The Rhiannon Chronicles

by Maggie Shayne

  “Eric isn’t responding. What if something’s happened? What if Roland is under DPI’s control again? He knows the children are here.”

  “My Roland would never–”

  “Then why isn’t Eric responding to me?”

  She all but shouted it, and there was a part of me that recognized her fear for her husband, empathized with it, even. But the rest of me rose up and struck back like a cobra. “Roland would never hurt Eric, either. How dare you suggest he would?”

  “How dare I? He almost killed Christian, you told us so yourself. That’s how I dare! The children–”

  “You think you’re a better mother than I am, don’t you?” I accused, advancing on her. “That’s what this is about. You think you could do a better job of raising them than I!”

  Roxanne stepped right in front of me, clasped my shoulders in her hands, and said, very loudly, “It’s the drug, Rhiannon. Don’t bite your friend’s head off over a chemical side-effect.”

  My eyes, I realized, had heated, as fury raged through my body. I caught hold of myself, lowered my head, tried to get hold of my temper, but it was whipping like a broken power line, sending sparks everywhere.

  “What drug?” Tamara asked. “Rhiannon, what did you–?”

  “Diurnal. I’m afraid I violated your husband’s emergency kit and helped myself to a dose just before sunrise.”

  She stepped out from behind Roxanne, shook her head at me like a disapproving parent. “No wonder you’re so bristly.”

  “I didn’t feel there was a choice.”

  Tam nodded. Maxine, who had been standing aside with her husband Lou, and looking from me to Tamara and back again, her eyes betraying her nervousness, said, “Rhiannon, Tam has a point. If we can’t pinpoint Roland’s location or Bouchard’s...we should probably move the children. Just in case they’re on their way here.”

  I closed my eyes, lowering my head. Just as I did, I sensed Eric’s approach. He was speeding toward us and there was panic in his energy. Tamara’s head came up fast, and she ran to the front door, yanking it open just as he appeared on the other side.

  “Eric! What is it, what’s wrong?”

  He looked stricken. “Roland is gone. He was gone when I woke. I have no idea where. Are the children–”

  “Upstairs, playing with Christian and Pandora,” I said, having moved to the entryway to stand behind Tamara.

  “We should move them,” Eric said.

  I closed my eyes and bit my lip to keep from snapping at him. “That seems to be the consensus.” I wished for help. But Maxine had been unable to reach Vlad and Stormy and no other vampires were close enough to get here in time. None that I knew of, at least.

  “We’ll move them,” I said.

  “Good,” Tamara replied. “Eric and I will go check out that beach house.”

  “I would like to observe as you do.” I recalled Ramses’ demonstration by day, which I’d seen on the very computer screen I’d just been looking at. “Roxanne, how did you do that earlier? Showing me what happened outside on this screen?”

  “Pretty simply,” Roxanne said.

  Christian was the only vampire not in the room. He was upstairs playing Hide and Seek with the children in the vastness of the Malone home. “I can show you how to do it right from your cell phone,” Roxanne said. She looked at me, and then at Eric, and then she said, “Scratch that. I can show her.” This with a nod indicating Tamara.

  I stood taller, my eyes going narrow. “Are you implying–”

  “I’m implying that it might go easier with someone born in this century, Princess. Nothing more.” Then she turned to Tamara. “Got a cellphone?”

  Tamara nodded, then followed Roxanne into the living room where they sat together on the antique chintz sofa leaning over the phone’s electronic glow. I turned to Eric. “When you find Bouchard, bring her to me. Alive.”

  “To torture?” he asked.

  “To do whatever is required to make her tell us about the device she implanted inside my husband’s brain,” I said. “What it is, what it does, and how to safely get it out of him.”

  Eric nodded, but looked a bit reluctant still.

  Not wanting to leave my husband’s best friend with any doubt about my intentions, I added, “And then I am going kill her.”

  * * *

  After Eric and Tamara left, taking Eric’s red car, and spitting gravel in their wake, I called the children and Christian downstairs. Pandora came hurrying behind. My cat met my eyes, and I knew she was agitated. She’d picked up on the energy of fear that permeated us all, I was sure of it as her tail switched to convey her displeasure.

  “We have to leave for a little while,” I told them. “But this all going to be over very soon now.”

  Maxine and Lou came in from a back room. Lou carried a duffle bag and I could smell the gun oil and sulphur scent of bullets inside. Weapons. Maxine had the laptop, open and running. “Just get into the van, guys. It’s a rolling hotspot. We can watch everything from anyplace we want.”

  I nodded, but as I took Nikki’s hand to lead her through the door, she yanked it free. “I don’t want to go. We were just getting good at the game.”

  And then Gareth said, “She knows where we are, doesn’t she?”

  I met his frightened eyes, wondered just how much of our conversations and thoughts he had heard. I still didn’t know if I could effectively block them out, though I had been trying. “We don’t know for sure. But there’s a chance she might, and if she does, and if she’s coming here, we want to be gone before she arrives.”

  “How would she know?” Ramses asked. And then, pointedly, “Where is Roland?”

  I held his gaze and tried to exert all my power, all my arrogance, all my exalted age and wisdom into that stare as I said, “I don’t know that either. What I do know is that it’s safer to leave and so that’s what we are doing.”

  He was not intimidated by my haughtiest demeanor. In fact, his eyes held a veiled accusation. And yet I had no idea what he was accusing me of.

  Lou pulled the van right around the house and into the back yard, flattening the lawn beneath its tires and positioning it near the patio in back. When he got out, he carried a handgun, and when he arrived at the rear door, he tugged two more from the back of his trousers, and handed them to Maxine and Roxanne. “We surround the kids, and on my word, make a beeline for the van,” Lou said. He’d left its doors open. “All right?”

  I nodded, stepped in front of the children, and called my cat to my side with a flick of my finger. Maxine and Lou positioned themselves on either side of them, and Christian and Roxanne brought up the rear. We made a tight little huddle of beings, with the children all but invisible in our center.

  “Go ahead, move,” Lou said.

  I swept the surroundings with the power of my mind, even knowing DPI agents were often trained to block themselves from my kind. Not all of them were, and not all of them had the strength of mind to maintain such a mental barricade. I had to try. Sensing no one, I moved quickly forward, but not too quickly. I didn’t want to leave the mortals in our wake, leaving the children exposed. Pandora kept pace, but like me, her focus was on the children.

  The distance of perhaps fifteen feet felt like a mile, and when we reached the van, I did not get in, but rather stepped aside to let the children rush past me, and through the open side door, Pandora leaping right in behind them. They scrambled into their seats in the center row, and Pandora sat upright on the floor in front of them. Christian and Roxanne wriggled their way into the third row seats behind the children. I got in and wedged myself onto the only bit of available seating, tugging the door closed. Maxine and Lou dove into the front, Lou behind the wheel, and we were in motion. The entire operation took mere seconds.

  “Head south, Lou,” Maxine said. She was already punching keys on her computer. “We want out of the way, but we also want top notch 4G.”

  “I know just the place.”

  * * *
<
br />   Parked on a wooded hilltop, on a dirt road, in a pull-off we hoped was concealed by pines, we waited in the van.

  I had all but affixed myself to Maxine’s computer screen, gazing at it over her shoulder. Roxanne was observing by means of her cellphone in the back, and had turned its volume down, as we only needed one audio feed in the confined space. She had tapped into Tamara’s signal as well.

  The children were bored and restless, and seemed unable or unwilling to comprehend the danger we faced.

  Now, tonight. Whatever would happen, would happen before sunrise. I felt it to my bones. And I felt exposed, as well, not safe as I had felt in the Malones’ home, nor our own. We were out in the open, only the thin sheet metal of this van between the children and whatever lay outside.

  “We’ll get through this, Rhi,” Maxine said. I detested when she called me “Rhi.” “Eric and Tamara are gonna find this Bouchard bitch so you can put an end to her bullshit once and for all.”

  I missed my Roland so much it was an ache in my chest. It was difficult to focus on anything else, but I did note the passion in her tone.

  I tried to smile, because seeing this small but spunky mortal, angry enough to condone violence amused me, but I couldn’t even work up a convincing smirk.

  And then the computer screen on her lap came to life. Naturally, Eric and Tamara were invisible to us, but Tam held the camera’s eye away from her, allowing us to see what she was seeing.

  “We’re here,” she said. “We’re moving up to the beach house now. It’s as dark and silent as a crypt.”

  I nodded as if she could see me, and listened intently as the image on the screen moved up and down in time with Tamara’s footsteps. The small yellow house in the distance grew larger, and I could hear the ocean’s waves rushing over the beach beyond it, then hissing as they withdrew again.

  The beach house loomed even nearer now, a quaint square of wood, with a four-sided roof and more windows than walls, all of them curtained, all of them dark.

  And then one of those curtains moved, just a little, and I glimpsed something vaguely human shaped and palest white on the other side, just briefly. It was like seeing a ghost. A bolt of foreboding shot up my spine like icy lightning. I leaned closer. “Tamara, get away from there. Eric—!”

  Tamara screamed then, shrieked really, and kept on shrieking as her phone apparently tumbled, then went still on an image of the starry night sky. I snatched the laptop from Maxine and dove out of the van, not wanting the children traumatized by whatever was happening to their friend, Tamara.

  My hands trembled as I clung to the small computer.

  And then I jumped backward in horror as a form rushed past on the screen, a form made entirely of fire in the shape of Tamara.

  “By the Gods, she’s on fire!” I cried. “Tamara!”

  I heard Eric’s voice. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you. I’ve got you, my love. Tam. Tamara?”

  “Eric!” I cried, then silently. Eric, tell us what’s happening.

  She was on fire, his mind told mine. Her hair just burst into flames and now she’s….

  You need to get away from there. But get the phone. She dropped the phone and–

  Yes, yes.

  A split second, and the view on the screen flipped and darkened as Eric apparently scooped up the phone and tucked it away. His footsteps were rapid, then a steady vibration as he sped away from that place and whatever was inside. I had seen no fireball thrown from the cottage. No flaming torch nor rag-stuffed bottle. How had Bouchard done it to her?

  I’m bringing her back. She needs help, Rhiannon. She has to survive long enough for the day sleep to heal her.

  Get her to the Malones’ as fast as you can, Eric.

  I closed the laptop as its screen had gone black, and turned to see every other adult had exited the van and surrounded me now.

  “We have to go back to the house. We’ll need to cool her burns and attend to her pain. Cold water, sterile towels, ice. And she’ll need blood. We should....” My words trailed off, because Roxanne wasn’t there.

  “She stayed in the van with the kids,” Christian said.

  And as I looked up at the van, I knew it was empty. I knew it, felt it, before I even opened the door, to see that the sliding door on the opposite side stood open, and the seats were vacant.

  “Children! Roxanne!”

  I went cold inside as I raced around the van, and saw nothing but thick forest, and then vaguely, footsteps outlined by the squashed spots in the autumn leaf carpet. I raced at top speeds, and I knew the others were trying to follow, but they couldn’t possibly keep up. I was a solid mile into the forest when what I saw brought me to a sudden halt.

  Roxanne O’Mally lay in a bed of fallen leaves and pine needles, her head tipped back, her eyes closed. There were two puncture wounds in her throat, and twin rivulets of blood trailing down her neck.

  I fell to my knees and screamed, “Roxanne!”

  She opened her eyes, gazed up at me weakly.

  “Roland,” she whispered. “The kids said....he was calling them. That he needed their help.” She lifted one hand, and pointed in the direction I’d been running. And then her eyes fell closed, and there was no more.

  Christian leaped to my side, the other humans still far behind. We’d made the run in no more than a minute or two. I looked up at him, emotion almost blinding me. “I’m going after the children. Take Roxy back to the Malones’. Tell the others to do whatever they can to save her. But Christian, you must not turn her. Roxy would not want it.”

  “But...but...”

  “There’s no time. Take her, get back to the house with the others. Hurry, before it’s too late.”

  I ran then, through the forest at speeds a gazelle would struggle to match. And as I emerged from its far side onto a winding road, I saw a car speeding away, its red taillights vanishing in the distance, and my cat, Pandora, racing after it at speeds she was far too old to be attempting.

  And then all that remained was a dark, cloaked figure, standing on the roadside staring sightlessly into space.

  Roland.

  I ran to him, gripped his shoulder and spun him around to face me. His blank stare and vacant eyes made me furious.

  “What have you done?” I shouted. And when he didn’t respond, I slapped him hard, rocking his head back but gripping his shoulders before he could fall. “What have you done?” I shrieked, shaking him.

  Roland blinked, frowned at me, shook his head.

  “Dammit, Roland, speak to me!”

  His eyes widened, and the pain in them was more intense than any man should have to bear. “What have I done? What have I—the children,” he said, looking in the direction the vehicle had gone. Then he shot a terrified look back toward the forest. “Roxy!”

  “I’m going after the children,” I shouted. “Get back to our house, Roland. Lock yourself in a room where you can’t do anymore harm, or I swear to Isis I’ll kill you myself.”

  “Rhiannon—” Roland leaned toward me, as if he would embrace me.

  I pushed him away from me, and he stumbled. “Go!” I shouted, pointing angrily toward the forest. “Now.” My heart seemed to be wearing an icy coat, but I had no time for kindness, not even for my love. And then I shot forward in a burst of speed such as I had never used before, after that car and my kidnapped children. I passed Pandora, and she poured on more effort, trying with all her might to keep up.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I sped after the departing vehicle, calling out to the children mentally. Nikki! Ramses! Can you hear me? Gareth! You must not go with that woman. You must get away from her.

  And immediately, without any hesitation my Nikki replied. We have to, Rhiannon. She’s taking us to our sister!

  She’s lying to you! You must get out of that car. Do it now.

  She’s not lying. Roland said so himself. He called to us to come fast, because our sister needs our help, and he told us to go with Dr. Bouchard, that she was
good, after all.

  She’s not good, I cried. Roland didn’t know what he was saying.

  But we can feel her. Our sister. She’s near. Dr. Bouchard says she’s waiting for us at a house on the beach. And I know she’s telling the truth, Rhiannon. I know it, because I can feel her.

  I could have screamed in frustration. By the Gods, Tamara burned alive. Eric’s rage would be without equal. Roxanne lying dead, or nearly so, at the hand of a man she trusted. Roland completely out of control. And our children in DPI hands once again. What had our lives become?

  I poured on more speed, eventually drawing near enough to glimpse the car, and once I did, I never let it out of my sight again. I was a dark, furious blur on the streets of Maine. A vampire on a rampage, speeding over rural routes on a late autumn night. The few vehicles I encountered were driven by mortals, oblivious to my presence, or sensing something, but unsure what. Pandora bounded through woods and fields along the roadside, intelligent enough to stay out of sight. She fell behind, but I could not slow. And I knew she would catch up to me. It was inevitable.

  Bouchard drove rapidly through the night, down the East Coast Highway. My children were willing participants in their own abduction. And then finally the car turned onto a side road and slowed. I was nearly upon it when it veered once again, into a curving drive, its headlights painting streaks of light upon the beach house I’d seen on Maxine’s computer screen.

  Something was inside. Something capable of setting a vampire ablaze from a distance. It wasn’t Bouchard. Bouchard had been taking my children while I’d been witnessing the brutal attack on Tamara.

  I wondered briefly whether she would survive, and my heart seemed to contract in my chest. The pain of losing her, and perhaps Roxanne, too…and only because they had tried to help us. Tried to protect the children. Tried to save my Roland for me.

  But I couldn’t let my devastation weaken me. It hurt, yes, and emotional pain could be as crippling to my kind as physical pain could be. But I couldn’t allow it. Not with the children even now spilling from that car. They hung close to the vehicle’s still open doors, staring warily at the harmless looking little beach house.