by Maria Lima
“Drystan… my father… expected more than I was willing to give. I want it all, lover.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped.
Tucker waved a hand to get my attention. “Gigi,” he mouthed. I nodded that I understood.
“Gideon, I don’t have any idea what Drystan offered you, but okay, fine, whatever. I’m sure Gigi would have set you up somewhere, like she did me and Adam.”
“Fat chance,” Gideon said. “She was as eager to kick me to the curb as my father was. Seems I’m persona non grata in both places.”
“So you sought out the Seelie? You do remember everything that happened to me, right? What makes you think they’d take you in under their wing?”
Gideon laughed. “They did, didn’t they? Put out the fatted calf and all that… at least, the pregnant cow.”
I nearly choked at his attitude. “You call your wife a cow? I’m sure that goes over well in the bedroom.”
“Oh, I’ve yet to bed the fair Aoife,” Gideon admitted. “Drystan was right, the child is not mine in the usual ways.”
“If that’s so, then why would the high queen name you the child’s father? As pseudo-heir?”
“I made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”
“That being?”
“Nothing I wish to share with you. Though do tell my brother that sharing you is simply delicious.”
Adam whirled and walked away, his lips tight against words I could nearly feel exploding from his mouth.
“Bully for you, then,” I snarled. “You got the cow without even having to pay for the milk.”
Gideon chuckled. “Oh, my, it’s good to cross verbal swords with you again, Keira. I missed that. These Sidhe are so very… boring.”
“Then why? And how?”
“Why? Because I wanted to. I can rule with their help. How? We bonded, Aoife and I, shared blood, as you did with my brother. Her child is now mine by virtue of our blood-bond. Blood and breath, dear cousin, she is mine by blood and breath.” With that, he closed the connection.
“Blood and breath. Oh my god.” I grabbed at Tucker’s hand. “Adam, back when I was dating Gideon, in London—those words. Tucker, you remember what I looked like when I came back home, right?”
Tucker nodded. “You were subdued, scared.”
“Yes, exactly. Gideon scared the ever-living shite from me. He’d crossed a line. That’s when I ran back to Texas fast as I could. Did I ever tell you what he did?”
“Exactly? No,” Tucker said. “Only that he’d gone too far.”
“He wanted more power, more knowledge,” I said. “He’d exhausted everything available to him, to us, as pre-Changelings. We could only use the more homely magicks—warming charms, small location spells, et cetera. That’s when he decided to go another route. When he began to invoke the Dark. I went along for a little while, figuring he’d not be able to go too far, after all, our abilities were limited. But then, he did.”
“Go too far?” Adam prompted as he came back to sit with me.
“Yes. Way too far. He’d somehow uncovered some old grimoire in Gigi’s library. In a part of the collection off-limits to us kids. This was part of her collection that was housed in the London house, had been there for centuries.”
“Wait, those books were locked up by pretty strong wards, if I recall,” Tucker said. “How’d he get past them?”
“Honestly, I don’t have a clue,” I said. “He could’ve charmed his way into someone’s bed, I suppose. There were plenty of adults staying there in those days.”
“That’s possible,” Tucker said. “Several people have access to the library wards. They’re mostly meant to keep out kids. What did he find?”
“Spells using blood magick,” I said. “A lot of them. Not a one of them neutral. That last spell he wanted to try. He’d actually started. Had gathered all the ingredients. It was more of a ritual calling.” I took a deep breath. “I just remembered. The spell he wanted to use involved blood and breath.”
“Literally?” Adam took my face in his hands as if to pull the memory from me, to see what I’d seen.
“Yes, as in a sacrifice.” Guess it was good to know that this particular leopard didn’t change his spots.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Your actions will follow you full circle around.”
—Indigo Girls, “Center Stage”
“We have no more choices.” Adam let me go and stood. “Between what you’ve told me and the desecration at our cemetery, we must go there now. If Gideon is willing to invoke sacrificial magick of his own accord, I’ve no doubt he has every intention of breaking Truce—or has already done so. We’ve been sitting here like fools as he plays his games behind our backs.”
“But the terms?” I said. “If we go back onto the land…”
“We’ll be careful.” Adam turned to Tucker. “Pack up a day’s worth of supplies. We’ll have to hurry, but I think we should wait no longer. Keira, could you talk to Bea, see if she’ll put us up? I’m sure we can sunproof some of the windows at your old place.”
“On it,” I said, and removed myself to the back room to make the call. I could hear the guys making plans. Finally, something to do. It was past midnight, but if we drove fast, we could make it to Bea’s by three-thirty or four.
“Hello?” Bea’s sleep-fuzzy voice answered.
“Bea, hon, sorry to wake you, but it’s important.”
“Keira? You okay? What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing—well, nothing you need to worry about,” I said. “I just wanted to ask if it’s okay that Adam, Tucker, Niko, and I came to stay with you.”
“Of course. When?” She yawned.
“Now.”
“Now?” I could hear her turn on the light. “Sure, but…”
“M’ija, it’s a long, long story and I’ll explain when we get there, okay?”
“Fine, I guess,” Bea said. “You sure everything’s all right?”
“Don’t fret, I promise it’s all okay. We’ll be there in about three hours, sí?”
“Sí, sure. You still have a key, right?”
“I do. You go back to sleep. You working in the morning?”
“Yeah, but later. Noe’s taking the opening shift along with Tio and Tia.”
“Excellent. See you soon.” I hung up and reentered the main room. “All set with Bea. We can lightproof the windows—some duct tape, those really thick trash bags. We can do that when we get there, at least take care of the guest room windows so you two can sleep. Tucker and I can finish up the rest of the house once it’s daytime and we won’t be disturbing Bea.”
“Good.”
“May I come with you?” The quiet voice came from the far corner. Antonio. I’d forgotten about him.
“You want to come with us? Why?”
“Perhaps I can help,” he said.
“With Sidhe magicks? Sorry, Antonio, I appreciate the offer,” I said, “but this isn’t something you need to help with.”
“I would like to try. I can no longer stand by. You have shown me courtesy and compassion, traits lacking in so many. I could perhaps run errands, do things that free you to do what you do best.”
He had a point. I couldn’t involve Bea in this, pregnant as she was. I could perhaps call Dixxi back to help out, but she’d be better off continuing her research at the Health Science Center. Frankly, the priest could be our fetch-and-carrier without too much trouble.
“Do you drive?” I asked.
“I can. I am a man of many years, but have garnered many talents.” He grinned at me.
I threw up my hands. “Fine then, join the party.”
“Antonio, come, you can help me pack up,” Tucker said.
As I tucked the phone back into my backpack, Adam leaned over and whispered. “That was nice of you.”
“He wanted to help, let him help. I can’t imagine living as he does. If helping us helps relieve his burden even one small bit, who am I to stop him?”
Adam kissed me, a brief peck on the lips. “Thank you.”
“For inviting the priest?”
“No, for going along with my plan.” He kissed me again. “We could be exposing ourselves to just about anything. We’re breaking Truce.”
I shrugged and folded a blanket. “Better than wasting our time here. Now that we know the terms of the Challenge, I have no intention of fulfilling it that way. No one is going to die for us. We’ll just have to come up with something else.” I tossed the blanket on the couch. “I’ve not forgotten that Gigi is missing,” I said. “I just think that action is better than inaction. I can’t find her sitting here, any more than I can do anything about the Challenge sitting here.”
“I didn’t think you had forgotten her. I agree, whatever happens next, at least it will be as the result of us doing something.”
“It could very well be a trap.” I sat on the edge of the couch, watching Niko and Antonio pack the contents of the mini-fridge into a green cooler as Tucker hauled boxes of books up the stairs, a laptop bag over each shoulder.
“That hadn’t escaped me.” Adam put his arms around me and laid his head atop mine. “As you said, I have no intention of going down without a fight.”
“You think it will come to that?”
“A fight?” Adam stroked my hair. I closed my eyes and let myself get lost in the sensation. “I do. Part of me wonders if my brother meant this to happen.”
“To lure us back to fight? Maybe.” I purred as Adam’s hands went to my shoulders, kneading the tense muscles. “That feels good.”
He kissed the top of my head and kept up with the massage. “I wish we could do nothing but this for the rest of the night, love, but we have places to go.”
“And people to see,” Tucker exclaimed. “Stop with the canoodling, you two. We’re loaded up and ready to go.”
“Did you tell Grace or Verena?” I said, unwilling to move just yet.
“They weren’t around so I left a note on the kitchen table,” Tucker said. “Told them we had to leave and to feel free to charge us whatever.”
“That works.”
I leaned my head back onto Adam’s abdomen. “Thanks, love.”
He bent his head and kissed my lips. “Anytime.”
“Shall we?” Tucker asked, getting impatient.
Without a word, Adam stepped back and offered me his hand. I took it as I stood and without further ado, we climbed the stairs.
“Onward through the fog,” I murmured as Tucker started the engine. “I can’t help but feel we’re going to our doom.”
“As long as it isn’t Mount Doom, I can deal,” Tucker laughed and turned out of the drive.
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” Antonio’s voice came from the back of the Rover. I sat up shotgun, while Adam, Niko, and Antonio shared the back with the various bits of luggage that hadn’t been lashed to the roof of the car.
“For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.” Adam completed the line and took Antonio’s proffered hand and shook it. I watched the interaction with a bemused smile.
“Let us all hope it does not come to that,” Niko said with a grimace.
Hope. It was pretty much all we had left, except for our own unique brand of chutzpah. I prayed it would be enough.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“An open door invites callers.”
—Turkish Proverb
After I deposited the vampires at Bea’s, with Niko and Antonio covering the guest room windows, I convinced Tucker to take a quick trip out to the cemetery before dawn.
“A recce, only, bro,” I pleaded. “Just a drive by. I want to see what I can feel.” Feel. That was a glorious word. At three miles out from the Rose Inn, I’d felt a great weight lift and the world began to seem lighter, less oppressive. With caution, I’d released some of my shields. Bit by bit as we drew closer to Rio Seco, to our lands, I began to feel normal again. By the time we hit the main road into town, the one that led past the strip center, I’d been able to relax my shields to their usual strength. I gloried in it. It was as if—no it was exactly because, I had arrived home. Despite the Challenge, despite the barrenness, I felt the call of the land. Of home and hearth. I knew that we could figure something out, damn it. I just knew it.
“Okay, a quick reconnaissance only,” Tucker agreed. “No getting out of the car, no driving too close. We’ll just go to the crossing and see if we can feel anything.”
I jumped up and hugged my brother. Energy spiked between us as I held him tight.
“Whoa, what was that?” Bea shuffled into the living room dressed only in a pair of stretchy black pants and a sports bra. Her abundant black hair was tied back into a messy ponytail.
I laughed and twirled, giddy with delight. “Energy, Bea. Clean family blood-bonded energy.”
Bea shook her head and grabbed a mug from the rack, pouring herself some coffee. I’d started a pot the moment we’d arrived. “I saw Adam in the small guest room talking on his phone,” she said. “Where’s Niko?”
“Lightproofing the other guest room with the priest,” Tucker said. “Keira and I are going to do a quick recon visit. We’ll be back inside the hour.” He left the room, going down the hallway to the bedroom area. The house was small, a master bedroom with en suite bath, a couple of guest rooms. A nice size living room with eat-in kitchen. I’d lived here for nearly two years until Adam came back into my life. Then I’d given the house to Bea. She needed a place of her own.
Bea sipped her coffee with a frown. “This tastes funny.” She took another sip, then put down the cup and walked over to the fridge. “Priest? Is that some sort of title for one of your family?”
“Nope,” I said. “A real priest as in Roman Catholic. Long story.”
She handed me her mug of coffee. “Here, I can’t drink this.”
I took it and savored the aroma. It was heavenly. “It’s wonderful, Bea, you don’t like it?”
She shook her head as she poured a glass of milk. “Stupid pregnancy hormones,” she said. “I can’t seem to drink coffee anymore.”
“That truly sucks,” I said. “But thanks for this.”
She nodded and sat down at the kitchen table. “Priest, huh? You roping in all the religious types, now?”
“Just the one,” I laughed. “Bea, it’s so good to be here. To see you. Like old times.”
“Except with two vampires, a wolf, and a priest.” She gave me a milk mustache smile. “Only you, Keira.”
“Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “That’s kind of my life anymore.”
“The Reception was nice?”
“Until Gideon showed up, yeah,” I said. I’d gone to her bedroom as soon as we’d arrived and given her the down ’n’ dirty of the situation. She’d taken it in stride, rolled over and asked to be allowed to go back to sleep for a little while. That had been just over an hour ago. “Why did you get up?”
“I normally get up around now,” she said. “Do some yoga stretches for a while, eat breakfast, then shower and go to work.”
“I thought you said you didn’t need to open the café?”
“I don’t need to,” she said, “but I do anyway. Tio and Tia are too old to be taking up my slack. I’m perfectly healthy. There’s no reason to cut back my hours yet.” She spread her hands on her abdomen. “I’m not even showing yet,” she said. “I’ll save the coddling for when I’m big as a house.”
“Sounds like a plan. You feeling okay?”
“Other than the coffee? Yeah,” she said. “Fine. Dixxi said she’d come visit once a week to draw blood, weigh me, and all that jazz.”
“Good.” Since Bea was pregnant with a half-wer child, she couldn’t go to a regular doctor. A werewolf herself—and aunt to Bea’s baby—Dixxi was primarily a geneticist, but had plenty of medical knowledge and was helping Bea out.
Tucker came back into the room. “Adam’s off the phone now,” he said. “He told Dad where we were. Still no word on G
igi.”
My bubbly mood burst. “Damn it.”
Tucker nodded. “Yeah, but unfortunately, there’s not much we can do. Word’s out to all the Kellys, on this continent and all the others. Dad’s put out an APB, basically. We’ll find her.”
“For the love of—Tucker, has he mobilized the entire Kelly clan? Isn’t that likely to cause panic?” I loved my Dad, but he wasn’t the political sort.
“Panic how? It’s not as if we don’t have an heir in the wings.” Tucker shrugged and picked up my backpack. “We going?”
Oh bloody hell. “Where’s Adam?”
“He went into the other room to get more supplies. He wants to tape up Bea’s bedroom while she’s not using it and then start on the living areas.”
“Did you tell him we were going?”
“I did.”
“He didn’t like it, did he?” Which is why he was currently not in the living room. He wasn’t going to try to argue me out of it. He knew better and he wasn’t about to air our dirty linen in front of Bea. None of us had stated it outright, but all of us knew that Bea was to be protected. She was as much our charge, as much family as any of the people who had pledged fealty to us, who’d taken blood oath. She was mine and whatever I could do to protect her, I would.
“Not so much.” Tucker’s tone was wry.
Bea’s eyes grew round. “Is this dangerous, Keira? Where you’re going.”
Crap. Neither Tucker nor I had mentioned the cemetery to her, considering that was the place where she’d nearly been raped, then killed. Nor had I mentioned that little matter of the Challenge restrictions. I’d only told her that we’d left as part of the Challenge, but not the part about possible consequences of our return.
“We’ll be fine, chica,” Tucker chucked her under the chin, like he used to do when Bea and I were both kids. “You know I’ll take care of my sister.”
“You’d better,” Bea said into her glass of milk. “Go on then, do whatever you have to. I’ll make sure the others get to bed in time.”
“There’s a camp bed on the porch,” Tucker said. “If you like, I can bring it in here for Antonio.”
