“They’ll be fine. Jayne is going to get ready with Poppy, and Martin will be with Lizzy,” Ray reminded me.
“That is the problem.”
“If they’re even a second late, I will have the talk with them.”
“I have to be there to see that.”
We were taking turns. Martin would take the first watch, prowling the dark, almost invisible in the trees. Ray and I took the second part. Once dawn came around, we all retreated back inside. Ray had had a couple of problems with the sun since he started feeding from me. He didn’t need to kill me to gain power.
Our blood was more potent than that of a human. A layer of sunblock and staying indoors for most of the day did the trick, but there was a slight tan to Ray’s skin. He looked good for it. So long as a tan was all he’d get from it, we eventually came to an agreement that he would use me, and me alone.
The sun had barely been over the horizon an hour when the mail van pulled up, depositing a stack of letters through the door. As soon as the van was out of sight, we jogged out of the trees and back into the house.
“Again!” I growled, perusing the envelopes.
“What is it?”
“Work again,” I said.
“How can you tell?”
“You see the insignia by the return address?” It was part of the dead language we used. There was a set of five characters used to signify various things. Birth, death, partnership, maturation, and problems. It enabled us to send the letter to the right person, back in the days when the records were split. Now it helped me to see what I had to do.
Of course, the maturation symbol was one I longed to see again.
“When will you leave?” Ray asked.
“If I leave now, I can be back in time to meet you.”
With everyone busy with other things, I could get to London and back in a day without any problems. Trouble in London was rare. Being so close to a Seat meant the vampires were reasonably behaved. “Strange,” I murmured.
“What is it?”
“The London Seat must still be in Spain.” The thought made me both smile and worry.
If they were, it could be that things were worse there than anyone wanted to admit. If that was the case, why hadn’t I been called out there at least once in the last couple of years?
“Martin can’t let Lizzy out of his sight,” Ray said, obviously worried.
“Can Poppy be trusted?”
“I may not be overly fond of any of them at times, but if she knew all these years and didn’t say anything, then I believe she can.”
“Do you think she’d object if I read her mind?”
Normally I wouldn’t have done it, or considered it.
“I don’t see why not, but you can ask her yourself when she gets here.” Ray smiled, chuckling when I scowled at him.
What was I supposed to say to her? Hi, Poppy. I’d like to go snooping around your mind to see if I can trust you while I run off, deal with, and possibly kill, a few vampires?
I didn’t think that would go down too well.
“Or I can ask her for you,” he offered.
“Thank you.”
It turned out Poppy had no problem letting me into her mind; she only asked that I be brief. Once I’d requested that she think about nothing in particular, I was as quick as possible. What I found was . . . so very average. It wasn’t what I’d expected from Poppy, the legend that she was.
Her thoughts were focused on Issac, what she needed to do to protect him. Her thoughts towards Ray were . . . well, they were almost maternal. There was no hint she wanted him anywhere near The Seats, and her thoughts about him were protective.
As far as vampires went, she was trustworthy.
“Thank you,” I told her, offering a small smile.
“I can’t say that Leola will ever warm to you, Serenity, but I know I have.” Her words surprised me. “You make him happy.”
It was the closest I’d ever come to calling a vampire a friend. Ray would never count.
It was fortunate that Poppy’s idea of “getting ready” for a night out was a full day in a salon. She’d arrived just as Jayne was crawling out of bed. I’m not sure even I’d dare to try to wake Jayne up before dawn. When that woman slept, she slept.
“Will you be back in time?” Ray asked.
I was ready to leave, mentally calculating where I’d need to stop for fuel, and what the quickest route was.
“If I don’t see you here, then I’ll meet you at the pub,” I promised.
“Do you have everything?”
“Yes, I even have my outfit so I can change in the car if needed.”
For days he’d been trying to get me to reveal what I would wear. He hadn’t stooped to snooping in my wardrobe, but I would’ve bet that he’d thought about it. He was desperate to know what I considered “smart attire.”
Can’t it wait? The answer to that was simple. It could, but things would only get worse the longer I left them. The worse they got, the more likely someone from The Seats would be there when I arrived. That was something I wanted to avoid.
I was back on the homeward journey an hour later than I’d planned. It meant I was going to be late, but finding the vampires had been harder than I’d expected. The three were relatively new, and were trying to stake a claim on a territory that wasn’t theirs. The Seats weren’t something that were available to just anyone.
Vampires fighting was never a good thing. They paid little attention to those around them, human or otherwise. When they started, they were loud, violent, careless, and noticeable.
So I was running half an hour late by the time I reached the pub. It was simple enough to change in the car. My hair was another matter entirely. I’d planned on doing something with it, anything. Instead I had to settle for leaving it down.
The back room of the pub had been reserved for the university faculty and guests. Jayne was chatting happily with Poppy. I spotted Ray as soon as I entered. His eyes lit up as though he was seeing me step into his home for his birthday all over again, and a brilliant smile spread across his face.
“Is that . . . ?”
“I thought you might remember it.” Seeing Ray’s face as he recognised the dress was worth the week of secrets.
There were few of my dresses that had survived more than a couple of years. The one I was wearing was special. It was the dress Ray’s mother had given me for his birthday party. After the events of 1940, I’d kept it and taken care of it.
“You are as spectacular now as you were when I first saw you in it,” he whispered, eyes wide with appreciation as I twirled for him.
“Where’s Lizzy? She begged me to show her the dress”
Ray didn’t answer. He looked around and then said, “I haven’t seen her.”
A feeling of dread built in the pit of my stomach.
“She was supposed to be here half an hour ago.”
“Let me ask Jayne.”
While he hurried through the crowd, I made my way to the bar and asked to use their phone.
The first number I tried rang and rang, but no one picked up. It was the same with all the phones I had at the house.
The second person I tried was the same. Nothing but a ringing phone whose only purpose was to make me more nervous than I already was.
The third number I tried, the most recently memorised, yielded some success.
“Alex, it’s Serenity. Have you seen Martin or Lizzy?”
“No. He was with Lizzy this afternoon before taking her to that dance you were going to.” I could tell he was frowning.
“They aren’t here.”
“I can be at your house in the next half hour.”
“Thank you. It’s going to take us an hour to get back. If they’re distracted by each other, you mind if Ray gives them a sex talk?” I said, trying to ignore the rising dread I felt.
“Go for it.”
With a slam, I put the phone back on its cradle, and quickly found Ray and Jayne i
n the crowd. “No answer,” I said. “Tell me they’re here.”
“No one has seen either of them,” Ray told me.
“Something isn’t right,” Jayne said, confirming my own feelings of dread.
“Can you ride with Poppy?” I asked, not waiting for an answer.
If anything was wrong, I wanted to get there first. Jayne didn’t need to worry over nothing. And it was nothing. It had to be. I was kidding myself.
Even as I raced towards the car, Ray two steps behind me, I knew something was gravely wrong. It wasn’t like Lizzy to get distracted, and especially not when things had been so unstable.
Something was very wrong.
“Serenity, talk to me.” He took my hand in his for a moment. “Please.”
“They have her,” I whispered, my eyes never leaving the road. “I don’t know how I know, but they have her.”
I wove in and out of the tiniest of gaps in the traffic, desperate to get home.
Before I got out of the car, I picked up a frighteningly familiar scent. Elena had been here.
I raced into the house, desperate to know. There were no discernible signs of life, no heartbeats, no breathing, nothing. I swept every room in the house, hoping against hope that I’d missed something.
I hadn’t.
As I passed the basement, something caught my attention. There was no need for Martin to have been there, but his scent was as bright as a beacon leading down the stairs. I was at the bottom of the steps before I’d taken another breath.
Martin’s scent went as far as the desk, and presumably back again. There was a book on the floor, out of place in the neatness of the basement. I was sure it hadn’t been there before.
It was William’s family tree, a book I hadn’t opened even to update his death. I couldn’t.
The corner of an envelope was sticking out of the end of the book. Something that certainly shouldn’t have been in there. Everything we sent each other was destroyed. It had to be. Whatever it was, it must have been important.
Hammering on the front door caught my attention. I stuffed the letter in my purse and returned upstairs. Alex was doing the pounding, looking like he’d just run a marathon.
“I got here too late; they were already gone,” he panted. “Lost their trail three miles into the woods.”
“Thank you.”
A car—Poppy’s—came screeching to a stop in front of the house. Jayne stumbled as she tried to move faster than she was able, fear etched on her face.
“Serenity, what is going on?” she demanded.
“I am so sorry,” I whispered. “They have her.”
“What!”
“I didn’t have time to come home first,” I explained. “I got changed in the car and went straight to meet Ray.”
“We’re going to go get her,” she said calmly.
“No.”
“I’m coming with you, Serenity. This is my daughter we are talking about.”
“I know that, Jayne. I promise you, I will bring her back, but you are not coming.”
“She’s all I have left.”
“They won’t get away with this.”
She was going to argue, to try to tell me anything to get me to let her come along, but the ominous ring of the phone cut through the air, silencing all of us.
Ray was closest to it, and he hit the speaker button as he answered.
I fought back the hiss that threatened to escape me as Elena’s voice filled the room. “Put Poppy on.”
“I’m here.”
“My dearest Poppy, you remember the London catacombs? Bring the other human.”
“Are you demanding an audience with me?”
“No, I am suggesting you show up and explain why you’ve been sharing our secrets with humans.” It almost sounded as though she was bored. “Personally, I wanted to execute all of you, but I was overruled.”
“After I slaughtered the best you threw at me, how fortunate for you. Should I be contemplating adding your head to my collection?” That was the Poppy of legends.
“Not quite. The humans will die for this; you can only affect what your fate will be. You have one day. Oh, and bring that freak show you hang around with. All of them.”
Fortunately, she hung up just as Jayne lost it. She collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face. Alex moved to her side, comforting her and guiding her to a chair. I was on the phone.
“Zach, it’s Serenity.”
“Going somewhere again?”
“I need the plane, and I need it now. Be warned, we’re going to London, to the catacombs, and we have guests.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, Jayne. I’m only taking them because Elena will come for them if they don’t show.” It was bad enough that Lizzy was in their hands; I wouldn’t let them have Jayne, as well.
“I’ll be ready within the hour,” Zach promised.
“Thank you.” I hung up the phone.
“I’ll stay with Jayne,” Alex offered.
“I will bring Martin back to you.” I was already heading for the door.
What I had to say to Poppy and the others wasn’t for Jayne’s ears, so I waited until they joined me outside. It would be the first time I’d ventured into one of the catacombs in centuries, normally I didn’t have to go inside to influence the vampires there.
“I know we’ve had our differences,” I told them, “but I need you all to promise you will get Lizzy and Martin back. Alive.”
There were solemn nods from everyone. Even Leola didn’t look as harsh as normal.
“What are you planning?” Ray asked once we were in the car.
“I don’t know.”
I would keep both of my promises to Jayne. I would get her daughter back to her, and I would make The Seats pay. It was time they realised they were only alive because I allowed them to be.
It was a ninety minute flight, and then a thirty-minute drive to the catacombs. The London ones weren’t the easiest to find, not that I would’ve had any trouble.
It was far too long.
“You need to change,” Ray reminded me. I was still wearing my dress.
God only knew what they were doing to Lizzy. They could’ve been torturing her, or putting her through all kinds of hell.
“Serenity,” he pulled me against him briefly, “we’ll get her back.”
“I know. I’m just tired of this. Everyone I’ve ever loved has been taken from me, and now I am being forced to take you straight to them. I can’t do this anymore, Ray. I can’t lose you again.”
“You don’t have to,” he promised.
“But I do. If we manage to get out of there alive, they’ll come after you. There’s nothing that can stop them. I can wipe every memory they have and the end result will be the same as always. All it would take is one person with any knowledge of The Seats and it would be over.”
I rose and began pacing. I needed a plan, but nothing I came up with would work. The only thing that had any chance was me staying hidden for as long as possible and letting Poppy try to talk her way out of the situation. She was highly respected among The Seats.
Worrying about the situation would do me no good, and I needed to change, which would at least occupy me for a few minutes.
It was as I was changing, making sure I had everything I needed, that I remembered the letter. I grabbed the letter and returned to the main cabin, turning it over as I went.
The wax seal on the back froze me in my tracks. It was the one seal we never used, the one that struck fear into the hearts of everyone who saw it. Of course, it had long since been abandoned and would mean nothing to anyone looking at it today. I recognised it, and it shocked me that William had ever felt the need to use it.
Sitting in the nearest seat, I tore open the letter.
Dearest Serenity,
By now you are the last of us, and I know this pains you every day. Please forgive me for not coming forward with this information for so long.
I am not so innocent either. I have always known who it was that betrayed us, and I have always known the way to stop it, the way to bring our kind back. But I could not tell you, not until it was time.
It is time, Serenity. You are the only one left. Yet you cannot fight much more, but love will do such a thing to you.
Please understand the separation you faced was needed. Had you found him again so soon after losing him, you would never have accepted what he had become. Given those years apart you have been able to do exactly that.
Your sister sat with me, telling me what was going to happen. She said that when we were all connected, as never before, it would be time. All of our partners have been human up until you. Ray was destined to be turned, and I am so sorry for the pain it has caused you both.
I know it will have taken a great loss to find this letter, and that is how it must be. When you read this, you will want to hate me, and I understand, but please, when the time comes make sure it is Ray who takes your life. Him alone, or your gift will not work.
Ray is unique in his creation. He is the only vampire ever to be created by one who had never taken a human life. He is the only one this way, as you are the only one left of us. Both unique, both drawn to each other like no other.
Please understand, also, the vampires are aware of this, but believe a different version of events will come to pass. They believe draining you will kill you because Ray is now a vampire. They have waited years to seek you out, and in the end you will go to them. Please heed my words.
You were never meant to be the last of us, Serenity. You were meant to be the one to change us.
There will be a difference this time around. We will have no weakness; it will be our choice alone to pass on. Thanks to you. You were always the strongest of us, and I am truly sorry you have to be the one to do this.
I will love you always, and I wish you did not have to suffer the pain that is still to come.
The Last Keeper Page 27
