The place was even more beautiful and more peaceful than she remembered. To their right, a small stream cascaded down over a rocky bed until it reached the slow-moving river far below. From where they sat, she could follow the river almost a quarter of a mile downstream before it curved out of sight. The gray, leafless trees and bare brown ground flecked with small pockets of white snow produced a scene of stark beauty. Only the relaxing sound of the gurgling stream as it tumbled down the rocky slope broke the stillness.
This place held memories both good and bad for each of them. It was where she told Rave about her bargain with Stefan, but it was also the place where Rave had held a snowball on his bare palm without it melting, showing her he was gaining more and more control over his heat. Leesa thought how strange it was that each incident had turned out completely opposite of what they expected. The sadness over her deadly bargain had turned to joy when Stefan had not turned her vampire, and the happiness of Rave’s control had turned to disappointment when the growing Destiratu caused him to lose control of his fire during their near fatal kiss.
She hoped no similar flipping of emotions was going to happen now, because if these days of bliss turned opposite, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how far down she could go.
They had been sitting there together for the better part of an hour, comfortably silent with each other for the most part, when the ground suddenly began to tremble and a row rumbling sound issued from far below the surface of the earth. Leesa grabbed onto Rave’s arm with both hands. The sensation reminded her of a trip she had taken to New York City with her brother and her dad when she was very young. They were standing on the sidewalk when a subway train roared by underneath them, making the sidewalk vibrate. She had thought it was an earthquake, until Bradley assured her it was only a train.
This was no train, though—not unless someone had built a subway beneath rural Connecticut when she wasn’t looking.
“The Noises,” Rave said calmly. “It’s nothing to worry about. They’ve been occurring here since long before I was born.”
Leesa remembered Cali and Stacie talking about the Moodus Noises, an unexplained phenomenon that had been happening in this area for centuries. The explanations for the Noises ranged from the practical—small earthquakes whose sound and vibration were magnified by the peculiar geology of the area—to the more fanciful: ancient Indian spirits stirring deep within the earth.
She loosened her grip on Rave’s arm. “Sorry,” she said. She hated showing any kind of weakness to Rave. “It startled me.”
Rave smiled and laid his hand over Leesa’s. “Never apologize for anything that makes you touch me.”
Leesa smiled back and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “You mean I don’t need an excuse to touch you?” she asked innocently.
Rave laughed. “No, my love, you don’t need an excuse.”
“I’m glad.”
She leaned close against him and rested her head on his shoulder. They sat that way in silence for a few minutes. The Noises did not repeat themselves. Leesa thought she could sit like this for hours, but it was past lunch time and she was getting hungry. She wished she had thought to bring some food with them—this was a perfect spot for a picnic.
“I hate to leave here,” she said finally. “But I need to get something to eat. Then I want to practice my magic.”
Rave stood up and scooped Leesa up into his arms.
“Let’s go, then,” he said.
The sting of leaving was lessened by the ten minute ride down the mountainside in Rave’s arms. When he finally put her down outside his front door, Leesa kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks for the lift,” she said.
They were barely inside the house when Leesa’s cell phone rang.
The noise startled her. She realized how used to the quiet she’d gotten—with no televisions, stereos, phones or cars, the volkaane village was the quietest place she had ever been. Her Bruno Mars “It Will Rain” ringtone sounded unnaturally loud in the silence. She was glad she hadn’t picked a more raucous song to be her generic ringtone.
She snatched the phone from where she had left it on the table. Just to be safe, she moved a couple of steps away from Rave to prevent his energy from zapping her phone. She switched it on and saw “unknown caller” on the screen. Holding the phone to her ear, she heard a familiar voice speak her name. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Dominic!” she said. “Where are you?”
“At a pay phone, outside Columbus, Ohio.”
Leesa was thrilled to hear his voice. “Are you safe?” she asked.
“I’m fine, for now. I don’t have much time, though. Are you in the volkaane town now?”
Dominic’s question surprised her. “Yes. I am. How did you know?”
“And is your magic coming more easily to you there?”
Once again, Leesa was surprised by his question.
“Why, yes, it is.”
“I imagine you are doing lots of practicing, then. Much more than usual, probably.”
Leesa was astonished. How could he know all this? Was it some wizard’s trick she didn’t know about—the ability to see across the miles? He’d told her he could only sense her magic from close by.
“I am,” she said. “It’s totally cool, how easily some of the stuff is coming to me. I’m still not having much luck with the air shield, but everything else is going great. How do you know all this?”
“A wizard dream,” Dominic said. “And a little bit of guesswork based on how well I know you.”
Leesa smiled. Of course he would guess she would practice more with her magic working so easily here. She sat down.
“You must stop using your magic there,” Dominic continued. “At once.”
Leesa wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. She popped back up to her feet and began to pace.
“Stop using my magic? Why? I don’t understand. I’m learning so much.”
“It’s too dangerous. There are fell powers deep within the earth there that you risk awakening. I believe they are at least part of the reason your magic is coming more easily to you.”
Leesa frowned, remembering the underground rumblings a short while ago. She wondered if Dominic had seen that in his dream.
“I thought my magic was coming more easily because there was so much magical volkaane energy here.”
“I think that might part of it, but not all of it,” Dominic replied. “It may also be the reason these ancient powers don’t sleep completely there. Destiratu may be playing a role as well.”
Leesa tried to make sense of what Dominic was telling her. “What will happen if these powers, whatever they are, fully awaken?”
“My dream did not show me that—only that the result could be deadly. We cannot risk it. There are enough unknowns at play already. You need to return home immediately.”
“Rave brought me here because the black waziri were prowling around campus,” Leesa told him. “They even sent some zombies into my dorm. Not to my floor, though,” she added, not wanting to worry him. “Rave and his friends took care of them without magic.”
Dominic was silent for a moment. “I think my renegade brethren were probably trying to provoke some reaction with the zombies, because I used my magic near your dorm. The danger is gone, though—for now, at least. I can sense that all three of them are closer to me than to you.”
Leesa was glad to hear that the black waziri were gone, but not that they were getting closer to Dominic.
“How close to you are they?” she asked worriedly.
“Not close enough to be an immediate threat, but one of them is near enough that I need to get moving. I’ve been zigzagging about this city all day on buses and in taxis, hoping to make our foes think there might be some reason I’m here, and that there was nothing really special about Connecticut.”
“Go, then,” Leesa said, sensing the urgency in Dominic’s voice. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll have Rave take me home as soon
as we hang up. Please be careful.”
“I will. Good-bye for now, Leesa. I don’t know when I’ll be able to check in on you again.”
“Good-bye,” Leesa said, but Dominic had already hung up. She turned to Rave. “You heard all that?”
Rave nodded. “Yes. I’ll take you home as soon as you gather up your things. Then I need to come back here and tell the Council of Elders what Dominic said. I’m not sure if there’s anything we can do about the powers he mentioned, but we need to discuss it, at least.”
Leesa didn’t like hearing that Rave would be leaving as soon as he got her back, but she understood why he had to return home.
“Okay,” she said as she began stuffing her clothes into her backpack. She was disappointed at having to leave—she’d planned to stay through the weekend before returning to school. At least Dominic had assured her that the black wizards were gone. That was certainly good news. She prayed that he would be able to continue to avoid them, and that the Moodus Noises, whatever they were, would go back to sleep.
15. STRANGE STIRRINGS
Deep in the bowels of the grotto that served as home to the three-score vampires of the Connecticut coven, the vampire Marcio paced back and forth, trying to ignore the unsettling pull that had been stealing over him for the past few days. The caverns, which had been cut beneath the hills just east of the Connecticut River by an ancient underground river that had long since vanished, consisted of four levels and dozens of chambers of varying sizes. For centuries, the vampires had been shaping the place to suit their needs.
Marcio had been a vampire for almost four hundred years. He had been transformed in his early twenties back in Italy, and for several centuries had been content to hunt the Italian countryside, with occasional forays into the neighboring countries to the north. He had come to America early in the twentieth century when a need for adventure caused him to take passage aboard the ill-fated Titanic. When the ship went down, he simply swam west until he reached land. He had roamed New England alone for a few decades before falling in with the coven just after World War Two, when America’s increased military might and widespread ownership of modern weapons created a greater need for the safety and security of a group and a place to hide.
Marcio was one of the more experienced and powerful members of the coven. Not one of the High Council, but not far below them in strength. As such, he should not be so troubled by this strange, unfamiliar urge, but he was. At first, he thought it was simply Destiratu fanning his blood thirst, so yesterday he had visited the human feeder he kept chained in the lowest levels of the cavern. To avoid drawing attention to their existence by constant killings, many of the coven’s vampires kept a human captive as a living blood bank. Others fed mainly on animal blood. Marcio had drunk his fill from his feeder, but her blood had done nothing to quiet the strange feeling creeping over him. The pull was akin to an urge to hunt, yet it was unlike any hunting urge he had ever felt. Even more troubling was that the pull kept getting stronger.
Finally, he decided to fight it no longer. He would give himself over to the feeling and see where it took him. To leave the caverns in these dangerous days required getting two more vampires to accompany him. Unsure exactly what to expect on his foray outside, he wanted companions who were powerful and who might be willing to bend some of the strictures the Council had put in place—or at least overlook it if he did so. He knew exactly who to approach.
Marcio spun on his heels and headed out into the passageway. He strode up one level and stopped outside the entrance to the chamber he wanted. As he hoped, Dara and Genevieve were inside.
Their chamber was furnished and decorated much more lavishly than any other in the caverns. A large four-poster bed covered by a black lace canopy dominated the space. There was also a scallop-backed couch upholstered in blood red leather against one wall. Behind the couch, thick velour curtains fashioned of matching red cloth covered the wall, giving the impression there was a window there rather than merely more rough stone. The plush, exotic décor suited the chamber’s two occupants perfectly.
Genevieve lay stretched out on her back on the couch, her feet resting in Dara’s lap. She looked totally relaxed while Dara gently scrubbed her feet with a pumice stone. Genevieve was wearing an ornate black silk robe embossed with gold trim. Her shiny black hair was pinned atop her head. Dara was dressed in a tight black dress that resembled a soft corset. Her long brown hair hung loose over her shoulders. Marcio had never known two vampires who were more comfortable with each other. Genevieve was the dominant and more powerful of the pair, but Dara was strong in her own right.
The two had been together even before they became vampires, working as a pair in an exclusive Parisian brothel. One night, a particularly seductive performance had caused a vampire client to lose control. He quickly drained them of their blood and turned them vampire. Not long after, Genevieve drove a wooden stake through his chest while Dara distracted him. They fled Europe before the vampire’s comrades could find them.
“Come in, Marcio,” Dara invited in a voice that had lost none of its coquettishness over the centuries. “What might we do for you?”
Marcio stepped into the chamber. The room smelled faintly of flower blossoms, but he didn’t see any flowers anywhere.
“I want—no, I need to go out,” he said. “Since it is forbidden to go alone, I’d like you two to accompany me.”
Genevieve studied him with her dark eyes. “Why do you need to go out? You have a feeder down below—is she no longer satisfying your needs?”
Marcio shook his head. “It is difficult to explain. I feel like something is pulling at me, but it’s not hunger. I partook of my feeder just yesterday. She was delicious, as always. But feasting on her blood did nothing to lessen the pull. I’m tired of resisting it.”
Genevieve lowered her feet from Dara’s lap and sat upright on the couch.
“Fair enough.” She turned to Dara. “What do you think, sweetheart? Are you up for a little adventure?”
Dara smiled. “Always.” She stood up and crossed to Marcio, linking both her arms around one of his. “Marcio is a very powerful man,” she cooed. “It will be good to have him beholden to us.”
Marcio smiled. Of all the vampires in the coven, these were the two he least minded owing a favor.
“I will meet you an hour after sunset,” he said.
The three vampires glided through the trees, heading south and east from their caverns, dark shadows among the shadows. Marcio was in the lead, guided by the strange force that grew stronger with every mile he covered. Dara and Genevieve followed close behind him, racing side by side, content to go where Marcio led them.
Despite their speed, the vampires moved cautiously, making no sound in the darkness. No human eye could spy them when they moved like this, but there were enemies with far keener eyes than humans to be avoided. Volkaanes might also be hunting this night, and though the vampires did not fear their ancient foes, they respected the danger the vampire slayers presented. Equally important, they had no idea what they might find at the end of the invisible trail Marcio followed.
Finally, Marcio motioned them to a halt. They were still deep within the woods, far from any human settlement.
“We are close,” he whispered.
Three sets of vampire senses probed the blackness. Dara and Genevieve detected nothing; Marcio felt only the same strange magnetic pull, magnified many times now.
They crept forward, doubly alert now. They had not gone far when Genevieve grabbed Marcio’s arm.
“I sense a life force,” she said softly. “Human, but not quite. It’s very faint, yet somehow, it still feels close. I do not understand it.”
“I know. I feel it, too. It is the source of the pull. It’s just ahead.” Marcio pointed to a shape on the ground. “There.”
He moved cautiously toward the dark, prostrate form. It was a woman lying motionless on her back. Her eyes were closed. Marcio thought she was lovely.
The woman was Kristi Brolen.
Genevieve and Dara watched from behind as Marcio knelt over her.
“She is caught between death and undeath,” he told them. “Only one of our kind could have done this. But why do such a thing?”
“It was probably done unintentionally, by someone hungry and inexperienced,” Genevieve suggested, “and who took her further than was meant.”
Marcio brushed Kristi’s soft brown hair away from her neck. The twin punctures confirmed what he already knew. At his touch, her eyelids fluttered open. Her blue eyes pierced him to the core. The pull that had drawn him here was nothing compared to what he felt now.
“Can you move?” he asked. “Can you speak?”
Her only response was to blink twice.
Marcio twisted his head around toward Dara and Genevieve. “I’m going to complete her transformation,” he said. “If I am not too late.”
“Are you certain?” Genevieve asked. “It is forbidden to do so right now.”
Marcio shrugged. “I don’t think I have a choice. I feel as if we are somehow already linked.” He smiled. “This is why I chose you two to accompany me. I know you won’t try to stop me, as some of the others might.”
Genevieve smiled back. “No, we will not stop you.”
“What will you do once you have turned her?” Dara asked. “You will not be allowed to bring her into the caverns.”
“Perhaps,” Marcio agreed. “But perhaps the Council will make an exception. Especially if you two support me. We recently lost one of our number. She could be his replacement.”
Genevieve took Dara’s hand. “We more than most know what it’s like to feel linked to someone. And so we will support your attempt.”
“Thank you.”
Marcio turned back to Kristi. Her eyes were fastened on his.
“Could you hear that?” he asked. “Do you understand what I mean to do?”
Fearless (The Blue Fire Saga) Page 9
