Building From Ashes (40 page)

Brigid narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure whether I should be flattered by that or not.”

“Considering he won’t be getting any fine, strong sons from your fertile loins, he’ll probably consider it a bargain.”

She rolled her eyes and fought the urge to burst out laughing. “You did come from medieval times, didn’t you?”

“Not me, but he did.” Deirdre walked past, patting her shoulder as she continued exploring the house. “Literally. Medieval.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“So was Ioan. Luckily, the Welsh of that age were unusually progressive. They make excellent husbands, if you can find them.” She smiled sadly as she touched a picture of Ioan and Brigid that was tucked onto the shelf of one bookcase. “He was such a fine husband.”

“I miss him every day. Well… night.” Brigid blinked back the tears that came to her eyes. “You know, growing up I always thought…”

“What?”

Her voice was almost a whisper. “If I could find anyone to love me like Ioan loved you, I’d be the luckiest girl in the world.”

Within seconds, Brigid was squeezed in a tight embrace. “He does. Carwyn does love you like that. And if you return it, then you’re both the lucky ones.”

And in another instant, she was gone, standing in front of the refrigerator with the door hanging open.

“What do you have to drink?”

Brigid heated the pig’s blood she’d bought from the butcher. Since the word had spread through Murphy’s offices—by way of Carwyn’s letters to her—most of the staff had begun to drink animal blood. No one liked it, and after several months, Brigid had noticed that she felt weaker and was sleeping more. Less strength, far less tasty, but safer until they could learn how to avoid the elixir. She heated the cold bag in the simmering water before she snipped the corner and poured it into a mug for Deirdre.

“Cheers.” She clinked her cup with the other vampire’s as she sat down.

“Is everyone drinking animal now?”

“Mostly those on staff. Murphy’s being cautious about not causing a panic until we know more. I think Jack still takes a nip from the girls every now and then, though.”

Deirdre shook her head and took a sip. “Playing with fire.”

“No.” She grinned. “That’s me.”

Deirdre laughed as Brigid tossed a small flame toward a candle in the center of the table.

“Really though…” Deirdre fell serious. “It’s not a joke. This drug is incredibly damaging. One of Ioan’s oldest friends has drunk elixired blood. He’s far older than Carwyn, and his sire is one of the ancients of our kind. Still, one drink from a human who had taken it has weakened him dangerously.”

“There has to be some way to detect it. No one would create something like this without putting in some kind of—of marker, or sign, or something. And humans must have some noticeable symptoms. Maybe not at first, but—”

“I agree.” Deirdre nodded. “Any vampire who produced it would put in some safeguard or marker. Our kind is too cautious not to.”

“Do we have any idea when we’ll know more from Rome?”

Deirdre shook her head. “I’m sure, as soon as Beatrice—Giovanni’s wife—knows, she’ll spread the word. She’s young like you, and not as secretive as the older ones.”

“And Carwyn?” Her voice lifted in hope. “Any idea when he’ll be…” She almost said ‘home,’ then realized that his home was actually in Wales, which didn’t suit her at all.

Her sire’s eyes twinkled. “He’ll come back as soon as he can. Your guess is probably better than mine. I’m fairly certain Dublin will be his first stop.”

A smile fought its way to Brigid’s mouth. “Well, he’s missed.” She took a drink and made a horrified face. “And I’ll be extremely grateful to figure out some way to eat properly again, as well.”

Deirdre threw her head back and laughed. “It’s not that bad!”

“Yes, it is. How do you stand it?”

She winked. “Well, I’ve been known to take a nip now and then from a human. Don’t tell Father.”

“Oh really?” She smiled, feeling like she and Deirdre were sharing girlhood secrets. “He knows I don’t drink animal blood as a rule. Doesn’t seem to bother him.”

“He’s not judgmental.” Deirdre paused. “Plus, after all this time, he’s probably curious what your blood will taste like when he drinks from you.”

Brigid almost snorted the pig’s blood through her nose. “W—what?”

A wicked grin crossed her sire’s face. “Well now, it looks like Cathy and Anne didn’t get to have
all
the fun with the new girl. Brigid, my dear, it’s time for an entirely
different
kind of ‘special talk.’”

She couldn’t decide what was making her skin heat. Embarrassment or curiosity. Probably both.

After a few more hours having her ears scorched by far more than she ever wanted to know about vampire sex and mating habits, Brigid was back at The Abbey, the club where Jack had been attacked. It remained open, more as a place to gather information than anything else. Over the previous three months, it had become the vampire ‘place to be seen and drink’ so it had attracted a large immortal clientele, as well as humans who liked to be bitten. A win for everyone. Especially the club owners, who were turning an even larger portion of their earnings over to Murphy.

She sat, bored, watching the stupid and the desperate. Many of the humans wore the hollow eyes of those looking for oblivion, so much like the aching girl she had been, it made Brigid want to weep. When she thought about her life seven years before, she wanted to wring her own neck.

What did she think she was running from? As painful as reliving and working through her abuse had been—still was—she had come to a place of peace that the human Brigid never could have imagined.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jack, who had come back to the table looking flushed and evil.

Brigid frowned. “I don’t particularly like you, Jack, but I’d miss you if you lost your mind. Cut it out, will you?”

He only shrugged. “It’s not like I haven’t lived past my allotted time anyway, Connor. If the good Lord decides to take me for enjoying the neck of a plump young thing… well, it’s been a good run.”

“Idiot.”

“Prude.”

“Lot you know.”

“Brigid, your man is a priest. If that isn’t a recipe for sexual frustration, I don’t know what is.”

She fell silent, thinking about Deirdre’s visit. And Istanbul. And dangerous places she couldn’t roam.

“Hey.” Jack tugged on her arm. “I’m just teasing you, Brigid. And don’t get that sad, weepy look. Your man’s one of the most powerful vamps I’ve ever met. And he’s a tricky one. He’ll be fine.”

“Tricky?” She frowned, as Jack leaned back with a lazy smile and spread his arms across the back of the booth. “Why do you say that?” Brigid thought Carwyn was one of the most straightforward people she’d ever met.

“Think about it. He’s terribly clever. Comes across as a very jovial chap, the Father does. Crazy Hawaiian shirts and loud laugh. The life of the party and everyone’s favorite friend.” A keen glint came to Jack’s eye. “But push him past that joking manner and he’s rather unpredictable. A thousand years old, after all. In our young corner of the world, that’s something. I’ve seen him fight.” Brigid looked at him and he gave a slow nod. “Once. And I learned a valuable lesson.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

He smiled slowly. “Always let your enemies underestimate you.”

“He won?” A smile flicked over her face. “Of course he won.”

Jack chuckled. “Never seen a dozen Frenchmen so surprised.”

Just then, a long sweep of hair caught her attention. A broad shoulder peeked from the shadows in the corner of the club.

“Jack.” Brigid nudged him. “I think that’s someone we know.”

The other vampire threw back the pint he’d ordered. It was warm, but immortals tended not to like cold beer anyway. “Oh aye,” Jack murmured. “Hello, pretty boy. We’ve been looking for you.”

It was, undoubtedly, Axel. Emily’s ex-boyfriend and former drug dealer had disappeared for months. Brigid didn’t even know if he’d stayed in Dublin. Emily claimed to have nothing to do with him since rehab, and Jack had been frustrated, since he thought Axel had something to do with whoever was shipping drugs into Dublin. While the heroin problem seemed to be tapering off, the whispers about the new “vampire drug” were growing louder.

Brigid still had her doubts whether he had the brains to mastermind an operation, which had gone undetected under Murphy’s nose, but his disappearance, and now reappearance, was certainly speaking in favor of Axel being more than just a pretty face and a long set of fangs.

“You want to grab him?” she asked Jack.

“Yes. I don’t think he’s noticed me. Grab the human he just sent to the bar and meet me in the alley. I have a few questions for our dear Dane.”

“He’s Norwegian.” She slid out from the booth eagerly. Finally, the night had become more interesting.

She waded through the sea of dancers, using the crowd to hide her approach from the girl who stood twitching at the bar.
User
. The girl looked like she needed a fix. Her balance was uneven and Brigid could see the beginning of ribs showing though the skintight black dress she wore. Her light brown hair hung limp at her shoulders. Brigid sidled up to her, glancing over her shoulder to see Jack approaching Axel from the far side of the club.

No scenes. Just a friendly chat with Axel’s current—

She looked over, stunned. “Emily?”

It couldn’t be.

It had been four months since they’d met for a drink. After their meeting in May, they’d talked on the phone a few times. Brigid had gone to Emily’s house to meet her family, all of whom seemed understandably wary of the vampire. The two friends had kept in contact, but only over the phone the last few months, she suddenly realized. Otherwise, Brigid would have noticed Emily’s rapid deterioration.

“Brigid… hello. I’m just—”

“Em, what’s wrong with you?”

The thin smile Emily had been trying to muster fell. “Nice to see you too. Been a while. How’s life? How’s immortal health? Must be nice.”

Brigid shook her head and glanced rapidly between where Axel had been standing and back to Emily. Jack must have already taken the other vampire out to the alley. “I’m just… I’m not going to lie, Emily. You look sick. How…?” Brigid’s voice dropped and she stepped closer, closing her nostrils to the sickly sweet scent of Emily’s illness. “Are you using again? It’s okay. Everyone slips. I’ll get you help. We don’t even have to tell your parents if you don’t want to. I have some money and I can—”

Emily tore her thin arm away from Brigid’s warm hand. “You think I’m on drugs again?”

“You’re skin and bones! I mean… what the hell? The last time I saw you, you’d lost some weight, but you said you’d found a new diet and you felt wonderful. Now, you look like a—a skeleton. I’m worried about you!”

“Well, don’t be.” She handed her cash over to the bartender and took her drinks. She turned, but Axel was nowhere to be found.

“What are you doing with Axel? Are you two back together?”

Emily’s eyes flickered over the crowd, and Brigid had the distinct impression that she’d already been forgotten. “We’re just friends,” the woman murmured, clutching the two martini glasses between bony fingers. “We just hang out. It’s not like he’s dealing drugs anymore.”

“He better not be.” She was drifting away, and Brigid was torn between wanting to shove the girl in a cab and send her to her parent’s house—possibly along with some chicken soup if she could find it—and trying to find Jack and Axel. She didn’t buy for one moment that Emily wasn’t using again. And if Axel was the one to blame…

Brigid blinked. In the split second that she’d glanced toward the alley, Emily was gone. She searched the club with her eyes, but the thin woman wasn’t in the shadows or the mess of surging dancers in the middle of the floor.

“Shit!” Where could she have gone so fast? Brigid bolted down a narrow hallway and out the alley door. She stepped into the dark street and looked around. There were two figures near the dumpster. She could hear voices, but nothing distinct. Brigid scowled. They must have been vampires. Only other immortals could drop their voice to a low whisper that was only intelligible to others with preternatural hearing. She walked toward them.

“Oy!” She reached for the pistol at the small of her back.

They were cloaked in thick darkness, but her eyes caught the profile of the shorter one as he began to turn.

Her breath caught. “What—?”

The pinch caught her at the base of the neck a moment before she sensed the vampire behind her. It was like being blasted by fire from the inside out, and the crackling energy that lived under her skin froze for a split second before time seemed to stop.

The dust motes hung still in the glowing streetlights. She tasted the acid on her tongue. Silence blanketed the cold alley.

A familiar voice screamed ‘
No
!’ as her heart took off in a panicked gallop. The air around her seemed to contract a second before the fire exploded out and everything went black.

When Brigid woke, it was approaching dawn. She was naked and alone in the alley, and a black ring scorched the earth around her. Her fangs fell down at the scent of human blood; then she gagged as the smell of burning flesh touched her nose. She turned, and there was a pile of black flakes scattered out behind her and the twisted body of a human a few feet away.

She crawled toward the human remains. The mostly intact shoes marked it as a male. Probably young from the style. She guessed he’d been wearing a jacket, but the blast had ripped it back, melting his keys and wallet into the scorched ribcage, just below his heart.

Brigid crawled away, disgusted, trying to remember what had happened. Trying not to retch.

The club.

Music. Pounding. A dance floor. She’d been looking for someone.

Emily
.

Had she followed Emily out to the alley and lost her temper? Brigid didn’t remember. She didn’t remember
anything
. She hadn’t lost control like that since… not since she had first turned in the library in Wicklow.

Her stomach twisted as she stared at the charred bones. Had she meant to kill the human? Was she defending herself? Who was it?