“Mum! Aunt Sere! Please!”
“Perhaps we should take it up with his parents,” I said. “I have met his father.”
“Ray, please make them stop!”
“No can do, kid, you’re on your own with this one,” he said, enjoying the banter.
“All right, all right. You can have him stay over. If your mother agrees.” Considering the look she gave Lizzy and me, it was a big if. “But he’s staying in the spare room next to your mother’s. If I find him in yours, or you in his, then I’ll have the talk with both of you.”
“Isn’t that a little hypocritical of you?” Ray whispered.
“Different circumstances.”
“I have a compromise,” Jayne said. “He can stay, in the room next to mine, but instead of you giving them the talk . . . Ray has to.”
I almost spat my mouthful of pancakes across the table. Jayne had a cruel streak. It was bad enough to force a teenager’s boyfriend to endure a sex talk. It was even worse to subject them to it together, and by their aunt who appeared no older than them. But Ray was a vampire whose sexual experience was limited. Martin was a Were, and I didn’t want to know how experienced he was, or wasn’t. Forcing him to endure a sex talk from a vampire would be hilarious.
“Deal,” Ray agreed.
“I am so dead,” Lizzy mumbled.
Three days later, Helen was admitted to the hospital. I’d gone in to wake her, only to find that I was unable. She’d been growing tired since the move, and at first we thought it was the daytrips and her evenings out that were the cause.
The doctors found nothing wrong, nor would they, but they were keeping her in for observation.
I knew what it was. I’d seen the symptoms a number of times. Tiredness was the start, and after that it wasn’t long before the end came.
“Hey,” I whispered when she opened her eyes. “How are you feeling?”
She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “Tired. I’ve been tired for a while now, Serenity.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“But?”
“But maybe I’m not ready to let you go just yet.” I shrugged.
Helen reached out and patted my knee gently. She was so small lying there in her hospital bed. “You have him back, Aunt Sere.”
And that was the reason Helen had held on for all the years following the death of her husband. She’d had a daughter to care for at first, and then Ray had disappeared. Not a word had been said about her reason for trudging through life, but we both had known it was for me.
“I’m still alone,” I told her. “I still need you.”
She made an unladylike noise and swatted at me. “Don’t be so silly, Serenity. You have your partner back. That’s all the reason you ever needed to keep going. Now, send that daughter of mine in, I would like a word with her.”
We visited the hospital every day, but the doctors refused to let Helen come home. She was sleeping for longer and longer each day, and they were worried.
For the rest of that week following the dream, absolutely nothing else happened. Ray kept an eye on Lizzy while she was at the university, and Martin and I watched over her while she was at home or at the hospital.
I was bored. I’d found the Cats and secured their help. I wasn’t due to visit another Seat for six months, and things were unusually quiet in the world. There was nothing left to do. Even translating the records was almost complete.
Ray had invited me to accompany him on a staff night out, but I was reluctant because Issac and Poppy would be there. Lizzy was part of a select group of students who helped the teachers. All of them had been invited, too.
“I’m not sure.” I was hoping to offer a more agreeable alternative. “I’d love to spend the evening with you, but . . .”
“We could always put in an appearance and then leave,” he offered. Apparently, it was something he couldn’t get out of.
I still moaned. “I suppose if you must go.”
“I must.”
“Then we’ll put in an appearance. We’ll look devastatingly elegant, and we’ll dance for a while and leave.”
“You will look devastatingly elegant. Then again, you always do.”
“You, my dear, are biased.”
“Any man would agree with me.”
When the mail arrived just over a week after the dream, I wasn’t surprised. It had been too long since I’d received word of any troubles. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but vampires tended to head underground if something was coming.
As such, it meant I had to return from Ray’s house every day to ensure there were no incidents to deal with. As much as I’d tried to persuade him to move in with me, he claimed that all of his books wouldn’t fit. He still thought I’d see him as a bloodsucking fiend. Three times he’d fed from me, much to Jayne and Lizzy’s displeasure. Then Helen had told them to drop the issue.
He’d spent every night in my bed and almost every second by my side. There was nothing fiendish about him.
Calling him tame had been an understatement. With the exception of his need for blood and his fangs, he was almost human.
“Work?” Ray asked.
“Germany.” Which would mean a flight and at least a day away from Ray.
“You could always get a job with me,” he joked. “We’re in need of some more teachers.”
“Yes, Ray, I shall come and work at a university whilst the vampires wreak havoc across the world.” I rolled my eyes at him, barely resisting the urge to tut at him as well.
“How long will you be?”
“Too long. The Seats should have taken care of this.”
It was a small enough problem to sort out, but big enough that I shouldn’t have had to deal with it.
“I’d best make a couple of calls, then.” He reached for the phone.
“No one needs to know I’m leaving, Ray.” I sighed, briefly wondering who he’d be calling anyway.
“No, but they need to know I am”
“I am leaving, Ray. Not you.” I gave him a stern look when he tried to argue. “No arguments, I’m not taking you with me.”
“Serenity . . .”
I cut him off with a wave of my hand, not wanting to listen to any excuses, and certainly not willing to change my mind. “No. I won’t risk your life like that.”
“It wouldn’t be a risk. I can take care of myself.”
“You mean more to me than anything else in the world, and I won’t lose you. Please.” My voice was barely a whisper as I added, “I can’t live without you again.”
He sighed. “You never have to.”
“Then stay here. I’ll be back in twenty-four hours. Spend some time with your . . . what do I call them?”
“Well, we’re as far from a family as you can get. We’re too small for a coven or a clan, so I’m not sure.”
“Go have some fun with the others.” It was as accurate a description as any. “Take Lizzy with you. I’m sure Leola would love that.”
“What planet are you living on?” He laughed, pulling me close.
“This one, as far as I know.”
“Call me if anything goes wrong. Anything,” he stressed.
“I promise.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He gave me a quick kiss, and then I raced to my room to dress. Light trousers would be no good, not when I was taking my bike. I changed into a pair of heavy jeans, boots, a woolly jumper, and my leather jacket.
Riding my bike was always enjoyable. She was fast and sleek and beat most of my cars. And she had the added advantage of being able to slide through the smallest of gaps in traffic. She was also more transportable.
“Zach! Just the man I need.”
“Serenity, need to fly somewhere?”
Zach was my pilot. Since the invention of the commercial airplane, my life had been much easier. Zach’s father had been my first pilot, and his son would be my third.
“I need to go to Hamburg. Can you get me to H
anover as soon as possible?” Fortunately, both were in West Germany. Had they not been, twenty-four hours would’ve been a lot longer.
“Hanover? Isn’t that in the wrong direction?”
“Precautions.”
“Problems?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“I can have the plane ready inside the hour.” Zach always knew when not to question me further.
“Thank you. I’m bringing the bike.”
“Ready?” Ray asked. He would’ve startled me if I hadn’t heard his footsteps.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Stay safe.”
“Take care of yourself for me.”
“May I kiss you goodbye?” The words put a smile on my face.
“No, not goodbye, but I’d like it if you kissed me.” I was grinning over the fact he’d remembered.
I could never get enough of his kisses. So gentle and sweet, yet so demanding and fierce. All too soon he pulled away, letting me go and smiling sadly.
“I’ll miss you.”
“You’ll see me soon enough.”
With one last look at Ray, I started the motorcycle and sped off down the drive, pushing the bike to the limit before I’d hit the main road.
Zach would already be at the airport, clearing various things. I had neither the patience nor the inclination to learn to fly, so I paid Zach to be on standby when I needed him.
It was the first time I’d left since finding Ray again. That knowledge weighed heavy in my heart as I raced through the morning traffic. I was afraid he wouldn’t be there when I got back. But as much as I wanted him to join me, I couldn’t do that either.
Twenty-four hours, I told myself. That was all it was, twenty-four hours.
The sun had just set when Zach touched the plane down at Newcastle airport after what had proven to be a very smooth journey. I asked him to pass on my regards to his wife and children but didn’t hang around to chat. Ray would be sitting in my study grading papers or talking with Jayne and Lizzy. Either way, I wanted to see him.
The evening traffic was thin, and I made it back to the house in record time, a smile on my face. One that disappeared the second I pulled into the long driveway.
There wasn’t a single reason for any of the Cats to be hanging around here, and certainly not in fully shifted states. Martin was the exception, but the snarling leopard that was hiding in the trees at the bottom of the drive was not Martin. Neither was the one further up.
I was off my bike before the engine had fully come to a stop. “What happened?”
“Nothing bad,” Ray reassured me, waiting on the doorstep.
“Nothing bad? I can sense half the Cats are patrolling around my home! What happened?”
“Aunt Sere?”
“Would someone please explain to me why there is a need for the Cats to be prowling round the house?”
“Perhaps you should come inside,” Lizzy suggested.
Something was very wrong. The Cats didn’t leave their colony en masse for anything short of war.
Poppy, Issac, Al, and Leola sat around in my living room.
“What are they doing here?” I growled.
“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that little twerp,” Leola snarled.
“If I find out you had anything to do with whatever is going on, I will have your head,” I warned her.
“Leo, back off.” Poppy surprised me. “My apologies, we had a slight complication this morning, though I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
“I think I had best be the judge of that,” I said. “Explain complication.”
Ray had taken my advice; he’d taken Lizzy with him. Instead of driving herself to university, she’d hitched a ride with Ray, stopping at Poppy’s house first. Leola was there visiting. She’d been enjoying some banter with Leola, irritating her more and more, when the phone call for Poppy came.
Leola had retaliated against Lizzy, not realising who was on the phone. “Listen, you pathetic excuse for a human being, I have no qualms in draining every last drop of blood in your body, your mother included.”
By the time the words were spoken, it was too late. The person on the end of the line had heard Lizzy’s laugh, Leola’s retaliation, and Lizzy’s comeback. They knew Leola was interacting with some very knowledgeable humans. That meant a death sentence for the humans and an audience for the vampires. The vampire would have to turn Leola and Lizzy over to The Seat or risk being called as an accomplice.
“Who was on the phone?” I asked, already planning what to do with them.
“That’s the complication and why we’re all here.” Poppy was careful with her words, too careful.
“I swear, if you tell me it was Elena or Kiros, I will be tempted to kill you.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then who was it?”
“It was Paris,” she answered, making my blood run cold.
Paris was a name that sent shivers down my spine. He wasn’t part of The Seats but was one of the many hangers-on who they had following them around like rats. But he was different. He’d survived for centuries, and that alone gave him too much power for my tastes.
If Kiros was the vampires’ self-proclaimed king, then Paris was their prince. Should a position within The Seats become available, then he’d be the one to fill it.
“Did he mention anything whilst talking to you?” I searched Poppy’s face for any kind of treachery.
“There was a pause in his speaking. Other than that, nothing was said.”
“Lizzy, you ride to classes with Ray, Martin, or me. No exceptions. Jayne, call work and tell them whatever you need. I want you here. No one is to tell Helen; we don’t need her worrying about this.”
Pulling everyone out of the area wouldn’t be a good idea. I didn’t want to have to move with Poppy or Leola anyway.
“Ray, go about things as normally as possible until this is sorted. The same goes for you four.”
“Go to hell!” Leola said.
“You want to get called in for an audience? Be my guest,” I snapped. “But I won’t have you endangering my family, so I suggest you shut up and listen to me.”
“She is right, Liebste,” Al soothed her. “We do not want to tangle with The Seats again.”
“I’d rather take my chances with them than take orders from this freak.”
Ray snarled at her, baring his fangs and hissing in a way that made me want to retract everything I’d ever said about him being tame.
“I like you, Leo,” he told her, becoming every inch the vampire, “but don’t think I will side with you if you continue down this path. Serenity is everything to me, and I won’t hesitate killing you if it meant protecting her.”
The two of them stood eye to eye in the living room, neither budging. There was a look of pure determination on Ray’s face. He was standing up to the people he’d spent his new life with in an effort to protect me. I didn’t need protecting, but the gesture was nice.
“You know what? Forget it. Leola, you want to get yourself killed, be my guest. I won’t miss you, but Al would. So, be a complete bitch, and lose your head in the process. I won’t stop you,” I said. “But I warn you, you put my family in danger, and I’ll kill you myself. And I can do so much worse than The Seats could dream of.”
“I’d listen to her on that one.” Poppy chuckled. “They didn’t call her the Angel of Death for nothing.”
“Not many have lived to call her that,” Issac added. Clearly Poppy had told him the stories.
“And that, my dear, is the point.”
Leola never settled down. She grumbled at every plan we put into place, moaned at every precaution I insisted upon, but was wise enough not to openly object.
Lizzy and Jayne had agreed to stay home the following day. With Helen being in the hospital, they had all the time they needed.
“I need to know exactly what happened,” I told Ray.
We were in the kitchen
at almost midnight cooking for the Cats. They’d been prowling the house since morning without a break. I hadn’t thought they would react as they had, but they protected their own.
“Poppy already told you everything.”
“I want to hear it from you, Ray. I need to know when the Cats got here, who called them, what was said. I need to know everything.”
He detailed the interaction between Leola and Lizzy, every word of it, and what he’d heard on the phone. I was surprised to hear it was Poppy who’d ordered everyone to my house and suggested calling the Cats. I was even more surprised when he told me she insisted on them coming to us. She hadn’t wanted to know where they were.
My opinion of Poppy Baruti was slowly shifting, from a menace to be avoided at all costs to a possible ally. I doubted I’d ever call her friend.
My opinion of Leola, on the other hand, was holding firm. I didn’t like her, and I certainly didn’t trust her.
“How did things go in Germany?” Ray asked, changing the subject.
“In and out. Nothing to report really.” I shrugged.
“I’m glad you’re home,” he whispered.
“As am I. Though I do wish I knew more about what Martin will eat. I’m not sure this will be enough.”
Ray laughed loudly, making me smile.
The kitchen was full of steam from bubbling pots of vegetables, potatoes, and the simmering meat in the oven. “If it isn’t, then the Cats can cook.”
“Are you looking forward to this evening?”
“I’m looking forward to spending the evening with you.”
“That’s a no.”
He could read me so well.
“It’s not a no, per se,” I said. “I’m just a little concerned about Lizzy and Jayne joining us.”
Issac had arranged the extra invitation at Poppy’s request. I had to agree it was better if they were where I could see them, but being in such a public setting was a worry.
For an entire week I’d been on edge. The others went about their business as normally as was possible. Work. Classes. Meeting up with friends. None of it went unsupervised.
Martin had practically moved in. I hadn’t slept. Ray never left my side, except for work. Lizzy was never out of my sight. Jayne would be off as long as I needed her to be.
The Last Keeper Page 26
