Submerging Inferno

by Brandon Witt

  He flipped the phone shut and looked at me.

  “What? What happened?”

  “Rodrigo’s dead.”

  Chapter 24

  “REALLY?” More death.

  “I know. I can’t believe it.” He shoved his hand under the sheets and retrieved his underwear from somewhere near the foot of the bed.

  “Finn?”

  “Yeah?” He started to lift his leg to slip into his shorts.

  I leaned over and snatched them from him. “Who’s Rodrigo?”

  A confused look passed over his face but cleared almost instantly. “Oh, sorry. Of course, you don’t know Rodrigo yet.” He faltered momentarily. “Didn’t know, I guess. Rodrigo is this adorable gay boy who was a waiter at Taberna de las Brujas. He started as a busboy when he was twelve or thirteen. His family is pretty much crap, so we kinda took him under our wings. He kinda became like part of our family.”

  How much more death? This had to stop. “Oh, I’m sorry, Finn. What happened?”

  “The vampire.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, he was killed by the vampire. Mom didn’t give me any more details. She just said to hurry to their house. They are calling the whole family together right now. They don’t think it’s safe to be on our own. They called me first. She was getting ready to call Caitlin.”

  It would be too much to hope that he’d died in a car wreck or some other inane accident. Of course it was the vampire. What else would it be? I slid out from under the covers, pulled myself over to Finn’s side, and stood up. “I’m sorry, Finn.” I slid my hand over the length of his arm. “Will you be okay?”

  “Yeah. I will. We all cared about the kid and will grieve, I am sure, but I wasn’t anywhere nearly as close to him as you were to Sonia. It’s not like that. Right now, though, we can’t really stop to think about it. We need to get to Mom and Dad’s. If the vamp is coming, we don’t want to be caught on our own.”

  “Finn….” I moved my hands down his waist, and I pulled him to me until our abdomens were touching and our faces were inches apart. “Are we….” My voice trailed off, suddenly feeling self-conscious and stupid, unsure of why I was needing assurance of Finn and my standing.

  Finn didn’t need me to finish. He put his hand against my cheek. “Yes.” He slipped his hand behind my head and pulled me down to meet his lips.

  We stood there, arms wrapped around each other, our naked bodies forming one, confirming our decision without words.

  At last, Finn pulled away. “We’ve gotta go, before we fall back into bed and end up getting killed or getting someone else killed. We’ll have plenty of time for this later.” His warm brown eyes probed mine. “I promise.”

  PURE pandemonium greeted us as we stepped through the doors to Paulette and Wendell’s house. Caitlin and Paulette were yelling. I couldn’t tell whether they were arguing or just talking absurdly loud. Cynthia was curled into a ball on the sofa in the sunken living room, sobbing, her body shaking all over. I couldn’t see Wendell.

  As Finn closed the door, something ran into my legs, nearly taking me out at the knees. I looked down to see a small black-haired boy in yellow pajamas, lying on the floor, the impact with my legs apparently having knocked him down. His red-rimmed eyes filled with tears, and he began to wail at the top of his lungs.

  “Saul, buddy, what’s wrong?” Finn bent down and swooped the little boy into his arms and brought him up to eye level.

  The boy looked into Finn’s face, trying to clear his blurry eyes to see who had a hold of him. “Uncle Finn! Don’t let him get me. Don’t let him get me!” With another great wail, the child flung his arms around Finn and buried his face into Finn’s neck, sobs wracking his tiny body.

  Finn gave him a squeeze and began rubbing his back, flashing me a sad face. “Don’t let who get you, buddy?”

  Saul just cried all the louder.

  “Finn! Brett! I’m so glad you are here, finally! What took you so long?” I looked over to see a beautiful woman with thick, long black hair cascading over her shoulders. She rushed at us, dragging another boy roughly by his arm.

  I felt a quick rush of affection as I saw her. “Christina! It’s good to see you. It’s been too long.”

  “Yes, Cariño, it’s been too long.” Christina rose on her tiptoes and pulled me into a swift, tight hug. I felt her breath tickle my ear. “Told you you’d like my brother, didn’t I?” She pulled away and gave me a sly wink with a heavily lashed eye that was the exact same shade of brown as Finn’s. Her gaze quickly traveled back and forth, taking in the stubble burns covering our mouths.

  Before I could blush, she turned her attention to her brother and pecked him on the cheek. “You wanna know why Saul is in hysterics?”

  Without waiting for a response, she jerked the boy behind her and positioned him between herself and Finn. “We weren’t going to tell the boys what was going on. Too scary. But this one”—she made a dismissive gesture toward the older boy—“overheard me on the phone to Grandma. Why he was up, I don’t know.” She glared an accusatory glance at the boy before returning quickly to Finn. “And he went and woke up his brother, telling him that there was a vampire coming to suck all his blood. And just now, I caught him chasing Saul around the bedroom using his fingers as fangs!” She ended her tirade with a string of Spanish that I didn’t understand.

  Finn slid the still-sobbing Saul to his mother. I could see a small twinge at the corner of Finn’s mouth, an effort not to grin. Christina noticed it as well. After a warning glare, Finn quickly readjusted his features. He reached out his hand to the older boy. “Come on, Peter. Let’s go chat.”

  “And you just wait until your dad gets here!” Christina bellowed after them. Saul had started to soothe himself in his mother’s arms as she turned back to me. Her eyebrow raised in a very familiar fashion. “So, half-demon, huh?”

  This time, I did flush. “Yeah, so they tell me.”

  She just smiled. “I always knew you were a special one.”

  “I’m really sorry that I got your family involved in all this mess.” I faltered for words momentarily. “If I’d have known….”

  “Nonsense. Demon or not, there is no way you could have known that you’d somehow get a vampire set on your trail.” She shifted Saul from one side to the other. “And I’ve already spoken to Caitlin.” She paused, searching for words. “Ricky and I don’t feel the same as her. We’ve known you a long time. If you were a dangerous, bloodthirsty demon, you’d have killed a lot more of our clientele and ordered a lot fewer tortillas.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks, Christina.” It surprised me how much her voiced support mattered to me. “Where is Ricky?”

  “He’s finishing up at the restaurant. Things with Rodrigo have to be… handled—”

  “Brett!” Paulette swooped over, cutting Christina off. “I didn’t even see you!” She gave me a warm, motherly hug. “I’m so sorry about Sonia, dear.”

  Unbidden, I felt my eyes begin to sting. Thankfully, Paulette had already turned to Christina. “Lord help me, I’m going to murder your sister any moment. She’s wanting to call the Cathedral. Again!”

  “What!” Christina’s voice rose sharply, causing Saul to begin crying once more.

  “She thinks they will help us get rid of this troublesome vampire.” Paulette rolled her eyes.

  “Sure they would, and us right along with him!”

  Paulette nodded emphatically. “You know Caitlin.” She pulled Christina and Saul off toward Caitlin, who was fuming across the room. I looked around, suddenly alone and unsure what I was supposed to do. I glanced at the sobbing Cynthia on the couch and considered trying to comfort her. It only took a second for me to picture how that would go—her looking up into the eyes of the evil demon and going into hysterics. Finn had told me she’d stayed with me for a bit when he’d left. But still….

  Instead, I stood by the door and listened to the women arguing over calling the Vampire Cathedral,
while trying not to look like I was eavesdropping. It seemed like Caitlin’s first response to every crisis was to call in the Royals. Maybe her true intentions were to get rid of me just as much as to get rid of the vampire.

  After what seemed like hours, Finn came back into the room. “Peter’s asleep now,” he told his sister. He noticed me still standing by the door and came over to me. “What are you doing? You don’t have to stay in the doorway. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, of course. Just not sure what I’m supposed to do.”

  “You’re not supposed to have to do anything. This is family. Don’t worry, even Caitlin will get used to you. It will all be fine. You’ll see.”

  Somehow I doubted that.

  “Come on.” He grabbed my hand. “Help me get our bags out of the back of the truck. We’ll put them in my old room.” Before we left his house, Finn had thrown some of the things he’d salvaged from my home into a backpack.

  As the door closed behind us, he gave me a quick kiss on the lips and then led me to the truck. The cool morning air felt refreshing on my skin, which seemed hot and dry. It struck me again that this truly was the longest I had ever been without being in the ocean. Just the thought made my skin feel itchy and uncomfortable.

  Finn motioned to the east. “Looks like the sunrise is going to be pretty today.”

  I glanced over. The very edge of the horizon had a golden streak. “Well, I guess things will be safer in a few minutes, huh?”

  “Yeah, guess so. That is one blessing. At least he’s not a Royal. We’d never have any peace.”

  As we pulled out our bags, a small red minivan pulled into the driveway directly behind Finn’s truck, jerking as it was slammed into park.

  For a moment, my heart sped up. Did vampires drive? I glanced over at Finn.

  “It’s just Ricardo.” He gave a little chuckle. “Although it would be kinda fun to see a vampire in a minivan.”

  “Well, you never know,” I grumbled. “Ricky’s a warlock in a minivan. What’s the difference?”

  Finn opened his mouth to retort.

  “Hi, boys.” Ricky got out of the van. He looked years older than the last time I had seen him. He had huge dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders were slumped and defeated.

  Finn slapped his arm over Ricky’s shoulders. “Everything done?”

  “Yeah.” He let out an exhausted sigh. “Detective Ash came down and took care of Rodrigo. His good-for-nothing family showed up right when Ash had just about finished cleaning up the blood. They were ranting and raving about suing.”

  Finn snorted. “Who are they going to call? I don’t know many lawyers, human or otherwise, that would be willing to sue the Royals.”

  “Nah, they mean me. They said they told Rodrigo that our family was nothing but trouble and that he should never work for us.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Not one tear. Not one! Not even from that worthless mother of his!”

  “I know, Ricky. I know. We’ll mourn for Rodrigo. He won’t be forgotten.” Finn gave Ricky another squeeze and then dropped his arm. “Go on in. Everybody’s waiting.”

  As we followed Ricky inside, I leaned over to Finn and bent down toward his ear. “Could Ricky and Christina lose the restaurant if they sue?”

  Finn shook his head. “Nah. Who are they going to sue for vampire attacks? The Royals? Rodrigo’s family is trash, and they hardly have any power anyway. They’ll just rant and threaten. As soon as they realize we won’t give them anything, they’ll leave. Probably won’t even stay for the service, if I know them.”

  We dropped our bags inside the door. Ricky had already joined Christina on the sofa, Saul asleep in her lap. Cynthia seemed to have gotten herself under control, as she was now sitting up and blowing her nose daintily. Caitlin, of course, was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. As Paulette waved us over to sit on the steps leading down into the sunken living room, Wendell rounded the corner with a huge tray filled with a large bowl, a plate of tortillas, and several small bowls and spoons.

  Finn leaned close to me as I sat down next to him on the steps. “Any time there’s family drama and Dad has more than a ten-minute warning, he always makes green chili and tortillas. I bet he’s been in the kitchen since Christina called Mom.”

  Within a few minutes, everyone, even Cynthia, had a large bowl of steaming green chili. Between the warmth of holding the bowl and the simple act of scooping up the green chili with the tortillas, things seemed calmer, more manageable.

  After everyone had enough time to consume a good portion of their food, Paulette broke the silence. “Ricky, I waited to share the few details I know. I didn’t see the sense in telling it over and over again. Now that we’re all here, would you mind?”

  Ricky swallowed the bite of food he was chewing and nodded. “Sure.” Christina gave his knee a squeeze as he took a deep breath before he began. “We had just finished cleaning up around two thirty or two forty-five or so. Almost everyone had left. It was only me and Charley.” He glanced at me. “Charley manages the place when Christina or I can’t be there. Anyway, I started thinking, I don’t even know why, and I realized that I hadn’t seen Rodrigo for hours.” He paused and shook his head. “Maybe if I had realized earlier, I could have found him in time.”

  Christina returned her hand to his leg, and Wendell leaned forward, his voice steady but tired. “None of that, Ricardo. This is no one’s fault, least of all yours. The only thing that would have happened if you had realized earlier is that Peter and Saul would have lost their daddy tonight.”

  “Oh, Dad,” Cynthia whispered. “Don’t talk like that.”

  “Well, it’s true, dear. It’s a blessing that Ricky didn’t go looking for Rodrigo any earlier.” Wendell motioned for Ricky to continue.

  “Well, Charley and I went out to find him. Calling his name, looking everywhere around the restaurant. At that point, I wasn’t even considering the vampire. I don’t know what I was thinking. After we searched everywhere, and I found his car a few blocks away, I realized what had happened. I told Charley to go home, that I was sure Rodrigo would show up.” He looked up at me again. “Charley’s human. He doesn’t know about us.” He started to take another scoop of green chili but then seemed to think better of it and let it fall back into the bowl. “After Charley left, I said a sense spell to find him, but couldn’t. I knew what I’d find then.”

  I wondered since he had spoken the spell if he had the same level of power as his in-laws. I set the thought aside with the intention of asking Finn later.

  “Sure enough, after what seemed like forever, I found him. He was over half a mile away, in another damned alley. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He shuddered and looked down at Saul to confirm he was still sleeping. “I doubt the fucking vampire even drank from Rodrigo. There was blood everywhere. It was like the walls and concrete had been painted with it. Rodrigo’s face and torso was nothing but cut upon cut, some shallow, others deep enough to show the bone. The rest of him was scattered everywhere.”

  Cynthia’s face jerked toward her brother-in-law. “The rest of him?” Her voice sounded like it would break.

  “Holy fuck!” Caitlin murmured, earning her a glare from Paulette.

  “Yeah. He was torn into probably eleven or twelve pieces. It was like he’d been….” His voice trailed off.

  Paulette, for once, sounded as shaken as Cynthia. “In pieces,” she repeated as she let out a slow breath and gazed at her husband. “I’ve never heard of a vampire doing that. Torturing, sure, but never in a way that would waste much blood. What kind of vampire are we dealing with?”

  The family continued to discuss details of Rodrigo’s death and their different theories about the vampire. Finn filled them in about Sonia’s parents and not being able to find Derek. I was grateful that he handled it. The last thing I wanted was to break down in front of the entire de Morisco family.

  Gradually, it was all I could do to keep my eyes ope
n. I wanted to hear all that was said. In a twisted sort of way, I couldn’t help but be fascinated. It seemed like I was constantly being reminded that I was living in a different world and that I needed to catch on quickly if I had any chance of surviving long enough to be a part of it. Still, all the stress and loss of the past several days was taking its toll. On top of everything else, this much exhaustion was a new experience for me as well. I’d never before felt like I couldn’t handle something. Even when I had to leave my grandparents’ home, I was sad and lonely, but it had never affected me like this.

  Sensing that I was fading, Finn reached out and put his arm around me, and since I was one step lower, my head rested easily on his shoulder. I drifted in and out as the family made plans for the foreseeable future.

  It was decided that people could go about their days in a normal fashion, using Wendell and Paulette’s home as base. Everyone had to be back at least an hour before sundown and would sleep in their childhood rooms—Peter and Saul in sleeping bags in Christina’s old room with their parents. They agreed to use protection spells around the house and to have the men take two-hour shifts throughout the night while everyone else slept.

  It was Caitlin’s raised voice that finally brought me back to full attention. I turned to see her pointing at me accusingly. “And what about him?” Disgust distorted her lips as she addressed her parents. “Are you really going to allow this to happen in your home?”

  “Caitlin….” If Caitlin’s voice hadn’t already woken me, Finn’s warning growl would have.

  Wendell held out a hand, signaling Finn to calm down. “Caitlin, watch how you say it, but say what you’re thinking, because it will be the last time it will be discussed.”

  “A lot of good that does, Dad! It’s obvious that you’ve already made up your mind to be suckered in by the demon. You’re seriously going to let it stay here? Under the same roof with your grandchildren?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Ricky and Christina flinch and begin to speak, but they were also silenced by Wendell. Caitlin continued her rant. “You’re fine with it sleeping in the same bed with your son? You’re fine with your son fucking it under your roof? Do you really—”