Simmer (20 page)

Kira ducked behind the bench, using the
backrest as a shield to keep her face completely hidden from view.
She poked her head up, hoping the visor of her cap and her
sunglasses kept her masked enough, and watched Diana. There was no
doubt in Kira's mind that she was waiting for someone or something.
She scanned the crowd, her blue eyes darting back and forth,
reading each face carefully.

Well, Kira thought, I'm just going to have to
be the one to find out what Diana is up to. While Tristan and Luke
had been out there searching for her, Diana had fallen right into
Kira's lap. Not that Kira was complaining, but she knew the boys
would be really annoyed that she had not only left the hotel room
but also did what she was doing now: following Diana as she walked
away from the harbor.

Sneakily, Kira stood up and walked over to a
storefront, peering not through the glass at the clothes but on the
glass at the reflection. Diana continued walking, thankfully at a
human pace, and Kira watched until she was almost out of view and
before chasing after her. Kira had never been so grateful for her
time spent in New York City as she was then. Walking around on
crowded city streets had taught her the all-too precious weave —
how to duck and jump and swivel her hips to keep from getting
bowled over by the crowds. Without her years' worth of knowledge,
Kira had no doubt she would have lost Diana in the crowd.

As it was, she tracked Diana around the
harbor to a giant grass hill, some sort of park overlooking the
water. Taking each stone step slowly, Kira followed her up, hoping
it wasn't a trap. When she reached the top, Kira scanned the area
and saw Diana's burgundy dress as it billowed before a gleaming
white marble monument. The contrast luckily made her easy to spot,
which may have been Diana's intention. Kira was certain Diana had
no clue she was being followed.

To keep it that way, Kira quickly dashed
behind a tree, and then peered around the trunk to observe. When
she was sure Diana was looking the other way, Kira sprinted behind
a different tree that was much closer so she was only ten or
fifteen feet from her prey — because that is how she wanted to
always think of Diana, as prey and not as predator.

After ten minutes of peeking at Diana as she
did nothing but stare down at the harbor, Kira was getting a tad
impatient. Yes, it was a plus that she had found Diana, but sitting
out in the heat and leaning against scratchy bark to hide from a
blood sucking vampire was not really ideal.

Finally, just as Kira's annoyance was
reaching an all-time high, Diana stood a fraction taller. Kira
instantly became alert. Diana focused on something towards the
bottom of the hill, arching her neck for a better view, before
straightening out her dress and quickly feeling her hair for stray
strands.

She's nervous, Kira thought.

A second later, a man appeared by Diana's
side. He materialized out of thin air in a crisp tuxedo. His pearly
skin immediately letting Kira know that he was a vampire. Even at a
distance, she saw the crooked bend to his nose and silently felt a
little sorry that he was stuck with that for all eternity. Diana
smiled widely, in a subservient way that Kira didn't recognize from
her, and the man extended a gloved hand. Placing her fingers in his
palm, Diana let him lift her hand for a kiss.

Kira was seriously confused. Was this
business or pleasure? Had Diana given up on ruining her life for
some strange vampire lover? The more the two vampires interacted,
the more Kira felt like she had been transported to a period film,
some sort of Jane Austen fantasy filled with curtsying and overly
polite manners.

Diana produced a fan from the folds of her
long dress and started flicking it around like some secretive
language. The man held out his arm and she grasped it at the crook
of his elbow so he could lead her on a stroll around the park. They
looked more like sweethearts during a secret rendezvous than evil
plotting villains, but Kira knew something else had to have been
going on. Diana was not the sort to give up on revenge, especially
when she had been plotting for months.

Kira circled around her tree, wishing the
meandering couple would just stay put so she didn't have to keep
jumping around the trunk like a crazy tree-hugger to keep out of
sight. Her poor hands were scratched red from the wood, but Kira
knew there was no choice but to wait. She needed to see what was
going on. This might be the only clue to Diana's plan that any of
them ever got.

Eventually, after circling the entire park
once, Diana dropped her hand and turned to face the man, who had
reached in his pocket to pull out a gleaming white envelope. From
that distance, Kira couldn't read the words it said, but she saw
the image of a blood red rose drawn on the front and watched as
crimson petals cascaded to the ground when Diana pulled out a
note.

Diana politely inclined her head. Kira
assumed it was some sort of an acceptance. He slid a small vile
into her hand and kissed her fingers one more time. Then, as
quickly as he had come, the man disappeared. Diana pressed the note
against her chest, smiling widely, but Kira didn't miss the
calculating focus of her eyes. This was not schoolgirl glee at a
crush finally returning her emotions: it was the giddiness of a
plan falling into place. Surely that meant Diana had no idea she,
Tristan and Luke were there... hopefully.

For a moment, Kira had the incredible urge to
just blast Diana with a ball of fire right there in the middle of
the park. She didn't care what passersby would see, how they would
run in fear at her power or how someone would snap a photograph
making the conduits seem like horrible monsters.

For a moment, all Kira wanted to do was catch
Diana and make her pay. She hadn't been this close to her since
that day in the woods, and just like the evil witch had planned,
her words were never far from Kira's mind. This vampire was the
only way Kira would find out any information about her mother.
Diana was the only tie and Kira was close.

Without realizing it, Kira outstretched her
arm in Diana's direction, preparing to blast her with flames.

But, as quickly as the thoughts had come,
Diana was gone and Kira had missed her opportunity once again. The
girl was crazy fast, Kira sighed and leaned against the tree. She
would need Tristan's help when the time came.

Letting her hand fall back to her side, Kira
walked over to where Diana had been standing. Kneeling down, she
picked a few of the silky rose petals from the grass, wondering if
Tristan would know what the peculiar invite had been about.

As late afternoon approached, Kira knew it
was time to head home and slip back into the hotel room before
either of the boys showed up. She picked up a snack and happily
walked through the lobby. Once inside, Kira ran back over to the
chair and quickly stuffed all of the papers she had been reading
back into her folder. Carefully, she slipped the folder inside a
t-shirt in her duffle, keeping it completely hidden from view. She
placed the rose petals in a pile on the table and hunkered down to
wait.

And wait.

And wait a little more until Kira just about
thought she would go crazy. Patience was so not a virtue. It was
torture, especially when she had two boys with hero complexes
chasing after evil vampires.

When the doorknob finally clicked, Kira
zeroed in on the entryway, shocked to see Luke and Tristan enter at
the same time, chuckling with one another.

"What the heck?" Kira said and stood, staring
at them angrily. It was one thing to leave her at home and go their
separate ways, but it was a whole different thing to leave her
behind and go adventuring together. They didn't even like each
other! Though Kira supposed she should take it as a good sign that
they were laughing and not at each other's throats as per
usual.

Tristan walked over to pull her into a tight
one-armed hug and said, "Oh, nothing. Luke's friends tried to kill
me," which cause another burst of guffaws from Luke.

Kira shirked out of the hold to turn and look
at him. It took all of her will power not to angrily point in his
face. "What?"

"Dude, they weren't trying to kill you. They
were just trying to throw you off the roof."

"What!" Kira spun to face Luke now.

"Trying being the operative word."

Kira spun to Tristan again. Being the third
wheel was utterly dizzying. She couldn't stop from spinning around
to try to edge her way into the conversation.

"They sort of succeeded," Luke grinned.
Enough, Kira thought.

"Stop!" She yelled to finally make the boys
pay attention to her. "What is going on?" Each boy stopped smiling
as if noticing Kira's frustration for the first time. Was steam
coming out of her ears yet?

"It's not a big deal," Tristan said while
lightly rubbing her arm. "Luke texted me to meet him on some roof
because he found information, so I went. But by the time I had
gotten there, a few other conduits had joined in and thought I was
trying attack them, so they fought back—"

"Ah," Luke took over, "don't skip over the
best part! When Tristan landed on the roof, my friends tried to
blast him off of it with their power, but they just sent him flying
right into a water pipe that burst like a geyser. It was just like
one of those cartoons. Tristan was butt-smacked off the roof by the
blow!" Luke could barely finish the story before he doubled over in
another fit of laughter.

"Are you okay?" Kira turned back to Tristan,
finally taking in the slightly damp quality to his clothing.

"Yeah, it was awesome. I haven't been
surprised like that in a while. One minute I was standing on the
roof, the next I'm flying." He grinned boyishly.

"Getting catapulted off of a roof was fun?"
Kira asked, deadpanned. Tristan shrugged and she rolled her eyes.
Some things she would just never understand.

"Kira, you would have died if you were there.
I can't stop playing the picture of him somersaulting through mid
air," Luke voiced while he collapsed into an armchair.

"I'm glad you two had...fun..." Kira said and
sat down on the couch, shaking her head. "I had a good day too,"
Kira started, not sure how to tell them she had sort of broken
their rules and gone outside.

"What did you do?" Tristan asked and settled
on the couch next to her, dropping an arm around her shoulder.

"A little of this, a little of that — you
know, some reading and well, some spying on Diana—"

"What?" Tristan sat up and turned to face
her.

"I swear, I didn't mean for anything to
happen. I really didn't go out looking for Diana. But, you didn't
really expect me to stay inside all day, did you? I was bored out
of my mind." Both boys shrugged to say; yeah we sort of did think
you would stay inside. But in Kira's mind, they should've known
better. She continued, "Anyway, I was sitting on a bench out by the
water when I saw her." Both boys sat up straight, about to ask the
same question, but Kira cut them off. "No, she didn't see me.
Relax, I was completely incognito."

Kira told them about the meeting on the hill
and how Diana had been acting strangely, like some sort of love
stricken puppy. Finally, Kira ended with the invitation and pointed
to the roses on the table.

"You saw Baltimore's head vampire. His name
is Bronson," Tristan said with a sigh. "His nose is the unfortunate
monstrosity you described, but it's said that he can smell anything
a mile away — even the sun on a conduits skin. It's a miracle you
weren't seen."

"How can we be sure?" Luke asked.

"The fact that she is sitting in this room
completely unharmed means she wasn't seen," Tristan whispered and
Kira couldn't suppress the gulp that slid down her throat. "Bronson
is not one for leniency, and out in the open like that, he would
have taken her for sure. Or at least tried."

"And this is the same guy you had tea with?"
Luke asked in disbelief.

Tristan nodded.

"But what was with the invitation and the
strange back and forth between them?" Kira asked.

Tristan leaned forward in his seat to pick up
a stray rose petal. He rolled the red strip between his fingers,
lost in thought.

"Unfortunately, I know exactly what this is:
the red rose ball." Kira and Luke looked at each other, both scared
by Tristan's ominous tone.

"Why is this ball so important?" Kira asked,
not one hundred percent sure she wanted an answer.

"Not important, but elite — very elite. I've
never been invited, but I know what it is. Once every generation,
the head vampire of a region will take his or her turn hosting the
ball. They invite every vampire who meets one single requirement:
immunity."

Kira squinted, not liking where this was
going. "Immunity...to conduits?"

Tristan nodded. "There are two balls: the red
rose ball and the white rose ball. In order to be invited to the
red rose ball, a vampire must own a captive Punisher. For the white
rose ball, a Protector." Tristan ended quietly. Kira and Luke
looked at each other like they were going to be sick.

"How have we not known about this?" Luke
asked Tristan.

"It's kept very private and it's a very rare
event. I can't believe that this is what Diana is here for. I don't
even know if more than three have been held in my lifetime."

"And is it true? How can you guys be certain
all of the vampires invited actually have enslaved conduits?" Luke
leaned forward, his face brow furrowed in concern. Trapped conduits
were the exact thing he had been taught to fear for his entire life
— the one thing every conduit was told could mean the end of the
world.

"There's a test. The host will welcome each
guest with his own enslaved conduit, in the case of the red rose
ball, a Punisher. If the guest can walk through the conduit's
flames, they live and enter. If not, they die. It's not a gamble
most vampires would be willing to risk."