Totem of Aries

by D. N. Leo

  “Thomas Flanagan,” Ziva said.

  Madeline froze for a second when she heard the last name, but she quickly regained control over her expression. I needn't worry. There must be thousands of people with that surname, she thought. But how many people in Eudaiz?

  Only one!

  One human with that surname came to Eudaiz long time ago. He was the worst enemy she and Ciaran had ever dealt with. He nearly killed Ciaran on more than a few occasions. Of course, Ciaran didn’t know the person at this point in time, so he had no reaction.

  “Madeline!” Ciaran called out.

  “Huh?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Sure. Yes. I mean, I'm starving. Can we do this later?”

  “Of course—you should go get something to eat. I'll take care of this with Alex and Blaise,” Ciaran said.

  “Hmm, no, I'm fine. Let’s get this over and done with.” She grabbed a handful of cards and sat down on the sofa. As she scrolled through the cards, Ziva sat next to her and read the names. Ciaran moved back and forth between Alex and Blaise as they scrolled through.

  Madeline had almost finished with her cards and had found no trace of the name Thomas Flanagan, but then she saw a name she didn’t want to see—Juliette Dubois, Ciaran’s vicious, sadistic ex-wife. She was on the list under her maiden name, which meant she had been marked before she married Ciaran.

  Had Juliette known she was going to die?

  Would that change the fact that Ciaran had wanted to save her?

  “Madeline?” Ziva called.

  “Huh?”

  “Is that the end of the list?”

  “Yes. I mean, no.”

  “What is it, Madeline?” Ciaran asked from the corner of the room.

  Damn twisted fate played tricks on her on all the time. Her mind reading ability worked on everyone but Ciaran, but was he now reading her mind?

  He stood and walked over.

  Madeline stood, holding onto the card, but then she released it and the text scrolled back to the initial list of names. Juliette’s name was no longer visible to Ciaran. She gave him the card. “Nothing,” she said nonchalantly. “There was no Thomas Flanagan on this card. I’m done here.”

  Ciaran looked at the card.

  “I’m going to grab some food,” she said and strode out of the room. She was sure Ciaran would ask Ziva what she had seen. She needed to buy some time and think about how to deal with this. Whenever she was in a twisted situation like this, she confided in Ciaran. He was the clear-headed one in this relationship.

  But because the conflict had something to do with him, she didn’t know who to talk to.

  Chapter 44

  Ciaran walked through the snowfield along the stone fence leading to the village. He knew he needn’t worry about the field the way Alex and Blaise did. But all the same, he didn’t like being alone here. It made him an easy target for attack.

  Ziva told him Madeline had left after she saw the name Juliette Dubois on the card. He needed to find Madeline and let her know that he wouldn’t do anything about that, that she didn’t need to worry.

  He jiggled the card in this pocket. He knew Madeline was smart enough to know that him not doing anything about the card also meant he wouldn’t let it be claimed. But keeping the card safe, in a way, meant keeping Juliette safe from death. And by doing so, he had already interfered with the natural order of things.

  She knew they had played with fate the moment she went on this mission.

  Dusk was strange in this stretch of the mountain. It wasn’t completely dark, but it was hard to pinpoint the source and the direction of the light. His biological clock told him it was nighttime, but the light on the mountain didn't reflect that.

  A shadow came at him fast. He reached for his gun, but it was too late. His world went completely black.

  He came to slowly, an excruciating pain pounding in his head. A stunning dark-haired woman sat looking at him. He guessed she was supernatural and might even be a vampire, but he had no way of telling. He tried to sit up, and a sharp pain stabbed through his ribs.

  "I'm sorry I was rough. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard. But I believe you can heal yourself easily, right?" She spoke with a throaty voice that sounded almost like a big cat’s purr. She smiled at him.

  Although dealing with the physical pain, his mind was crystal clear. He could see his weapons stacked neatly on a coffee table at the far end of the small room. He would normally guess he was in some kind of hotel room, but given his current location, it might be an inn or a rental cottage in the village. He had no doubt the woman had found his ID and had looked him up.

  Not that he was worried. The LeBlancs only showed the public the information they wanted them to see.

  “I’d like to have a doctor check me out. We have a family doctor. Would you mind giving me back my phone?”

  Her expression changed. "Cut the crap. I know who you are." The soothing voice was gone.

  “So you know I need medical assistance. Being in the pharmaceutical business doesn’t make us invincible, and certainly not vampire-proof!”

  “If I were a vampire, I’d kill you now, and then there would be no need for a doctor.”

  “If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it already. I’ve changed my mind—you’re not a vampire. At least not a hundred percent.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I have vampire friends. I’m sure you’ve found that out. The majority of them don’t kill for sport.”

  The woman smiled. “That’s a fair call. You can call me Doris."

  “What do you want from me?"

  “What are you here for, Ciaran LeBlanc? I know you’re a very big deal in the human world. But what does this humble stretch of the mountains have to offer you?”

  "I’m a collector. I like golden cards with names on them—"

  Fast and fierce as a storm, Doris grabbed Ciaran and flung him across the floor. He crashed into some furniture and a number of other objects that weren’t too friendly to his human body. He thought he heard his bones rattle.

  She darted over and picked him up from the floor. "Why are you collecting the cards?

  “I’m not interested in the Aries key, if that’s what you’re worried about. But I have vampire friends who could use the scores."

  Doris chuckled. "Those two with you? They're useless."

  Ciaran smiled. "Maybe. But between the two of them, the scores they add up will take away your chance to see the Aries key."

  "Don't you dare blackmail me." She charged at him again.

  "Don’t you want to know where I store my cards? Dead men can't talk." His words stopped Doris in her tracks.

  “I’m listening.”

  He was on to something, and he knew it. If this person was the soul trader they were after, then it was ideal. If not, she might be able to lead him to the right one. He’d need to trick her into giving him the information. “You know our headquarters are in the UK. I store the cards and all related items in England.”

  “So whoever traded the cards with you isn’t interested in the Aries key. Otherwise, they wouldn’t trade so far from here.”

  Ciaran sat up and winced with the pain. Doris seemed to be confident he couldn't escape in his current condition and hadn’t bothered tying him up. And she might be right in that assumption, he thought.

  Ciaran wanted to shake his head no, but it was too painful, so he just said, “In fact, it's the opposite. The dealer wanted all the cards I have. The deal was quite good, but I wanted to see what she was going to do here before I agreed to it.”

  Doris frowned. “So she told you about the Aries key?”

  Ciaran chuckled. “Of course not. But I have my sources. Now that I’ve seen the mountain and know what’s going to happen here, I have to admit that I still like what she offered me. I’m going accept her deal.”

  “I’ll double what she offered you. I want all of your cards. How many do you have?”

 
“I have my own code of conduct, Doris. I’ve made a promise. I won’t cancel a deal just because you gave me a better offer. Plus, she’s a powerful soul trader. Whatever you’ve got to offer won’t be worth her wrath.”

  “How can you be so sure she’s a powerful soul trader? Did she show her power to you?”

  “In a way, yes. She killed someone in front of me and then said she’s going to mark my soul and send it to oblivion for eternity if I don’t give her the cards.”

  Doris smiled. “I didn’t know you were so naive. A businessman of your caliber should be able to tell that’s blackmail, not a deal.”

  “What it’s called isn’t important. I’m here to validate her claim. Based on what I can see here, the soul trading business is real. If those cards can save my soul, she can have them.”

  “Soul trading doesn’t work that way, Ciaran. She can physically kill you, but killing for no reason will count against her record. She can’t mark your soul for ransom. She needs to offer you something of value, and you must agree to be marked in exchange for that.”

  “And I should just take your word and go against the most powerful soul trader in England?”

  “She’s a liar,” Doris growled.

  “Doris, I don’t care who’s lying. Those cards mean nothing to me, and it makes no difference to me if you have them or she does. I’ll bet you want to kill me now if I don’t promise you the cards. But that still sounds better than having my soul marked and locked up somewhere.”

  “She can’t do that to you. She doesn’t have that kind of power. I know that because I am the strongest, and I’m the only soul trader in the Western territory. What she told you suggests that she isn’t a real soul trader. Now, I assume you know the names on the cards you’ve collected are those whose souls have been marked, and the records cannot be erased, right?”

  “Yes, I know.”

  Doris smiled. “Here is proof that I am the most powerful and the only soul trader in the Western territory.” She pulled out the card he had gotten from Ziva with Juliette’s name on it. “Name one person on this card, and I will erase the mark from the card right now.”

  Madeline had asked him not to save Juliette when he saw an opportunity. He hadn’t made a promise to her. Now the opportunity had presented itself to him, and all he had to do was to say her name.

  Chapter 45

  Ziva jumped down from the roof of the small inn into the back courtyard, dove through the window, and threw her silver dagger at Doris, a high-caliber vampire soul trader she had planned to kill for a long time. Doris was forcing blood from her wrist into Ciaran’s mouth, and she might have gotten some in.

  Doris was prepared to fight Ziva, but Ziva knew she wouldn’t expect her to throw the knife, the only weapon she had at the moment. The dagger slashed across her arm. Ziva could see the flesh sizzling. Doris let go of Ciaran, pushing him to the floor.

  As Doris attempted to regain her footing, Ziva charged at her. She didn’t know how to kill a soul trader, but the silver dagger had hurt the vampire part of her, so she had to keep up the momentum of her attack.

  She glanced behind her quickly and saw that Ciaran had scrambled up from the floor. He braced his hands against the wall and closed his eyes. Ziva knew he was trying to calm the effects of the poisonous blood the soul trader had given him. The vampire blood helped to heal his injuries, but the side effect of ingesting it was that Ciaran felt some affection toward Doris and an inclination to save her from Ziva’s attack. Ziva’s impression of Ciaran was that he had a strong spirit that wouldn’t be easily be manipulated by the vampire blood.

  Taking advantage of Ziva’s momentary distraction, Doris stormed out the door. Ziva ran after the soul trader, who was heading toward the dark corner of the forest outside the village. Ciaran ran right next to her.

  “If you feel a need to save the soul trader, that’s just a side effect of the blood it fed you, Ciaran.”

  “I know.” Ciaran pulled her back at the elbow. “Wait here,” he said and charged forward.

  In front of Ziva’s astonished eyes, a giant steel blade appeared out of nowhere, coming down from above, spinning like a tornado toward Doris. Doris heard the sound and jumped aside. The blade hit the ground behind her, creating a running crack that split the ground and separated them from Doris. The blade vanished after a small explosion. If it had hit Doris, Ziva didn’t think the soul trader would have survived.

  Ciaran’s knees buckled, and blood trickled from his nose.

  “That blade came from you?” Ziva asked.

  He stood up. “I need to kill that soul trader …” He took a few steps forward but slumped to the ground again. Ziva could see he had wanted to send another blast but didn’t have the energy to do so.

  Doris gazed in Ciaran’s direction. “Ciaran LeBlanc,” she called out, “I’ll come back for you!” Then she turned and ran into the dark forest.

  Ciaran stood up again to move toward the crack on the mountain he had just created.

  “Let her go, Ciaran. You obviously don’t have another blast in you.”

  He stood still for a while then nodded. “It will come back for me now that it sees what I can do.”

  “I thought you were human, Ciaran.”

  “I am. That mind blade is an ability I’ve had since I was little. I don’t know why. How did you know where to find me?”

  “After you left, we split up. Alex went after Madeline, and I looked for you and found traces of an attack in the field. I suspected that it was Doris’s work. I know how she operates, but I’ve never attacked her before. She’s a high-caliber soul trader. Maybe in the top ranks. I didn’t think I had enough to kill her.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now let me get you back to the house. Can you walk?”

  “Yes …”

  They heard clapping, and then Blaise walked out of the darkness. “That was very impressive, Ciaran.”

  “You saw the whole thing and didn’t help?” Ziva asked.

  “I don’t think he’d help, even now. What do you want, Blaise?”

  “I don’t want a conflict with you, Ciaran. I want Ziva’s cards. We looked at the cards, and your son’s name isn’t on them. So why keep them unless you intend to use them for the Aries key?” Blaise reached out his hand, gesturing toward the small of Ziva’s back where she kept the cards.

  “I don’t care about the Aries key. But I will not let the cards fall into the wrong hands.”

  “Don’t make me take them from you. I’d kill for those cards, and you know that, Ziva. You have no reason to keep them.”

  Ziva withdrew. “No, you can’t have them.”

  Ciaran stopped Blaise. “She said no. I think you should stop.”

  “You don’t have another blast in you, Ciaran. Do you really want to go up against me?”

  Ziva turned and ran. She wished she had her silver dagger, which still lay on the floor of the little inn. She felt a cold blast of wind from behind her and then a strong gust that threw her off her feet.

  She didn’t think there was a bone in her body that wasn’t broken. She had never felt death so close. She thought of her son and the man who had given her the child she couldn’t protect.

  Blaise charged over and tore the bag from her shoulders.

  And then she saw her silver dagger pierce Blaise’s neck. Blaise turned around to see Ciaran standing behind him. Ciaran had managed to pick up the dagger before chasing after Doris. But he didn’t look as if he could manage much right now. If Ciaran had stabbed Blaise in the head, it would have had an immediate effect. But it went through Blaise’s neck instead.

  “You’ll regret killing a vampire for her, Ciaran. She isn’t all that innocent.” Blaise charged at Ciaran with his lethal vampire speed and threw Ciaran several feet away. Ciaran rolled on the ground then lay motionless on the snow. Blaise stood still for a moment and then slumped to the ground and died.

  Ziva crawled toward Ciaran, but she was too weak
to get to him. She fell onto the snow and lay still, waiting to die.

  From the corner of her eyes, she saw a flash of light. In the light, the father of her son stood smiling at her. It might be only a dream. She blinked and then opened her eyes again. He was still there, like a dark angel, looking down at her.

  “Hoyt, you came for me.”

  “Of course I came for you. You’re the mother of my son. I can see you’re injured. I can take you with me now and take care of your injuries.”

  “If I go with you, I can never return to our son?”

  “You can, but not as the same person. And that’s if you survive the transition into the multiverse. But your injuries are serious. If you stay, you will die, and there will be no one to take care of our son anyway.”

  “Yes, please take me.”

  Hoyt Flanagan approached her. She could feel the warm light around him brush across her skin. “No one can see me here.” he said. “Who is that man over there? Let me finish him.”

  “No, please. He just killed a vampire to save me.”

  “No ordinary man can kill a vampire.”

  “Please don’t kill him. For the sake of our son, can you please spare his life?”

  “All right.” Hoyt lifted her into his arms. “As long as he isn’t one of the LeBlancs, I don’t care.”

  She heard Hoyt mumbling, and then she closed her eyes and let herself drift into a deep sleep. Hoyt didn’t need to know it was Ciaran. Whatever was between them, what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

  Chapter 46

  Madeline examined the crack on the mountain that Ciaran’s mind blade had caused. A short distance away was a little market where people gathered to trade produce and things they hunted and gathered from the forest. Some of the people came over to look at the mini canyon, speculating that there must have been a small earthquake during the night that caused it.

  Last night, she and Alex had found the black puddle that used to be Blaise, which led her to find Ciaran lying on the ground a short distance away, with the bag full of cards next to him. There were signs of a fight. Alex wasn’t too upset about Blaise. He knew the way Blaise operated and said Blaise had it coming. Madeline swore the crack had looked much smaller the night before. The village people might be right. There may have been an earthquake sometime during the night that had widened the gap.