Cronin's Key II

by N. R. Walker

  Alec barely saw Eiji and Jodis react before Cronin had his arms around him and they were gone.

  Hit by a blast of winter air, Alec found himself in complete darkness, his back pressed against a stone wall and Cronin at his front. His heart hammered so damn fast he thought it might actually stop.

  Alec recognized this place immediately. It was the Hillfort at Dunadd, where Cronin had lived his human life. It was long abandoned and completely exposed to the Scottish elements, but it was remote and private, and obviously the first place Cronin thought of when he thought of the word safe.

  Alec sucked back a breath. His heart was pounding and his adrenaline was pumping. “Eiji! And Jodis! We need to go back!” he said. “We can’t leave them there!”

  “There are no two more adept fighters,” Cronin said. He put his hands to Alec’s face and scanned his features, and even in the dark, Alec could see how wide and black his eyes were. “Are you hurt?”

  Alec shook his head. “No. Cronin, we can’t leave them!”

  “I needed to get you out of there.”

  “They knew where we were!”

  Cronin nodded. “We will need to move.”

  “What the hell did they say?” Alec asked. “They yelled something in Chinese.”

  “It wasn’t Chinese. It was Mongolian. They said, ‘In the name of Genghis Khan!’”

  Alec shivered. The instant change, from a climate controlled New York apartment to a blustery Scottish night-filled field, was more than a shock. Not to mention the fright he’d just had. His whole body shuddered and his teeth chattered. “We need to go back, please Cronin. I can’t leave them.”

  “And if there are now a hundred assassins in that room?” he retorted. “I cannot risk you being there!”

  “If there are a hundred assassins in that room, then we need to go back now!”

  Just then, Cronin’s cell phone beeped. He fished it out of his pocket and read the screen. “It’s a message from Jodis,” he said, and Alec sighed in relief. “It says ‘sikre.’”

  “Is that some kind of code?”

  “Yes,” Cronin said flatly. “It’s Norwegian for secure. She’s telling us it’s safe to go back.”

  Alec’s teeth were still chattering. “Okay.”

  “Are you ready?”

  Alec nodded, and they were gone.

  * * * *

  Alec found himself in their bedroom. The light was on and bright compared to the darkness he’d just been in, but at least it was warm. He was still shivering, his teeth chattering and whole body covered in gooseflesh.

  Cronin listened for one second then seemed to relax just a little. He grabbed Alec’s hand and led him out into the living room. Jodis had her phone to her ear, talking in a language Alec didn’t know. Eiji was dropping the bulletproof vests and left over weapons from their last fight in Egypt onto the sofa. Eleanor stood by the wall, which used to be the glass wall that overlooked the city but was now the metal security wall. And two long wooden spears lay haphazardly amongst a spray of brown dust on the white marble floor.

  “Thank you, Eleanor,” Cronin said.

  She looked a little shaken, even for a vampire. “I am sorry I didn’t see it sooner. They must have a cloaker, Cronin. Someone is hiding their actions.”

  Eiji stuffed arrows into a backpack. “We need to leave,” he said without looking up.

  Cronin gave a hard nod. “Agreed.”

  “What about my dad,” Alec asked. “If they found us, then they must know of him.”

  Cronin squeezed Alec’s hand before letting it go. He put his phone to his ear and quickly spoke to someone in French, then redialed and spoke in English. “Kole, it is Cronin. Jacques will be at your door. Please let him in. You need to come with us. Alec and I will be there directly to get you both.”

  From what Alec could understand, his father mustn’t have argued. Cronin put his phone in his pocket. “Alec, you will need two jackets.”

  Alec raced into the closet and grabbed two jackets, one for him and one for his dad. When he came back out, Cronin was helping Eiji pack stakes and pistols into backpacks. Alec threw the jackets on the sofa. Cronin simply announced they wouldn’t be gone long and slid his arm around Alec, and they leapt.

  * * * *

  When Alec and Cronin landed in Kole’s living room, Kole was at the front door with Jacques. Alec’s father, a gray-haired man almost in his sixties, was wide-eyed and pale. “Dad?” Alec rushed to him. “You okay?”

  Kole nodded weakly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m just too old for this middle of the night crap.”

  Cronin wasted no time. “Kole, do you have a book on your family history? Any documentation you may have would be greatly appreciated.”

  Kole nodded and darted out of the room.

  Alec noticed then that his dad was wearing pajamas. “I’ll go throw some clothes in a bag,” Alec said, following his father down the hall. He heard Cronin ask Jacques if he’d seen anything out of the ordinary while he watched over Kole, but he didn’t hear Jacques’ reply. He stuffed handfuls of clothes into a small overnight bag and when he went back to the living room, Kole was already there.

  He was holding a book Alec had never seen. “I only have this one….” His words died away.

  Cronin was holding a pamphlet out to Kole. He looked pissed or worried, possibly both. “Where did you get this?”

  “Uh, it’s funny you should mention that,” Kole answered quietly. “I got a phone call from some guy at Discovery Times Square who said I won tickets. I didn’t believe him, you know, those marketing phone calls are a pain in the ass. But he said random winners were picked from their state library card numbers. He quoted my number…. Then there was that in my mailbox. I put the tickets on top of the fridge.”

  “What is it?” Alec asked.

  Cronin handed Alec the piece of paper and walked into the kitchen. Alec read the flyer, and needles of ice and fear ran down his spine. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

  There, on letterhead of the museum, was a letter addressed to his father. “Mr. MacAidan, the Terracotta Army has waited two thousand years to see you.”

  Cronin walked back in with the tickets in his hand. His jaw was set, his eyes were a steely black. Without a word, he put his hand on Alec, Alec put one hand on Jacques, and before he could touch his father, Kole cried, “Wait!”

  He ran back down the hall and came back out with Sammy the cat tucked under one arm. “Can’t just leave him here to starve,” Kole said.

  Sammy fought his way out of Kole’s arms, determined to get closer to Cronin. The cat purred and meowed until Cronin grabbed the cat and held it. Alec burst out laughing, Cronin rolled his eyes, and they leapt.

  * * * *

  They arrived back at Cronin’s apartment, to find Eiji and Jodis packed, ready and waiting. Kole recoiled from leaping, gasping wide-eyed. “I know leaping hurts,” Alec told him, helping him into a coat and fixing the buttons. “You’ll get used to it.”

  Then seven of them, Cronin, Alec, Kole, Jacques, Eiji, Jodis, and Eleanor, picked up all the bags they could carry—including Sammy the cat—and they leapt again.

  The house they arrived in this time was light but cold. Not that the vampires seemed to notice, but Alec was grateful for the coat Cronin had told him to get. Jacques took the bags and aligned them against the wall, and Eleanor set about starting the fire.

  “Where are we?” Kole asked.

  “Japan,” Alec told him. He recognized the white walls, dark wood trims, and traditional furniture. The specially filtered glass on the windows allowed sunshine into the house without harming vampires, like the apartment in New York. The view outside, however, was vastly different. Whereas New York was buildings, steel, and glass, this view was all greenery and cherry blossom trees.

  Kole looked around the room, then at the view outside. “Japan?” he whispered.

  “There was an attack on the New York apart
ment,” Alec explained. “They knew where we were, and they clearly knew where you were too.”

  “The letter from the museum?” Kole asked.

  Eiji and Jodis were now inspecting the letter and tickets Cronin had given them. “The tickets are personalized invitations,” Cronin said. “Alec’s name is printed on the second ticket.”

  “The museum has an exhibit of the Terracotta Soldiers,” Jodis said quietly. She looked at Alec. “They want you there.”

  “I didn’t think much of it,” Kole said. “I joined Alec under my library account when he was a boy, so I just assumed….” He swallowed hard. “This has something to do with Genghis Khan, doesn’t it?”

  Alec nodded. “Yeah, Dad. It does.”

  “Surely they’d not be so stupid to assume he would go?” Cronin barked.

  “I think I should go,” Alec said.

  “Alec,” Cronin said with a humorless laugh. “Do not think for one second I would allow you to walk into such a trap!”

  “You wouldn’t allow me?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

  Cronin growled in frustration. “You know what I mean, Alec. I cannot bear the thought of you subjecting yourself to this.”

  “Listen,” Alec started. He put his hand on Cronin’s arm, the touch calming them both. “I’d prefer to test the waters with five or six of these terracotta soldiers rather than trying my luck with five or six thousand. It makes sense. If not the museum in New York—if you think it’s a trap—then surely there are others around the world. London, Sydney, Hong Kong. They’ve been on exhibit everywhere!”

  Eiji nodded. “I agree with Alec.” Cronin growled again, but Eiji was undeterred. “Cronin, he’s right. It makes sense.”

  Kole interrupted. “Uh, Alec? What’s this about?”

  Alec remembered then that his father didn’t know the latest discovery. “We believe Genghis Khan has reformed his army. The Terracotta Army has been buried under what was a pyramid, Dad. Jorge said the earth will come to life.”

  “Earth, as in terracotta?” Kole asked quietly. Alec nodded and Kole looked at the letter Jodis was still holding. “Why did they want me to go?”

  Jodis held out the two tickets. “For you to take Alec, it would seem.”

  Eleanor, who was sitting in front of the now-crackling fire, said, “The tickets are a ruse, yes. I can see that not ending well.”

  “Thank you!” Cronin cried.

  “Surely they can’t have been so naïve to assume Alec would actually go to the New York exhibit,” Eiji said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “If not Alec,” Eleanor said quietly, “then Kole. The deception I see is if not Alec, then Kole as leverage would suffice.”

  Kole sat himself wearily onto the low sofa. Alec watched as Jacques moved to stand behind his father, realizing Jacques still took his role of protector seriously. Alec smiled at Jacques as he sat beside Kole and clapped him on the back, reassuring him without words.

  “Cronin, if you were to go to a different museum,” Eleanor suggested. “I foresee no complications. Only answers.”

  Cronin let his head fall back and he groaned at the ceiling. Alec was quick to stand beside him, to touch him. “I know you don’t like it,” Alec said softly. “I don’t like putting us all at risk either, but the sooner we sort this out the better, yes?”

  Cronin gave a petulant snarl, and Alec thought he was particularly cute when he pouted. “Don’t smile at me like that, Alec.”

  “So it’s settled,” Alec declared. “Would it make you feel better if I let you choose which museum we went to?”

  “Let me choose?” Cronin repeated. His lips twisted into a smirk. “You will allow me to make a decision? How very generous.”

  “Is that sarcasm I detect?” Alec asked with a smile. “I thought the transfer effects of drinking my blood had started to wear off.”

  Cronin smiled now. “And let me guess. You want to go to the museum of my choice right now.”

  “Of course.”

  Cronin sighed, but he pulled Alec in for a hug. He ran his nose along Alec’s neck, inhaling deeply. Alec could feel the tension leaving Cronin’s body. “Well,” Cronin said, “considering my choices are limited to nightfall, you leave me with little choice.” He pulled out his phone, pressed some buttons, and put it to his ear. “Kennard, my old friend. What is the security like in the British Museum at 4:00 a.m.?”

  * * * *

  By the time Cronin had made arrangements to meet Kennard inside the British Museum, Eiji had armed himself and Jodis with quivers of arrows and stakes, and Kole had declared he wasn’t going anywhere if it involved leaping. Jacques would stay with him, as would Eleanor. Alec knew his father would more than likely go back to bed, considering it was after midnight, New York time.

  In truth, Alec realized, his dad looked like he could use the rest. He looked tired, worn, and worried. “Be safe, huh?” was all Kole said before Alec, Cronin, Eiji, and Jodis disappeared.

  In what was his third country in less than an hour, Alec found himself standing inside the British Museum. It was lit only by security lighting, the room was huge with high glass ceilings. Everything else was marble and tile, including the stairs that wrapped around both sides of the round room. They’d landed in the Great Court, and Kennard along with two vampires Alec had not met before, greeted them with warm smiles.

  Cronin greeted them with a blunt, “Security?”

  Kennard waved his hand toward the far wall, where Alec assumed there were offices. “Taken care of,” he said smugly. “Davis here ensured the video surveillance will play on a loop of empty rooms, and Julia helped the guards to sleep. They’ll wake up just fine after we’ve gone, of course.”

  Alec hated to admit that as a cop he’d detest what they were doing, but now he was on the other side of the ethical fence, he thought their ability to remain undetected was pretty damn cool.

  The tall male vampire, who Alec assumed to be Davis, bowed his head to Alec. “It is an honor,” he said, his British accent thick.

  The woman, Julia, followed suit. “And a privilege,” she said, sounding more Cockney.

  Alec swallowed hard. He would never get used to people treating him as though he were royalty or something. “Um, thanks?”

  Eiji laughed and shook hands with Kennard. “It’s been too long, my friend.”

  Kennard grinned widely. “You’re feeling better?”

  “Much.”

  Then Kennard took Jodis’ hand, and Alec half expected him to kiss it. He didn’t, though, he slightly bowed instead. “My memory does your beauty injustice.”

  Jodis rolled her eyes. “Yet I remember your charms just fine.”

  Kennard laughed and Jodis smiled at him. It was clear they were old friends, and Alec envied their history. He was such a newcomer, so young compared to them all, and it was mind-blowing to think Alec’s entire lifespan of twenty-nine years must have felt like a week to them.

  “Alec,” Kennard cooed. He smoothly took Alec’s hand and looked up at him.

  Cronin growled, making Kennard laugh. “I see someone has his jealous pants on today.”

  Cronin’s growl got louder and a lot more serious, and Kennard stopped smiling. He turned to Cronin and raised an eyebrow in question.

  Eiji quickly stood between them and pulled Kennard’s hand from Alec’s. “He means nothing of it. It seems there are undue consequences from drinking Alec’s blood.”

  Alec quickly stepped around Eiji so he could touch Cronin. He put one arm around him, standing half side-on to Kennard.

  Jodis added. “Or from being fated to a human, we don’t know. There are many questions and very few answers.”

  Kennard blinked, his expression grew concerned. “Why did you not say anything?”

  “Changes in Cronin’s behavior are not something we want made public,” Alec said.

  “Hmm,” Kennard hummed with a serious nod. “A point I can understand.”
>
  “I apologize,” Cronin said quietly. “I cannot help it, or so it seems.”

  “My friend,” Kennard said warmly. “Apologies not required. I was unaware. But rest assured, I won’t touch him.” Then he smiled. “Unless he wants me to.”

  Cronin growled again.

  Kennard’s lips twisted. “Or make jokes about it either, apparently.”

  Alec tightened his arm around Cronin, wanting—no, not wanting, needing—to reassure him. To protect him, to ground him and soothe him. And in that moment, Alec knew if Kennard or anyone else tried to touch Cronin, he’d do more than growl at them himself.

  “It seems it’s a mutual symbiosis,” Kennard mused, looking at how Alec was almost curling around Cronin.

  Jodis nodded. “We need to fight whatever war is coming and finish it before this symbiosis”—she nodded toward Alec and Cronin—“as you call it, becomes irreparable.”

  This time Alec growled and Cronin’s hold on him tightened. “We’re not broken,” he murmured.

  Kennard eyed them both cautiously with a look on his face that clearly said, Well, you’re not too freakin’ normal either, but he very wisely changed subject. “Tell me what you’ve uncovered since we visited Jorge.”

  As they told him what they’d learned and of the attack in New York, Alec looked around the museum. Alec could see it was grand, even in the dark. To the left, guarding an entrance to what was obviously the Egyptian exhibit, were two statues. Memories of Egyptian mummies—the screams they made and the unholy stench of death—assaulted Alec’s mind, and he shivered from head to foot.

  Cronin noticed, of course, and looked to see what had caught Alec’s eye. But then Alec had noticed something else. To the right of the cylindrical room were two large banners, both easily twelve feet tall, each picture was of a Terracotta Soldier standing guard at the door.

  Not paying any attention to what the others were saying, Alec was drawn to the right. Whether it was fate or curiosity, Alec found himself walking toward the Ancient Chinese exhibition.