by Cat Adams
“You—” Ren opened her mouth to say something hateful. I could see it in her eyes. They were narrowed, darkened slits.
“That is enough.” I turned to find Queen Lopaka standing tall and regal in the doorway, flanked by Chiyoko and the dark-haired queen whose name I hadn’t been given.
“Daughter, enough. Please.” The dark-haired queen stepped out from behind Lopaka to meet Ren’s gaze. For just a moment I thought she’d argue. She was so angry—angrier than the situation deserved. It didn’t make sense.
There was a pause and if her mother said anything to her mentally, it wasn’t for public consumption. Still, Ren calmed fractionally and gave a small formal bow to her mother, who reached forward to stroke her daughter’s fiery hair with a withered hand.
The temperature in the room began to drop and a ghostly wind stirred. Ivy. Not now. Please. Not now. I was too tired to deal with one more thing, even the ghost of my baby sister.
The dark-haired queen’s eyes widened, then narrowed, and she gave me a glare hot enough to blister.
Her name is Stefania, said Queen Lopaka’s calm voice in my head. It was a planned insult on their part, not giving you their names. I didn’t push the issue. I pick my battles carefully. As should you.
Good advice, no doubt. I gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. Stefania was still bitter and almost as unhappy as Ren. Then again, I got the impression that this was their normal state. The pleasant, happy Ren of my first encounter had apparently just been a really good acting job. At least the argument was over.
Now if Ivy would just settle down.
What is the matter with your spirit? Adriana’s voice in my head this time, sounding almost intrigued and not at all afraid. Then again, Vicki hadn’t been able to do much against her the night of the wake and she was a considerably stronger ghost than my sister.
She’s not my spirit. Her name is Ivy. It’s my younger sister’s ghost. She’s trying to warn me to be careful. Which was the absolute truth. But it felt like more than that. She wanted to tell me something important. Unfortunately, now was not the time or the place. I tried to form that into a thought that she would understand—while at the same time keeping that same thought from everybody else in the room. No easy task. I wasn’t sure how successful I was at it. While Ivy seemed to settle, Queen Lopaka’s expression grew very carefully blank. Rather than meet my gaze when she saw me watching her, she turned to the priest. They held a rapid conversation in Italian and I wondered if I was the only person in the room who wasn’t multilingual. While I know a handful of Spanish words and phrases, they aren’t exactly the kinds of things you say in polite company.
“He will cleanse the house and says that the two of you who were directly involved should be blessed. If this is done soon, there should be no lingering effects.”
He spoke again, his words rapid and intense. Queen Lopaka translated for him, “We were most lucky. Had the process gone farther—” She gave an elegant shudder and repeated, “We were lucky.”
The doctor looked up. “We need to get this woman blessed and to bed as soon as possible. She overstrained her magic badly. She shouldn’t be left alone for the next few days. Someone needs to be with her at all times. After that, she’ll need to take it very easy and not use her powers for the next few months. But ultimately, barring complications, she should be fine. Physically.”
I felt the knot in my stomach start to unwind a little. Pili would be fine. Helping me hadn’t killed her, hadn’t even done permanent damage. Thank God for Adriana being nosy. If she hadn’t been snooping, things would’ve been so very much worse.
I shivered, thinking again of the demon. He’d marked me, somehow. I needed that blessing, needed it badly. Because until I got it, any time there was a weakness in my vicinity he could exploit it to come after me. I’m not a true believer. I don’t have a clean enough conscience to withstand the demonic on my own. I shivered hard, feeling as though I might never get warm again.
Baker spoke softly to one of the other guards. She lifted her mother by her armpits and her companion took Pili’s feet. They carried her down the hall to the back of the house, where I assumed there must be a bedroom.
“You were the other party to the vision?” I glanced up. The doctor was standing above me. I hadn’t noticed him coming. Not a good sign. I was cold. So cold. Shock. I was going into shock. Maybe my vampire healing would take care of it. I tried to remember when I’d eaten last. Lunch . . . I’d had lunch. But I had no idea how long I’d been at Pili’s.
“Yes.”
He bent down, shining his little penlight in my eyes. I pulled back, letting out an involuntary hiss that, unfortunately, gave him a really close-up view of my elongated canines.
“Ah, so you’re the abomination.”
If he was trying to make me feel better, it wasn’t working. Something about being called that just pisses me off. Still that little rush of anger and adrenaline seemed to warm me up a little, make me a bit clearer headed.
“I was hoping I’d get the chance to meet you while you were on the island, but I would’ve preferred other circumstances.” He pulled out a tongue depressor. I opened my mouth and stuck out my tongue so that he could take a good look. “You’re practically a medical miracle.” He smiled. It was a nice enough smile that I almost forgave him the abomination comment. Almost. “I’m Dr. Ryan.”
He was good-looking in that clean-cut, middle-aged way. His dark hair was cut short, his features even, pleasant but not really remarkable. He wasn’t wearing a lab coat, just khakis and a melon-colored polo. I could easily picture him out on the golf course, playing a round with Dr. Scott. Maybe they shopped at the same stores.
Dr. Ryan frowned, “You’re having trouble focusing, aren’t you.” It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded. “You’re a little shocky. You need to get some rest.”
“What time is it?” I interrupted him before he could finish his lecture.
He frowned but checked the practical diver’s watch adorning his wrist and told me.
I panicked a little. I’d lost quite a bit of time. “Shit. I need to eat. Now. I’m overdue.” Fortunately, I wasn’t feeling like munching on anybody. Maybe it was the shock. Whatever the reason, I really couldn’t count on it lasting.
Queen Lopaka was standing a few feet away. When she heard the tension in my voice, her eyes unfocused for a second. “My chef will have everything ready and waiting for you at the guesthouse.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
Stefania crossed the room, stopping a bare inch from Queen Lopaka, very deliberately invading her space. She was practically quivering with rage and just looking for a fight.
“If my daughter’s services are no longer required, we will go.” The bitterness in Stefania’s voice was palpable. She glared up at Lopaka, eyes blazing with defiance. For just a second I thought the high queen would call her on it. Claim insult the way Adriana had against me. But Lopaka swallowed her anger, meeting Stefania’s rage with seeming indifference. “Of course the two of you may go.”
The room waited breathlessly as Stefania opened her mouth to say something. She apparently decided against it. Clamping her jaw shut with an almost audible snap, she stormed over to where her daughter stood. She slid an arm around Ren’s waist and I noticed the withered hand again.
I was slow, probably from the shock. I knew that the damaged hand was important, but it took me a moment to recognize the implications. Maybe it was the way she flipped her head, making that shining braid glimmer in the light. For just a moment our eyes met and a spark of something clawed through my chest. The memory of those eyes chilled me to the bone. Crap.
It was her. Stefania was the one who’d cursed me . . . cursed Ivy. But why? It made no sense.
“Yes?” The word was almost a hiss. I couldn’t know whether she was listening to my thoughts or realized I knew and expected me to confront her or was just being a bitch. It could be any of them. But Lopaka was right. Now was not
the time for a confrontation. Stefania was a queen. They’d never believe me if I made the accusation and certainly not without evidence.
So I lied. “I just wanted to thank Ren and Adriana. They saved us all.”
Stefania’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t believe me. But whatever she might have said in response was cut off by Queen Lopaka’s agreement. “Yes, Eirene, Adriana, thank you. You did well.”
Ren gave Queen Lopaka a stiff, unhappy bow to acknowledge the praise. With one last look at me, Ren and her mother vanished.
I hadn’t accused them. Without motive and proof, I couldn’t. But I could find the motive, get proof. Could and would. Because Stefania’s curse had quite probably killed my baby sister. Stefania was going to pay for that. One way or another, she was going to pay.
19
Rage is almost never a good thing. Rage makes it hard to think, hard to plan. Now that I’m less than human, it brings the hunger to the surface, makes my powers manifest in ways that are obvious and terrifying. Still I could not help but feel a fine, burning rage at Stefania. She’d cursed children, one of them an infant. She probably had some sort of reason, but let me tell you, no reason would be good enough. What she’d done was so wrong, so evil, it made my skin crawl. It also made my skin glow. The only thing keeping my vampire side from fully manifesting was the shock and exhaustion of having faced down the demon.
I took the tray of food I’d found in the kitchen of the guesthouse up to my suite, settling down on the couch with the balcony doors thrown wide open to let in the fresh air. The day wasn’t that hot, the air conditioner wasn’t running, and I was feeling more than a little claustrophobic.
Pouring a mug of soup and another of coffee, I tried to calm down, to clear my head.
Somebody had to have called the demon onto this plane of existence. Working with demons taints a person, alters their thoughts and feelings, subtly at first, then more and more obviously. Both Stefania and Ren had been acting odd and very aggressive. Personally, I was thinking Stefania was the prime candidate. She’d been with Queen Lopaka when Pili had asked permission to work with me. A woman who would put a death curse on a six-year-old and an infant was capable of pretty much anything.
Yes, Stefania was my girl. But I was thinking that as quietly as I could. I didn’t know how much, or which, thoughts the sirens could/would be listening to. They probably had some social rules about eavesdropping. But good manners weren’t going to keep my enemies from rummaging around in my brain. Still, now that I could communicate telepathically, there were other people to include in the discussions.
Well, not people, per se.
Ivy, are you here? The overhead light flicked on and off. Am I right? Is she the one who cursed us? The light flickered and the temperature in the room dropped like a stone.
You’re absolutely sure? A single flicker and frost began forming on my glass of fruit juice.
Ghosts are spirits of the dead tied to something or someone they’ve got unfinished business with. Ivy’s business was with me. I’d always assumed that she wants me to forgive my mother. If that was the case, she was going to be with me for a long, long, time. But maybe she was bound to earth to find her murderer. Not the men who kidnapped us but the person who had cursed her to that fate when she was only a baby.
Ghosts were once human, but it’s important to remember that they aren’t human anymore. They have their own powers, their own agendas, and their own limits. Ivy wasn’t a terribly powerful ghost. She’d never be able to take over someone’s body the way Vicki had at the Will reading. Ivy had never done any really impressive physical stuff. But she had one ability that all ghosts shared. Access to knowledge. Because the spirits of the dead . . . I don’t want to say they “talk” to each other, because it’s simpler than that and more profound. It’s almost as if they have a shared consciousness. They’re still individuals. But what one knows they all know. If Ivy was certain Stefania was the one who cursed us, it was because she had access to information I didn’t.
And ghosts can’t lie.
I know you want to get even with her. A single flash of the light confirmed it. I do, too. But we’ve got to be careful. She’s powerful and smart. Can you be patient while I handle it?
Nothing. No signal at all. Which I suppose meant “maybe.”
Do you trust me?
The answer was slow in coming, but eventually the light flickered once. Yes.
Will it make you happier if I promise to include you in whatever plans I make? The light flashed almost before I could finish the sentence.
All right, then.
“You should probably talk to Maintenance about that light.”
Creede stood in the open door to my suite looking much spiffier than the last time I’d seen him. He was wearing gray dress slacks and a black Ralph Lauren polo shirt. A black leather belt and matching dress shoes completed the outfit. I had to admit, he certainly did clean up nice. Really nice.
“You went shopping.”
“Yeah. I needed a few things. I picked up some items for King Dahlmar while I was at it. Thank God for credit cards.” He smiled. “Mind if I come in?”
“Sure, why not?”
He strolled through the room to take the seat directly across from me. Leaning back, he crossed his legs, the perfect picture of comfort.
“So, I hear you managed to get yourself into some more trouble while the king and I were otherwise occupied. You okay?”
“Better now that I’ve eaten and rested.” I sipped my drink, which was, thanks to Ivy, quite nicely chilled. “What have you been up to besides shopping?”
“Hey, don’t knock it.” Creede pointed a finger at me in mock warning. “It was hard enough on Dahlmar, begging Queen Lopaka for assistance, without making him do it in a Mickey Mouse T-shirt.”
I could see where that would’ve been gratuitously humiliating. It would also make it harder for him to be taken seriously. Appearances matter more than most people are willing to admit.
“And how did the negotiations go?” I was going to switch from fruit juice to broth but decided against it. Cold broth. Ick.
“Well, we have a plan.”
I thought about saying something sarcastic like, “Gee, John, you sound so excited, tell me more,” but he was obviously frustrated, so I decided to opt for diplomatic silence.
“Queen Lopaka doesn’t completely agree that there’s a siren involved, but she’s willing to give him limited assistance to help him take back his throne.”
I raised an eyebrow and took a long pull on my coffee as I waited for the other shoe to drop. “How limited?”
“One plane, one pilot, and a dozen elite troops: their equivalent to the Navy Seals.”
My eyes widened and my mouth opened. “She thinks that’s enough to put him back in power?” Crap. That wasn’t a plan, that was assisted suicide.
“Adriana is a clairvoyant; she saw a potential weakness in Kristoff’s plan that we might be able to exploit even with limited resources.”
Creede leaned forward in his seat. His expression was intent. “From what we’ve been able to find out, from the clairvoyants and through magical means, Kristoff is going to announce his brother’s death from a ‘tragic accident’ this afternoon. The faux Dahlmar will immediately fly back from the peace talks in Greece. Somewhere over the Aegean the plane will go down, with all hands lost, leaving Kristoff to take the throne.”
Just like Dahlmar predicted. I wondered if the king had more going for him than just a charismatic personality.
Yes, that plan would make Kristoff a mourning successor rather than an evil usurper in the minds of the people. Not a bad idea, really. Sadly, not all that hard to pull off, either. One of the reasons I hate flying is one well-placed curse and it’s all over but the crying.
“If King Dahlmar takes Queen Lopaka up on her offer, we’re going to fly to an island in the Aegean where the necessary modifications will be made to our plane to make a switch possible. The clairvoyan
ts have given us a time and place and the identification information for the plane Kristoff is crashing—”
“They’re going to try a switch?” I couldn’t believe it. I mean, yeah, I believed it. But oh, crap, there were so many things that could go wrong.
“Princess Adriana gave it an eighty percent chance of success.”
“Eighty?” She had to be being optimistic. I wouldn’t even have gone as high as fifty-fifty.
“She seemed to think there was the possibility of betrayal.” He said it totally deadpan, but there was a twist to his lips that spoke of wry humor. “She was more than a little concerned about it since she’s going to be the pilot.”
And then I put two and two together. An island in the Aegean.
“What?” Creede read my face like an open book.
“Would the island we’re using just happen to be ruled by Stefania?”
Okay, there’s desperate and there’s stupid, and I was beginning to think this plan leaned more toward the latter than the former. I might have opened my mouth to say something, but the king himself appeared at my doorway at that moment. He was dressed in a gray suit, off the-rack but nice, with a crisp white shirt and conservative tie. But the shoulders beneath the jacket were hunched, as if the blows he’d received these past few days were finally starting to catch up with him.
“I have no choice. I have no military. I am not willing to reveal my circumstances to any other country’s leaders. My hope was that the queen of the sirens would support me in order to clean her own house. This is not a perfect plan, perhaps not even a good plan. But it is the plan we have with the resources available.”
He appeared calm, but I suspected the appearance was deceptive. Still, you don’t go into a tricky military operation with a sense of defeat. It’s too likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “It would be easier to walk away. But I cannot. Whether my son is being manipulated or has betrayed all I hold dear, he is not fit to rule. I cannot leave my people to suffer at his hands.” Sorrowful but determined, he continued, “I will be leaving here at seven this evening. You may choose for yourselves whether you will join me.” With that, he left.
