Promise Me

by Tara Fox Hall

  “That’s not true. Danial doesn’t kill arbitrarily.”

  “You know this for a fact?”

  “Yes, I’d—” Stake my life on it. “—say it’s a fact.”

  “The information I have came from a good source.”

  Ah, now we were getting somewhere. “Who?”

  “Keriam’s wife, Alexa.”

  “Would she have any reason to lie?”

  “About her husband’s killer? They were in love. He doted on her,” Terian said fiercely.

  The feeling of danger that had subsided during dinner returned like tendrils of bitter cold moving through the room. I shivered, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I switched tactics. “What did she say happened?”

  He ran his hands over his face and back down the sides, as if to wipe away the despair I heard in his voice. “She said they came home from dinner out one night and Danial was waiting for them outside their door. He said he had to speak to Keriam alone. They talked in the den. She heard raised voices and then Keriam yelling, ‘No, I won’t let you—!’ She heard a crash, and when she went to investigate, Danial was gone and Keriam was dead.”

  “Did she tell that to the police?”

  “She said she did but there were no signs of a struggle. No one believed anyone else had been there. The coroner ruled it as a heart attack.”

  Why had Terian not believed them? “Were you there? Or is this what she told you?”

  “No, I...live apart from them.”

  I guessed it wasn’t by his choice. My mind worked faster trying to come up with something that would point to Alexa as the culprit. If I could cast doubt on Danial being to blame, maybe Terian would let me go. “Did Keriam know Danial socially? Had you ever heard his name mentioned, or met him?”

  “No, he never mentioned him. I didn’t know anything about him before a month ago. It was Alexa who—”

  “So all this is based on her word? You’ve got no proof otherwise?” I had trouble conceiving that anyone could be so gullible.

  “Yes. And no.”

  I could feel Terian wobbling in his relentlessness. Now was the time to hit him with everything I could. “Then I know it has to be a lie.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I know his business matters the most to him. Danial would never endanger himself or leave a reason for the police to come looking for him. He wants to stay out of the public eye, not draw attention to himself. If your brother ran afoul of Danial, he would have sent Theo to kill him and left no witnesses. I’m betting it was your brother’s wife who actually killed him, or arranged to have it done. The only question here is why she chose Danial to pin this on. What does she have to gain by you killing Danial?” I fastened my eyes on him. “There’s something between her and Danial. Whatever that was got your brother killed.”

  “I can ask Danial that when he gets here tomorrow night.”

  “Why don’t you let me call and ask him?” I offered quickly.

  “No! He’ll try to talk his way out of this and trick me into losing my one advantage: you. I want him here in front of me to answer my questions. Alone, without his friends, so I can kill him if I don’t believe him.”

  My mind worked furiously. “Did Alexa tell you Danial was a vampire? Did she give you the poison?”

  “No, she just gave me his name. I made the poison when I found out what he was.”

  “Theo told me a week ago that a woman had been threatening Danial for making her lose her job. Did Alexa lose her job recently?”

  “No. She’s an engineer for Wilco Chemicals. She’s worked there for at least two decades, maybe three.”

  I was back to square one. To cover my disappointment, I asked, “How did you make the poison?”

  “It’s my job,” he said, as if he was surprised I hadn’t guessed. Maybe I should have.

  “You’re a poisoner?” I said, contemptuously.

  “I’m a sorcerer. I learned a long time ago what I was from an old herbalist who found me one night drinking blood...” He trailed off, then cleared his throat. “She helped me come to terms with what I am and taught me all she knew. It wasn’t a lot but it was enough to keep me sane. Keriam had been supporting the both of us my whole life, but I wanted to help him. I couldn’t get a regular job. The heat of my skin and that feeling of terror I inspire in humans prevented that. What she did for me saved me.”

  “What happened to your parents?”

  The cold blackness seeped back into the room so quickly I let out a gasp. “Stop doing that!” I shouted. Like a miracle, the blackness evaporated and the air grew warmer.

  “Sorry. Talking about my mother makes me angry and very sad.”

  “It’s okay,” I said gently. “Please tell me. You’ll feel better if you do.”

  “You want to know, Sarelle?” He looked up at me with flaming eyes.

  The blackness coiled out of him again, stronger this time. My heart felt as if it was going to stop in my chest. His voice was dark and so cold it hurt to hear it. The dogs howled and the cats screeched.

  “Know this. I killed my mother being born. I tore my way out of her and almost killed the midwife attending her. My brother was there to witness it. My mother had told him that I would be different. She told him if she died to take care of me, not to blame me for my nature.” The blackness lessened but the air was still thick with heaviness and icy breath. “What else do you want to know? How my brother struggled to care for us, even though he was only eighteen? How people made fun of my red eyes no matter what town we settled in? How he gave up the next twenty years to raise me, even though I didn’t give him back nearly the love and support he gave me?”

  “He must have been an exceptional man. I’m sorry he died,” I said softly.

  The blackness faded and the room became warm again.

  “I know this isn’t anything to do with you.”

  Something occurred to me as I talked to him, and I pressed my advantage again. I had placed him at twenty-something, but...“How old was your brother?”

  “Eighty-six.”

  “And he was eighteen years older than you?”

  “Yes,” he replied, somewhat amused. His mood swings were unpredictable. Maybe he hadn’t had friends for reasons other than his eyes.

  “That makes you…sixty-eight?”

  “Actually sixty-seven until December. I don’t age,” he said with a grimace. “It makes it hard to stay in one place for very long.” He gave me a pain-filled look. “One of the hardest things to bear was watching Keriam grow older while I remained young.”

  Had Keriam felt the same way watching Terian stay young while he grew old? Knowing he wouldn’t be around forever to look after his younger brother, that he would die and Terian would have to go on without him? I’d experience that myself if I got serious with Danial. I pushed the thought away quickly.

  Terian saw the realization in my face. “You’ll see how hard it is yourself, Sarelle. Danial doesn’t age either.”

  “He’s still not as old as you,” I said acidly.

  He laughed. “You’re right; Danial is older than I.”

  My anger returned, but this time it was focused on Danial, who’d told me all these lies in return for opening myself to him.

  “Danial said he was around fifty—”

  “Try five hundred.” He watched me closely. “Five hundred years.”

  I’d had enough for one night. I’d been terrified once too often when I wasn’t being outright hassled. I got up, cleared our plates, and loaded everything into the dishwasher. I returned to find Terian still at the table, staring into space.

  “Terian, could you please go wherever you’re going to stay the night? I want to get some sleep, and the dogs refuse to come out of the bedroom while you’re here. I need to let them out before I go to bed.”

  He stood and faced me. “I’m going to stay here with you so you don’t escape.”

  I’d expected something like that. “Fine, you can sleep in Danial’s
room in the basement.”

  “No, Sarelle, I’m sleeping in your room.” His words were casual, but I got a chill thinking about sleeping in the same room with him. There was no way I’d get any sleep. And my dogs wouldn’t be able to handle it, either.

  “Look Terian, I’ve been really nice about all this, but there is a limit. You are not sleeping in my room. You are not even sleeping on the first floor. You are sleeping as far away as I can get you to go.”

  “I might have come to value your reasoning, and I may even believe you about Danial. I admit it makes sense. But I don’t trust you. I want to be within reach of you if Theo or Danial find a way to make it here tonight.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Within reach to do what? Shudder. I had to reassure him that I wasn’t going to try to escape. I had to make him think I was completely under his control.

  “You can lock me in my room if you want. You smashed the cell phone that Danial gave me. You must have kept or smashed the guards’ phones—not that anyone would be able to answer in fox form. I’ll give you the phone from my room and my car keys. But you have to promise to wake me if there’s a fire. I’m trusting you not to leave me and my animals locked in to burn.”

  “If there was a fire, you could go out the window, which you might do if I let you stay up here alone,” he said, stonewalling me.

  “I’d never leave my pets behind. They’re my responsibility and I take that seriously. I can’t take them all with me on foot—”

  “Okay,” he said grudgingly. “But I’ll hear you if you try to leave. My hearing is very acute.”

  “Thank you,” I said, relieved. “Goodnight.”

  I went into my bedroom, unplugged the phone, and gave it to him. He went downstairs with it. I let the dogs out in the fenced side yard, where they did their business. They were restless from being cooped up for so long. I let them run around for a few minutes as I tried to think how best to grab my old cell phone out of my purse.

  I heard the kitchen phone ring and called the dogs. They ran inside, slipping and sliding as they hightailed it back to the bedroom, just as the phone cut off in mid-ring. Terian’s agitated voice came from the kitchen telling someone that he had me. It had to be either Theo or Danial. Crap, why hadn’t I grabbed the phone on the way out here?

  Like an answered prayer, I saw a shape slink into the yard under the wooden fence. I thought it was a cat, but when it got closer, I saw it was a fox. It was beautiful, a reddish gold with a snow white tail. It stopped and looked at me, waiting. I snuck a look behind me, where Terian was still talking loudly in the kitchen.

  “Here kitty, kitty,” I called and slowly walked toward it. When I was almost to it, I saw it held something in its mouth. I reached out and took it. It was a cell phone, in Danial’s make and model. The fox immediately fled, running back under the fence. I hurriedly tucked the phone in my waistband, covering it with my loose shirt. I hastened back inside, walking past Terian to my bedroom, and hid the phone under the edge of the mattress.

  It was then that I missed Asher and realized she was still in the basement. I felt awful, but I told myself she’d be okay; she was mostly feral and would hide from Terian just as well as she’d hid from me.

  My bedroom door opened abruptly. “That was your lover,” Terian said irately. “He wanted to negotiate for your release.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I told him your well being depended on him being here tomorrow by sunset. He agreed on the stipulation that you remained untouched when he arrived.” He studied me. “Who were you calling in the backyard?”

  “My cat. One is still outside. That’s okay; she’s kind of feral anyway.”“You’re afraid I’d hurt her. Don’t be. I only hurt people who hurt me first.”

  I let out an inward sigh of relief. “Good. I’m going to bed. You can lock the door.”

  “Don’t try to leave. I’ll hear you trying to open a window.”

  He shut the door and twisted the handle with enough force that the doorframe cracked. His steps descended on the cellar stairs a few seconds later.

  I put on pajamas and started the clock radio to cover the noise I’d make when I used the phone. Turning off the light, I lay down and watched the illuminated numbers of the clock. I meant to wait a half-hour before attempting to contact Danial, but I fell asleep.

  I woke with a gasp. Looking at the clock, I saw it was four a.m. I let out a curse, and then a thank you for my loud furnace. The fire in the wood stove had gone out and the oil furnace had come on, waking me. Its noise would mask my call much better than the radio.

  Retrieving the phone from beneath the mattress, I flipped it open. The battery was still good and I had a signal. I searched the menu, looking for the programmed numbers list. Then it hit me; I could text instead of call. I’d never done it before, but how hard could it be? There was no risk of voices being overheard.

  I found Theo’s number in the menu and pushed the text option next to it. Typing very slowly, I sent a message, albeit with some misspellings.

  Theo, Sar. Guards stuck in fox form. Dhamphir w/red eyes Terian - not vampire. Am OK. Sent by Alexa, her husband Keriam killed? Alexa knows Danial.

  I wanted to add, “Get me out of here now!” but I figured that was implied. I pushed SEND, and turned to hide the phone beneath my mattress. In my hurry, I dropped it, and it skittered under the bed, beeping. Snatching it up, I stuck it under the mattress, cursing my clumsiness.

  Putting on my robe, I tried the door. With a little jiggling, it opened. I went out and checked the stove. After stirring the coals, I added two big logs, which was enough wood to keep the fire burning until morning. As I closed the stove door, I heard Terian’s steps on the basement stairs and the cellar door opening fast. I turned to him. His eyes glowed red in the dimness of the room. There was no light except for the weak glow coming from the hall outside my bedroom. And his eyes.

  “What are you doing?” Blackness threaded itself through the air.

  “I needed to restart the fire. The furnace came on and woke me. I didn’t know if the door would open, but when it did, I decided to—”

  “Then why are you holding that poker?” he demanded. “Drop it.”

  I was holding the poker in front of me like a weapon. I quickly put it back with the other stove tools, then turned back to him empty-handed. “Sorry. Force of habit—”

  “Get back to bed. You try anything like that again, I’ll know I can’t trust you and be forced to spend the rest of the night in your room. I hear you even get out of bed, I’ll come up.” Menace filled his voice. “Move it.”

  I nodded and walked into my bedroom. Terian slammed the door. There was a snapping sound as the door bulged in. His footsteps descended the stairs again a few seconds later. Sighing with relief, I crawled back into bed.

  I’d done what I could. I’d gotten information to Theo that would get me out of this safely. Unlike Danial, I knew Theo wouldn’t let me down.

  Chapter Ten

  I woke up to the sound of birds singing. It was almost ten in the morning, according to the clock. My eyes moved to my bulging door and narrowed in anger, remembering Terian.

  But I was alive and unhurt. I just had to make it through another eight hours.

  I got out of bed and slipped on some clothes after washing up in the sink. As I brushed my hair and braided it back, I thought about whether to drop the charade and just wait on the bed with the gun. I could shoot Terian the moment he opened the door.

  No. The gun could kill Danial and Theo. I couldn’t risk it falling into his hands.

  After Terian’s display of anger last night, I decided to read a book for a while instead of waking him. A half hour passed, then an hour. By that time, the dogs were whining and pacing, needing to go out. Just like that, I lost my temper and banged on the door with both fists, yelling for Terian. Footsteps sounded on the basement stairs a minute later, and with a wrenching crack, he opened the door.

  “Good morning,” he said gruffly.
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  A piece of the splintered doorframe fell off and hit the floor. I glared at it and then at him. He looked stonily back at me.

  “Please go downstairs,” I said. “The dogs won’t come out if you’re here.”

  “No. They and you stay where I can see you. You lied; they aren’t afraid of me.”

  I pushed past him to let the dogs out. “They are.”

  He followed me to the side door. “That cat you were calling for outside last night was inside. That one.” He pointed to the gray and tan calico blur as Asher streaked past me, out the door, followed by both dogs and the other two cats. “She slept with me on the bed all night, purring.”

  I gaped at him, astonished. Asher never spent any time on my lap, even after knowing me for three years. She came out to be fed and then hid. Why had she chosen to be close to Terian? He had to be lying.

  “That’s bullshit. She’s afraid, they’re all—”

  My words cut off as I looked down to see Asher twining around his ankles, purring. He smirked at me as he petted her. “See?”

  The other animals watched. Ghost and Darkness came forward slowly, sniffing Terian, their tails wagging hesitantly. Asher rolled onto her back as he rubbed her belly, acting for all the world like another cat.

  Something to think about. If Asher and the dogs trusted him, there had to be something good in him. Was it a spell? Not on my dogs. He hadn’t even given them a treat.

  The moment was broken by the ringing of the phone. “Should I answer?”

  “Yes. Give it to me if it’s Danial or Theo. If it’s anyone else, get rid of them.”

  I picked up the phone. “Hello?”

  “Sar, please tell me you’re okay.” It was Danial. The relief in his voice was overwhelming. “Sar, are you okay? Tell me that bastard hasn’t hurt you. He swore he wouldn’t—”

  Hearing his worry, I felt a rush of feeling for him, despite what he’d done. “I’m okay, but there’s someone who wants to talk to you.” Terian was already drawing close, motioning for the phone. “I’m going to hand the phone to him.”

  “Alexa’s nephew, you said. Put him on and pick up another line.”