The Last Keeper (18 page)

“You still should have come for me.” His tone was hard. “Our arrangement was null and void the second you met him.”

“Maybe so, but that’s hardly the point.”
 

“No, Serenity, that is exactly the point. What if something happened to you? What would happen if you had to crawl home, as you have done in the past, and led someone straight to your door? No. From now on, we do things together. No matter how mediocre it seems. You tell me.”
 

“William, would you listen? The point is that it was a
trap.
One set a mere hour away from where you’re living.”
 

“All the more reason for you to contact me.”

“They know, William. They know about Alison.”

The colour drained from William’s face, and he resorted to rubbing the stubble that had formed on his cheek overnight. His deep brown eyes were wide with worry, and a hint of fear.

   
It was a day he’d known was coming, and one we both dreaded. With his third child on the way, it was an even darker day.

“Are you sure?”

“Ellie said our time was limited, and she mentioned you specifically, William. I’m sure of it. They know.” I laid my hand on his shoulder.

“Elena was there?”

“As were Kiros and half a dozen vampires. There’s something else,” I said, wincing as I spoke.

“What?”

“I was expected.”

“Were they not just expecting one of us?”
 

“No. They were waiting for
me.
They knew I’d come, and I’m certain they knew I’d come alone.”
 

“Do they know about Ray?”
 

“Yes. The moment I walked into their midst they saw the change in me.” I could’ve cried, looking at my last brother and knowing we were both in such mortal danger now.
 

“Whatever happens, make sure they
never
find out who he is. They cannot know.” There was a desperate urgency in his voice as he spoke.

“What do you know, William?”

“Just promise me. Promise me you will keep him safe,” he stressed, pacing the room. “You must keep him safe.”

“William, what do you know?”

“Only that my time is more limited than I’d like.” He slumped into an oversized, well-worn chair.

“
Please,
won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“I won’t be moving again.”
 

Not moving?
The stress of everything must have been too much for him. “William, we need to figure out who betrayed us, and you need to move. It may have been fifteen hundred years ago, but whomever it was is still working with the vampires. They must be.”
 

The first of the killings were so random, starting with my sister. Then we stopped reaching maturity, and we noticed a pattern. They weren’t random attacks. Only those with partners and children were being targeted and killed, leaving our families broken and scared.

“We covered everything. Short of searching the minds of every one of us, there’s little we can do.” He sighed.

“We may have to.”
 

“
We promised,
” he growled.

“I know.”
 

Those of us who were there when my sister was killed had made a promise. Unless there was only one of us, we would not actively look into the minds of our family and friends to discover the truth about what had happened. Their reasoning was sound: it would make us no better than the vampires if we stooped to their level. But just because their reasoning was good, and I’d promised, didn’t mean I liked it.
 

“Serenity, we promised. You cannot do that,” he told me again.

We ended up glaring at each other for a moment. “You think I don’t know? Some of the very people we suspected have been living with me for centuries.”

When I looked back, his stare had softened. “I know.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you need to move, William. They were an hour away from your home. Had I not doubled back countless times, I’d have been here just after midnight.” I knelt in front of him, pleading with him. “As much as I must keep Ray safe, you must do the same for Alison.”

“Not this time, Sere. I am tired of running from them. And besides, my time is more limited than you think,” he whispered, holding his head in his hands.

“You have years left. Just because you have started going grey, which suits you, doesn’t mean you’re doomed to death anytime soon.”
 

I tried to laugh, but my laugh came out as a half-hysterical squeak. There was something more he wasn’t telling me, and I had a feeling I didn’t want to hear the answer.
 

“More like months, my dear.”

“William, what do you mean
months?
”

“The doctors do not think Alison will survive childbirth again. She is struggling so much already.” There was such a deep sadness in his voice. “Will you take care of them?”

He didn’t need to tell me who
they
were. I knew. It was part of the arrangement we’d made. If anything happened to him, I would take his children, would teach and raise them. I would make certain they knew of their father and the wonderful things he’d accomplished. They would be told of the kind heart their mother had and the beautiful woman she was.
 

“You know I will. You never needed to ask. But the doctors don’t know everything. How many advances have been made in the past decade alone?” I said, desperate for him to see sense. “Alison is a fighter; she’ll survive.”

“She may not, and I need to be prepared.”

“When did you find out?”

“Three days ago. She’s been having problems, and they don’t know what’s wrong. She is tired all the time, struggling to keep food down, and every morning she wakes up in pain, yet she is only a few months along. I’m losing her and there’s nothing I can do,” he whispered, looking lost. “Vampires I can fight against. Weres I can fight against. Witches I could ask for help, if there were any. But my own child?”

“She’ll survive,” I said. “She will.”

“You cannot know that.” He sighed, rubbing his jaw again. “No one can know that.”

“That may be, but we can all hope.”

He was so hopeless as we stared at each other in the morning-dark sitting room.

“Thank you,” he whispered after a few minutes.

“There’s never a need to thank me,” I told him. “You’re my brother. I’d do anything for you. Anything at all. But you need to move.”

He sat there in his chair, looking at me for a long moment. His breaths were measured and even; his gaze never left mine. “It will do Alison more harm than good to move her now. She needs to be settled,” he answered. “If they come, then I’ll deal with them.”

“And if they come in the night? Whilst you are sleeping?”

“Then I will not sleep. When was the last time you slept?”
 

“Not the point, William.” Exasperated, I stood, shaking my head. “Will you stop being so stubborn and
listen
to me?”

He sighed, settling back into his chair. Those dark eyes of his closed for a moment, but when they opened the answer I wanted was there.
 

“We’ll move up into the mountains. I’ll need a couple of days to arrange everything and pack what we need. We’ll be safe at my cabin for while.”

Relief flooded through me. “Thank you.”

He smiled sadly, but it soon brightened. “You didn’t answer my question. When
was
the last time you got any sleep?”
 

He was trying to move our conversation to lighter subjects, and though I didn’t want to, I indulged him.
 

William was the only one who knew all of my embarrassing secrets. He’d been with me for quite a few of them.
 

Before he’d met Alison, we’d travelled together. On many occasions we’d posed as husband and wife in order to circumvent the customs of the time. When he found Alison, that ruse had proved interesting. My supposed husband proclaiming his love for another woman! Her parents had not been impressed. Fortunately, neither of them cared what they thought and decided to run away together.
 

“You need to go,” he said about an hour later.
 

“I do. I need to get back to Laura’s. Tara is there, and I’d like to get home as soon as possible.” I paused for a moment. Going back to Laura’s was risky, but the vampires had shown little interest in targeting our descendants. “We still have much to discuss.”

I didn’t want to leave him when there was so much to do, so many plans to make, and apparently not much time in which to make them, but I needed to get home.
 

“I bet Ray is something else,” he said, smiling as he walked me to the door.
 

“He’s everything I imagined and more.”
 

“Get out of here, then. Go take care of him. I can look after myself,” he told me, holding the door open.

“Tell Alison I’m sorry I couldn’t stay.”

“I will. Take care of yourself.”

“You, too, old man.”

“Says she who was born almost fifteen hundred years before me!” He laughed, shaking his head.

“Well, you
are
starting to go grey around the edges there.”
 

“Do you need a horse?” he asked, reluctant to let me go.

“No. It’ll be quicker if I run, and the way is clear for a while.” I laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Stop worrying. I’ll take to the rooftops if I need to.”

“And fall into another poor soul’s bedroom?”
 

“This is true.”

“Stop stalling and get back to your man.” He paused. “I wish I could have met him.”

“You will.”

“We shall see.”

I gave him one last sad smile before I left. As eager as I was to return to Ray, I was just as reluctant to leave William. It had been so long since I’d seen him, years in fact.
 

Looking back when I reached his gate, I spotted Alison standing at their bedroom window. She raised her hand and I returned the gesture. There was a strained smile on her face as I turned away, and the feeling I was missing something returned.
 

It had happened often over the years since William’s wedding. There were times when he would be distant, thinking. I’d asked, on many occasions, but he insisted it was nothing.
 

Yet, the more distance I put between us, the more I knew I
was
missing something. It wasn’t like William to think all was lost before it actually was. He was the optimist, always had been. Where I believed we were doomed regarding our race, he’d always said something would happen. He insisted the race would not end with either of us.

How wrong he was.
 

There was no hope I could see. Nothing that could be done to change what had happened. William and I were the last. The only thing that could change that fact was a miracle. And I’d been alive for far too long to believe in them anymore.
 

I took the same precautions on the way back as I did on my way to William’s. Laura and her family couldn’t protect themselves as William could. It was almost lunchtime when I arrived at her home, secure in the knowledge that no one had followed me and no one had seen me.
 

“Serenity!” Laura cried when she saw me. “I was worried about you. Are you hurt?”

“Sorry, and no, I’m fine,” I reassured her. “Things were . . . complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Just a little. Nothing to worry about.” There was no way I was going to tell her I had run into the entire London Seat mere miles from her home. Best not to say anything, in case Laura inadvertently gave away what she was.
 

Elena might not have known much about Ray, or that I was in the city, but it was only a matter of time before they found out. If Poppy Baruti had recognised me, then everything hinged on whether she chose to tell The Seats I was there.
 

If
she had . . .
 

Poppy had already left The Seats when I was starting to gain a reputation with them. It was possible she didn’t know me, or who I was. Possible, but it was a chance I couldn’t take. The first thing I would do when I got home was look for another house. Or perhaps try to persuade Ray to move to one I already had—even if I had to take Ray’s mother with us and tell her everything.

Either way, I wanted Ray out of London.
 

“I’m sorry I cannot stay.” There were more important things on my mind. “You understand.”

“Of course.”

“Was Tara any trouble?” I asked as I saddled her.

“No trouble at all. She’s well rested, not that she needed much.” Laura was distant as she spoke.

“Something is wrong,” I stated, turning to face her.

She looked shocked for a moment and . . .
scared.
She was quick to rearrange her features into a calm mask, but not quick enough. Her heart was racing, and I could see fear in her eyes.

“Laura?” I prompted. “What’s wrong?”

“I am . . . concerned. About you.”
 

Lie.
Everything I’d ever learned about human beings, and our kind, said she was lying.