by Rye Brewer
“It would be too risky for us, anyway,” I added, and I wondered why I’d felt the need to say it. Of course, it would be way too risky. It was out of the question!
So, why did I keep coming back to the idea?
Gage sighed as he pulled back just enough to look at me. His arms around my waist reminded me how I wasn’t alone. He didn’t need to say it for me to feel it. “You know. Under the right circumstances… at night, of course, in a private place… we might be able to arrange for you to see him. If that was what you really wanted.”
I shook my head as tears choked me. “No. I would rather him think I’m dead. It would be better for everyone involved—including you.”
He stroked my back as his mouth curved into a sad smile. “Do you really mean that? Don’t think about me right now. Only about you. Is it true you’d rather he thinks you’re dead?”
I drew a breath and intended to say I did. I wanted my father to forget I had ever existed.
Instead, I shook my head again. “No. I don’t want that. And he won’t be around forever, either. Maybe it would be good for him to have closure and at least know I’m okay. And I guess seeing him one more time would give me a little closure, too.”
I leaned against him with my eyes closed, tears rolling down my cheeks.
8
Jonah
“A vacation?” I muttered, reading the note again.
Just like my sister, Phillipa. Choosing this very moment to take a vacation. Sometimes, I wondered if she existed in her own little universe.
No, that wasn’t fair. She had been through more than enough with Vance. If she needed a little time to herself, that was the least I could allow her.
I folded her note and placed it on my bedside table, with a heavy sigh as a knock sounded at the closed door.
“Come in.”
It could only be Fane. Anissa wouldn’t knock, Scott was… wherever Scott had run off to, and Gage hadn’t been around in ages. I wished I had more time to devote to thinking about him, worrying about him.
Sure enough, my father stepped into the room. Or the man who used to be my father.
And he was on a mission. I could see it in his eyes. Not everything about him had changed.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said, hands folded behind his back.
I only held up the note from Philippa. “Vacation.”
He glanced at it. “I see. Well, she needs it. It isn’t as if any of us would be able to stop her if we tried. I wanted to let you know I received a message. Someone wishes to speak to me. I won’t be gone long.”
I frowned. “All right. Just… remember what we talked about.”
It was his turn to frown. “You do realize I’ve been traveling under the cover of darkness for longer than you’ve been a vampire?” He shook his head, but there was grudging humor in his eyes as he created a portal right there in my suite.
“I don’t want to run the risk of it being discovered, after all,” he replied in answer to a question I hadn’t had the chance to ask.
I watched as he stepped through and disappeared.
He was never one to waste time when he had a plan in mind.
Not knowing who he was meeting with bothered me to no end, though I hadn’t dared speak a word of it to him. He would only have berated me for treating him like a child, which, I could admit to myself, I would have been doing.
The portal swirled long after Fane had gone through. I would’ve expected it to close immediately on his using it. Instead, it glowed as brightly as ever, as large as ever.
My curiosity grew with every passing second the portal remained up. What was he doing? Who was he meeting? How had they gotten in touch with him?
I should’ve known better than to ask myself such a question. There was never any telling how he managed to do anything. He had contacts everywhere.
I needed to know where he was and who needed him. As simple as that.
I went through the portal, hoping I would end up someplace safe, at least. Out of sight.
I recognized where I ended up—I was only a block or so from the high-rise. I could see it from where I stood, stretching up toward the clouds. It was easier for him to emerge from an alley without notice than it was to pass through the building, I supposed.
There he was, walking with his shoulders hunched against the chill night air, hands thrust into his pockets. I followed at a distance, keeping close to the buildings so I might duck into a doorway or alley if he happened to look behind him.
After a mile or so, he slipped into another alley, this one between two storefront take-out restaurants. I didn’t have to follow him inside to hear what was happening, thanks to my heightened vampire senses.
Lights from inside the restaurants illuminated the narrow passage between the buildings. Fane stopped in front of a dumpster, and a man stepped out from beside it.
Their auras were similar, telling me the stranger was also of a magical type. A warlock, something of that nature. He was tall, dark-haired, appeared to be young, but there was no telling with such matters—I appeared to be young, too.
“I know what it means, you coming out here,” the stranger said. “I wouldn’t have asked you do so if it wasn’t important.”
“I know that. Which is why I’m here,” Fane replied. “What is it?”
“I had word from the Starkers.”
The Starkers? That name again? What were the odds?
The man continued, “They’re hunting a newly-turned vampire. A female. Rumored that she’s traveling in France with a companion.”
Fane’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “Who is this companion?”
“Gage. Word has it, he is the one who turned her. I’m sorry.”
I leaned against the brick wall, suddenly short of breath. I should’ve known he wouldn’t be able to get away with it. Though I wouldn’t have imagined a group such as the Starkers being involved; they had gone so deep undercover as to seem gone, erased from history.
I’d assumed it would be the League’s doing if Gage was to be brought to justice for his crime.
Fane took a moment to digest this. Nothing about his posture revealed what he was thinking. “Thank you for bringing this to me,” he finally said. “It means very much to me, Stark.”
Stark. I didn’t have a moment to process the identity of the man. To discern what this meant.
Stark nodded before creating a portal and disappearing through it. Unlike the one in my bedroom, it closed immediately.
Fane didn’t move. He stood exactly as he’d been during Stark’s news, to the point of staring at the empty space which had seconds ago held his informant.
There was no sense in waiting. “Fane?” I walked to him. “Who was that?”
He showed no surprise at my being there. “Stark,” he said. As though that explained anything. “Of course, you already heard me use his name. You heard everything he said to me, too.”
I winced. “You knew I was listening? How? Did you hear me?”
That would mean his hearing was the same as it had been in his vampire days.
He shook his head—the first time he had moved since I approached. “No. I didn’t have to. You came through the portal I created, one which I had a connection with. I felt you come through the moment you did.”
He’d been on to me all along. Once again, I should have known better.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
He looked at me as though he doubted my sanity. “Go after him, of course. Warn him. Find out what he thought he was doing when he created a vampire.”
My conscience panged more than just a bit as I remembered Gage’s frantic assertions that he’d done the right thing. That he’d had no other choice but to create a vampire. Knowing how he clearly loved the girl. How close she’d been to dying a horrible death.
Knowing all along that he’d made a terrible mistake.
“I’ll go with you.” It was a snap decision, just
as the decision to follow him through the portal had been, but it was the only way I could imagine making things right for my brother. I hadn’t offered him assistance when he needed me most. And he’d attracted attention as a result.
“There’s no chance.” Fane folded his arms, planting his feet. Immovable. “I would never allow that to happen.”
“I don’t recall asking whether or not you allowed anything.”
“I can travel during the day,” he pointed out. “You cannot. You would only slow me down. And in case you hadn’t already thought of this—which I doubt, because it seems as though you’re reacting based purely on emotion rather than on reason—the Starkers would want you, too, if they found out you were traveling with me. Who would that help?”
When he spoke like that, when a wall of words poured from his mouth in that strident, no-nonsense tone of his, he reminded me of the Dommik Bourke who had once presided over clan meetings. A man no one dared cross, one who was in control of himself and his clan and his reasons for taking the actions he did.
Even so, I had little time or patience for him right now.
“You think you’ll be able to face the Starkers alone?” I countered, mimicking his pose. “The last I heard of them—granted, this was a long time ago—their headquarters are in Europe. That’s where they’re strongest, the most dangerous. The offshoot branches which cropped up here in the States are nothing compared to that core group overseas. How do you expect to manage this alone? When they’re allowed to go from country to country, crossing the border with no questions? They’re given carte blanche thanks to their connections to some higher group, some higher… authority. And you expect to circumvent them on your own?”
“You seem to know a lot about them, although you claim you last heard of them a long time ago,” he pointed out.
“Yes, so I think we can both imagine how much more powerful they’ve become with time.”
“Stop this, now. You’re wasting both of our time by presenting this argument. You forget, I can walk among the Starkers. You can’t. You’re still a vampire.”
He made too good a point.
Instead of admitting defeat, I shifted subjects. “This Stark. Is he the Stark? The one who created the group? Or is he just a descendant of the founder?”
“He’s the Stark. The very one. He’s the one Sara went to for training when she first developed her elemental powers.”
“Anissa told me about that—I only wondered if there was more than one of them.” Whether he’d proven helpful to Anissa and her sister or not, I couldn’t pretend to admire him. Not when he had led to the death of countless others like us.
When he might inadvertently lead to Gage’s death.
Fane frowned. “Have you cleared up the contaminated blood situation? The batch Sara drank from, which gave her the powers?”
“We emptied out and started fresh,” I assured him. “I couldn’t risk anyone else in the clan drinking from that tainted batch.” Then, I thought again. Damn. “I didn’t clear out my personal supply, however. It got away from me. But now that you’ve reminded me, I’ll take care of it as soon as I can.”
“Good. The fewer accidental elementals, the better.” He reached out, clapping me on the shoulder. “I had better go as soon as possible. There’s no telling how long it might take for me to track Gage—or, at least, the Starkers.”
“I would feel better if you would have me go with you,” I insisted.
Something about allowing him to attempt such a mission on his own bothered me more than I could say. It felt wrong, somehow. As though I was allowing him to do something foolish without at least doing my best to convince him otherwise.
He only shook his head. “Jonah, I know you want to help. But you’re needed here. Sirene and baby Elena need you. Anissa needs you. The League—without your presence, who’s to say what Marcus might manage to do? I shudder to think.”
“Marcus is locked up. Anissa can take care of herself for a little while. And Sirene and the baby are fine, better every day!”
“Enough.” Hands which had gripped my shoulders lightly suddenly clamped down in earnest. “You will stay here with Sirene and Elena. They need you.”
I bristled at his insistence. Gage was my family, my true family. My twin. Why should I not want more to protect him than my half-sister? “What can I do for them? They don’t need me anymore.”
“I thought you loved your new sister,” he whispered, and a pang of regret struck my heart.
“I do,” I insisted. “Really, I do. This isn’t a matter of not loving her.”
“Then stay here and protect her, and her mother. I’ll be able to go about my business without fear for them, which will be an immense help to me and Gage, both.” He leaned in, eyes locked on mine. “Please. Do this for me.”
It was no use. He had me.
“Can you at least do one thing for me, then?” I asked with a resigned sigh.
“What’s that?”
“Get a damned cell phone, at least. Stay in touch for once.”
9
Anissa
The wind whipped around me, as it always did when I stood on the roof of the high-rise. How many times had I stood up there, waiting for someone or something? Meeting in secret?
It seemed there had never been a time when the high-rise and the family who owned it weren’t part of my life.
“Allonic?” I called out, waiting in the darkness. Hoping he would hear me in that way he had, like he’d heard me when I needed help with Sara. He had come then. I needed him again.
Within minutes, he was there, stepping out of a portal which closed behind him. “What do you need?”
I could only shake my head in wonder. “How do you hear me when I call? I’ve always wondered.”
“It’s a shade thing.” His smile was cryptic. “Is that why you called me here? To ask why I come when you call?”
I snickered. “Hardly. First, are you still set on what we discussed outside League Headquarters?”
“Undoubtedly.” His voice was flat, determined.
“I thought you would be.” I reached into my boot to remove the bone dagger, which I had wrapped in a hand towel to ensure it didn’t cut me again.
Allonic watched as I unfolded the towel and held the dagger out to him.
Even through the towel, the touch of the blade made my fingers tingle. I wasn’t imagining it. I couldn’t be.
He lowered his hood, his golden eyes wide with wonder, then immediately snatched it from my hands. “What are you doing with this? It is dangerous!” He looked down at it, appearing to admire it. “I wondered where it had gotten to.”
“Yes, I took it after Valerius used it to kill Lucian. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I’ve had it hidden since then.”
He shook his head, continuing to examine the weapon. “That is not what I mean. I haven’t seen this since it was stolen from the shades.”
I gaped at him. “What do you mean? You’ve seen it before?”
“Of course, I have.” He looked from the blade to me. “It is an ancient shade relic, called Sacrosanct.”
It was enough to send me reeling. The thing even had a name. And I’d been hiding it all that time, completely unaware.
“This dagger is lethal to supernatural beings,” he explained. “It has a long and deadly history. No matter how powerful the being in question, the Sacrosanct will fell them if plunged through their heart.”
“As Valerius did to Lucian,” I murmured, half-lost in the memory of that sudden and startling murder.
He glanced at it again then at me—and he was frowning. “Did you keep it sheathed while you had it hidden? Or wrapped, as it was now?”
“No.” I winced, feeling for all the world like a child knowing she was about to be chastised.
“You’re fortunate you weren’t cut. The magic in this dagger would result in tragedy if you’d ever accidentally wounded yourself with it.”
“Tragedy?” I gulped. Ha
ir stood up on my arms, on the back of my neck. “What sort of tragedy?”
“Never mind.” Then, he shot me a sharp look. “Why? Did you cut yourself, Anissa?”
“No, of course not,” I lied, thinking back to the tiny slice on my finger. What had I done to myself? Nothing, most likely, since any ill effects would have long since been felt. Wouldn’t they?
There was no time to wonder or to drag any further information out of him before Jonah joined us. “There you are. I wanted to check in with you before I leave for the meeting.”
“Meeting?” Allonic asked.
“Yes, another meeting at headquarters—this time, only the leader of each clan will attend. We have quite a lot to discuss.”
Jonah would go alone, as there was no place for me there. As before, I wouldn’t insert myself where I didn’t belong. Based on the accusations already made about me—that Jonah only wanted to take the side of the fae because of my blood—it would be best not to show my face.
I turned away from Allonic and gave Jonah a kiss. “Hurry back,” I whispered as we touched foreheads.
“I wouldn’t leave you alone here unless it was necessary.”
“I know.” I forced a smile. “But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Good luck.”
He left me with Allonic again—I watched him walk back through the door which led down to the penthouse, with a sinking, sorry heart. With any luck, he wouldn’t be gone long.
“I had better leave you, too,” Allonic said with a regretful smile. “I have work to do.”
Work. The thought left me cold inside. I knew what his work was and what it meant for him to perform it. My heart sank further at the idea of my brother endangering himself, but he had his own path to walk, his own burdens to bear. His demons to exorcise.
Garan was one such demon in need of exorcism, for the sake of everyone involved.
I placed both hands on his chest, searching for the right thing to say. “Please, take care of yourself,” I urged him. “Don’t take too many chances. Remember you’re loved, and we’re counting on you to come out of this safely.”
