Cronin's Key (32 page)

“We spoke to the English vampire, Kennard,” Bes said. “I told him I fought with you. He said they had no losses on his team, that redcoats were always better. I don’t know what that means.”

Cronin snorted a laugh. “Thank you for that news.”

“What about the mummy-vampires?” Alec asked. “Did any survive?”

“There were a few dozen returned vampires who were trying to get out,” Bes explained. “But we stopped them. When the returned ones all ran to this room, like them, we smelled the blood, but there were so many and we were at the entrance when the sunlight beamed out,” he said, using his hands as he spoke. “We ran back, away from the light, and some returned vampires ran too, but we found them. They were mad with hunger, and they were—” Bes swirled his hands as he searched for the right words. “—wild and lost, confused. Those poor creatures.”

Cronin’s brow creased. “Did any survive?”

Bes shook his head. “We put them out of their miserable ways. We lost some of our own today, though.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Alec said softly.

Bes put his hand on Alec’s arm. “But we fought well and we will honor their bravery.” Then he asked. “And you? What of Eiji and Jodis?”

“Jodis is safe and well, Eiji was injured,” Cronin said. “He’s safe now and healing. He was exposed to the light of Ra.”

Bes’s eyes went wide. “And he yet lives?”

Alec nodded. “Barely, but yes. We must be getting back to him. I just wanted to come back and see that this was truly over, that none of them remained.”

Bes brightened once more. “They are gone, and we have our lands back!” he said. His jubilation was contagious. “We can never thank you enough, and we are forever in your debt.” Bes bowed his head to Alec. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to have worked with you.”

Alec found himself smiling back at him. He reholstered his gun and shook Bes’s hand. “You are a good man.”

Bes bowed his head again, still holding Alec’s hand. “You will be remembered always.”

Alec found himself looking at the hieroglyphs, and in particular the ankh. “Yeah, I guess I will.” He turned to Cronin. “I want to go home now.” He threw the dying flare into the sand, put his arms around Cronin, and they were gone.

* * * *

Alec wasn’t sure when the effects of leaping stopped ripping him to shreds. Maybe it was the events of the last day, of the last week, but when they leapt back to Cronin’s apartment after leaving Bes and Egypt that last time, Alec didn’t even flinch.

He just stood there, his arms still firmly around Cronin, with no intention of letting him go. Neither of them moved, but something was different between them.

Something unspoken. Something profound.

The danger was over. The fight, the battles, the planning, the stress, all of it was gone. They were free to be themselves, to start over.

“Are you well?” Cronin whispered.

“Yeah,” Alec answered, just as quietly. “You?”

Alec could feel Cronin smile against his collarbone. “Yes.” Cronin pulled back just a little, so he could look up and into Alec’s eyes. “Do you need sleep or food?” He reached up and touched Alec’s dust-filled hair. “A shower?”

“Yes.”

“Which one?”

“All of them,” Alec answered. “But I need something else more than any of those things.”

Cronin grew concerned. His eyebrows furrowed. “What is it?”

“You.”

“Oh.” Cronin laughed quietly and ducked his head. “Maybe we should check on your father—”

“Shit,” Alec said with a laugh. He ran to the home theater. “Dad!”

Kole stood up, still pale faced and wide-eyed. He looked like he’d aged a decade in a day. “Alec?”

Alec crossed the room and hugged his dad, hard. “You okay?”

Kole nodded, but didn’t let go in a hurry. When he eventually pulled back, Alec saw his dad had tears in his eyes. “I was worried about you, son.”

“I was worried too, Dad,” he said honestly. “It was scary as hell.”

“But you did it?” he asked.

Alec nodded, but it was Cronin who answered. “He figured it all out and saved us all.”

Kole looked at Cronin and swallowed hard. “When you came back without him…”

Alec put his arm around his dad. “Let’s go out to the living room, and I can tell you everything.”

Alec sat his father down and gave him a brief rundown of what happened in Egypt, telling him how it all ended, how Eiji was injured, and of how Johan was killed.

As they talked, Cronin collected the wooden stakes and bulletproof vests, tidying as he went. Then he lowered the metal wall, revealing the most remarkable New York City skyline. “We have no reason to be in lockdown anymore,” Cronin said.

Kole stared out the window for a good few seconds. “Oh.”

Alec took in the beautiful lights against the peaceful blackened sky, then looked at his father’s face and laughed. “I told you it was something, huh?”

“I had no idea,” Kole mumbled. “I mean, you said it was nice.”

Cronin smiled warmly at Alec. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to shower. The smell of mummified flesh lingers longer than I care for.”

Kole scrunched his nose up. “Is that what stinks?”

Alec laughed. “Yeah, we must smell, sorry. I’ll get cleaned up after Cronin. Then we can take you home if you want?”

Kole sighed deeply. “So Johan died, huh?”

“Yes,” Alec said softly. “He died defending Cronin. He didn’t need to, but he acted on instinct, I guess. He had his left arm up at the wrong angle and a second wooden bullet got him in the heart through his armpit.” Alec sighed again. “If it was a deliberate aim or just a freak shot, I don’t know.”

Kole was quiet for a long second. “I have to tell ya, son, when Cronin and Jodis came back here and you weren’t with ’em.” He shook his head. “I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think of you being here and seeing that.”

Kole looked at Alec. He put his hand over his son’s and whispered, “I ain’t seen anything sadder. Poor Jodis screamed and was clutchin’ at the air like she dropped something, but Cronin…” He shook his head again. “Well, the sound he made… I’ll never forget it.”

Even though his dad tried to whisper, Alec knew Cronin could hear every word. He spoke with a smile. “Yeah, I think I have some making up to do for that one.”

Kole squeezed Alec’s hand. “He’s in love with you, Alec.”

There was a metal clanging noise from the bathroom, like Cronin had just broken the shelf in the shower. Then Eiji’s pained laugh sounded from the bedroom.

“Someone’s sounding better,” Alec said, trying not to smile or die from blushing to death.

Kole smiled widely. “From the look on your face, Alec, I’d say you’re in love with him too.”

Another clanging noise came from the bathroom, and another bark of tortured laughter came from Eiji. “Ow. Stop it,” Eiji cried.

“They can hear me?” Kole whispered.

“Every word,” Alec said.

Cronin walked into the living room, all clean and even better smelling. He wore simple dark blue jeans, a dark blue sweater, and a smirk that made Alec’s heart beat out of rhythm.

“I, uh, I, uh…” Alec needed to swallow so he could speak apparently. “I better go get cleaned up too.”

Eiji laughed again, and this time Alec said, “Oh, shut up, Eiji.”

Cronin let out a nervous laugh. “You’re supposed to be resting,” he said toward the hall. Alec didn’t hear exactly what Jodis replied with, but Cronin grinned and smiled at the floor.

Instead of dying of embarrassment, Alec stood up and made his way up the hall toward Cronin’s bedroom. He stripped off his shirt and caught sight of himself in the mirror. He was a blackened, sooty mess. Well, he was white where his night vision goggles had been, and his torso was kind of white, but he was smeared black everywhere else.

He looked like an unshaven, un-slept chimney sweep.

He pulled the makeshift bandage off his hand and inspected the cut on his palm. It was dirty and deep, and Alec wondered if he should have a doctor look at it. He wondered what would happen if he walked into a hospital. Would he be arrested? Jesus, he’d gone from a cop to a felon in a week.

Alec tried not to let that thought bother him as he walked into the huge double shower, and he burst out laughing when he saw the now-broken shower shelf in two parts on the floor in the shower. At least Cronin had put the shelf parts and soaps in a neat row.

But showered and shaved, Alec felt so much better, despite the fact that hunger and exhaustion were now slowly creeping in. He went through Cronin’s extravagant wardrobe and found himself some jeans and a shirt that fit, and when he walked out, Cronin’s dark eyes smoldered, spreading warmth and want though his body. He was sitting on the sofa with a purring Sammy on his lap, and Alec had to look away from him. His stare—which Alec could only describe as eye-fucking—was intense, to say the least.

“Right, then,” Kole said, standing up. He looked a little flustered and a whole lot of embarrassed. “I guess I should be going home.”

Alec was about to object, but then thought twice. He really didn’t want his dad here, privy to what he and Cronin would surely be doing in the bedroom. “Only if you’re sure,” Alec said.

Kole nodded quickly. “I, uh, I think you two need some time to… get acquainted.”

Again, Eiji laughed from the bedroom.

Alec could feel his whole face and neck flush with mortification. He laughed it off and nodded toward the bedroom. “Eiji must be feeling much better.”

“Yes,” Cronin said. He looked as humiliated as Alec felt.

Kole took Sammy the cat and held him tight. “I’m ready when you are.”

Alec put one arm snugly around Cronin’s waist and put his injured hand on his dad’s arm, and they leapt.

Kole’s house was dark and quiet. Cronin sniffed the air. “There’s been no one here since the vampire that broke in when we took you with us last time.”

Alec flipped on the lights and did a search of all rooms and closets. He knew Cronin would have smelled another person or vampire, but Alec wanted to see it with his own eyes. “Okay, Dad. It’s clear. No one here but us.”

Alec knew his father was still shaking off the effects of leaping, though the silence from the older man spoke volumes. He put the cat down on the old sofa.

“What is it, Dad?”

“Is this the last time I’ll see you?”

“No,” Alec said quickly.

“Is it the last time I’ll see you… human?”

“Oh.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Dad,” Alec started to say.

Kole put his hand up to stop him. “It’s okay, Alec.” His dad nodded pointedly at Cronin, then back at Alec and looked him square in the eye and said, “If you get forever with someone you love, then you should take it.”

Oh.

“Just promise me you’ll call in on your old man every now and then?” Kole said. “Just so I know you’re doin’ all right.”

Alec nodded. His voice was quiet. “Okay.” He hugged his dad, knowing it would probably be the last time he did so as a human. “I promise.”

Kole pulled back and gave Alec a teary smile. “I’m proud of you, Alec, and I’ll be proud of you as a vampire too. You’ll do great things, I know it.”

Alec didn’t know what to say to that. He wasn’t sure there was anything he could say. So instead, he just hugged his father even tighter.

When Kole pulled back this time, he smiled. Then he looked to Cronin. “I trust you to look after him. Teach him right.”

Cronin gave a hard nod, a promise. “Of course.”

“Okay, then,” Kole said, looking again at Alec. “I better get some shut-eye.”

Alec knew his dad was trying to say goodbye without saying the actual word.

“I’ll only ever be a phone call away,” Alec told him. “Then we’ll be here in a second, okay?”

“’Course,” Kole said. He walked into the kitchen and called out, “You boys want a cup of tea?”

Alec knew his father didn’t want an answer. He watched him for a second as Kole reached for his teapot, and Alec gave Cronin a small nod. This time when Cronin leapt, Alec smiled.

* * * *

Alec stood in Cronin’s apartment with both arms wound tight around Cronin. He didn’t ever want to let go. He’d never felt anything so right, so perfectly just for him.

“Are you well?” Cronin asked.

The customary formal way Cronin asked if he was okay made Alec smile. He nodded. “Yeah. You?”

Cronin’s reply was just as formal. “I am.”

“I will see my father again,” Alec whispered with conviction.

Cronin pulled back and put his hand to Alec’s face. “Yes. Anything you want.”

“Anything?” Alec asked suggestively, before he very softly pressed his lips to Cronin’s. And then his very human stomach growled for food.

Cronin laughed and, taking his hand, led him into the kitchen. “You need food.”

Alec couldn’t deny it. He was flagging, and the thought of food made him even hungrier. He opened the fridge door and started collecting food. “I can’t tell you how happy I am just to be able to make myself a sandwich,” Alec said. “Every meal this week’s been takeout.” He looked at Cronin and quickly amended, “Which is fine, but real food made at home’s good too.” He piled up bread, mayo, cold cuts, cheese, tomatoes, and pickles. As he was about to add lettuce to his burden and was struggling to hold them with his sore hand, Cronin took them from him.

“Allow me,” Cronin said, putting the sandwich items on the kitchen counter. He spread everything out and cautiously took the bread first. Then he went to touch the deli bag of meat and pulled back his hand. Alec had never seen him so unsure about anything.

Alec smiled. “You’ve never done this before, have you?”

“Uh, no,” Cronin said, shaking his head. He picked up the bag of deli meats like it was a pair of dirty socks.

Alec laughed, and when Cronin got embarrassed, Alec took the bag and kissed his cheek.

“I’m hardly to blame.” Cronin shook his head slowly. “I’ve never exactly had a need for such things.”

“I guess you didn’t even butter bread in 744, huh?” Alec said.

Cronin looked at him and smiled. “No. I am sure I’m capable of such a simple task. I managed your coffee just fine.”