The Vampire's Warden (7 page)

“
You need to tell me everything, Alex.”

Messenger swished her tail once and shifted her weight, giving a satisfied sigh as Alex continued to rid her of the dirt caked into her dark coat.  He was quiet for a long time and I wondered if he would say anything. 

Just when I was ready to give up and leave, he began to speak in a low tone.

“
I grew up in Chicago.  We moved to San Francisco four days after I turned seventeen.”  The currycomb continued moving in smooth strokes down the mare’s flanks and over her back, “I was angry with my parents for making me leave my friends, my school.  Everything.”

He put the currycomb back in the grooming bucket and turned to me, “I rebelled.  I stayed out past curfew, got into trouble with the law.  Then I met her.”

I studied him curiously and waited.

“
She was beautiful.  Hell, more than beautiful.”  He flashed a hint of a smile, “She was older, obviously experienced.  She had me wrapped around her little finger in a matter of days.  Sex was not something entirely new to me, but she made it something… Magical.”

His full lips pursed as he picked up a body brush and began to groom the horse again.

“
She wasn’t exactly what I thought she was.”

“
What do you mean?”

His eyes met mine and the sardonic gleam there made me catch my breath.

“
She was a vampire.”

“
Oh…”  I cupped my hands around my mouth in surprise.

“
Her name was Selena.”

Chapter Five

Rage gripped me like a fist, closing around my heart, and before I realized what I was doing, I had jumped up and shoved Alex as hard as I could.

“
You’re lying!” I spouted, “I don’t know who you really are, or what the hell you think you’re trying to do, but you’re
sick
. You’re telling me that my mother left her family and then picked you up like some cougar?”

He had not been expecting that kind of outburst and staggered against the wall of one of the horse stalls, shooting me a look of surprised anger.

Messenger sidestepped away from both of us, her eyes wide in panic. Alex straightened and immediately began to soothe her with soft words while rubbing her neck. She started to settle down again under his gentle care and let out a resounding snort before lowering her head slightly.

Alex addressed me without meeting my look, “It's true, Sarah. Your mother is a vampire. That is part of the reason she left. Michael turned her. She begged him to do it.”

I had been pushing against this new pain so hard, trying so desperately to hold it back, but I could not do it anymore. A towering wave of betrayal crashed over me. It was black and heavy, weighing me down and crushing what I thought I was supposed to be.

I remember stumbling from the barn with tears streaming down my cheeks and I remember the salty taste when one would slip past my lips. I remember the sounds of the night creeping over the landscape around me. However, I lost the rest of what happened that evening. I only knew I was drowning and nobody could save me.

The night closed in and I let the wave take me.

The dream was a shimmery thing hanging over me like a net. Michael was there, murmuring to me softly like a lover.

“
Stop this. You had no hand in it. Let go, damn you.” The emotion in his tone left no doubt it was just a strange dream. Michael was a heartless murderer.

He went on, pleading with me and cursing me in the same breath.

“
I’ve seen you handle some of the worst that fate can dish out, you little fool. Now you’re going to let the actions of one woman take you out for good? I expected far more from you, Sarah.” His icy look met mine, his arching brows drawn down in frustration, “Get up. Move on. Damn you! Let go of me! What witchery is this? I must be going mad.”

It occurred to me that he could not leave me in this state for some off reason. How strange, I thought. Such a powerful entrancing creature. Vampire. I wondered what it would feel like to have his lips on my neck, his throat burning for my blood.

“
No. How are you doing this? I can
hear
you, Sarah. If you think it’s a dream, then wake the hell up. You’ve had a panic attack. WAKE UP, GOD DAMN IT!”

A tiny giggle escaped my throat. What a funny little dream. Michael was yelling at me. The darkness came folding back over me slowly and I did not fight it at all.

Later, I heard more voices.

“
Sarah? Oh, my God.” Then savagely, “Tell me you didn’t touch her, you bastard.” That was Alex’s voice. I struggled to open my eyes and tried to sit up but the effort was wasted. I felt so cold. My fingers were numb, and my body was wracked with tremors from both the cold air outside and the strain within.

“
I was a perfect gentleman, thank you very much.” Michael replied.

Then came heavy footsteps, and I heard Joe’s low rumbling tone, “Is she alright?”

“
Such a weird dream.” I heard myself say in an unusual tone. I was so hoarse, and my throat seemed to burn intensely when the words came out, so I said nothing more. Strong arms wrapped around me, and I was lifted. The ground came away under me. The world went silent once again.

“
Take her temperature every few hours. We don’t want this to turn into a hospital stay for pneumonia.”

When I opened my eyes, I realized I was back in my bed at the main house. There were no less than three quilts covering me, a cup of what looked to be fresh steaming tea sitting on my nightstand and Dr. Fleming watching me from the foot of my bed with his arms crossed and a worried frown puckering his mouth.

“
Nelly, she’s waking up.” He said.

A familiar hand pressed against my brow, “She’s still very warm.”

“
Of course I’m warm,” I croaked, “I’m being smothered by these stupid quilts.”

Nelly’s face brightened a bit at my complaint, “Well, now. Her temper’s on the mend, at least.” She fussed around me for a long time, taking off one quilt, replacing it with a thin blanket, then taking that one off as well and replacing that with a sheet. She forced me to take a sip of the tea she had made and then hustled downstairs with the cup muttering at herself because she had forgotten the honey.

“
You want to tell me what happened, Sarah?” The doctor asked.

I was not sure what to say and ended up revealing only a little of the truth, “I’ve been upset lately about Dad.” I sighed and readjusted myself so I was sitting up further against the pillows, “It’s been rough. I think I kind of freaked out or something.”

“
He was a good man. I miss him too.” He walked over to my dresser, picked something up, and brought it to me. The journal was steady in his hand as he looked on me thoughtfully, “There’s a letter in here that your father wrote to you. Have you read it?”

I took the journal from him and flipped to the back. A single folded sheet of yellow legal paper fell onto my lap. I glanced at Dr. Fleming shortly before unfolding it. When I saw my father’s familiar scratchy handwriting, I felt my heart beat speed up. I had not realized exactly how much I had missed him until that very moment.

Dearest Sarah,

You know I’m not much for writing. But I owe you some answers and I aim to give them to you. I found out that I had cancer a year ago. I didn’t want to go through any chemo-type stuff. I figure that if God gave me cancer, he did it for a good reason. I’ve also got a lot of faith in my girls. You especially, Sarah. You’ve always been real strong, honey. Katie was always the book smart one and you were the one with a backbone made of solid steel.

The load I’ve left for you to carry is a heavy one. I ain’t just talking about the Inn either. When you read this journal, you’ll understand more about all that. I want you to know that I love you. I trust you to make the right decisions for yourself. Nelly will be there to help you when I’m gone, bless her soul. Joe will stay on to do the chores as long as his old bones hold out.

You and Katie-bug will need to lean on each other. If you can keep her from knowing about the meadow, I figure she’ll be better off. Make sure she keeps up with her studies. She’s gonna make a great vet one day.

-Dad

P.S. One of these days, I want you to ride that mare. She’s a waste of good hay otherwise.

I chuckled through my tears. Looking up at Dr. Fleming, I smiled a little, “Thank you.”

He gave me a nod of acknowledgment and turned to go. Stopping in the doorway, he turned back and said, “The Council will be sending representatives soon to meet with you.” He stepped out of the room and I heard him make his way down the hallway.

I stared at the empty doorway with my mouth wide open. The Council? Had the doctor read my Dad’s journal? How much did he know? Could Dr. Fleming be involved in this? I pressed my hands against my warm cheeks, hardly believing it to be possible.

Later, I regarded Nelly’s entrance with lingering shock still coursing through me. “Alright, young lady. You finish your tea and then I’m bringing up a bowl of my chicken soup.” She insisted, “And I expect you to eat every bite. Then you’re going to rest.”

“
I’m twenty-three years old, Nelly. Not five.”

She huffed and leaned over to put the third quilt back into place again over my legs, “Well, then you should take better care of yourself, missy.”

“
Then there wouldn’t be anything left for you to do.” I replied with a wry grin.

Trying to be a good patient, I ate most of what Nelly brought up for me and I began to read the journal again. My grandfather had done some research, apparently. His handwriting was illegible at times, but he was thorough and descriptive. He explained in detail some meetings he had had with the Council. They had explained to him that the first vampire warden had been a Pawnee ancestor of mine who had an encounter with a vampire. The vampire had lived for centuries wandering the Earth and wanted find a safe place to rest. The tribe’s medicine man called upon the power of
Tirawa
, the creation God, to create a sacred place where the vampire could rest. The ceremony was performed in song and dance around a sacred medicine bundle.

When it was over, the vampire dug himself down into the Earth for the “long sleep.” When the vampire awoke, he found that he could not leave. The medicine man explained that the vampire’s warden must approve before the vampire could set off again. There was a magical field of energy surrounding the sacred resting place.

No vampires could come in or leave without the consent of the Warden. My father had been the Warden. Now it was me. I closed the journal but kept the letter from Dad and pushed it under my pillow.

The lamp on my nightstand issued the only light in my room. Night had descended on the Inn, and there was only the sound of the wind against my window as I put the journal on my nightstand and switched off the lamp.

I tossed one of the quilts off my legs and turned on my side, facing the window. Alex had not made an appearance at all since our fight in the barn. It seemed odd, but I missed him. His bright smile and dancing green eyes had become something I counted on seeing every morning. I still was not completely sure he had been telling the truth about my mother, but given what I had read in the journal, anything was possible.

I slept without dreaming.

Chapter Six

Once I felt a little better, I attempted to throw myself back into the daily chores around the Inn. The family renting the big lodge had checked out and we did not have any reservations scheduled for another two weeks. Then the fall rush would begin, and I knew I would be too busy to think about Alex, Michael, or the whole Warden thing.

I tried calling and texting Katie for several days after her abrupt departure, but she had not returned them. I wanted someone to blame for this. I thought briefly of asking Alex if I could borrow his cell phone so that I could call my mother and give her a piece of my mind. What good would that have done? It did not matter that she had sent her boy toy to “help” me. She had written me off long ago.