Building From Ashes (42 page)

Panic was growing, which meant vampires and the humans who were under their aegis were growing
more
silent and secretive, not less. Which made looking for missing vampires even more difficult.

And Brigid had given up hope of ever finding the humans.

The human list was longer. Much longer. And she had given up on every name except for one.

Emily Neely.

Brigid took a sip of the warm pig’s blood in her travel mug and made a face as the phone rang. She glanced around, but there was no one in the office except her, so she ignored the gloves she usually slipped on to answer the phone and punched the speaker button with her pencil.

“This is Connor.”

There was a pause.

“Um… hello?” A timid voice filled the empty office.

“Yes?”

“Is this Emily’s friend, Brigid?”

She blinked and leaned closer to the phone, resisting the impulse to pick it up. “Yes. Is this… is this Mrs. Neely?”

“Yes, it is. I remember you called a few weeks ago. You’d left your card and asked me to call if there was any news.”

Brigid’s heart began to race. “Have you found her? Is she all right?”

There was a low sniff and a thread of steel filled the voice. “No. I mean—yes, we’ve found her. She’s… in the hospital, but she’s not all right. I know we’re under Murphy’s aegis, so we should call the main office, but you said that you worked for him, and she asked me to call you so—”

“It’s fine. Tell me where she is. I’ll come right now.” It was after three in the morning, but this was more important than the sorting and filing she’d been doing while Declan and Jack were out on patrol. Mrs. Neely gave her the address of the hospital in suburban Dublin and Brigid called for a car.

Half an hour later, she was pulling up to the emergency entrance and asking the driver to wait. Brigid walked in, her touch persuading the nurse in the Emergency department to escort her to the private room where Emily lay. She walked into the room and paused, shocked by the scene. Brigid’s mother and father sat on one side of the bed, staring with hollow eyes at the shell of their daughter in the bed.

Emily was covered with a white sheet, the formerly vibrant girl thin and sallow beneath the florescent lights. Her arms looked like twigs. Her hair was limp and uneven around her face. She appeared to be sleeping and monitors around her beeped and jumped as Brigid approached. She tried not to get too close, having no idea how she would affect the equipment that was monitoring her old friend or keeping her alive, she wasn’t sure which.

“Don’t worry.” She heard a croak from the sheets. “If you short any of it out, it’ll just make the nurses panic. Nothing’s really keeping me alive,” Emily said with a thin voice. Her eyes had still not opened. “Mum, Dad, can you let me and Brigid talk for a bit?”

Brigid could tell that Mr. and Mrs. Neely didn’t want to leave, but they measured Brigid in her work clothes, which that night consisted of black combat pants, a black T-shirt, and a leather jacket, and decided not to challenge the grim-looking vampire their daughter wanted to speak with.

Emily’s mother whispered, “We’ll be right down the hall, dear.” Then she left the bedside and shot Brigid a hateful look.

She blames a vampire for this
.

She was probably right.

Emily finally opened her eyes and lifted a hand. “Hey.”

“Hey, Em.”

“You can come closer. Like I said, nothing’s keeping me alive at this point anyway.”

“What happened? This isn’t drugs.”

Emily curled a finger to bring her closer and whispered, “If I speak this low can you hear me? Don’t want Mum and Dad to hear.”

Brigid nodded and leaned closer. The machines beeped and went blank for a moment before she drew back. Emily grasped her hand in a surprisingly powerful grip.

“Don’t. Don’t worry about that. This is more important. You need to listen to me, Brig.”

“What is it?” Her nose twitched and an ancient instinct alerted her. Emily was dying. The sickly sweet smell of disease emanated from her friend, and Brigid tried not to curl her lip. Her stomach twisted in the same way she remembered it had as a human when she smelled spoiled meat.

“I know I’m dying. I don’t want you to make me a vampire, but that’s not why I wanted to talk to you.”

Brigid was grateful that Emily wasn’t going to ask. As much as it twisted her heart to see her friend in pain, she’d been warned by both Deirdre and Cathy about humans who were too sick. They often didn’t survive turning and, if they did, were weak and unstable in immortality. Besides, Brigid had a suspicion that drinking Emily’s blood could be lethal for both of them.

“What happened to you?”

A heartbreaking smile crossed Emily’s lips. “He said it would make me beautiful forever. I was so vain. Stupid, stupid girl.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“I was.” She sighed and her eyes slipped close again. “I wouldn’t turn. He wanted me to, but I didn’t want to give up the sun. He told me… it was the elixir of life. I would live forever and be young and beautiful, just like him. And at first, I thought he was right.”

“Who, Em? Was it Axel?”

Emily nodded.

“When?”

“About a year ago, right after I quit using.”

She brushed a bloody tear from her eye as she watched her friend dying before her eyes. “Just a year?”

“I’d been having a hard time. You know how it feels. I felt years older. I looked awful. I thought for sure that Axel was going to break things off. Then, he got a shipment of Elixir from Europe. I think… maybe Germany? Said it was for humans. More like a supplement than a drug. I took it, and I felt…” She sighed as her eyes drifted closed. “Amazing. My skin glowed. I had so much energy. No more cravings… I didn’t feel high, just healthy. For the first time in so long, I felt vital. I didn’t need much sleep. Had an amazing sex drive. It was like I was me, but better.”

“What happened? When did you start to notice a change?”

“Right around the time we broke up. When I first saw you, Axel and I had just split up. I lied. We hadn’t been separated for months like I said. I knew Murphy’s people were looking for him, but I didn’t want to betray him. He had always been so sweet with me, but he’d been getting… different. Hostile. Not like himself and it seemed like he blamed me for it. I didn’t know why.”

Brigid whispered, “He was probably starting to suffer the effects from the Elixir. It wasn’t your fault.”

“He drank from me so much. He said my blood tasted sweeter. That I smelled like ripe fruit.” She sniffed. “But I was poisoning him, and I didn’t even know it.”

Brigid’s senses alerted. “Like ripe fruit?” She remembered when she had met Emily in the spring. What did she smell like? It
had
been fruit. Something distinctive. It wasn’t just sweet. Sharp smelling. What was it? “Did he say anything else?”

She shook her head. “He was evasive. I should have known then that it wasn’t a good idea, but he seemed so enthusiastic about it. He couldn’t keep his hands off me after I took it. It was almost as if he was high after he drank my blood. And he would say the oddest things. Probably talking about whoever he got it from. ‘He’s brilliant. We’ll make a fortune.’ Stuff like that.”

“Did he mention any names?”

She shook her head weakly. “No, nothing. Wait… there was one he mentioned when he was speaking to someone in another language on the phone once. He usually didn’t make calls in front of me, but I think he thought I was sleeping. He was speaking German, I think. But the name… ‘Jacques,’ maybe?” Emily began to sniff. “I wish I knew for sure. I’m sorry.”

“Shhh,” Brigid soothed her, wishing there was something she could do. But no cure had been found for tainted humans. They didn’t even know where to start looking. “You’re doing fine, Emily. You’ve been an amazing help.”

“I was a crap friend, Brig.”

“No, you weren’t.” Brigid could feel the tears come to her eyes. “You were my only friend.”

“I wish I’d never taken you out partying. That was so awful of me.”

“No.” Brigid’s voice was hoarse. “You know, everything happens for a reason. I didn’t see it at the time, but looking back… there’s nothing in my life that I’d change. As horrible as some of it has been, it’s all worked together to make me who I am. And… I like that person. I finally do. I’m strong. I’ve learned a lot. I have things to offer now. I don’t want to give that up.”

Emily blinked slowly and a dreamy smile crossed her lips. “Are you in love, Brigid? You should be. You deserve love. You deserve the happiest happy ending in the world.”

She sat down and leaned her elbow on the edge of the bed. For a moment, they were two girls in college, confiding their secrets again.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“I’m dying, so I won’t have much time to gossip. I think you’re safe.”

Brigid said, “I’m in love with a priest.”

Emily blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it again. Finally, she said, “You really don’t do anything the easy way, do you?”

She let her head fall forward and muffled a quiet laugh. “No, I guess not.”

“Does he love you back?”

She nodded. “He says he’s
courting
me. Wants to marry me. When he was a human, priests could marry, so he doesn’t see a problem with it.”

“But you do.” It wasn’t a question.

Brigid hesitated. “I do—I did. I don’t know anymore. Those rules get drilled in young. But the longer he’s gone…” She blinked back tears again and lifted her eyes to meet Emily’s. “I think, Em, that as long as he comes back safe from wherever he is, I’ll take him any way I can get him. Collar or not.”

Emily shrugged. “If it doesn’t bother him, then don’t let it bother you. He’s a vampire, of course.”

“Yes.”

“Well then, both of you will just have to live forever so you avoid eternal damnation. Convenient when you think about it.”

Brigid continued to watch Emily as her breathing became labored. The monitors stalled for a moment, probably from Brigid’s energy, then they smoothed out again and Emily took a deep breath.

“Part of me,” she gasped. “Part of me wants to ask if you’d kill me, Brigid. I don’t know how long I’ll last like this. They don’t know what’s wrong with me, just that I’m wasting away. None of the food they give me, not even the feeding tube, seems to do anything. So, I’m going to die. And it’s going to be painful, probably. And part of me wants to avoid that.” Emily’s eyes rose to Brigid’s, which were filled with bloody tears she wiped on her shirt sleeve. “But then part of me knows that I’d lose the last bit of time with my parents. That it would kill you to do it, even though you probably would if I asked.”

I would
, Brigid thought. If Emily truly wanted, she would do it. She wouldn’t drink from her, but there were other ways that wouldn’t hurt. She could use her amnis to calm her friend so she drifted away and felt no pain. She swallowed hard as Emily continued speaking.

“You would do it because you never shrank from doing the hard thing. But I won’t ask. It’s like you said earlier, everything happens for a reason. Life. Death. Suffering and joy. There is a frightening beauty in all this that I don’t want to lose, even if there’s pain, too.”

“Are you sure, Em?”

“I am.” She closed her eyes and Brigid could feel her begin to drift into sleep. “I’ll be here for as long as I am. And when I die, have a damn fruity drink in my honor. You’ll hate it, but it’ll make you smile. Even if you don’t want to.”

“I love you, Emily.”

Emily smiled, though her eyes did not open. “Thanks, Brig. That’s better than I deserve. You should go now. It’s getting close to sunrise, isn’t it? Take care of yourself.”

Brigid sniffed and rose to her feet, brushing back Emily’s hair from her forehead as she heard Mr. and Mrs. Neely approaching in the hall.

“I always do,” she whispered. “Good-bye.”

Brigid stumbled into her house just as she started feeling the pull of day. As soon as she did, her sleepy senses went on alert.

There was someone in her house! Old energy. And… panting?

She blinked once as Madoc bounded down the hall and pushed into her legs. She swayed and tilted. What was Madoc doing there? Deirdre had taken the dog back to Wicklow when she returned from Rome. Unless…

“You mutt.” She heard him call. “Don’t knock her over; it’s almost dawn. She’s probably exhausted.”

Carwyn was back.

A brilliant smile lit up her face when she saw him approaching. Her vision was swimming, but he was still the most wonderful sight in the world.

“Brigid?”

She was grinning like an idiot and still couldn’t speak. There were too many things to say and she was going to pass out on her face. How completely romantic and elegant of her. Luckily, Carwyn caught her in his arms and she took a deep breath of his scent. Dark earth and wind and a woody kind of spice. Home. She let out a breath and wound her arms around his neck as he lifted her up.

“We’ve rendered the woman speechless, Madoc.” He walked to her darkened bedroom, but not before securing the locks on the door behind her. “Well done. Enjoy the moment.”

“You’re here,” she finally whispered. “You’re safe. I missed you so much.”

Brigid felt him press a kiss to her forehead. “And the moment passes. Forgive me for breaking in, love. I couldn’t wait to see you. Thought you’d be home earlier.”

“I was at the hospital. Emily… my friend is sick.”

His voice was soft as he tucked her into bed. “I’m so sorry, love.”

She pulled on his hand. “Stay with me.”

Carwyn winked. “If you insist.”

“I insist.”

He slipped in behind her and wrapped her in his warm arms. She felt his breath as he buried his face in her hair and sighed in relief. It was right. She didn’t care about anything else anymore. The world, the church, their families. They could think what they wanted. Carwyn was exactly where he was supposed to be, and she was never letting him go.

Brigid whispered, “Two dozen sheep and a… draft horse, Carwyn.”

“What?” She heard him laugh at her.

“Sheep. Horse. Ask… Deirdre.”

“What are you talking about?”