Blood Shadows (8 page)

And then the entire world went black.

five

Kagen Silivasi laid Deanna Dubois down ever so gently on a clean hospital bed in the empty room next to Nachari’s. As he carefully unwrapped a plastic hub, a hypodermic needle, and a vacuum tube from a blood draw kit, he called out telepathically to his eldest brother Marquis and his twin Nathaniel:
Brothers…are you there?

Marquis responded in less than thirty seconds.
What is it, Healer? Is something wrong with Nachari?

I’m here, brother,
Nathaniel chimed in, his psychic voice appropriately concerned.

Kagen sighed, searching for the right words to convey all that he needed to tell them, hoping to bring them up to speed succinctly and with minimal drama.
Nachari is fine…there has been no change in his physical health. However, something rather…unusual…has come up.

Unusual? How so?
Nathaniel asked.

Marquis remained silent, listening attentively, assessing with a keen ear as always.

Kagen sat down beside the hospital bed, rolled up Deanna’s sleeve, and applied an alcohol wipe to her inner arm, just above her brachial artery.
I’m not sure exactly how to say this,
but a human woman came to the clinic today looking for Nachari.

Does she belong to one of the human families that serve the Vampyr?
Nathaniel asked.
Perhaps she just wanted to visit—

No, brother,
Kagen interrupted.
She came to the clinic pretending to be a CNA
looking for a job: She had no idea what we were or what the clinic was all about. When Katia tried to
scare
her away—rather forcefully, I might add—she changed course and pretended to
be a
government agent
following up on
patient
complaints about the clinic. At that point, Katia came to get me.

Nathaniel whistled low beneath his breath.
Humans,
he said absently.

Go on,
Marquis barked, a hint of impatience in his voice.

Kagen inserted the hypodermic needle cleanly into Deanna’s vein, added the vacuum tube to the end, and began to draw a vial of blood.
Needless to say,
I
knew something was up.
And actually, so did
the human—the
moment she saw me.
For whatever reason, my presence spooked her,
and she decided to take off running. That’s when
she dropped a case full of drawings
on the floor. They were
pencil and charcoal sketches of Nachari, depicting him quite accurately on
that…horrible
day in the meadow.

What did you say?
Marquis asked, grunting his concern. The Ancient Master Warrior’s hearing was both heightened and flawless, so Kagen knew he had heard him clearly the first time.

I said the woman had a
series
of drawings
portraying
Nachari
in the meadow
the day
he followed Napolean to the Spirit World. She also had some other pictures of him—scenes I
haven’t really had a chance to look at yet—not sure if I want to.

What kind of scenes?
Nathaniel asked. His voice was laced with dismay.

Kagen shook his head as he rose from the chair and plopped the vial in a sterile plastic bag. He placed a small cotton ball over the needle-prick and applied pressure; then, he covered the wound with a Band-Aid and left Deanna in the room to sleep while he headed for the lab to analyze the blood.
The drawing I saw was of the ground opening up and swallowing our brother; the woman depicted several demonic hands reaching up to grab him.
He didn’t want to repeat what Deanna had said to him, but there was no point in mincing words—his brothers needed to know the full scope of what was happening.
When
I asked her about it, she said Nachari was a man who was being ‘tortured in hell.’

A low, feral growl rumbled in Marquis’s throat, even as Nathaniel inadvertently hissed.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Nathaniel asked.

Who is she? What is she?
Marquis demanded.

Kagen sighed.
She’s human, rest assured.
By way of explanation, he added,
My immediate concern was that she had been sent by the Dark Ones—perhaps she was being used as a minion…or
worse: Perhaps
she was
a
tool for some sort of Black Magick,
another possession spell or gods-know-what,
sent here to mess with our heads…or get to Nachari.

And how do you know that’s not the case, brother?
Nathaniel asked.

Because I dove very deeply
into her mind
, Kagen answered emphatically.

As a vampire, the ability to dissect a human’s brain, to discern the truth of their actions and words, was an inherent ability; however, it often caused pain or distress for the human and was strongly frowned upon by Law as a breach of free will. Unless it was absolutely necessary, the sons of Jadon tried very hard to respect a human’s right to privacy. However, the good of the people always came first, and as a Master Healer, Kagen had been trained to move more swiftly and deeply than most, leaving very little trace of the invasion as he entered. Had any other vampire scrutinized Deanna’s mind as deeply as Kagen had in those first critical moments, she may have passed out—or even suffered an aneurism. But as it stood, a piercing headache was all he had left in his wake.

The moment I suspected she was here to harm Nachari, I took her memories.

And?
Marquis asked.

And, toward the end, she was telling the truth. She is a human female who has been drawing these strange
illustrations
for months now. She’s confused. She’s terrified. And frankly, she thinks she’s going mad because the images won’t stop haunting her.
She came to Dark Moon Vale to try and find answers, and her search led her to the clinic.
He paused, remembering Deanna’s reaction to the sight of Nachari lying in the hospital bed, connected to so many monitors.
And, you should have seen her reaction when I took her into Nachari’s room.
She was…devastated.

What do you mean?
Nathaniel asked.

She recognized him…from her drawings…the images in her mind. And she was absolutely
grief-stricken by his condition. There was nothing fake about it.
Her emotions were
far too real…incredibly
raw.

Where is she now?
Marquis asked.

She’s sleeping in exam room
one.

Under compulsion?
Marquis asked.

Of course,
Kagen answered.

Nathaniel sighed.
So what do you make of it?

The truth?
Kagen asked.

No, lie to us,
Marquis snorted, his impatience finally getting the best of him.

Kagen let it slide. They were all accustomed to Marquis’s
special
personality, and they all knew that underneath the harsh, brusque exterior was an endless well of hyper-protectiveness. And love.
I think this woman is deeply connected to our brother,
Kagen said.
And I haven’t looked at all of her drawings yet, but I think she may know more about what is happening to him—why and how his spirit is stuck—than the rest of us.

How is that possible?
Nathaniel asked.
I mean, it’s
true;
we have met some humans with unique psychic abilities lately, but this?
Seems a bit much to me.

I agree,
Marquis snorted.
This kind of information can only come from the source…perhaps Salvatore Nistor…or the
Dark
Lord
Ademordna. Are you sure she isn’t connected to our dark brothers from the house of Jaegar somehow?
What if she—

Is his
destiny
?
Nathaniel interrupted.

The psychic connection went momentarily silent.

I’m ahead of you, twin,
Kagen said.
I don’t see any other way for the two of them to be so deeply connected.

There has been no Blood Moon,
Marquis argued.

True,
Kagen said,
but think about it:
Our
destinies
are chosen before their births. We are connected the moment the gods and goddesses
select
them.
He absently ran his hand through his hair, massaging the base of his neck.
Even though we don’t
meet them—have any way to recognize them—prior to the Blood Moon, the bond is already established.
It’s…inbred.
He paused, searching for the right way to express his thoughts more clearly.
What if whatever has happened to Nachari—whatever is occurring on a spiritual level—is
so strong…so elemental, so to speak…that it has somehow awakened or tapped into the bond between our little brother and his chosen
female.
He thought more about it, and another idea suddenly came to him.
Nachari is
a wizard,
he said.
That means he plays in a realm we don’t even begin to understand.
What if—somehow—he is reaching out to her, using that
primordial
connection,
or even her existence,
to try to get through
to us
from whatever realm he is
in.
I don’t know, but I’m telling you: You had to see her face.
Feel
her emotions.
She was
driven…and
devastated.

Nathaniel blew out a long, contemplative breath.
Okay, so…what next?

There is no definitive way to tell if a female belongs to a vampire before the Blood Moon,
Marquis insisted.
There is no way to prove your theory.
Marquis Silivasi was a brilliant tactician and thus, a male of logic. He preferred to stick to the facts—and
only
the facts.

Kagen said.
True…and false,

True because?
Nathaniel prompted before Marquis could argue.

Because only the Celestial
deities know the true
identity of each male’s
destiny
:
Marquis is right about that.

And
false…why?
Nathaniel prompted.

Because every woman destined to be
the mate of one of our males is
both
chosen—and marked—by the gods
before
birth.
As
we all know, they are human but not. They are compatible to us
through
their—

Celestial DNA,
Marquis supplied the answer.
Have you tested her blood yet?

Doing it as we speak,
Kagen responded.

And if it’s positive,
Nathaniel quipped,
then we know for sure that she is a human
destiny
, but we still don’t have proof that
she belongs specifically to
Nachari.

Correct,
Kagen said.

Marquis sighed.
If it’s positive,
then the combination of physical corroboration and circumstantial evidence is adequate for me.

Kagen rolled his eyes: And Marquis was always ordering everyone else to speak plainly?
Yes,
he said.
Good enough for me, too.
Certainly enough for us to act upon.

Keep her detained,
Marquis said adamantly, issuing the statement as a direct order.
We will be there immediately.

Actually, give me ten
minutes,
Nathaniel said.

You will
not take ten
minutes—you will
go
now,
Marquis barked.

Marquis…
Nathaniel sounded slightly exasperated.

Chill, big brother
, Kagen added.
It can wait ten minutes. It’ll take me a little while to finish analyzing this sample anyhow, and I’d like to collect the rest of those drawings as soon as I’m done.

Five minutes,
Marquis said, brooking no arguments.

Kagen shrugged. Marquis was intense as usual, but it did make sense…sort of. If Deanna was Nachari’s
destiny
, then her life was Nachari’s life. She could not be permitted to leave their sight, and she certainly needed protection from their enemies while they sorted things out. Marquis was no-nonsense about those kinds of matters, especially since the loss of Shelby, and there was nothing anyone was going to say or do to change his perspective.
Very well
, Kagen said.
I’ll see you both
in five minutes.

Nathaniel chuckled, his laid-back, relaxed manner emerging in the end.
As you
have spoken, Master Warrior
, he said, using the formal language of the house of Jadon to goad Marquis.

I see no humor in this, Nathaniel,
Marquis replied.

Ahh
, Nathaniel quipped.
And this surprises me…not at all.

And then they all grew quiet…