“Blood is the only thing that has helped in the past.” Ariana stood and set the book aside. She walked to the door leading to the basement, opened it, and disappeared down into the darkness. A moment later she returned carrying a small tan ceramic saucer and what appeared to be a ceremonial dagger. It was beautiful, with a carved wooden handle with silver accents depicting the various elements surrounding a woman whose hands were lifted upward. The double-edged blade had a mirror finish and smooth sharp edges. Ariana laid the saucer on the coffee table in the center of the room.
“The crystal please,” she said and looked directly at me. Thankfully, now there was no fear in her eyes.
I breathed a sigh of relief for that. There was nothing worse than calming down a scared human who’s worried, for no reason, that you’re going to kill them. I didn’t enjoy that with Fallon, and I would not with Ariana either.
I joined her and knelt at the table, then handed the crystal to her.
She placed it in the center of the ceramic saucer, standing it on its wider end with the point upwards. “Hold out your wrist, please.”
I did so without hesitation. The knife’s edge was very sharp. I barely felt the slice as she opened my veins. Blood pooled to the surface of my skin and drizzled down my arms. She twisted my wrist, positioning it over the over the saucer, allowing my blood to fall on the crystal.
To my astonishment, as soon as it touched the stone, it disappeared as if it had been soaked up by a sponge.
Shock widened my eyes, and I stared down transfixed by what I’d seen. As my blood drained out and was soaked into the crystal, I felt the pulse of Lysander’s energy strengthen. It was as if he were really drinking the blood and taking the energy from me. I suppose he was, but just to see it disappear into the crystal made it such an abstract concept.
My wound healed quickly, but the crystal had not filled up. “How much blood does he need?” I asked.
“That’s been the problem we’ve run into. He can drain a human and still need more.” Nicholas stepped up to the table and knelt. He held his wrist in offering to Ariana. “Vampire blood goes much farther. We’ve all been pitching in.”
She cut into his wrist, and again I watched as the blood was absorbed right into the crystal.
“I can’t believe you all kept this from me. All those weeks,” I said with astonishment rather than the anger I’d previously had.
“We didn’t want you worrying any more than you already were.” Nicholas looked down on me with mournful eyes.
“I’m a big girl. I’d have rather known than been kept in the dark. But thanks for the concern. Your heart was in the right place.” I smiled at him, a genuine and happy smile. No matter how much shit he gave me, I knew Nicholas really cared, and that meant a lot to me.
An awkward silence fell across the room. Nicholas cleared his throat and turned to Santino. “Care to add a few pints to the cause?”
Santino grumbled something about wasting time, but he too knelt down next to the table and offered his wrist.
After the three of us had shared what we could spare, the crystal appeared more red, but it still had not filled all the way to the top.
“Does this mean Lysander is getting weaker?” I asked.
“There’s no way to know. We’ve never seen a crystal prison before.” Nicholas looked to Santino. “Have you ever come across such a relic?”
“I’m afraid not. The only unnatural prison we’ve ever heard rumor of was the Pandora’s Box. But, you all know how that one works.” He turned to look at me. “Where would that be, anyway?”
“Safe,” Nicholas said with a note of finality.
“Good,” Santino replied with equal tone.
Nicholas stood and brushed his hands off on his jeans. “Well, while you girls rest up and stay warm by the fire, Santino and I will head back to the preserve and get the others. They should be ready to go by now.”
Santino stood and headed toward the front door. He peered through a curtain covered window next to it as if looking for someone or something. “I don’t think it is safe to leave the girls here. Nor is it safe to bring the others back and work from this house while the Acta Sanctorum is actively pursuing us.”
“And where should we work from? This is our home… for now,” Nicholas replied.
“We are defenseless in the daylight,” Santino said matter-of-factly. “All it would take is for the Acta Sanctorum to find this home and wait till daylight to torch it. Where would you all go then? Will you run out into the street to be shot by their soldiers, or stay and burn in the basement?”
He had a good point. I’d forgotten how ruthless the Saints could be in their methods when hunting my kind.
“And where do you suggest we go?” I asked.
“Back to the wolves.”
“They’re not our guard dogs,” Nicholas said.
“Yeah, and if you didn’t already know, this is their city, not ours,” I added. “We don’t order them around. It works the other way here.”
“You claim to be part of their pack. You’ve already asked for their protection once.” Santino crossed his arms and leaned into the doorframe between the parlor and the foyer. “Has that need for protection ended yet, or does your enemy still bear a threat against you?”
Nicholas sighed and shook his head. “Connor’s not going to be happy with us if we bring the Acta Sanctorum down on him and his pack.” He sounded as if he’d resigned himself to another fight with the pack leader.
The last time we had to convince the wolves to help us, it had taken Nicholas going toe-to-toe with the leader of the Olde Town Pack to prove his point.
“So, we hide out with the wolves. Then what? Wait for the Acta Sanctorum to attack them?” I asked. “We’d be bringing another fight to their front door.”
“You’ve already involved them,” Santino said. “They are a part of this now. Their level of involvement from this point forward will have to be decided when we return to the preserve. First you should secure your place with them. We need to leave this house and do it quickly while we have the cover of the blizzard. The longer we sit here, the better chance the enemy has of catching up to us.”
It seemed we had no choice. I only hoped that Connor and the rest of the Olde Town pack would be accommodating.
CHAPTER 13
Reluctantly, we left the shelter and warmth of the house and headed back toward the wildlife preserve that served as the home base for the Olde Town pack. The wind and snow had let up, but what had already fallen made it nearly impossible to drive through at any decent speed. I was thankful that Santino had decided to take the wheel. I had no patience for gridlock, detours, or navigating around blocked streets, and that was all you could expect after a storm of that magnitude.
It took us nearly four hours, and when we finally made it to the preserve, it was close to dawn.
Not surprisingly, Fallon was awake and waiting for us. She rushed to greet us at the door. “Oh, thank God you’re all right. Did you get it?”
I held up Lysander’s crystal triumphantly and smiled. “Piece of cake.”
“Liar,” she laughed, and pulled me into a hug. “But I’m glad you’re safe!”
“I’ll be a frozen vampire-sicle if I don’t get out of this cold though.” The snow had stopped, but it still felt like minus fifty degrees outside. The van’s heater hadn’t been much help either during the drive. It had barely kept us above freezing.
“Get inside where it’s warm,” Nicholas said gruffly and pushed his way past us into the main building.
I didn’t need to be told twice, and practically stumbled over the threshold to get into the delicious heat. Not quite as nice as sitting next to a roaring fire, but central heating was still better than nothing. I zipped the crystal back into my coat and rubbed my hands to restart circulation as I looked around the deserted lobby.
Everyone else must have been sleeping, even the rest of my clan. It was pretty late in the evening—or early in the morning, depending on how you chose to look at it. And I had to admit, the thought of lying down in a nice soft bed was pretty appealing as well.
“Quite a storm tonight, and it came out of nowhere,” Fallon said. She too looked a bit exhausted. Her eyelids drooped a little, and she struggled to stifle a yawn. “We were really worried about you guys.”
“You can thank our witchy friend for that,” I said, and shot a quick smile at Ariana. “She’s got way more power than we anticipated. She practically buried the city in snow.”
Ariana smiled sheepishly. “I’m just happy the goddess listened to my plea.”
“I’d say she listened. It was all over the news. The weatherman was completely stumped. He said he’d never seen a cold front move so quickly in his life.” Fallon covered her mouth as she yawned again. “When we didn’t hear from you, we assumed the worst.”
“The storm provided excellent cover. It kept our movements well hidden,” Santino said with a nod of approval toward Ariana. He stomped out his boots on the mat by the door and walked to join us in the center of the room.
“How are the rest of the group?” Nicholas asked.
Fallon locked the glass front doors. “Drew and Crystal are fine. They’re sleeping in cabin 12. Ian is having a hard time. His wounds are better, but his arm and his leg…”
“I’ll bet he’s a wreck,” I said somberly. I couldn’t imagine what eternity would be like missing an arm and a leg. At least we lived in a time where prosthetics were available.
“Yeah, a wreck… that’s putting it mildly.” Her tone matched my own. Fallon didn’t care much for Ian as a person, but even she had to feel bad for the wounds he’d sustained.
“It’s hard to be the ladies’ man when you’re only half a man,” Nicholas added.
I wanted to laugh, but chose not to out of respect for the injured. He was right though; Ian’s life would never be the same.
“We’ll check on him in the evening. It’s nearly dawn, and I’m exhausted,” I said.
Santino cleared his throat. “We’re going to need shelter.” He looked around at all the windows and glass doors in the main building. “Even with the cloud cover, I don’t want to take any chances of sunburn.”
“Relax. We’ve set aside places for you all.” Fallon walked us toward the back set of glass doors. “Alyssa and Nicholas, sorry, but you’ll have to room together. With the full moon, most of the pack is here. Take cabin 6.” She handed me a keychain with a small silver key.
“No problem.” I shrugged and looked at Nicholas. “Rock, paper, scissors for the bed?”
He scrunched up his face in confusion. It was always fun picking on the older vampires. As much as they made progress to fit in, the little nuances of growing up in this century escaped them.
“Never mind.” I laughed, and Fallon giggled too.
“Ariana,” she continued, and handed her a key as well. “You can have cabin 1. That’s the closest one to the doors. And Santino, sorry to have to do this, but Connor has requested you remain in the main building under watch. We have a sun proof room here you can use.”
Santino grimaced but did not argue. No doubt he knew how futile it would be if he tried. He was lucky Connor had agreed to let him stay at all.
“Speaking of Connor, where is he?” Nicholas asked. “We have some business to discuss.”
“Sleeping at the moment, which is where I’ll be too once I get you settled in. He, Aiden, and Brady have asked that you all meet with them immediately upon waking tonight.”
Nicholas nodded. “Sounds like both sides have much to discuss.”
“You may not like what they have to say,” Fallon said, her tone suddenly taking on a serious note.
I didn’t like the sound of that, nor did I like the fact that we’d have to wait until sunset to find out what she meant. Fallon was my best friend and normally told me everything. For her to be so short about this really worried me.
“The same can be said for what news we’re bringing,” Nicholas responded. “But that will have to happen later, after a good day of rest.”
“Yes, get some rest. You guys look like you need it.” Fallon opened the back door for us.
Again we faced the biting cold of the outdoors. I shivered and hugged myself for the walk down to the cabin.
Fallon said a quick goodnight and then turned to Santino. “I’m really sorry, but you’ll have to come with me. I’ll show you where you’re staying tonight.”
“Thank you,” Santino said with no hint of anger. “Please, lead the way.”
As the door closed behind us, I looked back to see Fallon walking with Santino down the long corridor. I hoped, for all of our sakes, that nothing bad happened while we took our daytime rest.
***
Though I was completely exhausted, I barely slept at all during the day. I watched light creeping in through the sides of the blackout curtains as the clouds disappeared and the sun came out to melt the snow. I hated being trapped inside that little cabin. The curse of not being able to handle the sunlight was the most bothersome part of being a vampire. I felt helpless and restless. While the rest of the world went about their day, I could only sit and stare at the walls.
Just like the one I’d stayed in before, the cabin was a simple one room structure; a place to lay your head for the night. Very much like a studio apartment, there was a kitchenette on one wall. To the back, there was a closet and toilet room flanking a queen-sized bed. And in the center of the room, a seating space with a threadbare couch. For warmth, since there was no heater in the cabin, there was a fireplace stocked with lots of wood.
I spent many of my restless hours maintaining the lit fire and listening to the snap and crackle from the flames. Though the sun was out, the biting cold was still there. I hated the cold. I vowed that when all was said and done, and I had my Lysander back, I’d go home to my warm desert and never complain of the summer heat again.
As I tried to stave off the cold, pacing around the small cabin, my mind wandered between what had happened with the Acta Sanctorum and what could be happening to Santino back in the main building. The wolves had every reason to hate and distrust him, and the fact that he was currently helping us couldn’t sway that opinion. I only hoped my vouching for him was enough to keep him safe. But even then, I was putting my own life on the line, hoping that he didn’t do anything stupid. One small thing could set the wolves off and should a fight ensue, it might mean the death of us both.