Chasing Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) (19 page)

“Saphrona manages to live without him,” Mark pointed out.

Loch nodded. “That she does, though it is not idle speculation to say that if she had been turned instead of born she would not be so fortunate.”

“What about the
dhunphyr
—how do you know the blood was addictive? How did he know?” I wondered.

“Father’s memories showed me that after that first infant, he spent more than a year’s time hunting and preying on pregnant women, feeding on them to turn their unborn children and then killing the child,” Lochlan answered, shuddering as he recalled the memories. “He was eventually caught and threatened with extermination if he did not desist.”

“I’m surprised the Ancients didn’t just kill him outright,” I mused. “Wasn’t that law enacted about a thousand years ago?”

Lochlan nodded. “It was. But as you know, Father can be very… persuasive. Maybe not with you, dear sister, but he swore a blood oath to the Ancients that he would serve them for eternity if they spared his life.”

I scoffed. “Explains why he wants to be one of them so badly.”

Mark looked at me. “What does that mean?” he asked.

“The only way to get out from under the thumb of the Ancients would be to become one of them. Until then, he has to do whatever they tell him to do whether he wants to or not, unless they release him from the oath—which will happen on the twelfth of Never—or he’s killed permanently. That’s what swearing a blood oath means among vampires.”

He gave my hand a squeeze as he said, “Do you think that’s why he wants you to find Vivian Drake so you can learn her source of information?”

I looked at him, nodding slowly. “Yes. It’s very possible,” I replied.

“It’s been three years since she released her first book,” Lochlan said with a small amount of disgust in his voice. “What the devil is the point in going after them now?”

I turned to Lochlan. “That’s exactly what I said to Evangeline the other day when she was here. What’s the point of killing Drake or her source when the damage has already been done? Besides, it’s not as if the human community believes a word she wrote. The books are best-sellers, sure, but from what I’ve read most people still cling to the belief that vampires are the walking dead.”

“I actually agree with you on that, Saph,” Loch said. “It’s already too late to stem the tide if you ask me, but I can only assume that Father thinks if he can stop her from releasing another book, he’ll score points with the Ancients.”

“So even if I refuse to find her, he’s not going to give this up, is he?”

He shook his head. “I would not count on it.”

“Wonderful,” I mused sourly.

Shaking my head, I looked at Lochlan. “You never answered my question from before: what are you doing here at this time of day?”

“Believe it or not, I was bored,” Loch replied with a laugh. “Well, perhaps restless would be a better descriptive term. Couldn’t seem to find anything with which to occupy my
mind,
couldn’t seem to sit still at work. So, since I was going to be coming out to see you anyway, I figured I would surprise you.”

“Well, it was a pleasant surprise to see you so early,” I said.
“Wasn’t expecting you for hours.”

“And I am inordinately pleased I made the decision,” he replied, glancing at Mark. “All curiosity as to what you taste like aside, my friend, what has your life been like? I mean, what supernatural traits have you inherited?”

“An accelerated healing factor is the only thing as far as I know,” Mark answered. “I’ve been aware of that since I was a kid, but no one believed me when I first discovered it, so I stopped trying to convince them. Although Saphrona tells me that
dhunphyr
are said to be immortal as well, I’m the first she’s met so she cannot say for certain.”

“How did you even know he was a
dhunphyr
? Was it that supe-sense, as you call it?” Lochlan asked me.

I nodded.

“I would like to be able to tell you whether or not you are truly an immortal human, but you are the first of your kind I have met as well,” my brother said. “However, given that Saphrona’s ability to sense the presence other supernatural beings identified you as such, I would hazard to guess that you are. Certainly the fact that you’re a real-life Wolverine wouldn’t have raised her paranormal hackles.”

Mark and I looked at each other and laughed. Lochlan had to clear his throat to get our attention to ask what was so funny.

“It’s just funny you should call him a real-life Wolverine,” I said, still chuckling. “He’s been referring to his healing factor as Wolverine Syndrome.”

“And speaking of hackles,” Loch went on, “you said your sister is a shapeshifter. How is that possible?”

“She’s my half sister,” Mark replied.

As if on cue, we heard a vehicle pulling up the driveway. Mark rose and peeked out the curtain of the window facing it. “Speaking of the flea-bitten mongrel shapeshifter…”

Lochlan cleared his throat again. “About that... As you are Saphrona’s bondmate, that makes you a part of my family, as is your sister by association. I would like to apologize for my earlier insult.”

“Well, I was annoyed earlier, but now that I’m fairly certain you’re not going to try to kill me, I have to admit its kinda funny,” Mark said as he started back toward the table. “It’s a good insult to throw at her if she pisses me off.”

Just then, Juliette came through the back door unannounced. “Whose fancy car is in the drive—
”

Her voice cut off and she growled at Lochlan. “Vampire,” she sneered.

Lochlan apparently found this amusing. “Shapeshifter,” he said with a nod, then sniffed the air. “Dog, from what I can tell, now that you’re actually here.”

“
Jules,
chill out,” Mark said, stepping over to stand beside her. “This is Saphrona’s brother Lochlan. Lochlan, this is my sister, Juliette.”

“A pleasure,” Loch said with another nod.

Juliette ignored him and looked between Mark and me. “Does he know?” she asked.

“He does,” I told her.

“And apparently I’m enticingly scented, I smell mouthwateringly delicious, and I’m the most delectable human he’s smelled in over three hundred years,” Mark added.

His sister looked at him incredulously. “Mark, that isn’t
funny
!” she declared.

“Oddly enough, I think it is,” he retorted. “Saphrona, what do you think? Am I all those things your brother said?”

I fought a smile as Juliette threw up her hands in exasperation, then turned and looked at Lochlan with narrowed eyes. “I know what you look like, vampire, and I know what you smell like. Harm one hair on my brother’s head and I will hunt you down like the dog that I am.”

“Juliette, I really don’t think you should be threatening him,” Mark cautioned.

Lochlan waved his words away. “No need to speak for me, I’m a big boy,” he said. “Besides, the pup is only doing what comes naturally.”

“Pup!”
Juliette nearly shouted, and took a step forward. Mark grabbed her arm to stop her. “I’ll show you I’m no mere pup, you bloodsucking leech!”

“Enough!” I said sharply, slapping my hand down on the table. “Both of you can stop sniping at one another.”

“Vampires and shapeshifters are natural enemies, Saphrona,” Lochlan reminded me. “It is difficult to be in the same room together and not fight; thus, we resort to witty repartee.”

How cute that you’re being a smartass about it
, I thought, then amended,
At least you guys didn’t start fighting first and save the repartee for later
. I also acknowledged the fact that Lochlan had had three centuries to perfect his self control—Juliette was not even thirty yet.

“Well, both of you are just going to have to get over it,” I said aloud. “Like it or not, we’re all going to be a part of each other’s lives from now on. Juliette, Lochlan is my brother, and a semi-frequent visitor to this house. He has already been warned that Mark is off-limits, and has given his word that he will not touch him. I’m fairly certain he knows that his life is forfeit should he break that vow. If you want to stay here on the farm to continue in your capacity as Mark’s guardian, you are to treat my brother with the same respect you expect to receive yourself.

“Lochlan, Juliette is Mark’s sister. She’s been his personal guardian for the last year, so surely you can understand her desire to protect him. As she will no longer be hiding in animal form, now that certain secrets are out in the open, she will be living in the apartment above the barn in order to remain close to him. You will more than likely see her when you visit, so if you want to continue being welcome to do so, you are also to treat her with the same respect you expect to receive. Am I clear?”

Reluctantly, I could see, both of them nodded. “I’m going to take my stuff up to the apartment,” she said stiffly, turning and retreating out the screen door.

“I’m gonna go help her unpack…and cool off,” Mark said, and followed his sister outside.

Once they had gone, Lochlan whistled. “Damn it all to Hades,” he muttered.

“What?” I asked.

He looked at me. “She’s got fire, that one. And she’s quite a looker. If she weren’t a shapeshifter, I’d be very much inclined to take her to bed.”

Somewhat shocked by this, I could only stare at him. “Don’t let her—or for that matter, Mark—hear you say that,” I said at last.

Lochlan smiled. “Indeed.”

A moment of silence passed, and then a thought occurred to me. “Loch, I have to ask you… If
dhunphyr
blood is so addictive that most of the immortal humans born didn’t live past the first hour of life, where did the stories about ultimate sexual gratification come from?”

Loch glanced at me, and though I had schooled my expression to neutral, something must have given me away, for he smiled knowingly. Then he sobered and heaved a sigh. “I suspect, like so many other lies told throughout time, that it was created to cover up the truth. Who knew that this one would turn out to be not such a lie after all?”

*****

Because he had come so early, I suggested that we go see an afternoon showing of
Zombieland
instead of waiting three or four hours. His Escalade had third row seating in case he needed to sleep, which I doubted given how much blood he’d just ingested. Still, I offered to be the one to drive, but knowing my brother I didn’t think he’d go for being a passenger in his own car and I was right—he insisted on driving himself, pointing out that he had made it to my house just fine. He even surprised me by suggesting we invite Mark and Juliette along.

“You really don’t mind sharing our brother-sister date with other people?” I asked.

Lochlan shrugged. “The boy is your partner for life—and I
am
happy for you that you have finally found him. I’m actually quite envious, seeing as I’ve been around longer than you and I haven’t found mine yet. No doubt Father will be as well, considering how long he’s been looking for his bondmate.”

I paused as I was about to walk out the door to go ask Mark and Juliette if they wanted to join us. Turning back with what I knew to be a stunned expression, I said to Loch, “Are you serious? All this time, all these centuries he’s been alive, and
that
is the reason he goes through women like tissue paper? That’s the reason he let my mother die?”

After a moment of staring, in which Lochlan seemed to consider that he may have just said the wrong thing, he gave me a resigned nod. “Aye,” he said softly. “I regret to say that Clare Percy was hardly more than a distraction for him, same as all the others. Obviously I did not see his memories of her, given it happened fifty years after my Coming of Age, but from what I saw of the days which passed before her, and the string of women he’s gone through since, it is not such a far conclusion to leap to.”

I straightened my shoulders and stiffened my back. “Well, then. Just goes to prove I’m right about him—the bastard doesn’t care about anyone but himself.”

With that, I turned and stalked out the door. When I was met by Mark at the door to the apartment, he asked me what was wrong. I shrugged and told him that it was nothing, just a confirmation of something I had already known. Then I changed the subject and passed along Lochlan’s invitation for him and Juliette to join us in seeing the movie. Mark agreed readily, saying he’d also been
wanting
to see it even though he wasn’t particularly a Woody Harrelson fan. Juliette hedged for a bit, saying she should probably stay home and get the apartment set up. I suspected her hesitation was due to the fact that she had taken an instant dislike to Lochlan, and tried not to smile when I recalled just what he thought of her.

Eventually she agreed to go along, citing her “duty as Mark’s guardian.” The two men sat up front when we piled into the Escalade ten minutes later; although Lochlan had suggested that Mark and I might want to sit in the back to “snog like teenagers,” Juliette had refused to share the front with him. So I spent much of the ride to the theater watching her stare at the back of my brother’s head out of the corner of my eye.