Scarlet Revenge

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

  *

  When her phone rang a little after midnight, Naomi was positive it had to be Tory or Colin. Earlier, they’d gone back to the LOC to grab the New Testament. One glance at the caller ID and her heart sank. Not a chance Nathan would be calling just to say hello. Did he ever sleep anymore? Sure didn’t seem like it. In fact, the last few days, it seemed like all he was doing was calling her or showing up on her doorstep.

  “Yeah,” she said into the handset, holding it with an uncharacteristic death grip.

  “You’ve got a big problem, sister.”

  “Me? Why?” The tension in Nathan’s voice set her on edge. Apparently this was starting to get to him as well.

  “A crowd’s beginning to mingle at the church.”

  A crowd? It didn’t make sense. “I don’t understand. There’s no service tonight. Nobody should be hanging around there this time of night.”

  “Somebody’s let the cat out of the bag. The rumor running through the crowd is that the church harbors preternaturals, and now they want them brought out.”

  “Nathan, that’s crazy. No one’s at the church except the security guards. No one ever stays there, human or preternatural.”

  “Yeah, you know that and I know that, but about thirty or forty people are outside right now that don’t, and let’s just say they’re starting to get restless.”

  Her hands began to tremble, not exactly a great trait for a big, strong vampire hunter. Maybe there was more than one reason she was an ex-vampire hunter. She could think of only one thing to do. “I’ll be right there.”

  “Don’t come alone.”

  “Who do you want me to bring? Nobody’s around right now.” Seriously, about the only other people she could call would be the bishop or another of the clergy, and chances were they’d be unavailable. This was Ordinary Time, an uneventful period in the calendar of worship, which was why during the last few weeks only Naomi and one priest had been presenting services. Last thing she heard, the bishop was in California at a clergy meeting.

  “Bring the hunter.”

  “Colin? Are you serious?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  She didn’t know what to say to that. Nathan had never been real big on the whole hunter thing even when she was one. It wasn’t that he disapproved of the ideal behind the corps of hunters the church employed. No, it was more that he liked to operate inside the normal channels when dealing with anyone, whether they were human or not. It was one of the reasons he always took issue with the hunters’ style of justice.

  He didn’t exactly have to coax her into agreeing to take Colin along. Frankly, she’d feel better with him there. Naomi told Nathan as much, then hung up and turned to look at Ivy, Riah, and Adriana. “I’ve got to go.” She headed for the closet to grab her jacket. “Shit is about to hit the fan.”

  “We’ll go with you.” Riah followed her. “You’re not going into something dangerous without backup.”

  Turning, Naomi held out a hand. “No!”

  Riah stopped abruptly, looking as though Naomi had slapped her. “What?”

  “I’m sorry.” Naomi apologized in a hurry. “I didn’t mean to snap. But you really can’t come with me. An angry crowd’s gathering at the church and I’ve got to go try to talk them down.”

  “At the church?” Ivy piped up. “Why?”

  “They think we’re harboring preternaturals inside.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” This came from Adriana. “I’ll go with you.”

  Of the three, Adriana was the only one who might be safe. Still human—aside from being born in a parallel world, that is—she would be able to move easily in the crowd searching for those who were not. Still, this was her problem, not Adriana’s. The thought of putting anyone else in danger just didn’t work for her. “I don’t think you should.”

  “Bullshit,” Ivy declared. “We’re all going. Don’t think for a second we’re going to let you go into the fray alone. That’s not the way we do things.”

  “No.” Naomi insisted. “It’s too dangerous. People are out for blood…particularly vampire blood. This could get out of hand very easily and I don’t want anyone hurt…or worse. I’ve seen it happen before.”

  Riah and Ivy looked at each other and shook their heads. Riah slipped on her jacket and walked to the door. “I’ve been hunted before more times than you can imagine. I can deal with it and so can Ivy and Adriana. Now let’s get on the road before someone who can’t gets hurt.”

  Nobody seemed to listen to her. It was as if she was talking to a wall instead of a trio of intelligent women. If she couldn’t convince a single one of them to stay here, how on earth was she going to persuade a crowd of angry people to disperse? She started to give it one more try but she was alone. All three of the others were already outside.

  In the car, Naomi asked Ivy to call Colin. As much as Nathan could be a pain in the ass, right now she agreed with him: having another hunter to back her up was a good idea.

  Kind of odd, this turn of events. In the old days, she’d be hunting the preternaturals in her quest to keep the humans safe. She would have been front and center trying to flush out vampires and any other ilk of preternatural hiding so she could put them down. Tonight, her position was a hundred and eighty degrees from that. She and Colin would be keeping the preternaturals safe from the humans.

  Funny how things worked out.

  It wasn’t remotely funny when they arrived at the cathedral. Nathan either couldn’t count very well or the crowd had grown significantly since his call. The latter was the more probable scenario, and now the number outside the front doors easily reached a hundred. Fortunately, Tory and Colin pulled in right behind them into the underground parking area. Naomi ushered the entire group into the lower-level entrance door.

  Rather than taking them upstairs into the main vestry, she guided them to a room on the lower level. Better safe than sorry. The women protested when Colin and Naomi turned in the direction of the ascending stairs. Riah, Ivy, Tory, and Adriana wanted to go up with them. It wasn’t a good idea. This was a battle for humans…period.

  Adriana wasn’t about to be left behind and Naomi wasn’t going to argue with her. Despite her birth into a parallel dimension, Adriana, like Naomi, was human. From that standpoint, she was on safer ground. Naomi’s main concern was that Adriana was such a little sprite of a thing, she’d be too easily hurt. How much backup could this delicate woman be? She told her as much and it didn’t go over very well.

  “Oh, good grief.” Adriana scoffed. “I can kick ass and take names with the best of them, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about me. Besides, didn’t anyone tell you? I’m a kick-butt wizard. My power could come in handy. Now, come on, let’s go before this gets any worse.”

  Colin came to Adriana’s defense. “She’s right, Naomi. I’ve seen her put down more than one. She’ll be fine and her powers could come in useful. I’m not opposed to having every available weapon at the ready.”

  She still wasn’t totally convinced. Then again, she wasn’t totally opposed either. Colin had a point. Weapons came in all different sizes and shapes. “All right.” She headed to the stairs. “Let’s see what we can do.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tory paced the hallway outside the small chapel where Ivy and Riah sat quietly talking. Simply sitting around and waiting wasn’t working for her. Small talk was even worse, and a waste of her time and energy. She kept thinking about what Viola had shared with her—all this was happening because of her.

  Well, that wasn’t exactly what Viola had relayed, but the ripple effect was undeniable. If Tory hadn’t been here, the crowd outside wouldn’t be threatening the District, the murders wouldn’t have happened, and this city would still be coexisting peacefully under its unspoken truce. The events of recent days all pointed squarely in her direction. She was the catalyst to the violence and chaos that gripped the city.

  Story of her life—one catastrophe after another. It had sta
rted with her mother and continued even after they took her head. Tory’s birth and survival had been a big bad secret never shared with any but a trusted few. Her presence in the lives of those who helped her was dangerous. She was a liability for anyone and everyone around her. Her family suffered because of it. Her friends died because of it. Now an entire city was reeling because of it.

  Somehow it had to stop.

  Walking through the darkened hallways, she felt the souls of those entombed here—Helen Keller, Anne Sullivan, Woodrow Wilson. So many others whose deeds of kindness, philanthropy, and dedication made the country, and the world, better. All in stark contrast to what Tory was bringing into this time and place. It wasn’t right and it wasn’t just this time and place. It was every time and every place since the day she was born. Wherever she went, danger followed and people died.

  Perhaps it would be better if she finally just threw in the towel. What was the point anyway? Sure, she knew books. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a few hundred years, give or take, to become a respected expert, even if she did have to change her name and identity over and over. It was a rare treat in this incarnation to actually be a version of her true self.

  Expertise aside, she wasn’t all that special. There was any number of rare-book experts throughout the world who could easily step into her shoes. If she wasn’t around any longer, the world would simply continue without her. For that matter, who would even remember her? Special, she wasn’t. No one really needed her and few would miss her.

  Once upon a time, she’d felt special. Not the creepy, unnatural kind of unique created when she’d been turned. That whole master, novice thing in the vampire world didn’t count. Dysfunctional was a far better descriptor for that one. No, the only time she’d really felt special, even loved, was with Roland. For almost a decade she’d caught a glimpse of what it was like to be truly loved.

  It all changed again on that awful night, and her rose-colored glasses were pulled from her face and crushed. Reality rushed in and never again did she allow herself the luxury of loving another…human or vampire. It wasn’t worth the pain and heartache. As long as she walked the earth, she’d never forget the look in Roland’s eyes that night or how she felt in the face of his utter disappointment. Failure was hard enough to live with in a normal lifetime. When that life never ended, it was crushing.

  Everything would be so much easier if she just ended it all, except she wasn’t strong enough to let go of her life, such as it was. So instead of bringing her existence to an end, she hid like a little girl afraid of the bogeyman. She hit the hidey-hole jackpot here. The Library of Congress was a fantastic place to hide. Huge, with enough work to keep her busy for at least a hundred years, it was perfect for an antisocial, commitment-phobic vampire.

  Unfortunately, even with all its undeniable perks, she couldn’t stay more than a decade or two. Before too long, she’d have to move on. Leaving, whether she wanted to or not, was an integral part of her existence. This job, like so many before it, only marked time for her. She enjoyed the work while it lasted and then found a new name, a new place to live, and a new place to work. Moving on was what she did.

  That’s not what bothered her now. She just didn’t appreciate being pushed. She wanted to be the one to choose when to go, but tonight it seemed that decision, like so many others in her life, was out of her hands. Others were once more directing the course of her life.

  She walked down the darkened hallway until she reached yet another small chapel. Alone, she sank to the kneeling board in front of the altar, dropping her head into her hands. She had to think, had to figure out a way to stop all the madness happening outside. Naomi, Colin, and Adriana shouldn’t have to bear the burden of a catastrophe started because of her.

  The air was stale down here, the board beneath her knees hard despite the pad designed to make it more comfortable. It reminded her of the chapels of her youth. She’d prayed for guidance in those days, believing God would show her the way. Her hand strayed to her neck and she fingered the black pearls she always wore. The handcrafted silver and black pearl necklace was the only thing she possessed that had once belonged to her mother. Ever since she’d been a child, it gave her comfort.

  At the sound of footsteps, she jerked her head up. A woman she didn’t recognize walked through the open door and directly toward her. She jumped up and backed away until a wall at her back stopped her. She had no avenue of escape.

  “What do you want?” Her survival instincts made her canines lengthen and her focus sharpen. A rush of adrenaline coursed through her body. She was coiled and ready to leap.

  The woman stopped, her hands folded in front of her. Her dark hair was parted in the middle and pulled back into an intricately designed head-hugging cap. She wore a simple white dress that flattered her slender figure, a beaded choker from which dangled a gold filigree pendant with what looked like an emerald in the center, around her neck. “I came to talk with you, Victoria.” Her voice was soft, and something in her face whispered familiar to Tory.

  She tilted her head and studied the woman. Her skin was smooth and unlined, so white her dark eyes stood out. The way she gazed back at Tory should have bothered her, but it didn’t. Her canines began to recede.

  “Do I know you?”

  The woman shook her head, her expression suddenly radiating melancholy. “Not really. Once, a very long time ago. You were far too young to remember.”

  The woman’s manner of speaking was odd—too formal and very soft, as if she was afraid to speak loudly. A little like she remembered her family—the family that had raised her far from the Tower of London, where she’d been born. “How did you know I was here?”

  She inclined her head and a tiny smile turned up the corner of her mouth. Her eyes were gentle. “I just knew.”

  Not exactly an answer. Tory studied the stranger’s face. Something…

  “You look familiar,” she insisted.

  The woman’s gaze touched on something deep inside her and she couldn’t shake the feeling that, whatever it was, she should know. She didn’t often forget those she met. Names maybe, but faces, never.

  “I suppose I do.”

  “You said I don’t know you.”

  “No, Victoria. I said you were too young to remember our meeting.”

  What the hell? “Can you please enlighten me? I’d absolutely remember you if we’d met before.”

  “Sit.” She sat on one of the small pews in the tiny chapel and patted the seat beside her.

  Tory hesitated. Even if the woman’s presence wasn’t threatening, she wasn’t impressed with all the vagueness, especially right now. This was not the time for games, except, even neck-deep in the chaos around her, the woman had managed to grab her attention. She was, against her better judgment, intrigued. There was something about this woman she recognized at a subconscious level, and she wasn’t leaving until she figured out what it was.

  “Why do I know you?”

  A dark cloud seemed to pass across the woman’s pretty face before she said softly, “You were never given the chance to know me. Time ran out for me and you were taken away for your own safety.”

  Uneasiness prickled at the back of Tory’s neck. “You’re starting to freak me out. What do you mean we didn’t have enough time together? Who the hell are you?”

  She took Tory’s hand in hers. Silently, she stared into her eyes and the tingle of the familiar became something much more. The enormity of the thought racing through her mind was unbelievable and, even considering everything she’d experienced in her long life, too big a stretch even for her. Still, the truth was right in front of her and denial didn’t change a thing.

  “Oh, my God.” Realization hit like a baseball bat to the head. Her eyes were so like Tory’s it was frightening, and that wasn’t the end of it. “I look just like you, but how? Why? Why now?”

  She inclined her head slightly, still studying Tory’s face. “You needed me.”

  “I still d
on’t understand. I’ve needed you a hundred times since I was born. You were never there, until now.”

  Despite her best intentions, tears started to well in her eyes. An ache began in her chest, something she believed she was long over. Time hadn’t softened the pain. The reality of her life as an orphan still hurt. She had been fed, clothed, and protected, but she doubted she’d ever really been loved. Everyone had been acutely aware of the danger her presence in their lives presented, so she’d been alone until Pierre. And that didn’t count.

  “You needed me,” she said again. “So I came.”

  “I always needed you.” She hated the echo of a sob that sounded in her voice. Weakness was not something she ever allowed anyone to see or hear. Not even a ghost.

  Again the shadow of darkness crossed the woman’s face. “I’m sorry, so terribly sorry. I never meant to leave you, and if I could have stayed I would have. I didn’t have a choice.”

  It was too much. Outside the world was fracturing; inside it was her sanity. “Are you as I am?” What other explanation could there be?

  She lightly squeezed Tory’s arm, her fingers warm on her skin. “No, I am as I’ve been since that day in the Tower of London.”

  “When they took your head.” She was right; she appeared as young and vital as on the day she died.

  The woman nodded and pressed a warm hand to Tory’s cheek. Tory pressed against her hand, feeling the warmth of it to her soul. How she’d longed for this simple touch every night as she’d hidden away in her room.

  “But I can feel you, hear you, even smell you.”

  “Yes.”

  “HOW?” Her voice rose and the panic in her chest almost swallowed her whole. So much for being in control. What was happening at this moment was impossible, even for her. In all her centuries of life, she’d never encountered a ghost.

  “Faith.” The single word seemed to be her no-questions answer. She continued before Tory could protest. “Please listen, my time is short. He is coming for you, and you must protect yourself and the ones you love.”