Redemption (15 page)

Liam’s sickly smile spread across his lips. “As I explained to Mr. Holt earlier, you will be allowed your undergarments only while you are here. Less chance of escape, even if you could.”

“Becca’s sick, she needs medication,” Ian pleaded.

“I’ll see if I have anything for nausea. Maybe try to sip some water and I’ll be back to check on you later.” Liam turned toward the door.

“Wait!” Becca practically cried. “What about the cuffs and the pillowcase full of puke?”

Liam came back to the bedside to retrieve the soiled pillowcase and looked into Becca’s eyes as he picked it up. He took it and placed it just outside the door before returning to Becca’s side of the bed.

“I will let you out on the condition that you not get yourself into trouble. I know how that brilliant mind of yours works, Agent Swift, but there is no escape. There are forces here that you are nowhere near capable of challenging. I will keep you both as comfortable as possible. In return, you will do as I say until it is time for the exchange to be made.” Liam released Becca’s wrist from her cuff before bringing his hand up to cup at her cheek. “I’m not a monster, Becca. Well, at least…not yet.”

He silently made his way over to release Ian from his cuff. Becca shook her head for Ian to know not to make a move.

“I’ll be back shortly.” He shut the door and a foreign clicking sound rang throughout the room.

“Game plan?” Ian asked, as he flopped back onto the bed.

Becca slowly lay herself down next to him, her hand clutching the sheet in between her breasts.

“I don’t think we’re getting out of here. That sound?” She turned her head to him.

His eyes turned to meet hers. “Yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure that was a Tersuline lock. It’s the kind of lock that’s used to keep something, or in this case, some
one
in, with no way of breaking out,” She sighed, as she let her eyelids slide shut.

“Hey.” Ian’s palm caressed at her cheek until she opened her eyes again. “Lily’s coming. She’ll get us out.”

“I’m not sure even she can help us out of this.” Becca’s chest tightened at the thought of possibly losing Lily once and for all.

When they arrived on the doorstep of the only place Lily had really ever called home, an instant chill seared through her; she knew this visit would not be a pleasant one.

Lily maneuvered the lock and opened the ornate wooden door. The four of them piled into the foyer, their rain drenched clothes dripping all over the dust covered floor.

“This is it – home sweet home. Welcome to Leatherby Manor.” Lily’s arm swept over the space that she hadn’t seen in over five years.

“Wow.” Renee spun around slowly while looking to the two story ceiling. “I can’t believe you stay in that tiny cabin when you could be living here. This is amazing.”

“Lots of memories, I guess.” Lily looked over to a few framed photos that still adorned the wall. She brought her fingertips to the glass, removing the grime to discover what lay beneath.

Ryan came up behind Lily and placed his hands on her hips. “Is that him?”

“Yeah, that’s Martin.” If Lily could cry, she was sure her eyes would be full to the brim. Her chest ached as she gazed at one of the last pictures taken of Martin.

He stood tall in one of his favorite spots of Ormeau Park in Belfast, Ireland. It was just after sunset and his usually perfect brown hair was blowing wildly in the wind. His chocolate colored eyes and gleaming white teeth only accentuated his ruggedly handsome presence. He looked as vibrant as he always did, not the defeated man he became in the last days of his existence.

Lily shook off her memories as Ryan’s arms slipped around her waist to clasp in front of her.

“Where are these books hidden? The Library?” Abe questioned, as he made his move for the monstrous staircase.

“No. We have to go down.” She made her way to the hall closet and found the box she was looking for straight away. “If you want to come with me, you’re going to need these.” She pulled a few lanterns out of the box and proceeded to light them.

Ryan took one as she handed the other to Abe.

“It can be a tight fit down there, just try to stay close together.”

Lily walked further into the house and disengaged a panel underneath the stairs. They all had to stoop to enter the seemingly endless spiral stairwell.

“How many steps are there?” Renee huffed after about five minutes into their decent.

“Just about there.” Lily called over her shoulder.

Two minutes and a few hundred steps later, they arrived at a thick paneled door. Lily took the lantern from Ryan and brought it up to the hand carved cabinet just beside the doorknob.

She pressed her hand on the face of the cabinet. It opened slightly before Lily pulled it open the rest of the way, to reveal a small cylinder embedded into the stone wall inside.

Lily looked to each of her three companions silently before she slipped her right index finger into the cylinder.

The finger glided past a glass barrier with little force. A carbon steel blade met the tip to slice through the skin and blood began to drip into the small divot below. Screeching of gears and grinding of steel on steel, the door began to unlock from its confines.

Lily carefully removed her finger and brought it to her lips, letting the venom coat the cut on her fingertip to heal it almost instantly.

“It’s a chemical lock. It can only be opened with my blood,” Lily shrugged, as the rest stood about slightly stunned. “I have a Master’s in Chemistry. I did use it for a few things.”

“There is so much we need to catch up on.” Ryan patted the curve of Lily’s back as she pried the door open.

Lily led the way into a large room with walls reaching two stories, all covered in books.

“Well, this should be fun,” Abe quipped.

Lily turned to send a glare in his direction.

“So, you know exactly where this book is that we’re looking for?” Abe raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips in question.

“I have a general idea. It’s not like these are things that can be cataloged alphabetically. Some are in languages that haven’t been spoken in thousands of years. I don’t think the Dewey Decimal system would apply.” Lily set her lantern on the table situated in the middle of the room.

“Does that work?” Renee pointed upward to the chandelier precariously hanging above them.

“Let’s find out.” Lily found the electrical box on the wall. A flip of a switch, a whir of the generator, and the underground library was completely illuminated.

Lily found her way over to the library ladder while Abe and Renee settled down in the chairs at the table. Lily climbed a third of the way up the ladder to reach the bar to move it along the wall. Ryan stood at the bottom as she moved herself along.

“Hope you’ve got strong arms, ‘cause you’re gonna need them.” Lily plucked out the first book and tossed it down to him below.

Ryan grunted and his knees almost gave out from beneath him as the weight of the book fell into his arms.

“That’s just volume one.”

Lily had retrieved all of the books she thought they would need. The stacks were piled high on the table, obstructing their views of each other.

“Have you actually read this book before?” Abe scratched at his forehead as he searched through the yellowing pages.

“Abe, let’s not get into this now.” Lily sighed.

Abe stood up to peer over the books at her. “When Lil? When we find Becca dead because we couldn’t figure out what language the fucking ‘turn-me-into-a-vampire’ ritual is in?”

Lily moved at lightening speed to Abe, grabbing him by the throat before throwing him to the floor. She held him there as she added her knee, pressing down on his chest.

“Don’t you
ever
imply that I don’t care about her! She’s my daughter; I would do anything for her!”

“You don’t think I would?” Abe choked out with the little breath he had. “I love her too.”

Ryan’s hand on Lily’s shoulder brought her out of her rage. She pushed herself off Abe’s chest before dusting herself off.

Lily turned her head as she heard sniffling beside her and found Renee wiping her eyes with the cuff of her shirt.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” Lily rushed over to Renee. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No.” Renee shook her head as Lily took her by the hand. “That’s not it.” She wiped her eyes once again and took a deep breath. “You both love her so much. It just makes it that much more real, ya know?”

Lily turned to see Abe with his arms tight around his chest. She squeezed her eyes tight before turning back to Renee and focusing on what needed to be said.

“I know this is all new to you. We just need to try to get through this so we can get them back as soon as possible. I promise when this is over, you, me, and Becca will all sit down and have and nice long talk about all this. Alright?”

Lily stroked her fingertips through the wisps of hair that had fallen out of Renee’s ponytail. Renee nodded as she looked into Lily’s sincere eyes.

“Let’s get back to it then.” Lily and Abe once again exchanged glares as the four of them settled back down at the table.

“This is all chicken scratch to me. This one even looks like a tiny bird walked all over the page,” Renee huffed, as she slid the large book across the table then slumped back in her chair.

Abe caught a glimpse of the book before reaching for the delicately preserved pages. His eyes raked over the symbols, some familiar, some not. When he recognized a symbol he knew was pertinent to what they were looking for, he finally spoke up.

“Lil? How is your Sumerian?”

She raised an eyebrow at him as he lifted the book to display the page he was looking at.

“I studied it a while back at the British Museum. This is more recent though.” Lily’s fingertip traced the familiar symbols. “Hellenistic period, maybe?”

“It would fit the time period we’re looking for.” Abe leaned across the table to look at what Lily was scanning. “You think you can translate it?”

“Yeah, just give me a minute.”

Lily’s brain went into retrieval mode. She crept through the corners of her mind to retrieve the information she desperately needed. She remembered the nights spent with Martin going over his history and that of his sire. Martin had been a British warrior, turned in the eleventh century during the Crusades. His sire, Lior, had been an Ahbmonite, turned into a vampire only because that is what every generation before him had done. Lior had passed down many books to Martin, and Martin in turn, had passed them on to Lily.

Armed with her memories and education, Lily began to translate the ancient text. Within an hour, she had a rough idea of what needed to be said and done.

The grumbling of Renee’s stomach brought her out of her head and back to the three sitting at the table with her.

“I think I’ve got a good idea of what to do.” She sat back in her chair as she raked her fingers roughly through her hair. “Why don’t we make our way back up and see if we can find something for Renee to eat before her stomach starts digesting itself.”

Lily gathered up the book she needed as Abe and Ryan returned the others to their rightful shelves.

“You think this is what you need to help Becca?” Renee whispered, as she and Lily made their way toward the door.

“I hope so.” Lily went over to the cabinet inside the room. She retrieved another piece of glass to replace the one she had destroyed while unlocking the room. She cleared the broken glass, and then slid the new pane in.

“I can hardly believe all of this. Locks that open with blood, ancient dead languages, vampires, demons…” Renee hooked her arm through Lily’s and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Don’t forget the angels.”

“Yep,” Renee sighed, as she looked over to Abe and Ryan. “Them too.”

Renee’s stomach made another demand for food, rather loudly.

“Can’t Abe just poof us up? I don’t think I can handle those stairs again.”

“No can do. Martin was very protective of this place. He had a dampening field placed down here. No ‘poofing’ allowed, sorry.”

Renee let out a soft pout as Lily led her out to the bottom of the stairs. Ryan and Abe followed before Lily carefully shut and locked the door once again.

Half the way up the stairs, Renee was huffing and puffing and Abe graciously offered to carry her the rest of the way. Her cheeks reddened a little from both exertion and embarrassment, but she accepted his offer.

Once back up in the foyer, Lily heard a rustling noise coming from the back of the house.