Blood and Kisses

by Shah, Karin

  Thalia sat for a moment in shocked silence, then shook her head. “How is this possible? Even if someone could steal my power, I’m not strong enough to endanger the world.”

  Mina looked grave. “There’s no telling what this . . .being is, but you are the last of the Champions here. Perhaps your power mixed with its own will somehow increase its potency. I don’t know, but my visions have always been extremely reliable.”

  Thalia paced to the massive brick fireplace, the focal point of the room, to maintain control. “So, what? You expect me to just step aside and let someone else take over?” Being the Champion had been the one sure thing in her life and now she felt as if she stood on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling beneath her feet.

  She turned back toward Mina, who said nothing. “I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. The victims are all people who knew me. We don’t even know if this rogue vampire has anything to do with your vision.” Thalia took a deep breath. Even she thought that sounded like denial.

  Where to go from here? She wasn’t sure she wanted to share her mother’s prophecy. They would probably use that against her as well. Could you be anymore selfish? People are dying. People with friends and family. People like Lily. Mina was a powerful witch. She might have information they could use.

  Mina got to her feet and took Thalia by the hands. “I know there’s something you want to tell me. Please, don’t hold back.”

  Thalia exhaled. For Lily.

  She handed her mother’s grimoire to the older woman and opened the page to the prophecy. After Mina read it, Thalia told her about their visit to Ursula Grant.

  Mina nodded slowly. “I’m afraid this just confirms my vision. I do think that it would be best for the community, if you were to step down.”

  Thalia made a tiny sound she hoped Mina couldn’t hear. She felt as if she’d been eviscerated, her insides ripped from her body and spilled on the floor.

  “Bullshit.”

  Thalia and Mina swiveled to confront Gideon, who had come to his feet, leaving Spirit alone in the middle of the sofa.

  “You people have no right to ask this of her. I’ve only known Thalia for a short time, but I’ve heard the stories. This isn’t the first time she’s put her life on the line for you. She’s given her all for your precious community and what do you give her in return? This—this betrayal? No. She should leave you to your fate. You don’t deserve her devotion, but it isn’t in her to abandon what she believes is her duty.”

  Thalia bit her lip. She was both embarrassed and deeply grateful for his words. That he would defend her in the face of all evidence, warmed her, made her feel less isolated.

  Mina drew herself up to her full height of barely five feet. “I have only Thalia’s best interests at heart.”

  Gideon’s right eyebrow flew up, a raven slash in his saturnine face. “Prove it.”

  Gideon awoke in his bed around mid-morning to a powerful sensation of danger.

  Outside he could hear cars turning into his driveway. He gauged where the sun would be and pressed the button to lift the shutters, exposing his unexpected visitors.

  Police.

  Neferet stumbled, exhausted. The broad back of Pharaoh’s mysterious guest bobbed unwaveringly in front of her in the light of the full moon. The moon seemed to taunt her with its cool indifference, turning the vast undulating desert before her into an endless inland sea. She trudged ahead, her head hanging, concentrating on his back and putting one foot in front of the other.

  They’d been walking all night. The stars near the horizon were beginning to disappear, yielding to the opaque gray of pre-dawn.

  He spoke to her for the first time. “Stay here.” He held up a hand and she halted, lifting her head. They’d entered a small settlement, a cluster of mud-brick buildings nestled in a rocky outcropping.

  He strode to the largest dwelling and disappeared inside. Several minutes later he returned, followed by a hastily dressed older man and a woman about the same age.

  “This is Siamun and Ankhmutes. They have agreed to take you in as a favor to me.”

  The woman came forward and took Neferet’s hands in hers. She had a wide friendly face, and her eyes shone like obsidian behind eyelids folded by the broadness of her smile. “You are free, my dear, and we are happy to have you. We were not blessed with children and truly it is a favor to us if you would stay.”

  Reeling with fatigue, she smiled and nodded, unable to reconcile the sudden change in her fate. The stranger turned to go.

  “Wait.” Neferet couldn’t stop herself from calling out. He paused and inclined his head toward her. “When will I see you again?”

  “You won’t. I will not pass this way again.”

  She didn’t want to hurt Siamun and Ankhmutes, but she felt a strange and powerful connection to this man. The thought of him leaving was suddenly unbearable. “Take me with you.”

  His glorious voice was gentle, but unyielding. “I’m sorry. I walk a path no one can follow.” And with that, he left her.

  Gideon woke Thalia with a gentle shake. “What is it?” She rubbed eyes that were oddly damp. “What’s going on?”

  “The police are here to arrest me.”

  “Arrest you?” She threw back the comforter, revealing a short nightgown made of some sort of silky lavender material. He took a deep breath as she slid out of bed. The hem rode up, exposing her smooth legs. Spaghetti straps highlighted the creamy skin of her bare shoulders. He swallowed and marshaled his thoughts.

  “They think I attacked Cole and Poole.”

  She gasped.

  He turned, giving her privacy to dress.

  “Can’t you convince them otherwise?” He heard the distinctive sound of denim as she pulled up a pair of jeans.

  He shook his head. “There’s too many. At night I’d take the chance. But during the day I can’t risk it. They might somehow force me into the sun. For now, it’s better if we run.”

  Downstairs, he heard the police lining up on the front step. It would be only a matter of seconds before they forced open the door. Finally, he heard her slip on her shoes.

  “Come on.” He grabbed her small hand and dragged her back through his room and into the large walk-in-closet. He pressed a piece of quarter-round molding with the toe of his shoe and a small panel opened in the back. He glanced over his shoulder at her pale, tense face. “It locks when you bar the hall door.” He answered her unspoken question.

  He ducked inside, turning sideways to squeeze his broad frame into the passage without scraping his skin. He could feel the heat from Thalia’s body as she followed close behind. The door clicked shut. He peered back at her. She was watching her feet, and he realized the tunnel must be almost pitch-black to her mortal eyes.

  Suddenly her head came up and her eyes widened. “Spirit!”

  “He’ll be fine. They’re not after a dog.” He guided her down the tiny secret stairs and into a hidden chamber he’d had built after the initial construction of the house was completed.

  “We can’t stay here.” Thalia could hear people moving up above, but the underground room was as dark as a tomb. Cool damp air moved around her, and she got the impression the chamber stretched ten to fifteen feet beyond where the stood.

  “Don’t worry. This room was built during the time of the underground railroad. It’s withstood searches before.”

  Which meant he’d been a stationmaster. Thalia glanced at where she thought he was.

  “Don’t be too impressed,” he said, obviously able to see her, his tone dry. “Having people indebted to me was purely for self-preservation.”

  “Right,” she said.

  “Shhhh.” There was a long pause as if he were listening. “Shit! They found the door in my closet. It’s reinforced, but I don’t know how long we have until they find the mechanism.”

  “Is there another way out of here?”

  “Come on.” His warm hand folded around hers, strong and solid.

  He towed her t
o another door and up another staircase. The sound of people through the wall grew louder. Cracks in the lathe wall allowed her to see in the narrow passageway. Dust hung heavy in the air. A burgeoning sneeze tickled Thalia’s nose and her heart slammed into overtime. She scrubbed her nose with her hand, holding her breath, trying to dispel the looming sneeze. She would survive being taken to the police department, Gideon wouldn’t. The feeling ebbed and she closed her eyes for a second. Thank you, God.

  Gideon guided her down another staircase into a dark stone tunnel. The footsteps and shuffling above faded.

  “Where does this let out?” Afraid her voice might travel, she spoke so softly, she almost couldn’t hear herself.

  “The garage.”

  “They may already be searching there, too.”

  He nodded. “I heard them trigger the automatic door earlier. Probably checking for more cars, but there’s not much to see out there. So I’m sure they’re already done.”

  When they got to the top of another cramped set of stairs, Thalia could hear Gideon reaching for something, but she grabbed at his hand. “If there’s a shaft of sunlight on the other side of this door, you’re toast. You’d better let me go first.”

  He sighed. “Very well.”

  A quick smile tugged her lips at the reluctant tone of his words, but it never really formed. Even if the sunlight didn’t smoke him, the cops had no doubt left a cop car to guard the gate.

  Thalia opened the wooden panel a crack and peeked out. They were in luck, there was no one left in the garage and the overhead door was still open, but as she’d suspected, she could she the shape of a man in the squad car nearest the open gate, and it slanted at an angle to block any escape.

  Worse, sunlight flooded the garage like icy arctic water filling the Titanic.

  “Shit.” Gideon swore behind her, but since he couldn’t see the burning sunlight spilling between them and freedom, her already drumming pulse jolted sky high.

  “They’ve broken through the door, haven’t they?” she asked, twisting to study his face, though her light-dazzled eyes saw only an echo of the bright pattern outside, overlaying shadows as thick as tar.

  “Got it in one. They’ll be here shortly. I take it we’re pinned down? Illusion spell?”

  A puff of air rushed from her. She shook her head. Damnit, she had to think! “Maybe if we had time to get back to the underground chamber, but when they come through this tunnel, chances are they’ll exit here and brush by us. Touching us would break the logic of the spell.”

  Gideon swore again. “And I can’t teleport us outside because of the sun and inside we could end up materializing in someone.”

  Thalia grimaced at the thought and gnawed her lip. Think. Think! She ran through her arsenal of spells, then glanced outside. “What if I could make it very cloudy?”

  “It might help a little, but the burning rays will still penetrate.”

  ‘What about rain?”

  She could feel movement behind her and thought he nodded. “Yes, the liquid might shield me to some extent. Enough that I could still heal, if I fed soon.”

  Thalia pulled a ton of air into her lungs, closed her eyes and focused her intentions outward into the elements. She muttered the words of the spell under her breath, afraid the police in the tunnels might hear her and move faster through the network.

  Blue light sparked around her. For Gideon, please! Let there be rain.

  A gust of cool wind pushed through the open panel and within seconds, the sunlight dimmed as black clouds scudded in to block the sun.

  Gideon braved a look past her shoulder. “It’s working.”

  Thalia concentrated harder, her whole being consumed with one thought and one thought only. Save Gideon. Bring the rain.

  A flash of lightning struck nearby with a clap of thunder so loud she jumped.

  A few fat juicy drops pattered down onto the driveway and hammered like nails into the wooden shingles on the garage roof. Then rain fell in earnest, coming down in heavy sheets, making it hard to see outside the open garage door.

  “Gods.” Gideon shook his head. “This isn’t rain, it’s a typhoon. Maybe I can teleport us now.”

  “No.” Thalia bit her lip. “There’s no way to know how far the downpour goes. We’ll have to make a run for it.”

  The sound of voices made her grab his hand. “Do you have your keys?”

  He nodded and they took off into the wall of water just in time to see two men emerge from the tunnel.

  Chapter 15

  “Cole.”

  The light was too bright. Cole squinted against the razor sharp shards of pain. She tried to sit up and realized her eyes weren’t the only thing that hurt. It felt like her brain was bouncing around in her skull. She groaned and put a hand to her aching head. The surface beneath her was soft. A bed?

  “Cole.”

  She recognized Poole’s familiar voice, though he sounded strangely hoarse, but still fought to open her eyes. “The lights.”

  “Oh.” Seconds later, there was a swoosh, and the light dimmed. She opened her eyes.

  Poole leaned over her. He wore a flimsy hospital gown and robe. She was in a hospital. Nearby, a row of cheap woven curtains on a transverse rod were backlit by the sun. “What happened?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  She shook her head, then regretted it as pain shot through her tender skull and the room became a carnival tilt-a-whirl. She felt as if her head were made of papier-mâché and could be punctured like a piñata if she moved it too hard. “No.”

  “They said you might not. From what I’ve learned, Damek was choking me and you shot him. He must have knocked you down trying to get away, because you have quite a bump on your head. They started looking for us when we didn’t show up at the new scene, but a patrolman didn’t find my car until morning. He found us both unconscious in the basement, although I came around as they were calling the ambulance.”

  “So Damek got away?”

  Poole nodded solemnly.

  “Damn.” She tried to get up.

  Poole pushed her back by the shoulders. “Hey, hey. You’ve got a concussion. You’re here overnight for observation.”

  “What about you?”

  “Some bruising, but they’re going to release me in a couple hours.” He looked down at his attire. “I’m having someone bring me some clean clothes. Mine have dirt and blood all over them. They’ll be entered into evidence.”

  “What’s the status of the manhunt?” Cole thought about jumping out of bed and pulling on her clothes. She hated to think of missing the excitement, but even speaking hurt. She’d get up later.

  “Damek didn’t return home or to his club. But he’s not exactly inconspicuous. It’s only a matter of time ‘til we find him.”

  Cold rain pounded her head, soaking her hair instantly as they raced for the car. Water muffled shouts sounded behind them. She could hear the rhythmic splashing of men running over the sound of her own footfalls and heavy breathing.

  Were they catching up? She didn’t dare glance back to check.

  Her sodden clothes weighed her down, making every step like slogging through mud. Gideon’s hand in hers drove her on. God, the driveway hadn’t seemed quite this long when she hadn’t been half-drowned and on the run, and the rain made it damn near impossible to see, but hopefully the men behind them had the same problem.

  Finally, the cool slick metal of the car handle met her fingers. Gideon ran around to the driver’s seat and as soon as the lock clicked she jerked open the door and slid inside. Water dripped in rivulets down her cheeks and chin, wetting the seats and mats.

  The car engine roared to life. She swallowed. The rain sheeting the windshield transformed the world outside into a wash of colored pixels, but she could make out the boxy shape of the patrol car they somehow had to make it past.

  “Ready?” he asked, revving the engine and gripping the steering wheel with pale knuckles. “I’m going to have to try and
clip the front of the cop car at the right angle to shove it out of the way and hope the airbags don’t go off.”

  Thalia grabbed the door handle with both hands. “This isn’t a movie, Gideon. Why does this sound like something that’s been busted on Mythbusters?”

  “You have a better idea?

  “No.”

  His eyes glowed in the gloom. “Then here we go.”

  The impact happened so fast, Thalia barely had time to register more than the screech of grinding metal. She gritted her teeth, wincing a little at the thought of the damage to Gideon’s beautiful car. They shot out the gate. The hot stink of burning rubber filled the car as the jaguar fishtailed on the slippery pavement, and then the tires found traction and they were free, for the moment.

  “You do realize, they’re going to be right behind us?”

  “Not if they can’t get through the gate.” Gideon reached up and pressed a button. She craned her body around and caught a glimpse of the wrought iron structure moving in the distance.

  She settled back in her seat. “That ought to buy us enough time to ditch this car and find some place to hole up.”

  “Wegman’s?” Gideon quirked a dark eyebrow at the storefront before them. The effect was rather lost since the movement released the raindrop perched on top and it rolled down his cheekbone.

  Thalia huffed and dragged him inside the vast grocery store by his wrist. “Sunset isn’t until almost ten. You know any other place open that late? Don’t,” she flashed him her palm. “No more bars. And I can get some food at the café here without drawing much attention.”

  Towing him into an empty row of freezer cases, she conjured a drying spell and a warm wind swirled around them, evaporating most of the water.

  At the market café, she ate quickly, stuffing an egg roll in her mouth without really tasting it. Gideon watched her without speaking, and glanced at his phone as she tossed the remains of her meal. “One more hour. Let’s go browse the book section.”