Cronin's Key II

by N. R. Walker

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  It took every ounce of his strength to stand to his full height. Still with one hand against his heart, he reached out for Eiji with his other hand, and took them back to the only place Cronin’s body and mind would take him.

  Back to Alec.

  And Alec stood, surrounded by Kole and Jodis with concern on their faces. Cronin had no sooner arrived back in the living room, than he ran to Alec and embraced him. Finally, both men breathed.

  “Don’t do that again,” Alec gasped.

  “I know,” Cronin mumbled into Alec’s neck. “Apologies, m’cridhe. I did not intend to wake you.”

  “Alec woke up screaming,” Jodis said.

  “Cronin could barely stand,” Eiji told her. “His absence from Alec literally knocked him off his feet.”

  Cronin pressed his forehead to Alec’s neck, his collarbone, as he pulled back a little. Alec still fisted his shirt, so he couldn’t get too far. “I’ll not leave you again.”

  “Can someone explain what the hell is going on?” Kole snapped. “What the hell was that?”

  “When fated couples first meet, they experience an intensity, a notice of absence when they’re parted,” Jodis explained. “It normally fades after a few months.”

  “But Alec and Cronin are getting worse,” Eiji added, putting his burden of arrows on the sofa. “Alec, whatever we need you to do, we need you to do it sooner rather than later.”

  Alec nodded, still gripping onto Cronin’s shirt. “Okay.” He took a deep breath and looked at both Jodis and Eiji. “I think I have a plan. Or part of it. I don’t know.” He uncurled his fingers from Cronin’s shirt and put his hand to Cronin’s face. “Though I don’t think you’ll like it too much.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, I was thinking about what we need to end this Genghis Khan thing and something that Eleanor said,” Alec told them. “We need my blood to stop him somehow, and Eleanor said I fall sick. So what I thought was, I should have blood taken. If you guys all carry a vial or bag of it, then if I’m out of action, you can still take Khan down without me.”

  A low and livid growl rumbled in Cronin’s chest. No, he didn’t like the idea too much at all. Any of it. The thought of someone taking Alec’s blood, or that he would be taken too ill to do it himself. “Alec,” he warned.

  Alec put his palm to Cronin’s chest, directly above his heart. “It’s the only plan B we’ve got. It’s logical. I’m not being some self-sacrificing martyr, but we need to look at the bigger picture.” He frowned. “I’m not stupid, Cronin. I know something’s not right with me, and I know you feel it too. But this isn’t about us. This is about taking out some psycho before he eradicates half a billion people in Asia.”

  “I can’t bear the thought,” Cronin said, his voice cracking.

  “I know. But it’s just a contingency plan,” Alec said soothingly. He slid his hand from Cronin’s chest up to cup his cheek. “We need to do this right, to end it once and for all. We have forever on the other side of this. Isn’t that worth it?”

  Cronin leaned into Alec’s palm and closed his eyes, aware this intimate moment between them was in front of everyone else, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He gave a nod, silently agreeing, and Alec tilted Cronin’s face upward so he could press his lips to his before embracing him. Then, over the top of Cronin’s head, Alec laughed and asked, “So, anyone here skilled at taking blood?”

  “Your attempt at humor is not funny,” Cronin said as his growl got louder.

  Alec squeezed him and kissed the side of his head with smiling lips. “I wouldn’t let anyone else even try.”

  * * * *

  Cronin refused to go anywhere without Alec, so given they needed supplies outside of what the nearest Japanese town would allow, it required leaping.

  Eiji went with them, refusing to let them go alone. Their first stop was a medical supply warehouse, second stop was for human food. They chose a grocery store that had closed for the night and collected some bread, milk, eggs, meat, and enough fruits and vegetables to last both Alec and Kole a few days.

  Alec added some nashi pears to his cart when Eiji came back with a canister of white powder, looking pleased with himself. “What is that?” Alec asked.

  “It is used for gelling tofu,” Eiji said.

  Alec made a face. “Well, rest assured there won’t be any need for tofu-gelling in my dietary requirements.”

  Eiji laughed but didn’t put the canister back. Then Alec thought of something. Somewhere along the way, he’d lost track of days. He looked to Cronin and asked, “When was the last time you ate?”

  “I’m fine,” he replied.

  “That wasn’t my question.”

  Cronin sighed. “I’ve gone longer without feeding, Alec. I will be fine.”

  Alec growled in frustration. “Eiji, can you please tell him he needs to feed.”

  Eiji’s smile slowly slid away. “Alec, he cannot leave you, and you cannot go with him to feed. Given he is lacking in options, abstinence is his only alternative.”

  “I can’t have him starving,” Alec argued. “It jeopardizes everything: agility, cognitive function, not to mention his comfort.”

  “Alec, I said I’m fine,” Cronin repeated sharply.

  “You could leap us to a dark city somewhere. I’ll wait on the street. You go into an alley or something. I’ll be just a few feet away,” Alec suggested.

  “You would not be bothered to bear witness to such a thing?” Eiji asked.

  Alec knew it was wrong, callous, and just a touch psychotic; his policing vow to serve and protect was not aimed at the community any more. It was aimed solely and directly at Cronin. “He could slaughter a whole fucking village and I wouldn’t care, as long as it meant he wasn’t hungry.”

  Eiji snorted. “Alec, any concerns I’ve had at how you’ll take to being one of us are unfounded. I think you’ll be just fine.”

  Alec let his head fall back and he sighed at the ceiling of the grocery store. “I don’t want a whole village to die, just so you know.” Then he looked squarely at Cronin. “I rather like the idea of ridding the streets of murderers and rapists, but putting my teeth to someone’s throat and drinking his blood might be another story all together.”

  Cronin stood in front of him and cupped his face gently. “Oh, Alec. Don’t let it weigh on your mind prematurely.”

  Just then the blue and red lights of a police car flashed through the opaque glass at the front of the store. “That concludes our shopping trip for today, boys and girls,” Eiji said, throwing a few more things into their stash of stolen goods.

  Alec gave a wave to the security cameras, tossed a bunch of money on the counter as thanks, and with a simple touch from Cronin they were gone.

  * * * *

  Alec took the medical supplies into the bedroom he’d slept in. If Cronin was going to take his blood with a needle, doing it in front of a half dozen vampires probably wasn’t a great idea. Alec had suggested they leap somewhere private, but Cronin had assured him it would be fine.

  “No one will come near me,” he said simply. “Unless they’d like it to be the last thing they ever did.”

  Eiji and Jodis just laughed, but Eleanor and Jacques decided it would be best if they weren’t present. “We’ll take a late night stroll into town,” Eleanor said. She was mindful of what was said in front of Kole, and the two seemed to enjoy each other’s company. They were playing chess when Alec, Cronin, and Eiji got back, with Sammy the cat purring loudly at Eleanor’s side. They looked rather comfortable together, Alec thought.

  And when Eleanor left, Kole stood up and stretched. “And I’ll be heading off to bed,” he said. “I’ve been disgraced as a chess player by a woman who cannot even see, so if you don’t mind, I’ll take what’s left of my pride and go to bed.”

  Alec gave his dad a smile. “Good night.”

  When his father was gone, Alec
saw that Eiji was at the table dipping each arrow head and stake into a liquid goo. “Hey, Eij. Whatcha doing?”

  “I’m modifying each weapon to combat the Terracotta Army.”

  “How?”

  “Well, the terracotta used to make this army is clay based.”

  “And?”

  “Are you familiar with chemistry and physics?”

  “A little. Basic high school stuff.” He inspected the white gooey paste. “Is that your tofu gelling stuff?”

  “Yes.”

  Alec looked at the wooden arrows and stakes. “Um, Eij, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re not gelling tofu.”

  Eiji laughed long and loud. “Oh, Alec. You make me laugh.” He held up one arrow, letting the white goo drip thickly back into the bowl. “So you know clay minerals are characterized by two-dimensional sheets of corner sharing SiO4 tetrahedra, or AlO4 octahedra. Sometimes both.”

  Alec blinked slowly.

  “These sheets have the chemical composition (Al,Si)3O4. Each silica tetrahedron shares three of its vertex oxygen atoms—”

  Alec put his hand up, then scratched his head. “Eiji, stop. You lost me at the word clay. I said I did basic high-school chemistry. I am not Einstein, my friend. I’m gonna need that in English.”

  Eiji chuckled. “Clay found in the Indo-China area is high in salt.”

  “Okay,” Alec nodded. “Now that I understood.”

  “So salt, or sodium chloride, is an ionic compound, yes?”

  Alec stared. “Uh, I have no clue, so I’m just gonna go with a yes because you said it was.”

  Eiji’s smile widened. “But salts in clay can be broken down or dissolved when mixed with a compound that has the exact opposite electrical charge.”

  Alec scratched his head. “Uh, okay. Can we get to the point without the chemistry and physics lesson?”

  Eiji held up an arrow that had been dipped in the paste and showed him the tip. “If we apply a compound that immediately attacks the sodium molecules within the clay, it will cause the clay platelets to relax or fall away from each other.”

  “It will break down the clay?”

  Eiji nodded proudly. “Yes.”

  “Well, that’s great and all, Eiji,” Alec said. And it was. In theory. “But I thought we’d go in with a much simpler line of attack.”

  Eiji tilted his head. “What’s that?”

  “A sledgehammer.”

  Cronin and Jodis laughed, and Eiji grinned. “It’s not as scientific as my theory, Alec, but I do believe it to be just as effective.”

  Alec picked up the bowl of goo and smelled it. “I like the principle of your idea though. Maybe we should spray them with this shit when we’re done smashing them to make sure they never come back.”

  “Good idea,” Eiji said with a laugh.

  “Well,” Jodis said, changing the subject. “I think it might be a good idea if Eiji and I wait until Jacques and Eleanor return, then we might leave to feed also.”

  Cronin gave a nod. “Agreed.”

  “And Cronin?” Alec asked. “When will he feed?”

  “Alec,” Cronin said softly. He walked over to him and put his hands to his face. “Please don’t be concerned. If I say I am fine, then you must believe me.”

  Alec sighed and leaned his face into Cronin’s palm. “I worry for you, that’s all.”

  “I know you do. I can feel it,” he whispered.

  Jodis was sorting through arrows, and Eiji looked busy online now ordering sledgehammers, so Alec gave Cronin a pointed nod to the hall that led to the bedrooms. Alec walked into the bedroom and collected the medical supplies he’d put there earlier. Cronin was half a step behind him. He whispered, a vampire-quiet whisper, so Eiji and Jodis wouldn’t hear given they were three rooms away. “I know you said it’s safe, but I’d rather not do the blood draw here. Can we leap somewhere?”

  The briefest confusion flickered in Cronin’s eyes, but he collected himself. “Whatever you prefer.” He touched the side of Alec’s face with just his fingertips. “Alec? You seem quite out of sorts. Is something wrong? You would tell me if you weren’t feeling well?”

  “I’m okay, I think,” Alec replied, equally as quiet. “I don’t know how I feel. I just have another plan B.”

  * * * *

  Alec was surprised Cronin took him back to the New York City apartment. They arrived in the bathroom, Alec assumed because if there was an unwanted vampire waiting for someone to arrive, they wouldn’t wait in the bathroom. Cronin was stock still, listening, then he smelled the air. “It’s clear,” he said. “There hasn’t been anyone here since we left.”

  Alec exhaled loudly, relief coursing through him. “Thank God.” He went into the bedroom and threw the backpack with medical supplies on the bed. “I love this place. I’d hate to never live here again.”

  Cronin smiled warmly. “I thought you were fond of your studio, not this luxury apartment.”

  Alec laughed. “And you said you hated sarcasm. For something you don’t like, you use a lot of it.” Alec looked around at the huge, lavish bedroom, the opulent furniture, and finally to the ax and helmet, which took pride of place on the only shelf in the room. Next to it now sat the sun-disk of Ra, Alec’s souvenir of his battle in Egypt. “It’s not the luxury I love here. I mean, it’s nice, don’t get me wrong. But it’s because you’re here. Your belongings, the things you hold dear. It feels like you.” Even in the darkened room, Alec could see Cronin blush a little. He cupped his cheek to feel the spread of warmth there. “Will this always be our home?”

  Cronin’s eyes fluttered closed and he gasped in a quiet breath. Cronin took a moment before speaking. “It thrills me still to hear you say such words. Our home. I’d not have believed two simple words could steal my breath.”

  Alec swiped the pad of his thumb across Cronin’s cheek and leaned in so he could kiss him, just softly on the lips. “I love the way you talk.”

  Cronin chuckled. “How so?”

  “Well, I’m all twenty-first century, slang words, zero respect for the English language, or any language for that matter. And you speak so properly, so perfectly. It’s like each sentence is a gift.”

  Cronin’s eyes widened, as did his smile. “A gift? Did you bring me here to flatter me? Because if you thought you’d need to pander me with sycophancy just to bed me, you needn’t have gone to so much trouble.”

  Alec laughed. “Now you’re just showing off. Sycophancy? Really? I’m pretty sure that word hasn’t been used in day-to-day conversation in a few hundred years. Does a brain become a thesaurus during the vampire change?”

  Cronin ignored the jibe. “The mind is broadened exponentially, but prior intelligence is an advantage. You will be more than fine. Actually, perhaps your mind—given you have vampire tendencies already—will be exceptional.”

  “Will you tell me what else happens?” Alec asked quietly. “What will happen to me?”

  Cronin put his hand to Alec’s face and pushed a wayward strand of hair back. “I’m not expecting your change to be typical,” he started. His voice was soft and soothing. “Considering your inability to change when bitten before, I would expect you to be anything but conventional.” Cronin was quiet for a long moment, and Alec had wondered if that was all he was going to say. “There will be pain, Alec. Your cells, your very DNA, bodily organs, circulatory system, nervous system all change, and it burns and shreds you. The metamorphosis is not easy, and I wish I could bear it for you.”

  Alec swallowed hard. “How long does it take?”

  “Normally, a full day. Twenty-four hours.” Cronin frowned deeply. “It might not sound like a long time, but it will be an eternity for you. You will beg for death.”

  Now Alec cupped Cronin’s face. “If I do? Promise you won’t listen to me, no matter how much I beg.” Then Alec realized something. “What will happen to you when I’m… changing? Fated couples feel each other’s pain, y
es? But no vampire has ever been fated with a human, so no vampire has had to endure watching them change.”

  “Only you would think of such a thing.” Cronin smiled sadly. “I don’t know how I will endure it. No one knows. But have no concern for me, my love. You will have enough to endure. What I’ll be going through will be like a spring evening on the moors compared to the walk through hell you’ll be taking.”

  “I’ll endure it a hundred times over if it means I get forever with you,” Alec said, kissing him softly again. “It’s just a means to an end for me, if that makes sense. Like I just need one door to close so another can open.”

  “You mean, you need your life to end.”

  “One life,” Alec replied simply. “So my next life can start.”

  Cronin shook his head incredulously. “You are a confounding man. Though we’ve established your blood is different, you are different, so your change to vampire will not be a predictable one.”

  Alec nodded and took a deep breath, not really knowing how Cronin would react to this. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. My other plan B.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, when you drank my blood, it gave you the ability of vampires around you, right?”

  Cronin’s brow knitted and he nodded. “Yes. It was highly irregular and most disconcerting. Why, Alec?”

  Alec was sure Cronin knew what was coming next, but he laid it all out anyway. “I think you should drink from me again.” He put his hands up before Cronin could object. “Hear me out, please.” Alec took Cronin’s hand and sat on the bed. He looked up at him and took a slow breath. “It’s not for gratification or because I find it hot or because I need you to bite me. I mean, all of those things might be a little bit true, but it’s more than that. I think you should drink from me, take my blood so you can very deliberately transfer the powers of those around you.”

  “Alec,” Cronin shook his head.

  “Let me finish, please.” Alec pulled on Cronin’s hand and waited for him to sit beside him. “We have no clue what we’re facing. We don’t know what Khan’s powers are or who he has with him. We don’t know what the Terracotta Army are capable of, but if you have the ability to use their own powers against them or even just to warn us as to what they are, then we stand a better chance.”