“That would be impossible,” he said, putting away his notebook.
“No, impossible is traveling back in time three centuries and falling for a vampire.”
“The Nikola who spurned his children did so at the loss of his heart. My heart is very much in place, as are you. Therefore, that is the past that is negated, and my past is, as you point out, the valid one.”
“But we don’t know for certain what else we might have affected,” I said.
“The only thing that changed concerned my existence, and if that was devoted solely to the pursuit of pleasure and nothing else, then it was trivial at best. I doubt if the shift of trivial to nonexistent—in that context, at least—would affect any great changes on the future.”
“I suppose that’s true,” I said slowly.
Imogen gave a stifled sort of sob, then flung herself on Nikola, murmuring, “Papa! Oh, Papa, how I’ve missed you.”
It was, as I said, very much a Hallmark moment, and although Ben seemed to harbor some less than Precious Moments feelings, he did at least let Nikola hug him, and answered his father’s questions about his life readily enough.
“Once again I find myself in a position of interrupting,” Tallulah said in a neutral voice that nonetheless had everyone retaking their seats. “But this is only part of the mystery of which Sir Edward speaks.”
I’m so glad we got that straightened out, I told Nikola, leaning into his side and enjoying the feeling of his hand on my thigh. I hated the way they were treating you. What do you think of how they turned out?
They are intelligent and charming, as I knew they would be, he said with lofty disregard of the fact that a few minutes before he was distressed by their behavior. My wife always said that they took after me.
Man, what an ego. If I didn’t think you were smart and sexy as hell, I’d be all over you for that.
I know you wish to seduce me, he said with what was meant to be a rebuke, but plainly wasn’t in that he was at that exact moment thinking of the most erotic things that could be done to the human body with a tongue and two hands, but I feel compelled to listen to this woman. She appears to have interesting insights.
“It’s not something to do with David, is it?” Fran asked, trying to see into the bowl of water. “You said last week that you couldn’t see anything about how he was or even where he was. Has something changed with that?”
“No,” Tallulah said, somewhat hesitantly. She held her gaze on the bowl as she tipped and rotated it slowly, making the water lap lazily from side to side. “At least, not in the sense you mean. Sir Edward claims that Nikola’s presence here foretells violence to come, and that it might spill over to your concerns if left unchecked.”
“In what way?” Nikola asked, his curiosity temporarily overriding his smutty thoughts.
“And what sort of violence?” I asked, worried that, by bringing him to the present, we’d set in motion a horrible war or something similar.
“It is an unbalance.” Tallulah set down her bowl and gave us both a frown. “The shifting of the balance will cause great pain for many if it is not redressed. You are a weaver, Iolanthe Tennyson. Time that you should have woven together to form a barrier has been unmade. Beyond that, I cannot see.”
“What?” I said in a voice that was more a horrified squeak than anything else. “You’re saying that this unbalanced violence is my fault? Is it because I went through the swirly portal?”
“You are a weaver,” she repeated, just like that was supposed to make things clearer. “You can summon and dismiss portals in time. You have stated that you traveled through a portal you summoned, but you did not state whether or not you closed it so that no others could use it as you did.”
“But—but—” I stopped, turning to Nikola as his mind was suddenly filled with speculation and worry.
“Do you mean to say that someone else has used the portal that we used?” Nikola asked, his muscles tense.
“Has already, or may in the future, yes,” Tallulah answered, her eyes grave as they watched me. “Did you close the portal?”
“No! That is, I don’t know. Maybe I did. I didn’t even know there were such people as weavers, not that I’m sure I am one.”
“I have never seen a portal in the Zauberwald except when the demon lord cursed me,” Nikola said, his fingers stroking along the top of my hand. “I had no idea such people existed, either, but it would explain why the portal was present when you were there, but missing when you were not.”
“Did you close it?” Ben asked me, but looking at his father.
“I have no idea. I guess not, if something has to be done to close it. It was really faded when we last saw it. Nikola thought it was depleted. Is that the same thing?”
“No,” Tallulah said. “A portal is just that, an access point to somewhere or some other time. It has no power itself, but draws on those who master it. There are few beings who can do so—demon lords, as Nikola mentioned, Guardians, and of course weavers. If you have little experience controlling it, then it is likely that it would have run out of power after you used it, and thus you would require a period of rest before you could use it again.”
“Kind of like charging up its batteries?” I asked, trying to get a grip on the whole idea that I was a magic-door-in-time wrangler.
“If you like, although as I said, the portal itself does not have the power; you do. Do I take it that you suspect someone other than you has used the portal?”
That last question was addressed to Nikola, who answered in an equally somber voice, “I believe so.”
“And do you know who that person might be?”
“Yes.” He looked at me, and I felt a sudden spike of fear in my gut when I felt the distress that gripped him. “I thought I saw one of my brothers earlier while we were in town.”
The fear grew until I felt sick. “No! Oh, for the love of the four and twenty virgins, if they saw us use the swirly portal—but how could they use it, as well, if we ran it out of juice? Or rather, I ran out of portal-using juice?”
“Perhaps it hadn’t yet run out of energy,” Nikola said, his fingers drawing random symbols on the table. “If they saw us disappear into it—or even if they concluded what happened by our absence and the presence of the portal—then they might have used it before we resumed our awareness here in your time.”
“That’s right, we were out for a bit. It was nighttime when we went through, and afternoon when we came to here. Holy hairy pickles, Batman, your murderous half brothers are running around the present doing who knows what horrible things. What if they still want to kill you?”
“Or you,” he said, pulling me closer. “Since evidently they did that in the alternate past.”
I looked at him, speechless with horror.
What on earth had I done?
The Incredible Adventures of Iolanthe Tennyson
July 16 (still, yes)
“We don’t know for certain that my uncles used the portal after you,” Ben pointed out. “But at least you can keep them from killing Io easily enough. You just have to complete the Joining, and then Io will be a proper Beloved.”
“I told you we’ve already hooked up.” I gave Ben a look that should have told him that I wasn’t up to hearing snide comments about my relationship with Nikola. “You don’t have to belabor the point.”
“Belabor?” Nikola looked puzzled.
“The word ‘Beloved,’ it’s not what you think,” Fran told me with a tight little smile. “The vampires—”
“Dark Ones,” Ben and Nikola said in chorus.
“—have a special relationship with one woman, who they call their Beloved. That’s a capital B Beloved. It’s like a title. Anyway, Beloveds are special because they can redeem the soul of the vamp—Dark Ones, but to do that, they have to go through seven steps called Joining. I don’t really remember exactly what the steps are, because Ben and I did part of them several years ago, when I was only sixteen—”
“We don’t need to bore them with that,” Ben said quickly, giving her a look that made her laugh.
“Sixteen?” Nikola’s eyebrows rose. “That is too young. Women of sixteen do not yet know their own minds. I taught you to respect women better than that, Benedikt.”
To my great enjoyment, Ben looked abashed. “It wasn’t like that—yes, Francesca was only sixteen when we met, but we spent several years apart before we—before we decided to—”
“You dug yourself into that hole,” Fran said with another laugh. “And no, I’m not going to help you get out of it.”
“It was not until a few months ago that the Former Virgin Goddess Fran allowed the Dark One to engage in bedsport,” the ghost named Eirik said helpfully. “We guarded her most diligently until she insisted that we allow her to enjoy his manroot. She sought much advice from us on how to please him, however, and what to do should he decide he preferred sheep to her.”
Fran sighed heavily. “Just an FYI—don’t ever ask them for advice. But we’ve strayed from the point. Imogen, do you remember what the steps are?”
“Of course. The first step is a marking, followed by protection from afar, an exchange of…er…fluids, usually a kiss. Then the Dark One entrusts the Beloved with his life, by giving her a means to destroy him, which then leads to…well, an intimate situation…after which the Beloved helps him overcome his darker self, and that leads to a blood exchange. The last step isn’t really a step, it’s more of a coup de grâce, and that’s where she sacrifices herself to save him.”
“You have got to be kidding!” I said, aghast.
“No.” She shrugged. “Those are the seven steps. If Benedikt says you smell like a Beloved, then you must have completed the majority of them. And yet not all, because Papa does not have his soul back.”
“A sacrifice? What sort of sacrifice? Like death sort of sacrifice?” I pointed at Fran. “She’s still alive. How can you sacrifice yourself and live? I don’t want to be a sacrifice! I just want to live with Nikola and do all the things he’s almost constantly thinking about doing, and several that I have thought up which I haven’t yet let him see, and I can’t possibly do that if I’m dead. Besides, the whole point is to let me live as long as he does.”
“Calm down, it’s not as dire as it sounds,” Fran said, giving me a genuine smile this time. “The sacrifice part is very open to interpretation. From what the other Beloveds said when we met up while we were in Vienna last week, it depends on the couple. It could be something as simple as giving up your job and family and life at home to live with your vampire, or something with a bit more oomph to it.”
“Like what?” I asked. I don’t mind giving up my job, because I don’t have one. And I don’t have close family, so that wouldn’t be an issue, either.
“Well…one of the Beloveds threw herself in front of her vampire when someone was about to stake him, and she got stabbed instead. Another one got her throat cut, but that was a really special circumstance because I heard that she got turned, and lost her soul. But then she got it back, so it ended up OK.”
“Eek,” I said faintly, clutching Nikola’s arm. I’m sorry if this is going to sound selfish and uncaring, but I don’t want to be stabbed or have my throat cut. Or lose my soul!
“How do you know this?” Nikola asked Ben, looking up from where he was—naturally—taking notes. “This is not something I taught you.”
“No. Actually…” Ben cleared his throat. “I learned it after you severed ties with us. I turned to the Moravian Council for help, and they gave me quite a bit more information than you ever did. I used to think you deliberately withheld the information from us in an attempt to put us at a disadvantage, but with this new insight into the past, I’m willing to admit that you didn’t intend that to be the result.”
“I have never heard of this Beloved business, or the Joining needed to create one.” He looked at me. “Hindsight leads me to believe that I should have contacted the Moravian Society earlier, Io. I should not have let the fact that they knew things I had not yet determined for myself sway me from contacting them. I have nothing but my pride to blame.”
“You didn’t know better,” I reassured him, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. “No one told you how to be a vampire after the demon lord made you one, so you couldn’t have known all the rules.”
“I should have contacted them,” he repeated. “I may prefer to discover knowledge for myself, but I should have made an exception in this situation. However, that is now moot. This Beloved that you speak of, she has her soul, yes?”
“Yes,” Fran said, smiling at Ben. “I have to say, it’s kind of romantic that your dad had to come into the future to find his one true love.”
“Oh, we’re not in love,” I said quickly, a little embarrassed that everyone should think we were a madly romantic couple. “I mean, I’m very fond of Nikola, and we enjoy being together, and yes, I did say that I wouldn’t mind spending however long with him because he’s really fascinating, but we’re not in love. Just kind of…in fond. Right, Nikola?”
“I shall draft a letter to the council immediately, demanding that they tell me everything that they told my son,” Nikola said to himself as he made another note.
“See?” I waved toward Nikola.
Fran turned to her husband. “Didn’t you tell me that all vamps are madly in love with their Beloveds?”
“Yes, but—”
“And Io smells like a Beloved?”
I straightened up. “I beg your pardon!”
“Then that means he has to be in love with her,” Fran said, gesturing toward me. “So why isn’t your dad getting with the program?”
“He’s always been a little…different,” Ben said with obvious apology.
“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with your dad. He just likes to keep track of important stuff and things he’s curious about. Nikola, tell your kid that you’re not weird just because you’re not in love with me.”
“And perhaps I’ll conduct some research into the phenomenon of losing and regaining a soul—hmm? Why are you pinching me?”
“Ben thinks you’re defective or something because you’re not in love with me.”
“He does?” Nikola eyed his son. “I tried to love your mother, but was unable to do so despite the fact that she was quite worthy of that emotion. It is no surprise that I am unable to do likewise for Io.”
“Mama was not your Beloved,” Imogen said, giving me a long look. “Evidently Io is.”
“And that should make a difference?” Nikola asked them.
“Yes,” Fran answered.
“Ah.” He considered me. Would you like me to be in love with you, sweetling?
No! Of course not! No, unless…you know…you wanted to be. I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend you’re in love with me, because that’s not the sort of relationship we have.
Exactly what do we have? In reference to our relationship, that is?
Well…we like each other a lot.
Yes, we do.
And of course, the sex is spectacular.
Most gratifyingly so, yes.
And we want to spend time together. I mean, I like being with you, and you said you like being with me, so that’s what we have.
With no love?
No. Er…not unless you wanted it. Do you?
I don’t know. Do you?
Everyone is staring at us. I cleared my throat. I think this is going to be one of those discussions that we’ll have to have another time.
As you like. He turned back to the others. “Io is thinking over whether or not she wishes for us to be in love. Until she makes up her mind, we should go on with what advice this kind lady has for us.”
“I wondered if anyone was going to remember me,” Tallulah said with a private smile. “It is Sir Edward who offers the advice, and that is this: Find the man who has used the portal. Find him as quickly as you can, and do what you must to restore balance where you have brought
unbalance. For if you do not…”
Her voice trailed off dramatically, leaving me with a shiver down my back and arms. Once again, I leaned into Nikola for comfort.
“If we do not?” he asked her.
Her gaze moved along each of us, ending on me. “If you do not, countless lives will be sacrificed.”
It wasn’t until almost an hour later that we were able to gather—“we” being Imogen, Ben, Fran, and Nikola and me—in Imogen’s trailer. She had insisted that we meet Peter Sauber, who was one of the two owners of the fair, and explained to him that Nikola was her long-lost father.
“Cousin!” I had said quickly, flashing a very toothy smile to Imogen before turning it on the balding, slightly worried-looking man. “Nikola is Imogen’s cousin. He couldn’t be her father because he barely looks ten years older than her. He’s her cousin.”
“It’s all right, Io,” Imogen said, patting my hand. “Peter knows about Ben and me. What we are, I mean.”
“Oh.” I pursed my lips as I examined the man in question. “Sorry. Are you a vamp, too?”
“No,” he said, his forehead wrinkling a little. “I’m a magician. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Baron. I understood that you were in South America recently.”
“No, that was the wrong past,” I corrected him, smiling at Nikola just because he was so incredibly handsome, it took every ounce of strength I possessed to keep from flinging myself on him.
You are more than welcome to—
Stop right there, or I will have no resistance whatsoever.
Nikola laughed in my head.
“The wrong…no, don’t tell me. There’s enough going on without trying to figure that out.”
After meeting a few more people, we finally ended up in Imogen’s pretty trailer, the inside of which was done in shades of olive and taupe.
Imogen, Fran, and I sat together on a gently curved taupe and olive polka-dot sofa, while Ben and his father stood at the far end of the trailer, their heads together as they discussed something. It made my heart happy to see Nikola reunited with his son, especially since it was obvious they were having such an emotionally intense conversation.
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