by Maria Lima
“Three phone messages from the wolf tribes west of us,” Tucker said, “and a smattering of texts from a few other groups. They’re all coming.”
“You two were busy,” I said as I ensconced myself in one of the plush armchairs.
“As were you,” Niko teased.
I popped a spare elastic hair band at him. He snatched it out of the air and threw it back at me. I batted it away, laughing. “You know, I feel much… I don’t know, lighter?” I leaned back and relaxed. “Maybe being at home is the difference. It’s not as dark here, not oppressive.”
“Though there is still something,” Tucker said, his tone sobering. “When we were on the grounds, taking care of the water, I know I felt a presence.”
“Daffyd, perhaps?” I asked. “He disappeared when we were in Faery. Maybe he’s come back to help?”
Tucker shook his head and put his book down on the end table. “No, it was dark. Daffyd shines, as do most Sidhe, even Unseelie. This was kind of a lack of light.”
“Like that underlying scummy feeling at the cemetery,” I mused. “Felt like a layer of dirty oil, or something equally as disgusting.”
“Yeah, a feeling more than anything physical,” Tucker agreed.
I sighed. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to figure that out, too, unless it’s all part and parcel of the Challenge and claim,” I said. “Could just be the way the land is responding to the drought and we’re just more in tune with it than normal.”
Adam crossed the room to sit at my feet. “That is a possibility, indeed.”
A soft tingling sensation swept across my bare arms. I’d dressed once more in a tank top and shorts—new ones—but had foregone shoes for the moment. “Someone’s approaching,” I said.
Adam nodded and rose, his movements as fluid as Angharad’s had been. “I felt the wards.”
“It’s Carlton,” I added, puzzled. “What brings him out here? Surely he’s not answering the Call.”
“Wouldn’t that be a trip,” Tucker laughed. “If all along, Carlton Larsen had fey blood.”
I tossed a cushion at him and he caught it. “That’s something I know isn’t true.”
“I’ll just go see to the door, shall I?” Niko rose and crossed the room, opening the front door before anyone could knock. “Please, come in, Sheriff.” Niko swung the door wide open and stepped aside. “We’ve been expecting you.”
Carlton, for once in casual wear, entered, looking a bit taken aback. His hand went up to remove the hat he wasn’t wearing.
“Mr.…” he started to address Niko, but paused.
“Marlowe,” Niko supplied. “Nicholas Marlowe. I’m called Niko.”
“Right.” Carlton gave a brusque nod. “Keira. Walker. Tucker.” He acknowledged us, and without further ado, came in and sat in the other armchair. Niko shut the door and came back to the couch.
“What brings you here tonight, Sheriff?” Adam said, leaning against my legs.
Carlton looked as if he were embarrassed by something. Interrupting us at home, maybe? We did paint a pretty picture of domesticity, I thought. Tucker and Niko lounging together on the couch, comfortable as long-marrieds, yet with the awareness of a nearly new relationship with every glance and touch. I found myself playing with Adam’s hair, something I did out of habit, as I loved running my hands through its silky smoothness. His hair was nearly longer than mine.
“I got a call earlier tonight about some funky lights over at the north end of your property,” Carlton said. “I wasn’t in town, but I hurried back to check it out. When I got there, the place was dead quiet. Cleaned up there, did you?”
“Yes.” Adam didn’t elaborate. “I am sorry you had to come this far on what turned out to be a wild goose chase,” he said. “My apologies, Sheriff.”
“No apology, needed,” Carlton said. “I told you I’d keep an eye out, and I will. So y’all back home now for good?”
“I hope so.” I stopped playing with Adam’s hair. “Carlton, we’re still under Challenge and if we can’t prove the land belongs to us, we’ll end up having to leave.”
He seemed to ponder this, his brown eyes never leaving my face. He cleared his throat. “What can I do to help?”
“You can be careful,” Adam said. “This is not something you can be a part of, Sheriff.”
“But I want to help.” Stubborn cop. Almost as stubborn as my vampire… or me.
“I know you do,” I said, keeping my voice gentle. “And we appreciate it, truly, but it’s not a matter of us allowing you or not. You actually can’t. It’s, well… it’s a blood thing.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break.”
—Marquise de Sévigné
He started, his fingers curling as if he missed having his Stetson as a prop. It had been a long time since I’d seen him in anything but regulation brown and brown. Now, he was wearing worn Levis and a button-down shirt in pale blue, sleeves meticulously rolled up halfway on his forearm. He still wore the same old Lucchese boots, a present from his father when he’d graduated the police academy. Larsen Senior had saved up for years to afford them. Carlton looked really good, happier than the last few times I’d seen him. Maybe his marriage was finally settling down after last year’s separation.
“You don’t mean actual blood, do you?” Carlton sounded appalled that he’d voiced those words. “No ritual sacrifices or anything like that?”
“Carlton, please,” I said. “That’s crap and you know it.”
“I know nothing of the sort,” he said. “Last year, you told me those dead Sitka deer we found over by the lake weren’t a result of any cult, yet here, we’ve got two blood-drinkers and well, you two.” He pointed to Tucker and me. “Why should I believe anything you’ve fed me before?”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I couldn’t lose my temper. He was hurting. I’d as much betrayed him as if I’d gone and gotten pregnant by someone else when we were dating.
“There are many legends that are truth, Sheriff,” Adam said as he rose to his knees, “but Keira was not lying nor being disingenuous. We do not perform blood rituals, nor animal sacrifices. My people and I live a quiet life and prefer it that way.”
“You don’t drink blood?”
“Not without permission.” Adam’s gaze remained steady, but not challenging. Though he was no longer sitting, he remained in a position lower than that of Carlton, a subtle, yet effective piece of body language. Niko and Tucker, however, perched on the edge of the couch, ready to intervene should this become more than a confrontation of words.
Carlton seemed to digest the words slowly, methodically, just as he did most things. When the penny finally clinked into place, he flushed bright red and he dropped his eyes. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m… I really put my foot in it, didn’t I?”
I laughed, the tension broken. “Yeah, well, it’s not as if there’s a manual, is there?”
He smiled and raised his head. “No, Keira, there’s never been a manual where you’re concerned.”
In that instant, I saw the young man he once was, naïve, eager, and so very loving and kind. I mourned his loss at the same time that I said a silent prayer of thanks for having broken off our relationship when I did, instead of stringing him along. It had been rough, we’d said many hurtful things to each other, but in the end, I’d done the right thing. We could have never continued. He’d wanted forever, along with white picket fences and a gaggle of kids. I couldn’t even give him a decade, nor children.
The distant hum of a motor interrupted our conversation.
“A plane.” Adam stood and went to the window. “Niko, get the lights, would you? Tucker, do you mind?”
Niko ran to the back of the house to switch on the runway lights. A set of controls were here, and one in the main Inn. A nice perk, thanks to my dear great-great-granny, who’d supplied the ranch with all sorts of amenities while I’d been in Canada
training.
“That should be the cavalry arriving now,” I said with a smile.
“Cavalry?” Carlton stood. “You expecting company?”
“Only family,” I said. “You don’t have to leave on their account. Since you know what’s going on, it might be a good idea for you to stay and take part.”
“In what? Some sort of family summit?” Carlton joked, his demeanor once again friendly.
“Precisely,” Adam said absently. “Sheriff, do stay if you wish. Though I’d advise you to perhaps keep your skepticism in check. Not everyone is as easygoing as we are.”
Carlton shook his head. “Easygoing? Are you sure you want me to meet these other people?”
I laughed. “Don’t let him scare you,” I said. “It’s likely to be a bit tense, but I’ll tell them to lay off and leave you alone.”
“You?”
“Carlton, I know it’s tough to really understand, but I truly am their liege. With my leader off on a, well, having her own political summit meeting, I’m in charge. They’ll do what I tell them.”
“No shit?”
“No shit. Come on, let’s meet the family.” With that, I skipped outside, Niko having graciously opened the door and left it open. Tucker and Niko were already on the porch. Adam and I exited one after the other, walking over to stand at the head of the short set of steps. Carlton wandered out, still shaking his head. He walked over to Tucker, who was at my left and propped a foot up on the lower porch rail.
A large group approached, entering from the darkness beyond into the lighted semicircle near the house, chattering among themselves. Their excitement bounded beyond them like a puppy, eager and anxious to please, to be petted. Bouncing happy energy of family together—Kelly, vampire, a few fey thrown in for good measure. I looked at Adam, who had a serene smile on his face, the father welcoming home his children. Two dark heads separated from the pack and ran ahead, joined by a bright redhead, all three bounding up the stairs. They nodded and then stood behind and beside us. Rhys and Ianto on either side, one step down, Liz to my direct left, her hand quickly grasping mine and squeezing. The rest of our Protectors, home at last.
The small dark man in front reached the bottom step and stopped, his face beaming as he knelt. The rest followed suit, all smiling.
“Welcome,” Adam said. “Welcome home. We are so pleased you came.”
My father held out his hands as Adam swept down the stairs to take them. “My son, my liege. I pledge to you all that is Kelly blood. All our resources and abilities are yours.” Oops. I was supposed to be down there. I hurried down the steps and took one of my father’s hands. “My daughter. We are yours to command.”
“Dad. All of you,” I raised my voice to be heard. “Do you give this gift freely?”
Dozens of voices responded. “We do.”
I sighed in happiness. “We, your lieges, thank you.” I held out my right wrist to Adam, who took it and, fangs bared, bit me, bringing blood. I turned my wrist over and let a few drops fall onto the ground. “By heart and blood, we accept your generous gift.” A collective cheer morphed into a grand round of applause.
I mock curtseyed and hauled my father into an enormous hug. Behind me, I could hear Carlton’s surprised exclamation. “She really meant it, didn’t she?”
Tucker laughed. “She did. Welcome to the madhouse.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Más vale onza de sangre que libra de amistad.” (Better an ounce of blood than a pound of friendship.)
—Spanish Proverb
Grace Rose fluttered around the large table we’d set up in the main dining room at the main inn. John, the day manager and his family had returned along with all the vampire staff and within the hour, things were back to almost normal at the Wild Moon. The chef, a longtime employee of Adam’s, was in the kitchen with his staff, doing his best to whip up some semblance of meals for the nearly three dozen people that had arrived and needed to eat something other than blood or small prey. A midnight brunch, courtesy of Le Cordon Bleu– trained staff. A few of my brothers had gone hunting—all six of them were now here, as were my aunts, Jane and Isabel, who’d set up in one of the guest houses. Grace and Verena had arrived by car not twenty minutes after the plane touched down. When I’d asked how they knew to come, Verena had simply stared at me and smiled her vacant smile. “We were Called.”
“Grace, sit the hell down, you’re distracting me.” Ciprian, my eldest brother, tossed his pencil down and ran a hand through his silver gray locks. He charmed his hair that color so he could make financial deals for the family. No one ever trusted a young whippersnapper, he’d said often, so he’d chosen to look older. “If you don’t have anything to contribute, why don’t you go to the kitchen and see if Henri needs any help serving.”
“Certainly.” She slid away, her mind on who knew what. At the Rose Inn, I’d thought Verena to be the spacey one and Grace to be at least somewhat grounded in the modern world. Here, though, it was as if they’d switched roles. Verena, though still a bit looney tunes, held her own in the discussion, while Grace did little more than wander about aimlessly.
My brother stabbed a finger at the Challenge parchment, which we’d rolled out onto the table and fixed down with clear tape. “That there. The passage that talks about Truce and consequences, I don’t think you’ve seen the last of the problems.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked. “Angharad herself spoke Truce to be dissolved. I felt the magick.”
“She may have,” Ciprian said in his precise, dusty way, “but this magick has already been set in motion. She didn’t mention that, did she?”
“No.” My blood was beginning to boil again. “She said nothing of the sort. In fact, she said very little of use to us at all. We were whisked out of there faster than I could ask anything else.”
“I’m sure that was her intention,” Tucker said. “She’s still got far too many schemes up her silky sleeve.”
“I’ll take Faery Follies for $500 with a side of ‘duh,’ Alex,” I said to the room at large. “Dad, you’re the only one in this room that knows her at all. You spent time in Faery courting.” I didn’t even want to say my mother’s name. She was dead to me.
“She’s The Seelie, Keira, as Minerva is The Kelly—all the tricks and powers combine in her to make her the quintessential Seelie Sidhe.” He stood and walked around a bit. I’d gotten my habit of pacing from him. “She’s like the ultimate Trickster. She does what she does how she does it. Just when you think she’s going to do one thing, she starts to do another, then goes right back to thing one. I’m sorry, but knowing her only makes it more complicated.”
“If I may,” Antonio spoke in a quiet tone.
I nodded. “Go ahead.” Though what a Catholic priest could tell me of the Faery, I had no idea. We’d exhausted all our combined knowledge, even calling in each of the various vampires who lived on the ranch, some of them centuries old, to see what they could contribute. We’d gotten very little. Carlton had gone home, promising to be back in the morning. He’d walked out starry-eyed and rather lost.
“Short of actual battle, there seems to be little you can do to force the land to honor your claim,” he began.
“We know that already,” I said, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice.
“Yes, we do. However, have you considered real battle?”
Adam stood. “As a last resort only, Antonio. I’ve no taste for that sort of bloodshed. I’ve seen far too many wars to wish to begin another one.”
“Then I’m afraid that you must find a way for the land to accept something else in return.” Antonio brushed his hand over a particular passage that had eluded most of us. Vague words talking about blood and sharing and giving. We’d done that. I gave of my own blood, as had Adam, Tucker, and Niko, speaking ritual words of binding to ourselves and to the land. With each drop, we’d felt something, a shimmery shudder of acceptance, but nothing concrete. All of us agreed that it hadn’
t been enough.
A buzz in my pocket startled me. I reached for the phone as I stepped away from the discussion. Carlton’s number lit up the small screen.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey.” His voice sounded tired and defeated. “Keira.”
“Yes?” Crap. How bad was it? And was it? He’d left not that long ago. Barely a couple of hours. “What is it, Carlton?”
“Flu. Ten cases. Both my… kids.” His voice broke. “High fevers, chills. Their mother is with them in the ER in Boerne now. The Coupes were both admitted, as were Lenny and Angie from the video store. At least five more cases reported from Austin and a half dozen in Fredericksburg. Could this be…” He didn’t finish his question. He didn’t have to.
“I don’t know,” I said, utterly truthfully. “There’s no way to tell.”
“Doctors haven’t seen this strain before, they’re saying.”
“God, Carlton, I’m so sorry. I’ll send someone, okay? Boerne, you said?” I could have Isabel go there, pose as a specialist from the UK. She’d done it once or twice before that I knew of. She could tell if they were magicked or if this truly was simply an unfortunate strain of summer flu.
“Yeah, sure. I’d appreciate it. There’s one other thing.” Carlton paused. “Hang on a sec, would you?” He must have put his hand over the phone speaker, though I could hear him talking to a doctor.
“Adam,” I frantically waved. “Have Isabel go over to the hospital in Boerne. There’s some sort of fast-acting flu. Both of Carlton’s kids are in the ER.”
He nodded and excused himself from the room. Ciprian looked over at me and I held up a hand, signaling him to hold on.
