Darklove (19 page)

Valerian casts an unworried smile. “As I said, I'm just passing through. Heading to Ireland for a jaunt.”

“That's too close,” I advise. “Go farther. And stay out of my head.”

Valerian chuckles. “Or what, pray tell?”

I edge closer to Valerian's chair and straddle his lap. In my peripheral I notice several bypassers and other cafégoers turn their glances toward me.

I don't care.

Valerian's eyes widen as my hand pushes open his black woolen coat. His stomach is hard, lined with lean muscle. Not bulky strong. Just . . . well, aristocratic strong, if that makes sense. I let my hand move over his ribs, distracting him.

My other hand grasps the silver blade tucked into my boot and I lift it.

One hand on his crotch.

His eyes turn darker.

My other hand goes to his heart with the blade.

Just that fast, Valerian's eyes flash the tiniest bit of fear. Just before they ice over.

I smile. “So you see,” I say, and press the blade just a little harder, beneath his coat. I grab his crotch harder, too. “I'm not the pushover you think I am.” I lean my mouth to his ear. “I could end you right now, Arcos. It'd be so easy.” I move my face in front of his, our eyes inches apart. “And all I did was use a little bit of pure, unadulterated human female skill.”

He stares at me. “That, my love, would be a mistake,” he advises. “One day, you may just seek my help.”

I slip my blade back into my boot and get up. “I highly doubt that. Now go. Tonight. Or I'll make the call. Not just to your father. But to Eli's.”

Again, a tinge of fear replaces the cocky spark of fire in Valerian's brown eyes. He gives a slight nod. “Very well. You'll see what I mean soon enough,” he warns. He spares Rhine a glance. “Perhaps your little human friends can keep you safe enough.” He smiles. “For a while.” He rises from the table and buttons his woolen coat up to the throat. He stands in front of me now, looks down at me, and I briefly wonder why vampires are so goddamn beautiful. What a waste.

His smile bares straight white teeth. “Very well, my dear Riley. I'm on my way. But if you need me at all, please . . .” He lifts my hand and brushes his lukewarm lips over my skin. “Call me. I will hasten to be by your side.”

With one last lingering stare, he gives a slight bow, turns, and heads down High Street. I stare at him until the shadows swallow him up.

Then he's gone.

And I mean gone. Just that fast, he's out of Inverness. On foot, I sense his presence getting farther and farther away. I can't believe he even dared approach me. Or maybe he really is stupid enough to pull all that shit and not think I would eventually recognize him?

“Riley?”

I turn and meet Rhine's gaze. A sheepish expression crosses his face, and he smiles. “Do . . . you remember wha' you just did?”

I smile and punch his arm. It's funny to me that Rhine's brogue is void of the letter
t
. “You mean that kiss? Yeah, I knew I was doing it.” I incline my head in the direction of Valerian. “But it's better if we let him think he made me do it. I may never have gotten rid of him otherwise.”

His green eyes flash. “I'm no' sure if I like the idea of you doing it unawares, or on purpose.”

I smile and we start back toward the bike. “I can't let everyone know all of my secrets,” I say. “Had Valerian realized he wasn't overpowering me, I may not have been able to slip inside his head like I did.” I knock shoulders with him. “I didn't mean to use you, Rhine. For what it's worth, you are a fab kisser.”

Rhine cuts his eyes at me and shrugs. “I've been told that a time or two,” he admits. “Never by an older lass, though.”

“Watch how you say that word
older
,” I warn. “I'm fast creepin' toward thirty and not liking it much.”

When we get to Rhine's bike, he throws his leg over it and sits for a moment, staring at me. The sun has dropped now, and a streetlight casts his face in half shadow. He watches me, studying me closely. I'm sorely tempted to slip back inside his brain, just to see what he's thinking.

But I don't.

Finally, he shakes his head. “Get on.”

We pull our helmets on, and I crawl onto the back of the bike and wrap my arms around Rhine's middle. “We've got a vampire to awak- en,” I say. “And trust me when I say shit's about to hit the fan.”

“I believe it,” he says, and pulls into traffic.

Oh yeah. Shit is definitely about to hit the fan.

What Arcos doesn't know certainly won't hurt him.

And I've got a wealth of information, just from our little café chat.

And I love that he doesn't even know the secrets he gave to me.

That's what he gets for fucking with a human with vampiric tendencies.

And a little fallen angel dust, thrown in to boot.

SOULLESS

This one, this one right here. This was my dream, my wish. And it didn't come true. So I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back.

—Mouth,
The Goonies,
1985

Oh, dat girl of mine. She crazy in da head and gonna git herself kilt if she don't look out. I'm worried about dat Eli, too. I think he might be too far gone for even me to help him, that's right. He done slipped way into dat mess of bloodlust. My baby girl might have to make a choice she ain't gonna like too much. If she does, well, den, we will have to go and get her. No tellin' what she'll do.

—Preacher

T
he second we walk into the Crachan, I can tell Noah is still asleep.

I don't know what it is, or how I can sense it. It's just one of those qualities I've acquired that have no rhyme or reason in my human brain. Which is really a joke, considering. As if anything in my world makes sense.

“I'm going to wake him,” I tell Rhine. “Be right down.”

“Aye,” Rhine answers, and disappears through the hall.

I hit the stairs and take them two at a time. One plus for long legs, I guess. I take the corridor at a jog and ease into Noah's room.

I'm not prepared for what—or who—I see sitting in the chair against the wall, opposite Noah's bed.

My little baby brother.

“Seth!” I choke out. I hurry to him, and at the same time he rises and launches at me, full weight. I catch him, and we embrace.

I'm shocked we're no longer eye to eye. Rather, I have to look up at him. And I'm wearing spike-heeled boots.

“Ri!” he says into my neck. “I've missed you!”

For a moment, I forget all the craziness that's become my world, forget vampires, blood, silver blades, and saving humans. I just inhale the familiar scent and feel of my little brother. I squeeze him tightly, and it takes me back to . . . before. That in-between time when I ran Inksomnia with my best friend, Nyx, and I tattooed for a living, and ordered Chinese food and had low-country boils with my Gullah family. I let it engulf me, for just a minute.

Then I pull back and scowl up at my brother.

My eyes widen. “Holy crap, Seth.” I finger his chin. “You've got freaking whiskers!”

Seth Poe grins, and the fact that he's now almost seventeen blows me away. His dark hair is close-cut, like Eli's brother Phin. Nicely arched dark eyebrows frame green eyes, just like mine, with long lashes most girls envy. But there's a hardness about him now that wasn't there before. In a way, I'm glad. He's strong, and he's grown.

And in another way, it saddens me. Innocence gone.

“I've been growing whiskers for a year now,” Seth says.

“Four single whiskers do not count, bro,” I remind him, and he grins. “What are you doing here anyway?” I stare at my brother, amazed at his physique. Although his are not nearly as severe as mine, he, too has tendencies. Strigoi tendencies. It's what started all of this hell. Seth, on a dare by his pain-in-the-ass buddies, accidentally set free the entombed and deadly Arcos brothers. Seth was then drawn into Valerian's Lost Boys' cult in Savannah, and . . . Jesus Christ, I almost lost him.

Thanks to Eli and his family, he was saved.

And we realized Victorian Arcos wasn't nearly as lethal as his brother, Valerian.

It's been quite a hellish ride ever since.

“Your inspection of me, Ri, is kinda creepin' me out,” Seth says with a grin. “Anyway . . .” He takes both my shoulders in his hands. “I kept having this bad feeling about you here,” he admits. “Preacher did, too. So he and Eli's dad sent me.”

Eli. God Almighty, just hearing his name hurts. And saying what I have to say will hurt even more. “I have to tell you something.”

“Whoa, why are there so many Poes in my room?” Noah says, awakened. He's sitting up now, still in bed. Dreads all over the place. He leaps from beneath the covers and, thank God, he's wearing a pair of black workout pants. He's barefoot, and in two steps he and Seth meet in the middle of the room. Noah pulls my brother into a fierce bear hug.

“What in Sam Hill are you doing here, boy?” Noah asks Seth. Noah's Charleston drawl is appealing, and a little sensual. Especially when he's serious. It gets, I don't know . . . stronger. Almost like the old Noah, prevampirism, Revolutionary War Noah, is there, in his voice. Appealing.

Seth shrugs. “I got a bad feeling.” He looks at me. “About her.”

“She tends to stir that feeling in almost everyone she meets,” Noah says. He's looking at me hard now, and I can tell he knows something's up.

“How did you know to come here?” I finally ask.

Seth looks at me. “Jake Andorra told me you were in Inverness. Once I got here . . .” He shrugs. “I first went to the guesthouse you were supposed to be staying in. When you weren't there, I just walked around until I . . . sensed you. I guess we look enough alike that the guys who were here let me in.” His eyes are questioning now. “What is it you have to tell me?”

“It's Eli,” I say, and my throat constricts. I'm keeping focused, not dwelling on the fact that the very soul I love with all my might is the same one who's turned dark, killing innocents, and doing so has made it almost seem surreal. To explain it? Say it out loud?

Pain. Deep, throbbing pain that starts in my gut and twists up my spine, to my throat and grabs on so fiercely I find it hard to even breathe normally.

But I do.

“What about Eli?” Seth asks.

“He's turned, Seth,” Noah answers for me. “For the very worst.”

I look at Noah first, and I know he sees the appreciation in my eyes. Seth sits down in the chair he'd been in when I first walked in, and I finish telling him everything about Inverness. About how I'd gone into the alternative realm, dragged both Victorian and Eli out, and saved them. How Victorian had ended up back in Romania. And how Eli had grown fond of human blood, and Carrine. The killings. The Ness boys, and Rhine. Everything. My little brother sits in stunned silence the whole time I speak.

Then I have to tell both Noah and Seth the latest.

About Valerian Arcos.

Now I have two pair of stormy eyes staring at me. One green. The other pure liquid silver.

Both mad as hell.

Noah speaks first. “What the hell, Riley?” he says. “You knew it was him and you went anyway?”

I shoot a glance at Seth. He's waiting on an answer, too.

“I took Rhine with me,” I answer.

“No, Rhine insisted on going because I made him swear he would watch out for you while I slept,” Noah corrected.

“Nah, that's no' exactly right, either,” Rhine says from the doorway. “I'd have gone, no matter what.” He eyes Seth for a moment.

“Rhine MacLeod, my little brother, Seth Poe,” I introduce. Rhine walks over and shakes Seth's hand.

The two look each other over, and Seth nods. “You've got tendencies.”

Rhine nods in return. “Some.” He glances at Noah. “She kissed me.”

Noah's brow lifts. “Is that so?”

I shake my head, glare at Rhine, and sigh. “Clarification. I had to make Valerian think he had one over on me so he would leave. He instructed me to do it.” I slide a sideways glance at Rhine. “So I did.”

“And what did he want?” Seth asks. “Does his father know he's here?”

I nod. “I slipped Victorian the message, but Valerian doesn't know that. Anyway, when I threatened to tell his dad, he didn't seem overly concerned. He basically told me that Eli was far gone—too far for help. And that I needed to kill him before he killed me.”

“Did he mention the female?” Noah asks.

Again, I nod. “Said she's just some female latched on to Eli. But I think he knows a lot more than what he's letting on. Carrine told me at Eastgate that her savior had freed her of her prison. That she was basically under his command. Could be Valerian.”

“But we know she's a witchpire,” Rhine adds. He looks at Seth. “Witch. Vampire. Old as bloody hell.”

“I think Valerian wanted his presence known,” I say. “He claims he's killed only one innocent here in Inverness.” I look at Seth. “So far there've been five. And that's not including the newbloods.”

“So what are you doing?” Seth asks. “To keep the city safe?”

I glance at Rhine and Noah, then at my brother. “Same thing we were doing in Savannah. Run the streets.”

“Only the lot of us, we're human,” Rhine says. “I'm the only one wi' any tendencies, and they're mild compared to your sister's abilities.”

Noah's pacing now, and pulling on a white T-shirt over his head. “I don't like it.” He ties his dreads back with a leather band. “There's more to Arcos's appearance than to simply tell you how much he doesn't want you to die. He's full of shit. He knows something.”

“Och, that's no' all he said,” Rhine offers. “He fancies Riley here.” He looks at me. “A lot.”

Noah makes a sound, almost a swear, in his throat. “I can only imagine. Still,” he says, “there's something else going on.”

“He left,” I tell him. “I can sense his absence. He's gone from Inverness.”

“Well, unfortunately, Eli is still here,” Noah says. “And Carrine. And they have to be stopped.”

“Why don't we just capture Eli and bind him?” Seth asks. “Take him back to Savannah so Preacher can take him to Da Island for detox.” He looks at me. “Like we did with Ri?”

“What if it's not Eli?” I offer. I walk to the window and pull the drapes. The city is ablaze with streetlights. The castle is illuminated on the hill. “What if the killings continue, even without Eli as a factor?”

“We'll kill Carrine, too,” Noah offers. “I'll make a call to Andorra.”

“Meanwhile,” says Rhine, “we'll be hittin' the streets tonight.” He looks at Seth. “You hungry?”

“Starved,” Seth admits.

“Well, let's go get some grub.” Rhine inclines his head to the door. “Riley?”

“I'll be down in a sec,” I say, and look at my brother.

He reads my mind because he comes straight to me, pulls me into another embrace.

“It'll be okay, sis,” he says into my hair. “Whatever it takes, we'll get Eli home and Preacher will make all of this right.”

“I hope so, bro,” I say. I squeeze him around his middle, locking my hands together. “God, I hope so.” I pull back. “Go. Eat. I'll be down in just a bit.”

“Okay,” Seth says, and leaves with Rhine.

“I have to admit, Riley,” Noah says. He's kicked off his black workout pants and is pulling on a pair of dark jeans. “Something doesn't sit right with me about Arcos.” He buttons his fly, his stare remaining on mine. “There's just more to it than him slipping into your dreams, then telling you to kill Eli. That's just . . . too simple.”

“I don't know,” I answer. “What motive would he have? Why doesn't he just kill Eli himself? Why go through all this?”

Noah's standing in front of me now, and he taps me on the nose with a forefinger. “Because, darlin',” he says. His mercury eyes all but are illuminated. “That would be a big fucking no-no, now, wouldn't it?” A smile lifts his mouth. “He can't touch Eli Dupré. The Gullah, not to mention Eli's entire family, would storm Romania and the House of Arcos would become a bloody vampire battleground. Senior Arcos knows it. And so does Valerian.”

I laugh. It's almost too stupid to say out loud. “So Valerian seriously thinks he can simply put the Arcos whammy on me and make me kill my own fiancé?”

Noah shrugs and pulls on his boots. “Maybe.”

Maybe, indeed.

“Well,” I say, grabbing Noah's leather jacket off the foot of the bed. I watch as he sheathes a few silver blades in the holster he's now strapping on over his shoulders. “Whether Carrine is commanding the rogues, Eli, or Valerian . . .” I shake my head. “Either way, they have to be stopped. Maybe Eli doesn't have to die.

“Why the rogues? What's the—I don't know—rationale? If Valerian in fact set free, resurrected, whatever—Carrine, why?” I ask.

Noah strokes his chin. “Maybe Valerian doesn't have as much control as he thinks. Or,” he says, meeting my gaze, “maybe he does, and he's just a sick bastard who gets off on the chase. The killing of innocents. And it's no secret he loathes Eli.”

“Maybe he set Carrine free in order to use her for her witch powers?” I muse. “Valerian mentioned that could be how Vic disappeared and made it back to Romania.”

“Could be,” Noah answers.

I move to stand directly in front of Noah. I look up. “If there's even a slight chance of capturing Eli and getting him back to Da Island, we gotta make it happen.”

“It's going to take more than just us to subdue him,” Noah says. “He's . . . full-on rabid, Riley. You were bad enough as a human with tendencies.” Noah takes the jacket from my hands and eases into it. His eyes never leave mine. “When we took you to Romania? God Almighty Damn, girl.” He chuckles. “You nearly tore the plane's wiring out of the walls. You were some kind of out of control. Can you imagine what a full-blooded, blood-lusted two-hundred-plus-year-old vampire would be like?”

“I can imagine.”

“He's strong, Riley. Damn strong,” he says.

I head to the door and stop, and Noah's right behind me. I look up. “You scared?”

He smiles. “Hell yeah, I'm scared.” He shoves his hands into his jacket pocket and spreads it out like a cape, exposing the leather holster, sheaths, and blade hilts. “Just as I'm scared as hell that I'm gonna poke myself with one of these goddamn silver blades and turn to dust.”

“You're not going to turn to dust, Noah,” I answer, and we both step out of the room. He closes the door and locks it, and we start up the corridor. Suddenly, I stop.

“Hey, I'll meet you downstairs,” I say, and turn back to my room. “I need to change.”

“Why?” Noah asks, and starts up the hall. He throws a grin over his shoulder. “Can't you run in them things?”