Captured Sun (8 page)

"Kerry, is Mairin OK?" Mom called from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, Mom. Go back to bed, I got it."

I heard my mother's footsteps retreat and allowed the trembling to take hold. I wrapped my arms around myself in an effort to hold myself together, but I knew it wouldn't work. Alfred had fulfilled his promise. He'd protected Mathias and kept him alive, but at what cost? Mathias might be alive, but he wasn't coming back to me as he'd promised. "For your own good," echoed in my brain until I wanted to scream. He'd gone with the monster for my own good. He would stay with her for my own good. He would even die by her hand for my own good.

I moaned low, letting the sound break through my pain. Mathias may have done these things for my own good, but I knew I could not live without him. It would be for my own good that I would find the way to save him and bring him home. Mathias was going to have to learn that "for my own good" was a double-edged sword and I was willing to wield it.

"What time is it?" I whispered when I had calmed down enough to speak.

"About four," Xavier said.

"Mathias?" I asked, knowing the answer before Xavier spoke.

"Not back yet. I wasn't going to worry until the sun came up."

"You can worry now," I said. "He's not coming back." Xavier cursed and slipped his cell phone from his pocket.

"We need to find Alfred," I said. "He's probably at Mathias' house by now. He'll know where Serina took Mathias."

Xavier waved me off and I heard him curse at whoever answered his call.

"Kerry, we have to move fast. My dreams of Serina have never left much time to act. I doubt this one is any different."

"Are you okay to drive?" she asked.

"No." I was still trembling and my vision was still locked on Mathias' body in the alley.

Xavier snapped his phone closed. "The boys lost sight of Mathias and Alfred not five minutes after they started following them. The vamps ditched us on purpose."

"X, can you drive Mairin's car?" Kerry asked, wrapping an afghan around my shoulders. "We need to get to Mathias' house and find out what happened." I blessed Kerry's quick grasp of the situation. The dream's power still held me and made it difficult for me to speak. Why was it that my dreams of vampires always seemed to come just a little too late? Why couldn't this dream have come days ago, when I could have used it to stop Mathias from seeking out Serina? I had to believe even Alfred would have helped keep Mathias from her if he had known she would take him as she did.

The drive to Mathias' house seemed to take an eternity. Every moment we wasted looking for Alfred was another moment Serina had to further harm Mathias or take him farther away from me. Despite knowing he wouldn't be at the house when we arrived, my heart still plummeted when we turned the corner and saw both Alfred's red SUV and Mathias' black sports car in the drive. I ran up the front walk and pushed the front door open, unsurprised to find it unlocked. I stood for a moment in the entry way, vainly listening for some sign of Alfred in the dimly lit house.

"Come in, my young friends," Alfred called from the dark living room. His voice was a dead thing compared to the vibrant tone he'd had only hours earlier.

"Where is he?" I demanded, rushing into the dark living room without fear and flush with fury. In the dim light of the moon filtering through the window, I saw Alfred shake his head.

"I cannot tell you, Mairin."

"Bullshit," I screamed. "You know where she would have taken him."

Alfred sighed. "I did not say that I did not know where he was, only that I cannot tell you." He glanced past me to where Kerry and Xavier stood. "Or anyone else."

Xavier fumbled around until he found the switch which flooded the room with light. "I hate talking to vamps in the dark," he said. "What's going on here, leech?"

"I have been forbidden by my maker to reveal her location, kitty. I cannot speak the words, no matter that I would if I could." He looked at me. "If it were in my power to help you bring him home, do you believe I would withhold that information?"

I ground my teeth. "I don't know what to believe of you, Alfred," I said. "I watched you betray me under the guise of saving him, but I also know you love him."

"Whether he believes that or no, you are right."

"So we're just supposed to stand here and let Mathias go to hell with the bitch who made you?" Xavier said. I was shocked to hear such a degree of anger in Xavier's voice. I hadn't thought Xavier cared enough about Mathias to worry for his safety.

Alfred nodded. His sad eyes found mine and I glared at him.

"You betrayed me and you betrayed him," I said. "You told her about me knowing she would use it against Mathias. How could you not have foreseen what he would do?"

"Would you prefer she had killed him in the alley and left him like so much trash? I could not allow that to happen."

Xavier growled and I could see his aura beginning to pulse. "Xavier, please. I need you clear headed if we're going to figure this out."

Kerry wrapped her arms around Xavier's shoulders and I could see him breathing deeply. His aura smoothed out and began to blend with Kerry's. When he'd regained his control he asked, "So what do we do?"

I sat in the chair across from Alfred. There had to be a way around this order from Serina. "If we figure it out, can you tell us if we're right? Can you help us at all?"

Alfred swallowed hard. "I think so," he said. "The bond, the connection Serina had with me is not as strong as it once was. Her betrayal and her joy in hurting me has weakened the bond significantly. I think there may be enough give in it that I can give you confirmations."

I nodded and leaned back. I tried to remember what Alfred had said about Serina at Xavier's house yesterday. He'd mentioned something about where she came from...some place she rarely left. Where was it?

"England!" I exclaimed. "You said she rarely left England. Has she gone home with Mathias?"

Alfred's expression was pained, but he nodded.

"But you didn't tell me where in England she lived. Dammit." The elation from getting one clue was quickly quelled when it became obvious that was the only clue I could pull out of my own memory.

"Maybe they haven't left yet, Mairin," Xavier said. "Let me call some of the boys and get them out there to track them."

"I don't know where they should start," I said, feeling defeated. "There weren't any defining features in the alley I saw in my dream." I put my head in my hands and tried to force a clearer image from my dream. I'd been so focused on Mathias that I hadn't noticed anything else.

Alfred coughed. When I looked up, I could see he was struggling to say something. "Green," he finally choked out.

Xavier's head swiveled to face Alfred. Xavier's eyes lit with expectation. "Green Street and what, leech?"

Alfred pounded on the table beside him. The wood cracked beneath his hands. I shook my head. Alfred taking his frustration out on Mathias' furniture was not going to help us find him.

"Pine," Kerry said, making the connection I hadn't. "Green and Pine cross near that ugly bar where the second victim was found."

Alfred was nodding again, and Xavier turned his back to flip open his cell phone. He shouted a couple of orders to whomever answered and then snapped it shut.

"OK, leech. The boys will track them from that alley. If they're already gone, we need to know where we're going next."

I looked at Kerry and Xavier and shook my head. "Not we," I said. "Xavier, you have to take Kerry back to our house and watch over the family. Serina knows about me, it wouldn't take much for her to figure out I have family. Mathias has promised his servitude in return for our safety, but I don't trust her."

"Maire, you can't do this alone," Kerry said. "It's not safe."

"I won't be alone. Alfred is going to redeem himself," I turned to him. "Aren't you."

"You're going after Mathias? Knowing what Serina will do to you, you're still going?" Alfred's shock at my devotion was obvious.

"I don't have a choice. She took my heart and soul with her. I can't live without him."

Alfred considered my words before turning to Kerry. "I will protect your sister as best I can, but I cannot guarantee her safety."

"That's not good enough," Kerry cried.

"It has to be, Kerry. I need you to go home, tell Mom and Tawnya that I had to take care of this, that it was a dream that sent me. You know that will keep them from asking too many questions. I'll come back as soon as I can get Mathias."

Xavier's eyes told me he didn't believe me, but he kept that thought to himself.

"I'll keep the boys on the watch around the house and the shop. Kerry will stay with me. Your family will be here when you get home, Maire," he said.

"Thanks, Xavier," I said, hugging him. I kissed Kerry and pushed them both out the door. When I closed the door behind them, I realized that tears coursed down my cheeks unchecked. I was certain I'd never see my family again, but without Mathias I had no reason to live. I had to go to England. I had to find him and I had to do what Alfred had been unwilling to do. I had to save him.

"Where do we start, Alfred?"

"The airport, I suppose." He rose from his chair and stepped closer to me. The hair on my neck rose and I backed away from him.

"You need to keep away from me, Alfred," I said. "I saw what you did, heard everything you said. Mathias begged you to keep his secret, but you didn't. You gave him to Serina as much as if you had physically handed him over to her. I don't trust you."

Alfred held out his hands and took a step away from me. "I don't understand your connection to my son, Mairin. I didn't realize he would be willing to sacrifice his freedom for your safety. In my world, humans are not cherished as Mathias cherishes you. When I spoke, I did so knowing only that I could not allow Serina to kill my son. You say you saw what I did. Did you also see the torture she had begun? The scars she will leave on him? Would you have allowed that to continue, to end in his death? I think not."

I nodded. He was right. I would have offered my neck to Serina if I'd believed doing so would stop her from hurting Mathias. "So we agree we don't trust each other, but we both love Mathias. I guess that's as good a place as any to work from," I said.

Alfred sat in the chair by the window, peering into the brightening dawn. "Mathias mentioned your dreams to me. How they are often premonitions," he said. "Can you make yourself have one? Perhaps it would be enough to tell you where they are."

I shook my head. "I've never tried to force a premonition. They've always just come to me," I said. "It's been extremely frustrating lately that the dreams involving vampires always seem to come just a little too late."

"Perhaps it is because we do not truly have a future," Alfred mused.

I shuddered at the though. "Mathias has a future," I said.

"Only if you can find them. Will you try?" Alfred's pain was something I hadn't been prepared for. He'd stood by and allowed Serina to take Mathias, despite his obvious love for his son. Serina's power over him was horrifying in its ability to overrule his free will. No one deserved to have his life reduced to being forced to follow orders without thought or choice.

I knew I was too wound up to sleep, but I lay down on the couch. Alfred was right. Without a premonition to tell me where Serina had taken Mathias, our arrival in England would be nothing more than an expensive trip into misery. I had to try. "Wake me when Xavier calls."

I closed my eyes and pictured Mathias' beautiful face. His dark eyes, his cool lips, his pale skin. I put all my heart and yearning for him into the image and whispered, "Please show me where you are."

When my cell phone rang twenty minutes later, I was no closer to knowing where Mathias and Serina were than I had been when I lay down. I was infinitely more frustrated, though. Obviously, forcing a premonition wasn't going to work.

"Xavier? Did you find them?"

"Yeah, the boys tracked them to the airport. There was a flight to London which left about an hour ago. The ticket clerk remembered seeing Serina."

My heart leaped into my throat. "What about Mathias?"

"The clerk was a guy, Maire. I don't think he cared about Mathias. But the boys did find a cleaning lady who saw, and I quote, the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen walking through the concourse to the international gate."

Relief flooded me and left me weak. Serina hadn't killed Mathias and left him somewhere. She'd taken him home. Now I just had to figure out where home was. "OK, I guess I'm going to England then," I said. "Take Kerry home and keep my family safe. Please, Xavier, I'm begging you."

"You know I will, Maire, but you gotta be careful. Kerry'll be destroyed if you don't come back."

I swallowed the tears that were threatening. Crying wasn't going to help and it would only upset Xavier and Kerry to know I wasn't sure I would be successful in coming home. "I will do everything in my power to come back, Xavier. Just keep my family safe."

"Bring him back so I can kick his ass for you, okay, Maire?" Xavier joked. "Maybe next time he'll listen when you tell him something's a bad idea."

"Will you listen to Kerry?"

"Nah, but I wouldn't mind taking a swing at your vamp."

"We'll see what happens when I get home," I said, smiling just a little.

I hung up and turned to Alfred. "You call the airline. I'm going to pack bags so we don't get flagged as terrorists. Get us to London and we'll worry about the rest when we get there."

Alfred looked as though he were going to protest being ordered about by a human, but thought better of it. We were on our way to the airport as the sun broke free of the horizon.

"Do you like it, my pet?" Serina purred, tracing a long fingernail along the edge of the silver chain that lay against Mathias' neck. The flesh under the chain smoked lightly and Mathias grimaced.

"No? Well, I suppose I can live with that." Serina's cruel laugh echoed against the stone walls of the round tower in which they stood. Moonlight, pale and insubstantial, filtered through the arrow slits high on the walls. Mathias' pale skin glowed in the darkened room.