‘We need to go after this thing. Capture it and destroy it using a smear of Laura’s blood. It’s the only thing that works.’
‘Alec’s right. Why wait for it to come after us? I could do with a good hunt. My blood’s really up now.’ Terens pulled his dagger from his boot and flicked it point first into the floor. With a satisfying thud, it lodged into the narrow mortar between the stone tiles.
‘Remember what happened last time?’ Cal tapped the front of his head. ‘It nearly got me, man. I’m not confronting that thing unless I’ve got aluminium foil wrapped round my head.’
Cal facetiousness brought a smile to my face. But Terens appeared to be taking it seriously. ‘Reckon it could work?’
Sam snorted.
I hadn’t seen much of him lately. He’d been down at the crypt, in the tunnels—or what remained of them—rewiring the crippled security system and shoring up the chateau’s foundations. It had been designed to withstand any explosion. Still, it didn’t hurt to be sure.
‘Sam, how secure are we?’
He pulled out his phone, punched a few buttons and stared at the screen before pocketing it again. ‘No way can it get through.’ He pointed at me. ‘With the ward ring, this place is secure.’
I took his word for it.
‘We caught it once before; we can do it again. This time, get rid of it for good.’ Marcus’s face creased into a feral grin, his eyes shining at the thrill of the hunt.
It was infectious. ‘When do you plan to leave?’
‘Soon as I can. I must contact the Elders and get them to send out some hunting parties. I’ll take Terentius and Calixtus with me.’
Cal touched his head in salute. Terens grinned.
Lucky bastards! But I couldn’t do that to Laura. She was my responsibility. Plus, I’d miss being away from her, anyway.
‘Don’t forget the aluminium foil,’ Sam added with a smirk.
Hand up to her mouth, Laura tried to hide her laugh.
‘Now, the next thing you all need to know.’ Marcus’s gaze connected with mine. ‘The Brethren don’t want the curse to end.’
‘No surprises there,’ Terens drawled. He flicked his dagger between thumb and forefinger, balancing the sharp blade tip on the end of his finger without drawing blood. He was quite adept.
Laura flinched a few times watching him. I tried not to laugh.
‘They’ve tasted daylight, and with no more blood vials to come, they’re edgy.’ Marcus moved away from the window and perched on the corner of my desk—guess it was my desk now—knuckles white as his hands gripped the green malachite edge.
Jake and I shared a glance. No results yet. We needed a breakthrough, and soon.
‘Anyone said anything ... any hint of threats...?’ Sam leaned forward in his chair, hands clasped in front of him.
Cal took his cue from Marcus. ‘Not in so many words. They were compliant enough, but we sensed ... something going on. I smelled anger and duplicity. If they’re not plotting something, I’ll eat my sword.’
‘Dammit to hell! Why don’t they give it a break. We shared the vials with them. Ungrateful mongrels!’ I rarely saw Jake lose his temper. No doubt our slow progress in the lab was behind his outburst.
That bugged me too. Not much we could do about it, though.
‘Between this and the lamia’ —he took a deep breathe— ‘perhaps now’s the time to move the household to Caledonia.’ Marcus’s sudden pronouncement took everyone by surprise, except for Cal.
Why couldn’t he simply say Scotland?
Laura’s hand flew to her belly. ‘But there’s still plenty of time. I’m not due for ages yet.’
Terens stopped flipping his dagger, head snapping up as he gaped open mouthed at Marcus. ‘Commander ... why so soon?’
I rose from my seat. ‘Marcus, with all due respect—’
‘We can’t! Alec and I are still working on the antigen, and we’ve had a breakthrough. Got the damned thing identified and isolated. Next step is replication. We’re so close.’ Jake pushed away from the door and approached Marcus. ‘Just a little more time; that’s all we need.’
‘How much more time?’
Jake and I exchanged glances.
‘Couple of weeks—’
‘Month.’
Jake turned to me with an expression that didn’t fill me with confidence.
Marcus’s eyes flared. It wasn’t like Jake to question his commander’s orders. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had.
Jake lowered his head. ‘Forgive me, Marcus, I meant to say Alec and I are still working on the antigen, and we’ve had a breakthrough. We’re so close. Just a little more time, that’s all I ask.’
‘I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I don’t believe we have a week, let alone a month, especially with half of our company away hunting the lamia. Nor do I expect them to come here. It’s pointless, no? The grave site, on the other hand, if they were to destroy that or prevent Laura from coming anywhere near it ... I think you can all see the problem.’
I did. According to the witch’s stipulations, our child had to be born on the site of the massacre.
Luc had originally built a house on the site with an enclosing wall screening it off from human eyes. To make doubly sure no one would encroach on it, he’d used the ward ring to make it virtually invisible. The house had stood for centuries, until he’d replaced it with an impregnable fortress.
In my mind’s eye, a shimmering haze surrounded the site. Anyone straying into the area would see a clearing surrounded by woodland. Apart from wildlife, I sensed no humans, nor Brethren in the area.
‘Except for us, no one knows the exact location of the gravesite. And even if they do somehow manage to work it out, the ward around it makes it invisible,’ I said.
‘The shield fools the eyes, but not the nose.’ Marcus tapped the side of his. ‘Our scents are all over the place, and so is ... hers.’ He grimaced. I guessed he was referring to the witch who’d created the curse. ‘Any of our kind can follow the scent, home in on it, even if they can’t see it, then surround the place and prevent us getting in.’
‘They want a fight? I’m ready.’ Terens snarled. With a flick of his wrist, he pinned a passing moth to the wall near where Sam stood.
Laura’s eyes widened. ‘I really need to practice more,’ she muttered, her fingers stroking the belt buckle at her waist.
Another thing I’d neglected, stuck in the lab with Jake. The men were always ready for a fight, but she wasn’t. The last thing I wanted was to expose Laura to more danger, especially now.
‘I’ll contact Dougal to get him to send out an extra patrol. Perhaps even send Sam to update the security monitors.’ Sam gave me a nod and a smile. ‘If any Brethren come within sniffing distance, Dougal’ll take care of them. Meanwhile, with you, Terens and Cal hunting down the lamia, the rest of us can remain secure here, and hopefully, by the time Laura’s due, Jake and I will have replicated the antigen, and we can join you there.’
‘I second that.’ Jake looked expectantly at Marcus.
‘Who’s Dougal?’ Laura asked.
‘Caretaker of the site. I appointed him after the First Rebellion. A good man.’ A fleeting smile crossed Marcus’s face.
Laura’s gaze flitted to me, one eyebrow raised in question.
He’s one of us, Laura—our clan. Marcus sired him. He’s faithfully guarded the site for the last thousand-or-so years.
He’s Marcus’s juvy? I don’t why that should surprise me.
Tell you about it later.
‘Sounds like a plan. What do you say, Commander?’ Terens retrieved his dagger, cleaning off the remains of the moth on his pants.
Marcus’s gaze darted from man to man—each of whom gave brief nods of approval—then, finally, back to me. A smile stole across his lips. ‘I approve.’
Jake heaved a sigh of relief and slapped me on the back. Would he have defied Marcus had I not received his approval?
Laura gave me a w
ink.
‘Next thing.’ Marcus motioned to Laura. ‘Did you bring the diary with you?’
Our eyes briefly connected before she extracted a brown leather notebook from her bag and held it out to him. I couldn’t recall ever having seen it.
‘I think it best if you explain,’ he said then indicated for her to pass the notebook to me.
I flipped through its pages, scanning through the lists as all eyes turned to her. Several names had been crossed out, others added. Judy must’ve kept amending it over time, as some of the details were out of date—the human names listed were now Brethren, yet others were recent additions, names I believed only Luc and I knew. Had he shared this information with her?
‘That’s it.’ She finished relating everything, and, like a schoolteacher, clasped her hands in front of her, ready to answer her students’ questions.
Terens swore softly as he sat back down and dropped his head back over the edge of the chair.
Sam looked shell shocked—staring open-mouthed at Laura. ‘Why would Judith write all that down? It makes no sense.’
‘It kind of does,’ Laura said. ‘She’d used a similar ploy successfully against her first husband, so I guess she thought why not do the same to protect the man she loved? That,’ she pointed toward the diary in my hand, ‘was her insurance policy. Maybe she thought if they knew their names were recorded somewhere it would be enough to deter anyone from betraying them.’
‘Okay, I’ll buy that, but why hide it in a public place? Rather defeats the purpose, don’t you think?’ He shrugged and held his hands out as he panned the room.
‘It’s been there all this time without being disturbed,’ I added. ‘Who’d think to look behind an old bible in a small village library?’
‘But why not here ... in our library?’ Sam pointed with his thumb towards the door.
‘Because Madame Thierry would probably snoop it out, as she did everything else. Judy never liked her. Now we all know why.’ Laura’s eyes flashed, but her voice wavered as she aired what each of us had come to know, too.
Sam dipped his head, stuck his hands into his pockets and nodded. It wasn’t that Judy had lacked faith in his security system. It was rather she had misgivings in the integrity of her housekeeper. And, sadly, those came to fruition in the most tragic of ways.
‘The question is, what do we do with the notebook? Hide it or destroy it?’ Marcus asked, his gaze landing on each of us.
Chapter 13 - Easy Solution
LAURA
Destroy it? No! Everything within me screamed against that suggestion.
‘Do we have to destroy it? It’s one of the few things left of Judy’s. Can’t we just hide it? I’m sure it’s safe to keep here in the chateau now.’ I scanned the men’s faces.
Jake shook his head. ‘Burn it,’ and ‘Destroy it,’ coming simultaneously out of his and Cal’s mouths.
Terens shrugged and rolled his head to the side toward Sam. ‘Yeah, s’pose. What do you think, bro?’
Sam’s brows creased as his glance strayed to a section of bookcase near the door. ‘I’ve re-alarmed everything and changed the security codes. Should be okay.’
Yes. ‘Doesn’t Luc have a hidden safe somewhere in here?’ His name came out of my mouth so naturally. This had been Luc’s office. How long before I stop referring to it as such? ‘I mean—’
‘It’s okay, darling. I know what you mean. It’s still Luc’s office to me too. As for the diary...’ Alec exchanged glances with Marcus, who’d paled at the mention of Luc’s name. ‘Nothing much in here that I don’t know. Most of it’s redundant, but there are still a few relevant names we wouldn’t want anyone but us to know.’
I nodded.
‘But still, I had to memorise that list to avoid this very situation.’ Alec’s gaze bore through me. He knew what that notebook meant to me, and from the gentle yet reproving tone in his voice, he disapproved of what Judy had done.
The seconds ticked by.
Like a statue, Marcus remained perched on the edge of the desk, arms folded, staring at the ground. ‘Regardless of Judy’s intensions, my son never intended that knowledge to be recorded.’
‘Exactly,’ Jake added.
‘I’m sorry, Laura, but the information in this notebook is too dangerous,’ Alec said.
My heart sank. ‘Looks like I’m out voted.’ And had to accept the inevitable. Perhaps I should’ve left that notebook where Judy had hidden it.
Alec dropped the diary into a lidded metal wastepaper basket on the floor, pulled open the top drawer of the desk and withdrew a lighter.
I held my breath as he flicked it and a small blue flame erupted.
‘Alec, wait.’ Being so focused on the flame, I jumped at Marcus’s voice. ‘Hand me that book.’ He flicked through the notebook again.
What was he hoping to find?
‘I have an idea,’ he finally said.
My breath hitched as he ripped out page after page, scrunched them up and threw them in the waste paper basket.
‘Come, look.’ He beckoned to me.
The pages had been removed so cleanly that I could see no tear mark. The only page left untouched was near the beginning, where Judy had left a brief note identifying the notebook as hers and that all the information it contained was correct. It ended with her signature and the date.
‘Now watch.’ Marcus then jotted down a list of his own—mimicking Judy’s handwriting. Some names I recognised, some I didn’t.
Incredible! How did he do that?
Who would’ve guessed he was a master forger. If I hadn’t been familiar with my mother’s handwriting, I could’ve easily been fooled. ‘Those names aren’t...?’
Marcus shook his head and smiled. ‘Deus no! They’re heads of criminal organisations, so if this ever falls into the wrong hands, they will be the targets.’ He gave a grim little laugh, closed the notebook and handed it to me. ‘Now you can keep it and hide it wherever you like. Judy’s words are still there but without that confidential list.’
I hugged his neck. ‘Thank you, grandfather, and I’m not going to ask how you know those crims. But how’d you forge her writing like that?’
His eyes twinkled, and he tapped the side of his nose. ‘My secret.’ And for the second time tonight, he boomed out a laugh. For those few seconds, the sadness had left his eyes.
‘So all those centuries cooped up with monks copying manuscripts paid off after all, eh Marcus?’ Teens drawled, a wide grin on his face.
‘Maybe.’
Alec stood and inclined his head to Marcus. ‘I owe you.’
‘Couldn’t bear to see my granddaughter unhappy. This seemed the best solution.’
‘It is.’ I tucked the notebook into my pocket, mentally picturing where to hide it, although it was no longer necessary.
Alec lit the discarded pages. We watched as the flames reduced them to ash, plumes of dark smoke curling up to the ceiling. Jake opened the garden-side doors, the sudden icy in-draft swelling the flames just as Alec slammed the lid shut.
‘Just as well you don’t have a sprinkler system in here,’ I said.
‘Too difficult to install in these old houses. Believe me, I’ve thought about it.’ Sam’s gaze scanned the room, brows drawn, as if mentally picturing the possibility.
The thought of a real fire in this beautiful library, with its collection of rare and valuable manuscripts was enough to make me shiver. Surely, there had to be a way to install one.
I’ll talk to Alec abut it later.
Terens motioned to rise. ‘We done?’
‘One more thing.’ Alec glanced at me, his voice whispering through my mind, ‘Wedding.’
I nodded.
Jake closed the garden-side door and stood back against it, arms folded across his chest.
Alec cleared his throat. He’d never done that before. Was he nervous?
‘Laura and I would like to be married—before the baby’s born.’
‘Before I begin
to show.’ I patted my belly.
‘Hey, sounds good to me.’ Terens gave me a wink.
‘Preferably tomorrow morning, now that the period of mourning is over and we can officially take our blood vials. A small, private ceremony, and since there’s no chapel on the grounds anymore, we’d like it in the village church.’ He held out his hand to me, and I grasped it.
Morning was perfect. No unexpected Brethren showing up ... or lamia, for that matter.
It took a moment, but soon the handshakes, hugs and slaps on the back began.
Marcus beamed. It was a day for firsts. ‘Wonderful. Deus! We need some rejoicing.’ He took hold of my other hand. ‘May I give the bride away?’
Tears stung my eyes as I hugged him once again. ‘Of course.’
The others filed out, leaving Alec and I alone.
Over his right shoulder, on the wall, hung another photograph of me. One of a myriad decorating Luc’s study. How much time had Alec spent in this room, and its counterpart in Sydney, seeing the same pictures over and over again. It triggered a memory, a comment Luc had made the day Alec had asked me to marry him. At the time I’d been too overwhelmed by events to have given it much thought.
‘Luc said that you’d been in love with me for years. How’s that possible when we’d never met before that night in the cathedral?’
Alec’s brows shot upwards and a faint smile graced his lips. ‘That’s out of the blue.’
I waved at the photo-covered wall. ‘Seeing all this somehow brought it back.’
His gaze briefly swept the room before beckoning to me onto his lap. ‘Luc noticed something I didn’t, and only afterwards it made sense. I couldn’t stop looking at you in those pictures. I watched you grow up in them. He was so damn proud of you.’
My heart lurched, and I lay my head on his shoulder. ‘I wish we’d had more time.’
Alec kissed the top of my head. ‘He was a wily fox. Every time we had anything to discuss, he’d insist on meeting in his office when we could have just as easily gone elsewhere. Always managed to bring you up in conversations ... what you were doing, things you’d said.... It didn’t dawn on me what he was doing until it was too late—until I couldn’t stop staring at you in those photos ... slowly falling in love with you, without me realising.’
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