They already consider themselves married to me. All of them. But they’re…
“Well…girls gotta watch out for each other,” she said, confusing me again. “So if anything ever goes wrong, even though you don’t know me, come on over. My aunts would help you. My last man, the father of my baby, I thought he was the sweetest guy when we got together and it turned out he was sleeping around.” She shook her head. “I was out, even though it meant I had to move in here instead of that nice apartment we had over by White Marsh. At least, I have to admit, there isn’t a lot of crime in this block.” She raised an eyebrow. “So…you like to garden too?”
I was getting very jittery. What did I say to any of that? It was all so alien to me. Dating a man, having a baby, and then walking out the door whenever you wished. Living in a city. Doing whatever you wanted, at least compared to what I was used to.
I was mostly wondering what was going on downstairs. “I’m sorry, Dee. I have to go see what’s happening.”
“Yeah, not a bad idea,” she said.
I fought off my nerves as I left the room. They told me to stay put and I was disobeying them, but they also seemed to expect me to disobey them now and then. I stiffened my spine. I had to get used to that.
I went to the front of the house and peered out the windows.
Oh gods.
Carrie. Carrie was out there with Madame Rosamund gripping her arm.
Now I ran to the stairs. Thom blocked the front door. “Darlin’, it’s a trick,” he said.
“A trick? That’s my sister!”
“Wizards can cast illusions to make you think you’re seeing something you’re not.”
“But how do you know they’re an illusion?” When I looked out the window I saw Father Arthur, an Elder of the Order, dragging Carrie out of a car, holding her roughly by the arm. Madame Rosamund climbed out of the front seat and held my little sister firmly by the hand as tears ran down her face.
“Alissa!” she screamed.
Thom had his hand on the doorknob and he wasn’t budging, but he didn’t answer right away either. “You have to trust us.”
“You’re not sure either!” I whirled on my feet. This house had a lot of doors to try.
Of course, Jie was on me the second I tried to map out a different escape route. I saw just how fast he was, and felt how strong he was. Any one of these men could have physically overpowered me as easily as if I was an infant.
“Take a look at your sister,” he said. “A really careful look. Do you recognize her clothes? Her shoes?”
“Of course! We all wear the same thing.”
“And her hairstyle is right?”
“She always wears braids to go to school.”
“Who does her braids?”
“…Mom. Or me.” I swallowed. “But someone else could easily have braided her hair!”
“Do you think they bothered to braid her hair before they dragged her down to Baltimore? She looks a little tidier than you might expect, doesn’t she?” He pressed me toward the window again, a hand on my back, and I felt incredible tension in his hand. He was rough with me, his tone a little sharp, and I could tell they didn’t know for sure. I could hear Carrie calling my name again before the woman silenced her.
I looked out the parted velvet curtains. Carrie was quiet now, her head hanging but her eyes pointing right at me. She looked terrified. Her hair was in tidy school braids, it was true, but Elder Arthur’s wife could easily have braided her hair. That didn’t mean anything.
“Come out, Alissa Johns, or we purify your sister!”
Purify.
It sounded like an innocent word. I wondered if the vampires knew just how brutal it was, to see someone you knew reduced to helpless spasms and vomiting, and come back dead-eyed and obedient. The spark in Carrie’s eyes, the defiance that made her idolize Joan of Arc and lie about seeing visions just to save me from Father Joshua—that would be drained out of her immediately, if she wasn’t one of the few who died during the process.
I heard muffled screams and every fiber of my being recognized my sister.
“I have to go to her!” I said. “It’s her! I know it’s her.”
Dee walked out onto the balcony and looked down at the front door. She looked nervous.
Jie bared his teeth with anguish. “I can’t,” he whispered. “It’s the result they want, and if they get their hands on you, we’ll never see you again. You and your sisters will suffer and we won’t be able to help you. Our leverage will be gone, and since we know where you are, I guarantee they’ll whisk you to some other part of the world and hide you again. I promised Rayner I would hold firm on this.”
I pressed my face to the glass, tears running down my face. I didn’t know what to think, but when I saw my sister in terror, I could hardly think at all.
“I don’t care about myself! Just Carrie!”
Jie put his arms around me and dragged me from the window. “Don’t watch.”
“I want to watch!”
“What is happening?” Dee asked.
“We’re gonna make you forget what’s happening,” Thom said. “So no point in explaining.”
“Make me forget?”
“Yep.” He kept his back to the door and drew a cigarette out of the pack. He flicked a lighter. He shut his eyes as Carrie’s screams grew louder outside.
Just when I started to think the vampire clan actually cared, they showed their cold and calculating side. Jie held me fast.
“I hate you!” I struggled, not that it did any good. “I hate you all and if my sister gets hurt I’ll never forgive you…”
“Let her go,” Dee said. “What the hell are you doing to this girl? Is she your slave?”
I felt Jie waver a little and I lifted a knee to his groin.
He let go. I couldn’t believe I’d just kicked a man. I couldn’t even imagine what Father Joshua would do if I kicked him, but I actually heard Thom make a little pleased chuckle when he saw Jie double over.
I looked out the window just in time to see Elder Arthur putting a hand on Carrie. She staggered back a step, her arms flailing as she lost her balance. She fell onto the pavement. It was just like every other purification I’d seen. She threw up, her skin almost immediately taking on a sickly pallor.
My dear little sister. She was so young. So small. So vulnerable. So scared.
Elder Arthur and his wife didn’t lift a finger to help her. I tried to open the window, struggling to figure out the lock. The sash cords were broken and the window weighed a ton, but I jammed it open a few inches.
“Carrie! Carrie, I’m here!”
Elder Arthur’s eyes shot to me instantly.
Jie dragged me from the window again. Any affection for him and Thom that might have crept into me was gone now. He was a monster who would let my sister die.
“It’s not her,” he said, in a strained tone. “It’s not her.”
But he didn’t know. He would have let her die to save me.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Silvus
It happened before I could do anything about it. I heard a horrific crash and thud as two men hit stone and a chair splintered.
Johannes was smiling, looking calm. He felt nothing at what he might have done to a member of his own congregation.
“You had better hurry, Silvus. Maybe you can help,” he said.
“You are a devil,” I hissed, before I rushed down the stairs of the old building, back to that dismal basement.
Rayner still had his arms around Alissa’s father, but they both looked like they could not have survived. Of course, I knew Rayner had survived. That wouldn’t kill a vampire. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was out for three days while his body knit together. It had been a long, long time since I’d seen him sustain injuries this bad.
But Alissa’s father—
Oh, no. I knelt beside his body and pulled it into my lap, grazing his temple with my wand.
“Spirits, grant this man
your mercy, give him a thread to cling to life, so he might live for his daughters and not yet join his dear wife.”
My spell was a joke, something to make me think I’d done something when truly, I could do nothing.
‘Father Joshua’ had given me the terrible burden of telling Alissa her father was dead, in a senseless fall.
“Alissa…”
I stifled a gasp as, despite all appearances, the man’s lips managed to speak her name.
“Yes,” I said. “She’s fine. Here—don’t speak—I’ll try to heal you.” I pressed the tip of my wand to his hand now. “Draw out the magic and send it to where you hurt most,” I said. He was a warlock so I could probably get him to use his own magic to aid me. Even one tiny spark could be enough.
“You’re…one of them,” he gasped. “Keep her safe. Tell her—I’m so sorry. I was never…her father.”
My brows furrowed. “You mean Alissa? Is she not your blood daughter?”
“I loved her like she was own. But…we stole her. We thought we were…doing the work of the gods.”
I froze, stunned by this news. Now, I truly didn’t know how I would break this to Alissa.
“Find Aileen Bowen,” her father gasped out. “Outside of Boston. Tell her I’m sorry.” That simple word bore a tremendous weight that seemed to lift off him. “I’m so sorry. I’m a fool. Please help…my daughters.”
The last bit was spoken so softly that I could almost have imagined them, like thoughts with a tiny weight to them rather than actual worlds.
“Alissa loves you,” I said.
I would never know if he heard me, but perhaps he did because there is a certain way a body passes when it finds some peace. I felt it in him, a letting go, an easing of the muscles, an expression of acceptance.
Father Joshua, I thought, had always intended to kill Alissa’s parents. There was too much ease in how he carried this out. If he ever felt remorse, he had long since let it go, knowing what he would do.
I shut his eyes with a hand, but my hand shook with rage.
She was so fragile, our girl. This was likely to break her. Losing her mother, her father, her home… It nearly broke Li Mei, but her ‘family’ was a cruel lot, and yet the jarring experience of being torn from the world she knew had made her sick and taken her from us too soon. Li Mei never had the happiness we shared with Meg and Bertie. The thought of putting Alissa through that…
I heard footsteps in the shadows and I immediately was on my feet, wand out. I knew it wasn’t Father Joshua. I would have heard him coming from above.
No, it was some old woman of the Order. She was wearing the drab black dress and white apron of all their women, and she said, “Oh my, don’t attack. I’m just here to collect the body.”
“Collect the body?” I grabbed the front of her dress. “This man was your neighbor. He’s just a body to you, eh? You knew this would bloody happen, did you?”
“Please, sir, I’m just an old woman.”
“I’m a much older man,” I said through a snarl. “Age means nothing to me, and this act— You’re in on this. How many times have you cleaned up Father Joshua’s crimes?”
“Crimes?” The ‘fragile old lady’ act dropped right away. “You’re the demon here. You kidnapped an innocent girl to make your blood slave. I pray for her soul.”
“Pray for your own,” I growled, lifting her feet off the ground by the fabric of her dress. “Do you know who Aileen Bowen is?”
Her eyes widened. “He told you. That traitor.”
As soon as she said that, I knew what I had to do. If Aileen Bowen was connected to Alissa’s past, and the Order found out her father told me her name, this woman might be in danger. She might be Alissa’s real mother.
Well, at least I would get a treat out of this awful experience.
Keeping my wand at the ready in case of a trick, I wrapped an arm around the old woman’s frail body and bit her neck. With my dearest pet, I would be gentle, but in moments like these, my only concern was keeping my clothes clean.
“You monster!” she shrieked. “Father Joshua! Help me!”
I felt no guilt. She knew very well what she was getting into. Who she worked for, and who would die under her watch. The blood of old women was not as prime as a younger specimen, but still, nothing beat fresh human blood.
Her cries quickly died to moans. I fed off her life. Father Joshua never came to help her.
Smart man. I was much stronger now.
The body slumped heavily in my arms, and I saw that I had gotten some blood on my sleeve. Curses. Luckily it didn’t show much against the black fabric. I set her down, wiping my mouth with a substantial handkerchief I kept in my pocket for the purpose.
“May God have mercy on your eternal soul,” I said.
Her whimpers had died away and she ended up dying with a faint smile on her face. Truthfully, I don’t think there was a better way to go, and over the centuries the fear that I was murdering people or playing god myself had faded away into a sense of justice and mercy. Which is why, I’m sure, the Ethereals thought we were evil.
Perhaps we were. When you lived long enough, good and evil all began to blur together. They were married more closely than young people realized.
I felt three times stronger, drunk on the power of her life. I would have enjoyed seeking out Father Joshua and ending his life as well, but I suspected the cowardly fellow had already left.
I looked at Alissa’s father for a long moment. I wanted to take his body with me and allow Alissa a funeral, but at the same time…
Don’t make me tell her this happened. She isn’t ready!
Besides that, it would be quite suspicious to lug two apparently dead bodies into the car. I could patch Rayner enough to pass him off as a drunk if I encountered anyone, but the human form of Mr. Johns was most certainly gone to any observer.
I quickly searched his body, leaving him his wedding ring, but taking the wallet. A brief flip through revealed only a small amount of cash and a few business cards with notes scribbled on them that seemed to be reminders of money owed to fellow villagers. No government ID, no credit cards. I wondered if he was even a US citizen. Likely not. The Order would want to keep their people trapped.
I didn’t even know his name.
Most of the wallet contained photos of his family.
“You loved my Alissa,” I said. “Whatever you may have done, I am sure you loved her, and I thank you for that.” I arranged his body. I was sure the Order would come back for him once I was gone.
Then I hefted Rayner into my arms and brought him to the car. My heart twisted at how broken his body was, a body I was more intimately familiar with than any other. This would be an unpleasant week or two for me as well, spending my days admiring Alissa’s beauty and waiting to make her mine, while being denied the pleasure of Rayner’s strength and lust. I hoped he didn’t wake up. I didn’t have time to work any healing now. The pain would be excruciating.
I took one last look around the abandoned neighborhood. The blue Cadillac was gone—for now.
But I knew we were far from done with Father Joshua—Johannes. This day was a shot across the bow, and it had done plenty of damage. Just thinking of the look on Alissa’s face when she learned she was an orphan might undo all the healing that had begun to take place. Rayner would need weeks to fully recover. And what might be happening back at the house, well, I could only pray this was the end of it.
“Silvus…”
I had only started to pull out of the parking lot, wheels bumping over potholes, when the agonized voice growled out from the back seat.
“Rayner! Please, try your best to pass out! I can’t heal you yet.”
“Tell me what happened back there! Fuuuck…” His shout was a little unhinged with pain, and then he kicked the back of my seat, trying to endure a wave of agony as the car rattled. “Did her father live?”
“No.”
“That leaking pustule of a devil. Did you kill
him?”
I snorted. “No. I killed an old witch. He turned tail and ran.”
“And you didn’t save me any?”
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t exactly carrying around a to-go carafe.”
“That toothless ass.”
I fiddled with the radio knob, tuning in some classical music in an attempt to calm his nerves. “Rayn, before he died, he said we needed to find someone named Aileen Bowen. She has a connection to Alissa. She might even be her real mother.”
“Her real mother? Did he say he wasn’t her blood father?”
“Yes. He stole her. He said he loved her like she was his own,” I said. “And he is sorry. Very sorry.”
Rayner went silent for a moment, except for little grunts and growls every time his body was even slightly jostled.
“Silvus, we must find her. And…let’s not tell her yet. Please.”
“That her father is dead? We have to tell her.”
“I know. But not yet. We must give her something good. A pillow to cushion the fall.”
“If you want her to trust you, I don’t think lying is the answer. And Rayner—you were hurt trying to save her father. She ought to know that.”
“We won’t lie. No, no, we will tell her, but for now, we will say her father was injured. I don’t care if it means she doesn’t know I tried to save him. That isn’t what’s important just now. If she has a family out there somewhere…” He trailed off with a heavy sigh. “You know how we got him a dog when Ruthie died? My Tulip needs someone to love and dote on. She needs flowers and babies and trees and puppies and even parents she can shower with gifts. That was one of our great mistakes with Li Mei. We took care of her but she had nothing to care for herself, except her little garden and her songbirds. I was too overprotective…oh, god, Silvus, it fucking hurts. Is every bone in my body broken?”
“Maybe,” I said. I reached for his hand and whispered a spell to knock him out thoroughly.
He always knew what our dearest needed, more than anyone else. He was quite right. My Meg was never happier than when she was bringing gifts to her aging parents and her younger siblings. What brought her joy was being part of a community and helping others, soaking up the sun, bringing life to plants and animals. It was not enough for Alissa to be loved and doted on. She had to give as well as receive.
Take Me Slowly (Forever in Their Thrall Book 1) Page 22
