weekly playdates since Kaitlin’s return, but so far Kaitlin had only agreed on the condition that Cassie not ask any questions. Cassie respected the request, though she clearly didn’t understand and Kaitlin doubted she could ever explain. She still didn’t entirely understand what had possessed her to unburden to Matthew all those weeks ago. Maybe it had simply been that she’d expected to die and he was convenient. Maybe it had been that she hadn’t had to talk – that had helped a great deal.

  In her childish fantasies she supposed it was the man himself who had broken through her defenses, drawing forth the real her in a way no other man could or would again. That was the fairy tale. That was how it worked in the romance novels she devoured by the bushel – here, suddenly, was a man who changed everything. Changed her.

  But back in the real world nothing had changed. She’d driven an unconscious Matthew back to Eagle Rock, dropped him on his parents’ doorstep, gone to Cassie where she found Hideyuki, Devon, and most of all Jay, and then become herself again.

  Well, almost. She hadn’t taken her old job at the diner back, and didn’t plan to. She wasn’t sure what she would do instead, but she thought she might even go to college. She and Cassie had spent most of their playdates talking about that possibility, and Kaitlin was almost ready to accept Cassie’s offer of an interest-free loan to pay for tuition. Cassie would have given her the money, Kaitlin knew, but pride wouldn’t have let her accept. This was the next best thing.

  But Kaitlin still hadn’t registered and she knew what was holding her back – Matthew. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since returning and even though she’d known better than to set any hopes on him, part of her had fallen in love. It wouldn’t be the first time, but it was turning out to be the most painful rejection of her life. She had shared her true self with Matthew, given him more than she had given anyone, and accepted more in return. And okay, they had spent less than twenty-four hours together, but those had been some of the most intense twenty-four hours of her life. If that’s all it was ever going to be, couldn’t he at least tell her so in person?

  Closure. That’s what she needed. And not just with Matthew. He had reopened old wounds that she knew would need time to heal properly. Years, maybe. She had the numbers of several counselors in the area but hadn’t been able to make herself call yet. First she had to talk to her mom – a conversation she had been putting off because she wanted one last assurance from Matthew that her mother would be safe.

  She cringed. Thoughts of Matthew had only grown stronger as time passed, not weaker. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he had put some kind of spell on her. Two old boyfriends had flirted with her in the intervening time, but she hadn’t even felt the faintest flicker of interest, nor had she flirted back.

  “What’s that look about?” Cassie asked.

  Kaitlin cringed again. How could she possibly talk to Cassie about Matthew, when he had hurt Cassie so much? Would she lose her best friend if she was honest about her feelings?

  “Kaitlin?” Cassie said again, more tentatively. “I know you don’t want to talk about what happened–”

  “Nope.”

  “All right.” Cassie sighed and leaned against the sofa.

  “How are things in the White Guard?” Kaitlin asked. She’d shied away from the subject because it came too close to talking about Matthew, but after four weeks she at least wanted to hear that he was so busy he couldn’t possibly have called her.

  “I’m not sure,” Cassie said.

  “What do you mean? Didn’t Matthew put out the video he took of the blood?”

  “Yes, and it’s getting a lot of reaction. Some are saying it’s faked of course, but a lot of people are scared.”

  “You?” Kaitlin asked.

  “He had my blood. He had Evan’s. He could have done anything to us...” Cassie trailed off. “It makes me doubt so many things.”

  “I guess mind magic is like that.” Kaitlin hesitated, but decided that of all the things that had happened to her, this was something she could confide in her friend. “I’m immune to it, you know.”

  “To what?” Cassie asked, still looking at something faraway only she could see.

  “Mind magic. It can’t touch me. I see through illusions, I can’t be influenced, I can’t be coerced.”

  Cassie’s eyes focused on Kaitlin and she shook her head. “I know you’ve been influenced by it before. Matthew...”

  “Xavier did something to me, while I was with him and Jason.”

  Cassie stared at her friend for a long time, so long that Kaitlin shifted uncomfortably and turned back to look at the two babies playing on the rug in front of the fireplace. Jay was trying to stack blocks while Anastasia half watched, half chewed on a teething ring.

  “Are you sure?” Cassie asked finally. “This isn’t something Matthew told you to make you susceptible to him?”

  “Wow, you really don’t trust him, do you?” Kaitlin clamped her mouth shut before she said something she would really regret. This was exactly why she hadn’t brought it up before.

  “It’s just... incredible.”

  Kaitlin shrugged. “Alexander’s compound is full of illusions. They use them to decorate the walls, even.”

  “I know. It was common knowledge, because plenty of people took pictures and the background would look different in the photo. But it was harmless.”

  “Not all the illusions were.” Kaitlin shook her head. “Anyway...I’m glad Alexander’s group is falling apart.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No, I said people are scared. But Matthew hasn’t exactly stood up to be the new rallying point like everyone expected.”

  “What’s he doing?” Kaitlin asked.

  “Hiding, as far as I can tell.” Cassie scowled. “He’s been living with his father since he got back. I didn’t trust him before, and I really don’t trust him now. His brother is suggesting that he be named the new leader of the White Guard, but–”

  Kaitlin jumped to her feet. “Can you watch Jay for a while?”

  “What?” Cassie asked, staring blankly at her friend.

  “I need to do something. Can you watch Jay for me?”

  “Yes, of course. But where are you going?”

  “I’ll explain when I get back.” With that, Kaitlin practically flew from the mansion.

  * * *

  Mayor James Blair, Matthew’s father, opened the door when Kaitlin rang the bell. Her heart was already in her throat, wondering what would come of this intrusion into Matthew’s world. Utter rejection? That’s what she expected, especially since he had made no efforts to contact her in the past month, but something wasn’t adding up. He should have taken charge of the White Guard. He should have stood victorious and rallied the magical world around him. Instead he had become a hermit in his parents’ home.

  “Yes?” James asked, staring down at her like the magical giant he was. She suddenly found h
erself remembering that however immune she was to mind magic, she had no other powers. James did.

  “I need to see Matthew.”

  “He’s not seeing anyone.”

  “I don’t care.” Kaitlin looked the giant right in the eyes. “I’m going to see him, one way or another.”

  James continued trying to stare her down, but Kaitlin didn’t even flinch. After a minute or so, she heard a high, tinkling laugh and then saw an elegant woman come to stand behind the giant in the doorway.

  “Come in,” Caroline Blair said. Kaitlin would have recognized Matthew’s mother even if she hadn’t seen the woman before – her son’s face resembled his mother’s a great deal.

  “Thank you,” Kaitlin said, stepping past James, who actually looked confused.

  “What just happened?” James asked.

  “I think this child has come to help Matthew heal.”

  “Heal?” Kaitlin asked. A strange numbness stole over her as she recalled the day she’d driven Matthew back to Eagle Rock. He’d slept the entire way, but she’d assumed he was still recovering from magical exhaustion. Had it been something more? I should have come sooner but I was too caught up in self-pity to realize he needed me.

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Caroline said as if she could read her mind. Maybe she could – or at least her emotions. “I don’t think Matthew would have let you help him when he first returned. Today... maybe. We’ll see.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” Kaitlin asked.

  “That’s for him to say,” James said firmly. “If he’s trusting enough to tell you.”

  “I would never reveal his secrets!” Kaitlin exclaimed.

  James’s nostrils flared. “True. But it’s still not my secret to tell.”

  Kaitlin turned to Caroline, who seemed to be the more open of the pair. “Please, has he said anything about me?”

  “No, but he thinks of you often.” She turned and started down a short hallway. “This way.”