"Yes. And soon."
"Gavin and Anthony are the only ones available. They can go. May I make a suggestion, though?" Charles offered Flavio a hopeful glance.
"I suppose," Flavio looked up at his vampire child, who'd accepted a position as Spawn Hunter for the Saa Thalarr. Flavio didn't understand how Charles kept up with all his duties. Charles claimed it was all worth it to be able to eat normal food and walk in daylight. Of course, being able to fold space anywhere was worth it, too, according to Charles.
"Ask Lissa to go with them. Father, you have no idea how fast she can deal with something like this. If vampires are involved, that's a lot of people they're taking. It needs to stop quickly, if that's what is happening."
"You don't need to tell me that," Flavio held his head. "How do we ask her?" Charles smiled at Flavio's question.
* * *
"Drink this." I was wrapped in a heated blanket and Franklin and Shane were tending me. Tomas, their third mate, handed over a mug of hot soup. They'd tried to explain, Frank and Shane, that Conner, as the Guardian, had shown them their past years ago. She held that power, Frank said. The Guardian escorted lost souls to the other side—that was one of the things she did.
Franklin looked exactly like Merrill, with black hair and piercing blue eyes. Shane, well, he was shorter than Greg, with sandy blond hair, brown eyes and a quick grin.
"Mom and Dad don't have a clue, and the Guardian said to keep the information to ourselves. She said we'd know someday why it was given to us," Frank's smile could twist anybody's heart.
"Frankie, I missed you," I sniffled. "I'm not sure I can get used to calling you Shane," I turned to the reincarnated Greg.
"I know, baby girl," Frank put his arms around me. "You need to stop shivering. This isn't good for you."
"Crying isn't good for you either," Shane pointed out dryly.
"Does my face look awful?" I worried my lower lip.
"Lissa, you've never looked better to me in my life," Shane grinned.
"How much do you remember?" I searched his face.
"Everything," his grin widened.
"And he doesn't mind talking about it," Tomas interrupted. He was smiling, too, so it wasn't a problem. Tomas had an Asian heritage with a lovely nose, dark eyes and a square jaw.
"We just can't spill the beans with Mom and Dad," Franklin cautioned.
"I won't be talking to your father," I muttered, drinking my soup.
"Yeah. I heard," Frank sighed.
* * *
"Baby, we were scared to death." Drew lifted me and almost cracked a rib; he hugged me so hard. Frank, Shane and Tomas had finally gotten me warmed up and convinced me to return to the villa. I'd learned that Conner, when she looked human, that is, was married to Martin Walters, Russell, Will, Graegar, Barrigar and Lynx, one of the Saa Thalarr I hadn't met. Frank laughed at me as I stared at him in shock—he'd attempted to explain who was mated to whom. It was overwhelming, and I still wanted to know what being married to a Larentii was like.
"Drew, I can't breathe," I wheezed. He kissed me when he set me down, and then Drake moved his brother aside and did exactly the same. I had no idea what to do with both of them. I knew what they wanted to do with me, though—that had been evident when they hugged me.
Frank, Shane and Tomas all got a hug before they left, and Drake and Drew herded me straight into the kitchen for more food.
"No more of this freezing shit," Mike muttered as he thumped a mug of hot tea in front of me. "I got mindspeech from Conner. You don't ignore mindspeech from Conner."
"I didn't mean to get you in trouble," I sighed, staring at my mug of tea.
"You didn't. But Conner has a way of pointing out how you haven't been treated with the proper respect. While she's Conner, that's no problem. If it's the Guardian, she'll scare the holy hell out of you."
"And he's not speaking metaphorically," Drake draped an arm around my shoulders. Plates of food were passed around, Dragon and Crane appeared and we ate. Franklin, Shane and Tomas, followed by Drake and Drew, had helped a bad day turn into a not so bad day.
* * *
I was shocked to find Charles sitting on my bed when I came out of the bathroom later, dressed in PJs and brushing my teeth. I'd had to push Drake and Drew out my bedroom door—they wanted to stay. Hold on, I sent mindspeech to Charles and went back to rinse out my mouth. Charles wouldn't be asking for sex. Not from me. Besides, he was fully dressed. I imagine that Kifirin, or even Drake or Drew, would be either naked or mostly so if they'd been on my bed. And not in a sitting position, either.
"What is it, Charles?" I asked, walking out of the bathroom again. At least I didn't look like a foaming, rabid animal this time.
"We have a problem in California," Charles got right to business. "We can wrap this up quickly if you help."
"What's the problem?" I asked.
"Locals and tourists are disappearing on the coast between L.A. and Monterey. Eight that we know of, in the last two weeks," Charles said, his hazel eyes reflecting the concern in his voice. "People have been warned and they're taking extra precautions, but they're disappearing anyway. And we've gotten word from the vampires that run the Council's blood substitute banks. They've seen a drop in orders from the area. Flavio's worried that some of ours have gone rogue."
"You can't do that Looking thing to find this out?" I asked, sitting on the bed next to Charles.
"Not allowed to use it for this. It's one of the conditions of keeping my job with the Council. I can't use those abilities; it's unethical. I can only use what I have normally." Charles offered a crooked grin and rubbed my back.
"That's gotta suck. When do you want me to go?" I'd already made up my mind.
"It'll be dark there in another four hours. Can you be packed and ready to go in a few minutes?"
"How are you going to get me there?"
"Hey, three hundred years have passed—we're way more efficient in travel these days," Charles's grin widened. "It'll take little more than an hour, and most of that time will be taken up in getting you to the ship station. After that, you'll just orbit over. The pods don't have windows anyway, so it's a great way for vamps to travel."
"This is a Low Earth Orbit?" I asked.
"Yeah. It's great. The pods dock at stations positioned around the globe and then you're taken down to the ground. Neat, huh?"
"Yeah. Neat. Thank goodness I can mist if I have to," I said.
"You won't need to. It's really safe. You'll be going with Gavin and Tony. I'll wait while you pack."
If I hadn't already said I'd go, I would have said no right then. Tony wouldn't be so bad, but Gavin? He didn't want anything to do with me and I wasn't prepared for contemptuous scowls from my former vampire husband.
"What about the family dinner at Grey House?" I asked, trying to find an excuse to wriggle out of going. "Cleo said she and Kyler would come get me and take me to Grey House." Wherever that was.
"They can come get you wherever you are—just send mindspeech. Don't fret," Charles reassured me. "Do this, Lissa. You can get this over with quickly; I just know it. Anybody else will take twice as long."
"I'll need a bag—I don't have anything," I grumped. I'd said yes; now Charles was holding me to my word.
"Give me a few minutes," Charles said. "Don't go anywhere," he turned, pointing a finger at me and grinning. He folded away. Man, I wanted to do that. I dressed while Charles was gone and he was back in less than five minutes with two bags in his hands.
"Did you get those from Wlodek's basement, too?"
Charles looked at me with a puzzled expression, until he remembered. I'd gotten some expensive luggage from him the first time we'd met. He claimed it came from Wlodek's basement.
"Just pack casual clothes, maybe four or five days' worth," he instructed. I was folding and arranging quickly. Toiletries I'd bought in London were now being packed into a bag. "Good enough," Charles said when everything was loaded in and the bags closed. Zippers stil
l worked, I noticed. Then, before I could change my mind, he folded me to Flavio, who patiently waited in Wlodek's old study.
"Gavin and Anthony will meet you at the London station," Flavio informed me when Charles and I arrived. He still didn't remember me, but the mask was in place. Charles had talked him into this, I could tell.
"I'll take her in," Charles said.
"Are we driving or folding?" I asked. I remembered rides in Charles' car—he always drove like a maniac.
"I'll fold you in," Charles said. "And I have ID for you," he held up a tiny chip. "Unfortunately, this has to be placed beneath the skin. Ren is coming to do this for you."
"I like Renegar," I said. Actually, I'd liked all the Larentii I'd met and I couldn't explain that. I hadn't seen any more of them, either, since that first night at the villa. I was looking forward to seeing Renegar again.
"This is the little Queen?" A Larentii I hadn't seen before folded in with Renegar.
"Ferrigar," Flavio stood and nodded to the new Larentii. "This is the little Queen; anyway that's what my sources tell me. Charles seems very sure of her, and I trust my child."
"If you had witnessed what she did upon Kifirin, you would have no doubts, Sanguis Rex," Renegar said, taking the microchip from Charles by floating it off his finger with Power. "Little one," he turned to me, "this will not hurt at all." He placed the chip on the inside of my wrist and we both watched as it sank into the skin.
"That's amazing," I breathed.
"I find you amazing, little Queen," Ferrigar the Larentii came to stand beside me. "Seldom have I seen any creature I could not detect by using my Power, yet that is how it is with you. We find you fascinating, little one. We may wish to study you, sometime."
"Don't worry. They'll just stand around looking at you and communicating silently," Charles said. "Unless you get pregnant. Then they'll have their hands on you, but that won't hurt, either."
"I can't get pregnant so that won't happen," I said, examining the smooth skin of my wrist. I couldn't tell where the chip was at all.
"Come on then, I'll take you to the station," Charles said, lifting my bags. He had me folded away in very little time.
* * *
"The tracking chip has been placed, along with the identification chip," Renegar informed Griffin later. Griffin breathed a relieved sigh. "Only the Larentii will be able to detect the beacon, so she will be safe, and we will not track her unless it becomes a necessity," Renegar went on. Griffin nodded. The thought terrified him that none of them could find Lissa anywhere. They'd all been blinded to her, now. At least the Larentii could find her and that eased his mind. When she'd disappeared earlier, he worried that she'd disappeared for good. The information he and Merrill were forced to deliver guaranteed that Lissa would never forgive either of them.
* * *
"I do not like this," Gavin grumbled. Tony watched as Gavin fretted, which was completely uncharacteristic of the two thousand-year-old vampire. Gavin had the stone face and non-expression the oldest vampires mastered, but now the façade was beginning to crack.
"You don't have to deal with her if you don't want to—I'll do it," Tony offered. Gavin stared at Tony, unable to decide whether he appreciated that or not. Gavin growled softly. Tony didn't bother him again.
"Here we are," Charles walked in with Lissa, her bags in his hands.
* * *
Gavin was at his surly best—I could see that right away. I knew the look; I'd dealt with it before. I didn't say anything to him or Tony; I just sighed instead and took a seat on a nearby bank of chairs. Three hundred years had gone past and seating hadn't improved one bit at the airport.
"They'll call your flight and you'll load onto the shuttle, which will take you to the pod station," Charles explained quietly, sitting beside me. "I'll stay until you're called."
"Thanks, Charles," I gave him a weak smile. Yeah, I was going to get this over with quickly—no way I wanted to hang around the grumpy vampire. It made my heart ache to watch him. A part of me had been torn away and nothing could fill the void. Once again, I wondered why I was still alive.
"Here," Charles pulled a handkerchief from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to me. I wore a jacket, so I slipped the square of silk into a pocket. It might be needed soon if I didn't get my mind off Gavin. Our flight was called shortly after; Charles pecked me on the cheek and I followed Gavin and Tony to the door where the passengers were loading into the shuttle.
This was a new experience for me. The shuttle took us to the pod station and we were loaded into a bullet-shaped pod quickly, once we arrived. There were no windows on the pod, but each seat back held a vid screen where we could watch the entire journey (if we wanted). I was mesmerized. The pod detached and I watched my screen in fascination as we hurtled through space—I saw the Earth curving below us—clouds in swirls across oceans—everything. I'd never held any hope of doing anything like this, yet here I was. Tony and Gavin were bored—I imagine they'd done this too many times to count and it was old, now. They sat together; I was seated across the aisle, next to an executive who'd been in London, negotiating a contract. Now he was traveling back to L.A. He was also asking me out before the flight was over, and it wasn't that long to begin with.
"No, thanks, I'm working," I told him as gently as I could.
"Well, if you ever need anything," he handed me a business card. He was a lawyer, just as I thought. His recycled, holographic plastic card said so. I smiled and waved as he left the pod ahead of me. I waited for Gavin and Tony, pulled my own bags out of the overhead bin (the bins were huge and were the only cargo space the pod had) and followed my two vampires.
For me, it had only been a few months since I'd seen them—only a short while since René and Greg died and Xenides breathed his last. For Gavin and Tony, that had been three hundred years ago. It was difficult to wrap my head around.
The rental waiting for us was a hovercraft, with a cruising speed of two hundred fifty miles per hour. That wasn't scary or anything. Gavin drove; I sat in the back. He still hadn't said a word to me; Tony was the one telling me where I needed to go or what I had to do. He used mindspeech a couple of times, too, just to keep me from making mistakes. I was grateful for that.
The usual safe house waited for us, on a hill overlooking Morro Bay. Morro Rock shone in the water below us as I stood on the wide, safe house deck. "This is beautiful," I whispered to myself—Tony and Gavin had already gone to the basement. Dark clouds hung over the water west of the safe house, but the city twinkled below and I wondered if I could visit sometime when I wasn't working. The old Gavin would have been at my shoulder, calling me cara and kissing my neck. What had happened and why had they forgotten me? I had no explanation for that or any other part of my recent life. Maybe I'd ask Griffin someday what he was thinking. When I could bring myself to speak to him.
"I haven't been here in a while," Tony said behind me.
"Who will have the records of all the disappearances?" I asked, refusing to turn around.
"Gavin has them," he said, coming to stand beside me.
"You think I'm going to ask him?" I snorted. I was still staring out at the ocean. The moon was a sliver, peeking through shifting clouds and hanging low over the water. I recalled that I didn't know what day it was. Nobody had been standing by with a watch or calendar when I'd come back to myself on Kifirin.
"The local police will have it in their computer records," Tony offered an alternative.
"I'll go find the police station, then," I said. "Maybe they'll have something Gavin doesn't have."
"There's definitely something Gavin doesn't have," Tony said softly.
"His choice," I said and misted away.
"You can pull up all the public records right here if you scan your ID," an officer informed me when I walked into the police station half an hour later. I'd asked a helpful delivery truck driver for directions to the station.
I scanned my new ID and got into all the news and recent r
ecords quickly—computers were simple to operate in the future. The only thing I found in common with all the disappearances was that all the victims had been going to the beach. The father and son who'd disappeared last had gone surfing. They'd failed to come home for dinner that evening as they'd promised. I watched a video interview with two wives, who were pleading for the release of their husband and son. I then watched a video interview with relatives of the next disappearances. "She was only going to Pismo for the day," the distraught father said.
This young woman was nineteen and both the father and mother were weeping in front of the camera. It was heartbreaking to watch. The media wasn't any different from when I'd seen them last—going for every tear and heartrending situation they could. I was mentally keeping track of the disappearances, too. The three most recent were in the Pismo and Morro Bay area. Before that, the disappearances had occurred north of there—near Monterey and San Luis Obispo. Looked like the killer or kidnapper was heading south. I wasn't sure all of them happened at night, either. Call it a feeling, but the victims had gone out in daylight and most of them were expected home that night. They'd just never shown up. According to the police and the media reports, no evidence had been collected.
"Find what you need?" The policeman was back, a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Some," I nodded. "I'm visiting the area and want to make sure I'm doing everything I can so this won't happen to me."
"Good idea," he said. His nametag said Sergeant Whitaker. He looked to be in his forties and wore a wedding band. I wasn't interested anyway; I had more angst than I could handle on my emotional plate as it was. "Just get in tonight?"
"Yeah," I nodded. I figured he could check my ID in the computer and find out whether that was true or not.
"There wasn't a bit of evidence," he sighed, settling onto a seat at the kiosk next to mine. "Nothing. Like they were snatched from the air." He fluttered his fingers. "Just—gone," he added. Sergeant Whitaker's words made my skin itch.
"Do you think the victims were on the beach or in the water?" I asked.
"Don't know," he scrubbed his face with a free hand. He had a bit of beard showing.
Blood Queen (Blood Destiny, #6) Page 14
