by Kate Sweeney
“Your mind is an open book. You need to work on that.”
“Well, so is yours.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you ghoul. I—” She stopped when Corky opened the door.
“I thought I heard your voice. Am I interrupting?”
Grayson realized she was still inside Sebastian’s coat with Sebastian’s arms around her. “I think we’ve landed.”
Sebastian stepped back and closed her coat. Her toothy grin was evident—Grayson bowed slightly.
“How the devil did you get here so quickly?”
“Corky, you’ve got to try this,” Grayson said in giddy fashion.
Sebastian leaned her shoulder against the door and said nothing.
“Try what?” Corky asked eagerly, looking from the exuberant Grayson to the bored Sebastian. “Oh, and please come in.”
“Grayson, please try to remember you’re an immortal,” Sebastian said as she walked in.
Grayson chuckled at the serious tone in the vampire’s voice. “I’ll try.” Grayson leaned down to Corky and whispered, “But it was cool.”
“Bugger. Do ya think she’d…?” He stopped when he looked at Sebastian, who grinned, exposing her fangs. He adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses. “Perhaps not. Now tell me,” Corky said. “How did it go with the resurrection? Did it work? Did ya find the box?”
“First, thank you for the invitation, Corky.”
Corky smiled. “You’re very welcome in my home, Sebastian. Now tell me.”
Sebastian shook her head. “I was too late to stop Nicholae from resurrecting Leigh. I had to find the box first.”
Corky’s eyes lit up. “And did ya find it?”
“I did. As I explained to Grayson, its contents led me to this.” Sebastian pulled the book out of the inside pocket of her coat. Corky, almost reverently, took it from her. “It’s written in an ancient Celtic language, I’m told.”
“Who told you?” Corky examined the book.
“Tatiana,” Sebastian said. Corky quickly looked up. “She came to me in a vision.”
Grayson heard the sadness in Sebastian’s voice and thought for sure she saw it in the vampire’s eyes, as well. “You really cared for her.”
Sebastian scowled deeply and ignored Grayson’s comment. Corky, still enthralled with the book, went on, “Maeve came to Grayson in a vision after she died. How do you open this?”
At the mention of her mother’s name, Grayson felt the tears sting her eyes. She took a quick breath and said nothing, but she glanced at Sebastian, who was watching her. Grayson looked into her hazel eyes and felt a low buzzing in her ears.
You did care for Tatiana. It’s okay to admit that.
Let it lie, mortal.
But I’m immortal.
Sebastian glared at Grayson, who smiled slightly, almost missing what Corky was saying.
“This looks like metal.” He turned the book over in his hands. “How does it open?”
“May I take a look?” Grayson took the book from Corky as she glanced at Sebastian, who was smirking.
“You won’t be able to open it,” Sebastian assured her.
Grayson heard the challenge and scoffed. “It’s only a book.”
“But it’s encased in metal, Grayson,” Corky added as he peered over her shoulder.
It was indeed surrounded by metal, but also there was a clear tube-like border around the book. She yanked and pulled to no avail.
Corky rolled his eyes. “You’re so stubborn. Give it to Sebastian. We’re wasting time.”
Grayson grunted and handed it over. “So much for my immortality.”
“It has nothing to do with you.” Sebastian took the book and placed her ring in the lock. Grayson peered over her shoulder and watched along with Corky as Sebastian pressed the top of her ring in place. Grayson was amazed when she saw the blood flow through the clear tube and the lock. With a twist of her ring finger, the lock opened.
“Absolutely amazing,” Corky said, adjusting his glasses. “I take it only your blood will open it.”
Sebastian nodded. “And Tatiana’s.”
“Very clever,” Corky said.
Grayson wasn’t so sure. “What’s to prevent a vampire who hates your guts to get your blood and this book?”
“Good point.” Corky grinned. “Grayson was a detective in America.”
Sebastian leaned back against the desk and gently handed the book to Corky, who looked as though he would jump out of his skin. “Let me give you a lesson in vampire hierarchy.”
“Vampires 101?” Grayson asked with a grin. “Let me get my notebook.”
“Gray, please,” Corky pleaded.
“Tatiana was very careful whom she sired. She was ancient, nearly two thousand years old.”
“Two thousand?” Grayson repeated in awe.
Sebastian nodded. “She was smart, very smart. She knew a vampire must keep the bloodline pure if they are to progress in the hierarchy. It’s the same with mortals, she told me.”
“This is true,” Corky said. “The English royalty did it. I mean, imagine what Queen Victoria did with her nine children. It wasn’t pure, but she had them married into royalty all over Europe.”
“So Tatiana picks you to be the only one she bites.”
Sebastian smiled, her fangs protruding. “No, Tatiana did her share of biting and then some. I’m the only one she turned. Only I have Tatiana’s blood.”
“And alive to talk to about it,” Corky said. “Well, as alive as a vampire can be. So how do we decipher this?” He carefully leafed through the pages. “If this is an ancient Celt language, as Tatiana told you, it’s beyond me. But perhaps…” Corky stopped and looked at Grayson.
“You can translate this?”
“I don’t think I like that incredulous tone, Seb,” Grayson said. “It seems I might be able to do something you can’t.”
Sebastian stared to her. “It would appear so.”
“You mean my immortal powers are better than yours?” Grayson smiled innocently.
“In this instance, yes.”
“So…”
“Do you really want to test this further?”
Corky took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Ladies, please.” He motioned to the letter.
“Okay, Cork,” Grayson said.
“Please be careful with it,” Corky pleaded.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be gentle.”
As she perused the letter, her eyes bugged out of her head and her jaw dropped.
“What is it?” Corky asked, his excitement apparent. Sebastian leaned in.
Grayson looked up. “You won the lottery!”
For a moment, Corky seemed confused. Sebastian glared, then grudgingly grinned, producing the razor sharp canines.
“Grayson, that was not funny.” Corky tossed his glasses down on the desk. “Would you please be serious?”
“Sorry.” Grayson cleared her throat and started again.
It was amazing to Grayson that she could easily translate from this ancient dialect. “It’s like a prophecy more than a letter.”
Sebastian groaned. “Another puzzle. Why can’t it be simple?”
“I hear ya,” Grayson said as she read it again. “I want to make sure I’m right here.”
“Take your time,” Corky said quietly.
Grayson nodded as she read.
“Don’t rush it now.”
Again, Grayson nodded.
“If ya need us—”
“Corky,” Grayson and Sebastian said.
Corky held his hands up in defeat and adjusted his glasses. He and Sebastian waited for Grayson to finish.
Grayson could tell Sebastian was losing patience. “No fanging,” Grayson said absently as she read. “Okay, Corky. I’ll read it, and you’d better write it down and see if it makes sense.”
Corky retrieved the pad of paper, his pen poised to start.
Grayson looked at Sebastian. “Here goes nothing.”
In
the shadow of the crescent
A mark is cloaked unseen
The traitor’s song eclipse the moon
Blackheart betrays the queen.
One emerges from the night,
At the behest of ancient call
A star falls from a distant realm,
Uniting and revealing all.
Midnight calls upon the light
Uniting moon and stars and trees
To see with eyes no longer veiled
Embrace the path of destiny.
When Grayson finished, she looked up. Corky stopped scribbling and leaned back in his chair.
“What does it mean?” Sebastian asked.
“Don’t look at me. I’m only the translator. Corky is the master historian.” Grayson gently folded the letter, handing it back to Sebastian.
Corky seemed oblivious to Grayson and Sebastian. When Sebastian opened her mouth, Grayson put her hand up to silence her. She put her finger to her lips. Sebastian scowled but said nothing.
Grayson had to admit she was getting as restless as Sebastian, who paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. “Why don’t you go get your fangs sharpened or something until Corky’s finished? You’re buggin’ me.”
Corky looked up and laughed. “I’m sorry. But this is very curious to me. Sebastian, what did Tatiana tell you about this letter?”
Sebastian thought for moment. “I had asked her what the Celts had to do with us and our world. She told me we were all connected. That our world was not unlike the mortals, and I would see that. That the letter was the key to this.”
Corky took off his glasses and nodded. Grayson saw his grin.
“Okay, you whacky historian, what’s so funny?” she asked.
“Yes, I’d like to know, as well.” Sebastian stood in front of the desk and waited.
“Let’s just look at the first part.” Corky put on his glasses. “Just listen.” He cleared his through and began.
In the shadow of the crescent
A mark is cloaked unseen
The traitor’s song eclipse the moon
Blackheart betrays the queen
He looked up at both confounded faces. “Don’t you see? The words crescent and moon are in the first stanza. What are the odds of a vampire having ancient Celtic text that just coincidentally has a reference to a crescent moon, which, oh I don’t know, just happens to be Grayson’s birthmark?”
Grayson flopped into the nearest chair. “Holy shit.”
“Indeed,” Sebastian said.
Grayson saw Corky’s frown as he read. “What now?”
“I’m not sure what ‘a mark is cloaked unseen’ means, but in the next line, ‘the traitor’s song eclipse the moon’ is curious.”
“Traitor? Well, that’s obvious. Someone is a traitor,” Sebastian offered.
Grayson hid her grin at the hopeful, near human tone in the stoic vampire’s voice.
Corky nodded; he then looked up and grinned. “And what is a traitor?”
The hair on the back of Grayson’s neck bristled, and she shivered uncontrollably. “A liar.”
“Yes. A liar,” Corky said.
“Liar’s moon,” Grayson said.
“What is liar’s moon?” Sebastian asked.
“Corky and a dear friend had a similar dream of my mother. In that dream, she said liar’s moon but did not elaborate on when or what it was.”
“In the almanac, and from what I can find so far in my book, they say a liar’s moon is a full moon and has a haze around it simulating deception of sorts. So they say,” Corky added.
“So someone is lying.” Sebastian walked over to the window and looked out into the night. “And the moon should be full in a matter of days.” She turned back into the room. “Am I correct in assuming something dreadful is about to happen?”
“Well.” Grayson let out a long sigh. “You know what they say about assuming, but in this instance, I’d say it’s a safe bet.”
“I still can’t get over the fact that this letter from Tatiana has something related to Grayson in it. How in the world could she possibly know?”
“She didn’t,” Sebastian said. “She told me this book was written long ago. More than two millennia.” She looked down at the ring on her finger. “In a vision, she told me never to take this ring off.”
Grayson stood next to her and held out her left hand. Sebastian looked at the three wedding rings on Grayson’s ring finger. “My mother said the same thing to me in a vision after she died.” Grayson looked at Corky. “What’s going on, Corky?”
“I wish I knew. But it would appear you two are more connected than you might know. This prophecy is the key. I’m sure of it. I’ll wager once I decipher it, it will tell us what you have in common and who our liar is.”
“And who could these liars be?” Sebastian asked.
“Well, there are only a couple of new people in our midst.” Corky looked at Grayson.
“Sister Gabriel.”
“Who is she?” Sebastian asked quickly.
“And Elinora,” Corky said.
“Who is she?” Sebastian asked with an edge to her voice.
Grayson was enjoying the helpless tone this vampire exhibited now. But she knew now was not the time to tell Sebastian this. “Well, let’s see. Sister Gabriel is the mysterious nun who’s been cloistered for over thirty years, locked away in a self-imposed prison for God, and now is the Mother Abbess of the very well-known St. Brigid’s Monastery.”
“Right after your mother is killed,” Sebastian said.
Grayson nodded.
“And who is Elinora?” Sebastian asked.
Grayson and Corky exchanged quick glances. “She’s not that easy to explain.” Grayson scratched the back of her neck.
“Give it a shot,” Sebastian said.
“Well, she appeared the other day. In a nutshell, she says Danu sent her to train me and get me familiar with my newfound immortal powers.”
“What’s so hard about that?” Sebastian asked. “I’ve been around for half a millennium. Seeing another immortal is not new.”
“One that has a penchant for chocolate ice cream?” Corky asked.
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “You have me there.”
“There is someone else who is new,” Grayson said.
“Who?” Corky asked.
Grayson looked at Sebastian, who bowed slightly.
“It would appear you have your hands full, Grayson,” Sebastian said. “And what happens when the moon is full?”
“I’m not sure,” Grayson said.
Corky looked out the window. “Whatever it is, it will happen soon. The moon is nearly full. I just know the prophecy has something to do with this.” He turned back into the room. “Someone is lying, and it has to do with both of you. The answer is in Tatiana’s letter.”
Grayson looked out at the moon. “What in the hell do we have in common?” She examined the three rings on her finger. When she looked up, Sebastian was toying with the ring Tatiana had given her.
Sebastian locked gazes with Grayson. “What indeed?”
Chapter 10
Grayson felt someone watching her as she sat behind the desk. She had no idea where Sebastian had gone off to the previous night; she only hoped Sebastian would stay out of trouble. That was all Grayson needed—something else to explain to Inspector Gaffney.
Suddenly, her left palm itched, her heart rate quickened, and she felt a buzzing in her ears. These were all indicators regarding her new abilities bestowed on her from the gods. She tried to get acquainted with them and understand them; it was a slow process. Looking up from the book, she saw Sister Gabriel standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Sister. Can I help you?” Grayson scratched her palm.
The nun walked into the room. Grayson saw the frown on her face when she looked at the book on Grayson’s desk. This was not the first time Grayson saw the disapproving look. She decided this time not to let it go.
“What’s on
your mind, Sister?” Grayson asked as Sister Gabriel sat down.
“What is your work here, Grayson? I don’t mean to pry, but being the Mother Abbess now, I feel a certain responsibility. Sister Michael has told me a little of what you’re doing.”
Grayson closed Corky’s book and sat back. “I don’t know how much she told you.”
“Enough to know your mother was killed and Sister Daniel has been transferred. There was also a conversation about that.” Sister Gabriel motioned to the leather-bound book in front of Grayson. “Though Sister was vague on what it contains, I heard the disapproving tone in her voice. I suppose I wonder what you’re doing and why. And I’m sure it’s something the church would not approve of.”
“We’re not doing anything to hurt the church, Sister.”
“I understand Sister Daniel was in league, for lack of a better word, with you and your mother. I’m truly sorry for your loss. I’m told your mother was a remarkable woman as was your grandmother, Deirdre Grayson.”
Grayson said nothing as the nun slowly rubbed her hands together as if to warm them. She looked out the window at the rainy morning before she spoke again. “Do you follow their beliefs?”
“Which beliefs?” Grayson studied her as she seemed to search for the right words. Grayson laughed. “Sister, you can say anything. I won’t be offended.”
“Sister Michael was brief when she explained what happened to your mother and Sister Daniel being transferred.”
Grayson remembered Sister Daniel had been very clever to leave the letter for Sister Michael telling her she had been transferred and could not say where. Grayson still had a hard time believing Sister Daniel was also Danu, the goddess of the Tuatha De Danann, the mythical race of Irish. Well, Grayson thought as she scratched her head, they’re not entirely mythical.
“Where do you think they sent Sister Daniel?” she asked.
Grayson shrugged. “I don’t know. You know the church. You go where they say with no questions.”
Sister Gabriel nodded. “It just seems odd.”
“Kinda like a cloistered nun being asked to be Mother Abbess of a well-known monastery.”
Their gazes locked for a moment; Grayson stared into her eyes, trying to gauge this nun and her intentions.
