Chapter
Eleven
“Sorry,
no parade or twenty-one gun salute, but I can offer a celebratory wine.”
Charisse
blinked in wonder, taking the glass from Nate absently as she looked around the
room and then upwards. “Goddess, what is this place?”
After
emerging victorious from her battle with the wallpaper she’d indulged in a long
hot shower to ease her aching muscles and remove the dust and dried glue she’d
accumulated in her labours. Dressed in a flimsy strappy orange dress and
flat gold sandals she’d headed downstairs to find the kitchen empty.
Following the sounds of soft music she’d eventually stumbled upon Nate in the
most amazing cavernous room, located in the very centre of the house.
“I
think it was the central well of the Folly, maybe a sitting room or dining
room.” Nate commented staring upwards also. “I uncovered the
stained glass dome a few days ago and cleaned it up. That was when I
realised this was the very centre of the house and all those walls going up to
the ceiling didn’t make any sense.”
Charisse
frowned at the two sections Nate had already ripped out, one on the first floor
and one on the second. “They’re balconies.
Why would anyone board them up?”
She looked at the other sections yet to be
torn down, when they were, this room… the whole space would be amazing and all
that light would completely change the dynamic of the upper floors.
Nate
shook his head. “No idea.” He contemplated the green and blue
stained glass dome as the setting sun cast muted multi-coloured light down
through the centre of the house. “Do you think there is someone still in
the area who might know?”
“Auntie
Kath might be able to help.” Charisse remarked as Nate switched on four
battery operated lanterns. Placing one of them on the fold out table he’d
set up in the middle of the room.
“We’re
not eating in the kitchen?” She surveyed the table set up for two and the
radio over in the corner playing a golden oldie.
“I
don’t want the vamps to know what we’re up too.”
Charisse
took a seat at the table, sipping her wine. “Are you going out to face
them tonight?”
Nate
shrugged; uncovering the two dishes he’d had waiting on the table for her
arrival. “Destiny still has three minions in play… if I can pick them off, then
maybe. When I face off with Destiny, I don’t want there to be any distractions.”
Charisse’s
stomach rumbled as the delicious scents of ginger, lime and chilli filled the
room. “What is this?”
Nate
smiled. “Thai chicken and mango salad. Dig in. You missed
lunch, you must be starving.” Nate took a seat across from her, enjoying
more than he should the sight of her sitting there, sharing a meal with
him.
Charisse
took several bites, the salad tasted more scrumptious than it smelt. Five
bites later she looked over at Nate. “Why?”
“Why
what?” He contemplated her across the table.
“Why
are you facing them alone? I get that the whole vamp thing is a warrior
elite issue, but shouldn’t you have back-up to face zany Destiny and her wacky
bunch of blood vamps?”
“We’re
stretched a little thin ourselves these days. Tracking Sek and Mot,
trying to trace Apep’s descendants, not to mention the normal everyday mayhem
and chaos out there initiated by the bad guys being… well, bad.”
“So
how did you draw the short straw?”
Nate
shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “Destiny has taken a… liking to me.”
“A
liking?” Charisse enquired dubiously. “That’s what you call it when
a woman, barely wearing a leather catsuit, chains you up, rips your clothes off
and proceeds to nibble on you like a chew toy?”
“I
think you’ve already guessed Destiny’s not exactly sane. I kind of,
deliberately, called her attention my way, and now I suppose you could say I’m
reaping the so-called benefits of that action.”
“How
does one go about deliberately cultivating a psycho vampire Queen’s…
attention?”
Nate
shrugged. “Well in my case, you stake one of her minions through the
heart.”
Charisse
grimaced. “That doesn’t sound particularly unique.”
“It
was considering he’d been decapitated at the time and I staked him via the
neck. It was more for show than convenience.”
“Urgh.”
Charisse contemplated pushing her plate away but she was too hungry. “New
topic. What did you achieve today?”
“Removed
the last of the old guttering. Patched up a few holes in the roof in case
it rains and just generally pottered around up there. By the way, I’m
expecting a delivery first thing tomorrow, some more timber and a second load
of roof shingles.”
“Okay.”
“They’re
kind of a surly, gruff bunch of guys, they generally just dump the equipment
and high tail it back to Brisbane. Your best bet is to stay out of their
way.”
“Will
do.” She nodded dutifully, reaching for her wine. “I suppose I
should thank you for the clothes and accessories.
You did a surprisingly good job of it… for a
man, though I think eight bikinis might be a little on the excessive side.”
“Or
the hopeful.” He shot her a grin.
Charisse
chuffed a laugh. “If you expect me to parade around this bomb site in a
bikini, you’re deficient.”
“Maybe
Maat will smile down upon me and I’ll discover a long forgotten indoor pool
tomorrow.” Nate grinned with a devilish sparkle in his whiskey eyes.
“Does
Maat generally do you favours like that? Hadleigh says she’s kind of a
hands-off type of Goddess.”
“In
our dreams she’s a hands-off Goddess. She’s constantly turning up to
interfere, dabble and push – without seeming to push – us, in the right
direction. All the while with a smirk on her lips and the words,
free choice or free will
, spilling
somewhat ironically from her lips.”
“Oh,
one of those.” Charisse nodded and smiled. “So how did you qualify
to join her exclusive band of brothers?”
A
frown passed for a split second across Nate’s features. “Sometimes I wish
I knew.”
“You
don’t know how you became an elite warrior of Maat?”
“I
know the gist of it. I know that I was once mortal. That I
died. That Maat was waiting for me at the river Styx to make me an
offer. I could cross the river, be done, be at rest or I could join her
guard in order to fight evil and chaos in her name.”
“So
you took the golden ticket. Wow, so who were you… when you were mortal?”
Nate
shrugged. “Sorry, the memories get wiped in the process.”
“But
aren’t you wildly curious about who you were… what you did… your family?”
“Maat
drops hints occasionally, but what good is a life that is long dead to
me? A job, a home, family… whatever I had, or didn’t have, I must have
valued the chance to continue fighting for balance… for justice more than
holding on to those memories.”
Charisse
felt suddenly inexplicably sad for him. “So these hints that Maat drops,
any clues?”
Nate
laughed. “You’re more curious than I am. Okay, for what it’s worth,
Maat sometimes calls me Sheriff… and I do have a very hazy, almost memory, of a
gold star.”
“Seriously,
you were a Sheriff in the wild, wild west?”
“You
said that, not me Cyd.”
“Oh
I can totally picture you as Sheriff… riding down cattle rustlers, capturing
bank robbers and saving overly buxom school teachers from loneliness.”
Nate
laughed again, reaching over to refill both their glasses. “And what
about you?”
“What
about me what?” She tensed.
“What
was it like growing up here in the Sanctuary, surrounded by relatives and all
that magic?”
She
took a sip of wine and smiled. So this was what a normal conversation
with a man was like, it was kind of nice. “My childhood was exceedingly
average. When you grow up with magic, you kind of take it for
granted. We thought everybody had a Christmas street parade where Santa’s
sleigh, in our case, Great-Uncle Kenneth’s tricked out Aston Martin, flew off
in the direction of the North Pole as a finale. That every town had a
librarian with the ability to zap you quiet for an hour like Aunt Patricia if
you made too much noise.”
“When
did you begin to realise you were different?”
“For
most of us that would have been when our personal magic kicked in to high gear,
puberty. Our high school years were kind of challenging. Looking
back, I feel sorriest for the teachers… at the time we all thought it was a
hoot… well, when it wasn’t our magic doing the wacky.”
“For
instance?”
“Have
you heard of the Nitro Fire Dragons?”
“The
extreme sports team who shoot themselves out of cannons and perform all those
aerial stunts jumping though fire on motorbikes, skateboards and stuff?”
“Yes
them… well they’re my cousins. Let’s just say when they hit puberty, the
High Council decided a new fire station should be built right next to the
school.”
“They
can create fire?”
Charisse
laughed. “You’re forgetting back then the teenage boy factor… they
belched it, snorted it, hiccupped it and farted it.”
“Farted
it?” Nate looked horrified.
“Teenage
boys.” Charisse shook her head in memory. “Their sister, Riya, was
absolutely mortified by them.”
“She
didn’t inherit the fire ability?”
“Well
she is pretty much fireproof, which came in handy with ten brothers creating
havoc every time they sneezed. But she takes more after her mother’s side
of the family.”
“She
has ten brothers?”
“Eleven
actually.”
“Twelve
kids… that’s… that’s a lot of kids.”
“And
to have them hatch all within a few weeks of one another, talk about a
nightmare on the nappy front.” Charisse imparted with wry smile.
“Wait,
they hatched?”
“Well
yes… did I forget to mention that their father, Uncle Kelt, is a dragon?”
“Yeah…
you did.” Dragons? There were Dragons? He’d lived over a hundred
years and never heard of there being Dragons in the world. “Why is this
the first I’m hearing that Dragons actually exist?”
Charisse
shrugged. “I suppose because most of them originate from the Asian
countries. And they tend to live quite isolated existences until they
mate.”
“Isolated…
the extreme sports stunt team that travels the world?”
“Oh
that lot are just a bunch of show-offs… plus, they’re only half dragon.
They get their dare devil tendencies from their mother.”
“Dragons…”
Nate shook his head in bemusement. “And what about you Cyd, any
siblings?”
“Two
brothers…” She stopped abruptly as a loud thump sounded overhead on the
roof. “What was that?” She was hoping he’d say possums or knowing
her luck, a nesting albatross.
“Sounds
like the vamps are here.” Nate cocked his head, listening as the
intruders moved around three stories above their heads.
“Umm...
shouldn’t you go deal with it?”
Nate
lifted his hand, palm up. “Wait for it.”
Charisse
rolled her eyes… wait for it… wait for what?
The
stomping of footsteps got louder as the vamp strode closer to the centre of the
house, suddenly there was a screech of metal, a loud bang and a cry that was
abruptly cut off.
“What
was that?” Charisse stared upwards, eyes wide.
“One
more dusted vamp.” Nate gave her a grin that bordered on gloating.
“Pottering
around up there, hmm? What exactly in the Maat warrior handbook
constitutes pottering exactly?”
“Oh
you know.” Nate finished the last of his wine. “Uncover a stained
glass dome… lay a few traps.”
From somewhere
outside of the house came the shriek of a pissed off vampire Queen, followed by
a series of thuds and crashes.
“Sounds like Queen D is having quite the hissy
fit.” Nate rose to his feet, walked over to the radio and twisted the
volume knob higher.
“You
don’t think you should check on her?” Charisse enquired dubiously.
“Nah,
let her stew a little, it sets a bad precedence if we come running every time
she has a temper tantrum.”
“What
if she has another innocent in tow?”
“She
won’t hurt them until she has an audience. So where were we? Two
brothers huh. Older or younger?”
“Umm…
older.”
“You
close to them?”
“Um,
kind of, they swing by and see me when they can.” Charisse jumped and whirled
in her seat as a particularly loud crash came from outside.