Guardian's Joy #3 (33 page)

“
What is it, Mama?”

“
It’s your father’s symbol and something
more. I saw it when I cast the stones for you.” Her mother leaned
over her shoulder to whisper in her ear. JJ could see them side by
side in the mirror. Mama looked so tired. Her skin was gray and
black circles surrounded her sunken eyes. “I loved him and the
proof of it lies under my broken heart.” She touched JJ’s shoulder.
Her hands were nothing but bone. “This is the symbol you follow,
not the sword, never the sword. I’ve made a terrible mistake, Joy.
I misread the signs. I let these people convince me your destiny
was here when, in truth, it lay where you were born. You need to go
home, Joy. You need to go home.”

“
What’s this? What have you done?” It was
Marion, the mistress of the first coven. “He won’t like it if she’s
marked with any symbol but his own.”

Mama never did finish the tattoo. She became
too ill and the two of them were rarely left alone together in the
small, cell-like room in the infirmary. On those rare occasions
when they were, her mother’s words were whispered and filled with
pain.

“
He doesn’t want you for his consort, only
his slave.”

“
Young Samuel, do you love him? Good,
good. Let him free your powers. Let him show you the way.”

“
I love you, sweetheart. I always have. I
only wanted what was best. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

JJ felt her mother’s hands on her face,
brushing the tears away with her thumbs. Oh, Mama! This was a pain
Faith’s gentle touch couldn’t wash away. Strong arms held her close
and rocked her as she sobbed. Manon’s arms, not her mother’s, but
at that moment, they were the next best thing.

The door was wide open and the memories
flooded out. JJ wondered how many times she would wish she’d left
it locked.

Chapter 32

Nardo watched Joy mechanically poke fork
holes into her mashed potatoes while she stared at a spot on the
tablecloth a few inches beyond the edge of her plate. The slices of
roast pork lay untouched to one side of her plate and the broccoli
and yeast roll sat half eaten and ignored. This wasn’t his Joy.

He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Everyone
at the table kept glancing her way, their faces cautious and
concerned. He almost wished the twins would make some smart ass
comment just to attract her attention, to make her smile and take
away that faraway look from her eyes. Grace and Hope tried to keep
the conversation flowing, but their efforts fell flat. Joy took no
notice, not even of Faith’s rare presence at the table.

Canaan sat back from the table and patted his
stomach. “Good meal, my lady, as always.”

And as always, Grace replied with nod, “Why
thank you, my lord. It’s my pleasure to serve.”

It sounded so formal in a House that was
anything but. Nardo wasn’t sure when it started, but it had become
the signal for whoever was on dish duty to start clearing. It was
Nico and Hope’s turn today.

“I’ll get the coffee.” Grace started to rise,
but Faith beat her to it. She tapped the table lightly and pointed
to herself. She smiled when Grace thanked her and sat back with a
sigh. “I don’t know where my energy goes lately.”

Broadbent stood. “Maybe I should help with
the coffee.”

Hope, coming through for another load,
laughed. “It’s coffee, Professor. She knows where things are. It’s
about time she started pulling her weight and since you’ve lost
your partner to JJ, tomorrow Faith can help you clear.”

Grace and Hope started to laugh at the looks
on the faces of the men around the table. JJ blinked at the sound
and looked at the table as if surprised her plate was gone.

“Welcome back,” Nardo whispered.

“What? Oh, sorry. I was thinking.” JJ shifted
in her chair uneasily, wondering what else she’d missed and who
else had noticed.

“Deep thoughts?”

“Hmmm.”

Once coffee was served, Grace’s rule of no
business talk at the dinner table was suspended and tonight even
Grace was relieved.

“Did you get the camera up?” Canaan asked
Nardo.

He and Dov had installed two cameras at the
dead guard’s apartment. They were hoping that sooner or later
someone would stop by to clear out anything they didn’t want found.
Nardo replaced the laptop he’d taken since he’d made a copy of
everything it contained.

“Yeah,” Dov answered for him. “One inside and
one out and the two old ladies next door got free cable.”

“They came out on their little balcony and
asked us what we were doing,” Nardo laughed. “We told them we were
cable guys. They wanted to know if we got time and a half for
working in the middle of the night.”

“They kept talking to us while we worked.
They were cute.”

“You think anyone who’s female is cute, bro.”
Col rolled his eyes.

“Well they were. They were wearing those
fluffy bathrobes and they looked like little balls of cotton candy.
They offered to make us hot chocolate. They said they didn’t have
cable anymore because of the expense, so Nardo hooked them up.”

“They’ll remember you,” Canaan told them.

“They will,” Nardo admitted, “But they were
going to anyway.” He thumbed at Dov. “Neither of us can erase
without touching and there was no way to do that. This way, they’ll
remember us as those nice boys who talked to them and helped them
out. They’ll be less likely to tell anyone we were there.”

“Nardo told them we could lose our jobs if
anyone found out. They thought he was sweet and one of them wanted
to know if he had a girlfriend because she had a granddaughter he
might like to meet. O’course Geekman told her he had one hot mama
waiting at home and then I offered to meet the young lady, but she
said she had my number and she wouldn’t trust me in the same room
as her granddaughter. Can you believe that?”

“Obviously a wise woman,” Broadbent commented
dryly.

“So we’re up and running. Let’s hope it pans
out.” Canaan looked to JJ. “You got anything yet?”

“I have two things,” JJ told him. “The first
is about the vampire. He was feeding at the docks. I’m almost
positive. It’s the only place you haven’t seen a demon and I’m
talking in months. It makes sense if you think about it, especially
this time of year. There are always a couple of barrels burning,
the spaces between the buildings are narrow and it’s easier to
block off the wind. If you’re on the streets and you can’t find a
bed in a shelter, it’s the place to go. Plus, the cops pretty much
leave you alone. They don’t want anybody freezing on the streets,
either.”

“You don’t think it’s too risky? Too many
possible witnesses?” Nico asked. He sipped his coffee while he
waited for her answer.

“Not if you time it right. Dead time’s about
three in the morning. All you’d have to do is find a spot where
only one or two are holed up. Do the deed and disappear the body.”
These were the conversations she was most comfortable with. She was
a beat cop and therefore had little to do with the detective
division, but that didn’t mean she didn’t speculate about current
cases. She and John used to sit around and play ‘If I was in charge
of this case I’d…’.

Nico was nodding the whole time she spoke. “I
think JJ may have something. It’s certainly better than random
patrols where we can only hope to come across our vampire.”

“Our vampire’s dead,” JJ said, baffled. She
was there. She knew what happened to his head.

“I don’t think so,” Col sang.

JJ wasn’t the only one confused. “Then what
the hell’s in my freezer? Which, by the way, will be replaced. You
can’t expect me to keep food in the same place you keep your stray
bodies.” This last, Grace directed at Canaan. She had yet to
forgive him for commandeering her largest chest.

“Not at the same time anyway. Those bodies
take up too much room.” Dov sounded serious, but the look he gave
his Liege Lord was full of devilment.

“Don’t get her started,” Canaan told him.

“Not so fun when you’re on the receiving end,
is it?”

Nico left Canaan to deal with his mate and
answered JJ. “One vampire is dead. We think we have another. Canaan
ran into one of those young demons tonight.”

“Told ya.” Dov sat back with his arms folded
and gave his brother a self-satisfied nod. “Vampire Army. Otto’s
old mum hit it right on the money. The Nonveniae are creating an
army of bad boys.”

Nardo sighed. “Someone is using the name,
Dov. The Nonveniae are a myth.”

“No they’re not,” Dov and JJ said at the same
time though in completely different tones.

“What?” Dov clearly hadn’t expected anyone to
agree.

This was the second thing she had to share
and she’d been dreading it from the moment she remembered. “The
Nonveniae are real. I’ve seen one. I saw the markings on his
chest.”

“A human with a tattoo…” Nardo began.

JJ cut him off. “If I hadn’t met you, I would
have remembered it as a tattoo.” She looked at Nardo and down
again. She’d inspected the markings on his chest closely, very
closely. “He was no human. I know the difference. His markings were
the same as yours, but where you have the skull, he had a red sword
dripping black blood.”

JJ reached for her coffee cup, but her hands
were shaking so badly she knew she couldn’t hold it. Instead, she
balled her hands into fists and shoved them down into her lap.
Nardo’s hand slid under the table to cover both of hers, giving
them a slight squeeze. At this gesture of support, she almost lost
it. He wouldn’t feel so kindly toward her when he learned the rest
of it, but she had to tell him. But not now, not here in front of
the others. That part could wait until they were alone.

No one asked how she remembered this or where
she remembered it from. Grace and Hope must have spread the word
while she was working in the War Room. She wondered how much they’d
said.

Grace could feel the fear and worry emanating
from JJ and she started to reassure her, but Hope spoke first. She
heard the question in JJ’s mind.

“We only told them you remembered and that it
was hard for you, really hard. We don’t know what you remembered.
We can’t see it like Manon and she’ll take your memories to the
grave. They belong to you. You share what you choose to and the
rest you keep locked inside. No one here has the right to ask more
than you care to give, so don’t let them bully you.” Hope glared at
Canaan and Nico. “And if the twins get too nosey, just slap
them.”

“Yeah,” Grace agreed, “Because you can hurt
them.”

“JJ hurts,” Col mimicked a whine. “You and
your big mouth.”

“Well, she does!”

JJ appreciated their attempts to lighten the
mood, but it wasn’t as easy as Hope made it sound.

“He was like you,” she finally told them,
“Faster, stronger than human. He could lock and unlock doors with
his mind like you do, Canaan.” The words came so slowly, were so
painful to say. “The people there, all he had to do was lay a hand
on them and they smiled. It was like a blessing. They did whatever
he asked. No one ever questioned him. On that little farm, he was
king.

“Some of the men were human and some, I’m
sure now, were members of the Race or were like him. The women were
witches or Daughters of Man. I don’t know if there’s a difference.
But they all, every last one of them, thought he was an angel from
God. He wasn’t though. He was cruel and evil. He hurt people.”
He hurt my mother, hurt me and because of it, I’ll hurt
Nardo.

She couldn’t get the memories to retreat to
the back of her mind. Even while she worked through the early hours
of morning, the Paenitentia equivalent of afternoon, the memories
kept creeping in.

Everyone seemed to be talking at once, but JJ
could follow none of it.

“What was his name?”

“Where was this place?”

“There were others?”

“Names?”

In spite of Hope’s assurances, the questions
came faster and faster. She ought to know the answers. She couldn’t
think. The shaking in her hands travelled up her arms and into her
shoulders until her whole body trembled.

“Stop it!”

“She doesn’t know!”

Grace’s voice blended with Hope’s forming a
high counterpoint to the men’s deeper rumblings. JJ had only
fainted once in her life and that was from hunger. That same
feeling overtook her now. Her head was spinning. She could feel her
heartbeat pounding in her ears. The angry voices around her blurred
and echoed inside her head. She was going to be sick.

“Enough! Enough!” Nardo’s voice roared above
the others and the sudden silence was unnatural, like the world
held its breath.

Strong arms helped her from the chair and
held her upright as he led her from the room. She held her hand
tightly over her mouth, afraid she’d lose what little she’d eaten.
Nardo paused in the kitchen. As soon as the door swung closed, the
argument roared back to life in the dining room.

“Do you need to stop?” he asked, referring to
the small lavatory off the pantry.

His voice had a deeper resonance to it,
almost a growl and when she looked up into his face, she realized
why. Nardo was in full battle rage. She’s seen him like this twice
before, once when he thought she was a killer and once against the
vampire. This time, he’d turned it against his friends in defense
of her.

Her stomach settled and she placed her hand
on his chest. “No, I don’t need to stop, but you do. Let it go,
Nardo. They didn’t hurt me. They didn’t mean to upset me. I should
have waited until things were more settled in my mind. I didn’t
think it through.”

His face transformed. The glistening fangs
retracted and JJ stretched up the few inches she needed to kiss
him. The door behind them swung open as Dov pushed through with the
sugar bowl and creamer in his hands. Angry voices followed him
through the open door.