by Maria Lima
"You told me you'd last years."
"I lied."
I studied his face. “Greg ... he doesn't know. You're protecting him."
"Perhaps. Perhaps he knows. We are companions, he and I. I tell him stories that enthrall him. He brings me a humanity I never experienced. It is comfortable."
It was my turn to bow to Daffyd. “May your journey be as you wish, cousin,” I said, calling up a half-forgotten farewell from my early childhood.
"And yours also, cousin."
Daffyd turned and I stepped through the barrier.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"What the hell happened?” Tucker demanded. “One second you were there, the next you vanish and, two seconds later, poof, there you are again."
"Two seconds?” Time shifting, huh? Although I always thought it was the other way around—a mortal spends a night in Faery, comes out to find a hundred years had passed. Maybe it's because I wasn't a mere mortal.
"Well, Tucker, all I can ask is: do you believe in faeries?"
"What the hell?"
"Let's go outside and collect Niko and I'll tell you both the whole story."
Tucker shot me a look, but complied. Niko was nowhere to be found at the overhang, so I pulled out my cell phone and dialed his number.
"Where the hell are you?” Niko barked. “I've been waiting at the car for at least an hour. I climbed back up on that cliff twice and couldn't find you. I was about to go get help."
"We're fine, Niko.” Tucker raised his voice. “We'll be right there."
We got to the car and Tucker dressed in the spare set of clothes as I gave them the whole story.
Niko and Tucker both began to growl as they realized my Sidhe cousin was at the root of Adam's coma.
"He must be stopped,” Niko exclaimed, and turned to leave.
I threw up a hand to stop him. “Nikolai, stop. Look at me,” I said, using my best command voice. To my surprise, he stopped in his tracks and subsided. “What's done is done. We can't bring the energy back. And there's nothing you or any of my family can do."
"I can damned well try,” muttered Tucker.
"And to what end?” I put my hands on my hips. “Daffyd ap Geraint is Sidhe, probably older than the both of you put together. If he desires, he can glamour the entire cave and vanish and none of us, including me, will ever find him. Then, he can go right on back sucking the life out of Adam, until he finishes with him, then starts on you, Niko, then Lance, then every single vampire in the compound until each and all are in comas or dead. Is that what you want?"
"How do we know he has stopped?” Niko demanded.
"Because he is under geis and he is my kin. Evidently, this means something to him."
"And because you are his liege,” Tucker put in. “I know you avoided learning about Faery, Keira, but I didn't. From what you said, Daffyd has to do what you require. Your mother is his liege lady, as are you."
Niko stepped away from me, all traces of rage gone. “Then, if that is the case, this Sidhe will not continue to feed. I am satisfied."
"Keira,” Tucker said. “Daffyd said Pete killed Alex?"
"Yes."
"That's it, then."
"What?"
"Bones. Buried bones ... or remains. When we came the first time. That's what seemed off to me."
Niko gave my brother a strange look. “Tucker, if I might be so bold ... it's a cemetery."
"Yes, yes,” Tucker retorted. “Don't get smartass on me. You've been hanging around my sister too long."
"Moi?” I pretended surprise. Tucker ignored me.
"New bones—at least way newer than what should be there for a graveyard that's not been used in decades."
"So it wasn't the energy barrier?” I asked.
"Yes, that, too, silly girl.” Tucker ran a hand through his hair. “I should have picked up on the bones, but they weren't ... aren't on the surface. I think I felt them when I tried to ground myself. The bones disturbed the grounding."
"Should we go back and look?” I ventured, not really wanting to do this now.
"I don't think so, not tonight,” Tucker said to my relief. “No one's going to get in there. We should regroup."
He was right. I wanted time to think things through, talk it all out. Should we call Carlton and tell him what the Sidhe said, but pretend it was a ranch hand that wanted to remain anonymous? Easy to get Lance or one of the other vampires to place the call from an anonymous phone line. Or perhaps decide to mete out our own justice, as we did with Boris and Greta Nagy after they'd murdered my cousin Marty and their own two henchmen? Either way, I wanted to go back to the ranch and figure out our options, including what to do about Adam.
As I was about to get into the Rover, my phone rang. My home number. I looked at Tucker and mouthed “Bea.” The display said 5:04 a.m. Not an idle call at this time of night. I flipped open the phone and motioned for my brother to switch places with me so I could talk while he drove.
"Bea, what is it?” I asked as I climbed into the car. Tucker climbed into the driver's seat. Niko got in behind us.
"Keira,” she whispered, a frantic note in her voice. “I think Pete's outside."
"Pete?” As soon as the word left Bea's mouth, Tucker gunned the accelerator, using his night vision and sense of direction to get us out of the field and onto the road.
"Yes, Ignacio thinks so, too. I woke up, heard a noise. I thought it was you coming back but it didn't sound like your car. Sounded like a truck. I've tried to call the sheriff, but I can't get through. The line keeps being busy. Tried 911 but the service isn't answering."
"We're on our way,” I assured her. “I'll try Carlton. Niko, call the main sheriff's office.” I rattled off the number. “Bea, I'm sorry, I don't have any weapons there. Stay down, stay away from the windows."
"I'm okay,” she said. “Ignacio has one of the fireplace andirons. We're sticking together in the back bathroom."
"You try Carlton on the cell, too. I rattled off the number. “Be careful. We're on our way."
"Damn it to fucking hell and back,” I growled. “He'd better not hurt her."
I tried dialing, fumbling the first attempt, then not getting through on the second. I left a terse voice mail. Then tried again. “Niko, any luck—? Carlton, thank the ... Get someone over to my place, pronto. Bea called, she thinks Pete's prowling around outside. She and Ignacio are there by themselves. We're on our way."
"On it.” Carlton disconnected. There was nothing more to be said.
The drive to my house never seemed so long. In reality, we were there in less than fifteen minutes, ahead of Carlton or anyone else.
* * * *
The house was still. No lights, no sign of life inside or out. No battered pickup to be seen. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Maybe she was wrong,” I said. “There's no place around here to hide that truck.” I lived in a single house that sat by itself in a small cul-de-sac off a quiet, undeveloped stretch of land. No other houses in the vicinity. No place for a person bent on evil to hide a pickup.
"Keira...” Niko's voice held a note of warning as we alighted from the Rover.
"What is it? What do you sense?"
He shook his head. “Let's go inside."
I fumbled for the switch inside that governed a couple of the lamps inside the living room. Nothing. The familiar green lights from the DVR and from the DVD player weren't there. Not a good sign.
Before any of us could move, a sudden flash and beeping from all the appliances as they sprung to life. I jumped back, into Tucker, who steadied me. “Whoa, there, Keira. Must've been a brownout."
I nodded. “Yeah, makes sense.” With the heat wave, the local electric co-op often practiced rolling brownouts to conserve power. “Bea?” I called out. “Ignacio? It's us."
"I smell blood.” Niko and Tucker spoke at once, voices melding with the same exact words.
"Where?"
"Kitchen,” Tucker said.
Inside the doorway,
Ignacio lay sprawled on his back, blood smearing his head.
"Out cold,” Tucker pronounced after checking his pulse. “Bleeding's stopped some time ago."
Niko disappeared, calling back. “I'm checking the bedrooms."
"She's not here,” I said flatly. “He's taken her."
Ignacio stirred, mumbling. “Senorita, cuidate.” He blinked a few times, as if to focus on our faces. “Senorita Keira,” he said. “La lleve. El senor Pete, la lleve."
"He says he's taken her,” Niko said, rejoining us. “He's right, there are signs of a struggle in the bathroom. There was a man in there. Not this man."
"You speak Spanish?” I asked him, my mind refusing to think of Bea kidnapped by Pete Garza.
Niko nodded. “I do. Enough.” His head raised. “A car. I believe I would rather not have our illustrious Sheriff question me. I shall remove myself."
"Take care, cariad,” Tucker called after him. Niko slipped out the back door and into the woods. Tucker and I helped Ignacio up and to a chair in the living room. We sat across from him, on the couch.
Less than a minute later, Carlton pulled up in the drive and debarked, walking directly in through the open front door, a deputy in tow.
"Pete Garza took Bea,” I said bluntly.
"I've dispatched an ambulance, in case we...” Carlton said. He motioned to the other man with him. “This is Rick Asher, speaks fluent Spanish. Can Ignacio explain?"
The deputy gave us a curt nod and began to converse with Ignacio, whose voice cracked as he spoke. Tucker got up and poured a glass of water, handing it to Ignacio.
"He says Pete came in, broke through the glass in the small bedroom. He had a gun."
"Son of a—"
"Hush, Keira, let him talk.” Tucker grasped my hand and squeezed.
Ignacio spoke to Rick a few more minutes. Rick's face grew more concerned with every word. “He says Pete was ranting about bargains and not keeping them. Something about giving them Alex and they didn't take him so he was going to take Bea.” Rick looked at Carlton who was writing in his notepad. “Ignacio says that Pete had a gun, a pistol. He was screaming in English, then in Spanish, like he wanted Ignacio to know what he was saying. Said Bea would be a good substitute. Ignacio tried to help, but Pete whacked him with the pistol, then dragged Bea outside. He remembers hearing the truck drive off before he passed out."
"What time?” Carlton asked.
"He says right after Bea talked to Ms. Kelly."
"He can't have gotten far,” I said. “We got here in fifteen minutes."
"From the Wild Moon?” Carlton sounded surprised.
I shook my head. “We weren't there. It's not important why, but we were at the old cemetery. You know, No Man's Land, back part of the Wild Moon. From there, it's not that far here."
"Okay, not important why, but why?” Carlton insisted.
I looked at Tucker who shrugged and nodded. Okay, then.
"We were meeting with a ranch hand, a guy from the Pursell place. He got in touch with us earlier this evening. Said he had information about Alex."
"Did he?
"Yeah.” I ran down the mundane version of Daffyd's story, leaving out any mention of the supernatural. I made the cemetery out to be a convenient place to meet far from the possible witnesses an anonymous source would fear.
Carlton shut his notebook and put it in his pocket. “Rick, call dispatch, give them the down and dirty. We'll need all hands looking out. Have someone go to the Pursell ranch."
"Carlton,” I broke in. “Pete got fired. I don't think he'd be at the ranch."
"Maybe,” he said. “But I'm not ruling it out."
"What can we do?” Tucker asked.
"Nothing.” Carlton stared at the both of us. “Go out to the Wild Moon and get some sleep. I'd rather not have to worry about two civilians out there with some crazy who has a gun and knows how to use it."
I started to say something, but Tucker held me back and I shut up. No point in arguing. When Carlton left, I knew we'd go looking ourselves. By now, I was sure Niko had called the Wild Moon to elicit assistance. I had no doubt he was out of human sight, listening in.
Carlton pulled out his cell phone. “Rick, when you finish with dispatch, get Judge Morales on the line. I want a warrant for Carl Pursell.” He dialed a number. “Mary, bad news. Yeah, he took her. Go on over to her house and sit with Tio and Tia. They don't need to be hearing it from Chris on the morning show. It's near time they get up to go open the café.” He paused. “Right. Will do."
With that, he flipped the phone shut and sat down on an armchair.
CHAPTER THIRTY
"Who are you?” Carlton said, staring past us out the front door.
Neither Tucker nor I looked around. We'd both heard Niko come up the porch and inside. Why the hell hadn't he stayed away?
"Wait, I remember you,” Carlton continued. “You're from the Wild Moon, right? Work up there?"
"I do,” Niko responded with a smile. He crossed in front of me and sat close in to Tucker, as if staking a claim.
Carlton studied him, me, then back to Tucker. As the clue bus hit him, his eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. I glanced over at Niko whose expression was indescribable—a cross between a canary-stuffed cat and twelve-year-old boy who'd pulled one over on his dad. Boys. Did they ever grow up?
"Now what?” I asked Carlton.
"Now, you wait and, in about two minutes, I'm going to go out that door and join my guys."
"Two minutes?"
"Yes, I'm going to wait for the EMTs, make sure Ignacio is okay."
"Okay.” What else could I say?
"Once Ignacio is gone, you two go back to the Wild Moon. I'd rather you not stay here. Or go over and sit with Tio and Tia, keep them company.” Carlton let out a long exhale. “It's been one hell of a night."
I looked at him. “That implies there's more to the night than this?"
"We found the kids."
"You did?"
He pulled off his Stetson and placed it carefully on the couch next to him and ran a hand through his hair. More gray there, I noticed. More than last year. He was getting older. Forty stared him in the face, along with a re-election this year. Was Carlton satisfied here in Rio Seco? In all this craziness, he hadn't once spoken of his wife, his kids, that they were missing him while he was working insane hours. I looked at his face, now weary with lines that hadn't been there six months ago.
"They've been camping out in an empty house over by the lake. Someone saw lights there and reported it. I've spent the last two hours talking to them."
"So?"
"You were right, they went up to the Angel to do some silly ritual thing Brittany got out of a book. When they were up there, they got freaked out, saw something."
Carlton had the strangest look on his face.
"Something?” I prompted.
He picked up his hat and began playing with it. I was familiar with this gesture. It meant he was uncomfortable.
"They told me some stupid story about a vampire and a deer and blood. Scared the beejeezus out of them and they went running off into the night. Got into Jimmy's truck and drove halfway around the lake, ended up at a house that the Wentzes own and usually rent out. No tenants right now."
Niko, Tucker and I exchanged glances. I had to fight to keep a neutral, yet interested, expression on my face. My brother and his vampire lover smiled back at Carlton, as if the whole thing was oh, tres amusant.
Carlton shrugged. “Kids. Anyhow, whatever scared them, they took off and didn't want to come back."
"What was that whole ritual thing about anyway?"
"You're not going to believe this. It was because a couple of them were dating,” he responded. “Except not Missy dating Matt, but because Jimmy and Matt were boyfriends. Matt's father found out, kicked Matt out of the house. Missy went with him, and Brittany, who is friends with Jimmy, tagged along. They made up the whole three-wheeling story. They were going to run awa
y to Austin or San Antonio, but Brittany had talked them into going to the Angel first. They hid out at an old fishing shed that Jimmy's uncle once took him to, then snuck back after dark to go to the Angel."
Carlton fidgeted with his hat, then continued.
"When they saw the ‘vampire'—” I could hear the quote marks in Carlton's tone “—they freaked out. Then Jimmy's truck broke down halfway to Austin so they hiked over to the lake house."
"You all didn't check the place?” Tucker asked.
Carlton shook his head. “Yeah, I know, stupid, but Mrs. Wentz told us she'd been out there already. Turns out she knew what was going on and lied, trying to cover for the boys. She'd been planning to go over there and give the kids cash, but ever since Brittany's mom rang the alarm, there had been a nosy neighbor or a cop or someone with her all the time. About three hours ago, one of the local patrols over there noticed lights were on at the house. They knew it was supposed to be empty and knew it belonged to the Wentzes. They'd heard about the search, went over there and found the kids."
"Do they still think they've seen a vampire?” Niko asked drily.
"Nah, they realize now it was probably some poacher out doing some very illegal night hunting. They let their imaginations and the spooky place get to them."
"That's good.” Tucker elbowed Niko in the side. Niko ignored him. I hoped that Carlton hadn't noticed this little byplay, or wrote it off as boys being boys.
"So what's going to happen to them?” I asked.
"I talked to Mrs. Wentz,” Carlton said. “Her husband is still out of the country on business. She's agreed to set Matt up at the lake house for the time being and send over a housekeeper. Jimmy's going to stay with him, evidently. They've agreed to stay there and finish school and graduate. Then she's going to help them find a place in Austin. She said she'd deal with Matt's father."
"So all's well that ends well.” I hoped that was so, for their sake. Poor kids, going out to the cemetery, hoping that a ritual would help them work things out so those two boys could be together. Then, catching sight of a vampire on the hunt. It was a good thing no one believed them. No doubt by now, they didn't believe it themselves.
