Vampire King of New York (13 page)

“Goodbye gift? She was leaving?”

“No, I left my job at the library. They had a farewell party for me. Mrs. Jepsen gave me a book on Vikings. She had always admired my scarf, so I gave it to her as a gift.”

“What time did you leave?”

“I’m not sure. Around one, I think. Hatcher might remember.” Evelyn couldn’t stop shaking. Max rubbed her arms.

“Ms. Cordelais, here is my card. Call me if you think of anything suspicious. Mr. V., you should leave before …”

He didn’t need to hear more. Max rushed her to the limo, where Noblesse waited. It was best they were gone before the NYPD showed up in force. The limo passed several cruisers and an ambulance. Evelyn couldn’t stop the tears flowing down her cheeks. Her eyes fell on the Viking book in her box of things. It made her cry all that much harder.

“She died because of me, didn’t she? If I hadn’t given her my scarf, she’d be alive.”

“Ms. Cordelais, you should not blame yourself for the evil others choose to do.” Noblesse said it in such a matter-of-fact way, without emotion, without judgment. Still it didn’t make Evelyn feel better.

“Noblesse is right, my love. You are not responsible for her death. Your gift, however, carried your scent. The savage that attacked her clearly had orders to kill you.”

“Why would anyone want to kill me?”

He rubbed her back. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Max caressed her face, wiping her tears with his fingers. “Listen to me.” He lowered his face to hers. His words breathed into her. “You are not to go anywhere without at least two Arnhem Knights by your side.”

She looked across at Noblesse. The vampiress smiled and nodded.

The limo wound its way to David’s.

Upon their arrival, Max leapt out of the car taking her with him and met David and Laura at the door. The four of them stood in the foyer of the house.

“I give her into your care.” Max put Evelyn’s hand in David’s.

“What?” Confused, Evelyn tugged her hand away and turned to Max, her heart ripped by terror and confusion. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to hunt down that poor woman’s murderer.”

“But I want to be with you.”

He kissed her on the forehead. Caressed her hair. “Please, stay with Laura and, David, and don’t go anywhere. You are my heart, Evelyn, and I need to know you’ll be safe.”

She bit her lower lip and reached up pulling his head to hers. Evelyn kissed him hard with an abandon she’d never allowed herself with any other man. “Max, don’t get killed. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

Evelyn turned toward the door. “Noblesse, I know you can hear me, because humans are easy to read. You have Max’s back. Don’t let him get killed.”

Will do.
The message was simple and clear in Evelyn’s mind.

Max smiled and then  he was gone. David locked the door behind them. Evelyn peeked out the window and saw the limo pull into traffic. Her insides shook something horrible.

“Come on, Evie. Away from the window.” Laura grabbed her by the hand and led her into the kitchen.

David moved through the rooms reinforcing windows, locks. Then he came into the kitchen and took a bottle of blood wine and the pitcher of iced tea from the fridge. He poured tea into a glass and handed it to Evelyn. David poured blood wine for himself and Laura.

“Do you love Max, Evie?” he asked.

She sighed and took a sip of her tea. “I don’t know. One minute I’m sure that I do, and the next,  well, I don’t know.”

“What’s holding you back?”

“You know you’re awfully direct for a brother-in-law.”

David grinned and rubbed his head. “Max is my father by blood. I am concerned. I don’t want either of you hurt. Are you holding back because he’s a vampire?”

“I’m not going to pretend that it doesn’t bother me. I’m conscious of that difference. Sometimes it scares me. I’m afraid of how powerful he is. If he was angry, he could squash me like a bug.”

Laura frowned and Evelyn felt the slight presence of her sister in her mind. “I didn’t know that Jack hit you, Evie.”

Tears slipped down her cheeks, even though she tried to hold them back. “I didn’t want anyone to know. It was enough people knew he cheated on me when I didn’t.”

“Damn!” Laura left the room.

“She’s ashamed of me.” Evelyn moped, staring into her glass of tea.

“No.” David shook his head. “Laura is angry she wasn’t there to protect you.”

A moment later, her sister returned with that old voodoo book and opened it on the table.

“Are we making more antidote kits?”

“No. A protection amulet.”

“What?”

Laura left again and returned with a carved box about double the size of a shoebox. She lifted the lid and peered inside.

“That’s Mama’s box. How did you get it?”

“When she left New Orleans for New York, she gave it to Mama Joe for safe keeping. Mama Joe sent it to me along with the book.”

In the box were several small corked and wax-sealed bottles with their ingredients neatly labeled, a dried baby alligator, crow’s feet, jasmine flower powder, and various stone beads in the shape of different animals. “It’s not here.”

“What are you looking for?” Evelyn asked.

David sipped his blood wine. “What’s wrong?”

“I thought Mama’s amulet was in here.”

“You mean this?” Evelyn slid a chain out from under her clothes, revealing a small, carved seal-like creature made of silver on a chain of silver waves. “She gave it to me when I married. She said it would protect me from harm, since I was born without the powers.”

“Evie, why are you obsessed with that? You still have the legacy.”

“And what is the legacy, Laura? Mama would talk on and on about the legacy but she never explained it. She taught me this little song and told me never to sing it unless it was an emergency, a really big emergency. Like the world was ending or something. In other words, I was never to sing it.”

“Wow. I wonder what kind of emergency she meant,” David asked.

“I don’t know. She never told me. Laura?”

“I haven’t a clue what the legacy is. I’ve done research on it, and I’ve asked the cousins and any Telkhines I’ve met about it. No one knows what the legacy is. I’ve never come across it in any of the books.”

“I devoted many a lunch hour at the library researching the legacy, hoping to discover its meaning but found nothing.”

David got up and opened the fridge. “Would you like a sandwich, Evie?”

“Sure.”

He took the bread, ham, cheese, and mustard. After popping the bread into the toaster, David took a plate out of the cupboard. Snatching the toast when they came up, he placed them on the plate and cut off the crusts. Then he assembled the ingredients carefully putting the mustard only on the ham side. Searching the fridge for pickles, he found them and took one out to put it on the plate before placing it in front of Evelyn. It amused her how skillful David was with food even though he didn’t eat.

“May I see your mother’s amulet?” he asked.

Evelyn leaned forward and he examined it. “What kind of creature is that? It’s not a seal.”

“It’s a Telkhine, the ones doomed by Zeus to be dog faced monsters of the sea.”

“I’ve never seen you wear it before.”

“I decided to wear it this morning before going to work. I just had a feeling.”

David looked at his wife. “Remember when we last saw those Telkhine relatives of yours?” He shook his head and chuckled. “They didn’t like me much when we met.”

Laura giggled. “When we were in the underworld, the sea-bound Telkhines recognized me as kin and aided our struggle to find father and escape.”

They drank and ate and flipped through the voodoo book. A strange look crossed Laura’s face, and she snapped the book shut. “I know what we should do.”

“What?” both asked in expectation.

“It’s time for some Telkhine practice. I feel a rainstorm coming on. To the roof.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Laura, it’s pointless. I have no powers.”

Laura grabbed her arm and pulled her along. “Come, the storm calls us.” Rain was already tapping on the roof. David smiled and followed them up, carefully locking the apartment door.

When Laura pushed the rooftop door open, they leapt into the pelting storm. She kept hold of her sister’s hand. Evelyn shook her hand, but Laura wouldn’t let go.

“Why are we doing this? It never works.”

“What if it works this time? You’ll never know if you don’t try.” The rain fell, soaking Evelyn. The drops bypassed Laura. That was the way with vampires. “Just say the words with me, Evie.”

At least the rain was warm. The rain hit Evelyn in the face like a thousand little needles, but then everything was pain lately.

“Come, Little Storm. I call you,” Laura sang. Evelyn repeated the phrase half-heartedly. Laura danced to the right. So did Evelyn. “Come, my Brother Wind. I call you.” They both twirled to the left. “Dance with me. Soar in the endless night, Little Storm. Brother Wind.” They twirled. Evelyn loved this part, the twirling round and round until the world blurred and was forgotten.

“Come. Feel the power of the rolling world,” she continued, “where humans live and die in a blink. Join the dance of eternity. Dance with your brother spheres in the splendor of space. Come. Dance with me in an endless sky.”

An arc of lightning formed around Laura. Evelyn knew what would happen next. Her sister threw a bolt into the sky. Then she threw several one after the other. One bolt bounced off a cloud and dived for the city like a spear.

“Laura, that could hurt someone!”

“It’s needed where it’s going. Don’t be concerned.”

The current roared through Laura and through their joined hands. Evelyn raised her arm. Lightning should have raced through her to be released back into the sky. Nothing happened. Well, not exactly nothing. Evelyn felt the current this time, setting all her fingers and toes tingling.

“Now,” Laura whispered in her mind. Her sister put one arm around her and flew off into the sky. The good part about being a vampire was the flying. Evelyn had decided that she really loved flying. They flew into the heart of the storm. Thunder grumbled at them. Lightning flashed around them.

With the wind so thick, Evelyn found it helped her stay upright. Laura swung her out making them a straight line, the only connection being their joined hands. If Laura let go, she was toast, but her sister would never let her go and that thought made her very happy. Being miles high in the air, Evelyn felt secure and just a little bit wild.

Okay, you ready?
Laura spoke in her mind.

For what?

I will send current through my body, our hands, and through you. When you feel it, open up your hand with fingers straight. Imagine that you’re throwing lightning.

Evelyn was skeptical. They had tried for months. Even though the lightning didn’t harm her, she couldn’t seem to get it out of her body.
Yeah, okay.
What else could she say? Laura was always hopeful.

Her sister snapped open her hand and lightning splayed on her outstretched fingers. The current burned like hot sex roaring through Evelyn’s body. Stretching out her fingers, the tingling caught her attention. Her hand glowed. Then flames sprouted from each finger. It didn’t burn at all but felt pleasantly warm.

Laura, something weird is happening to my hand.

Her sister faced her, maintaining their connection but focused on Evelyn’s hand, which continually emanated a golden flame.

Hmm. Make a fist and then snap it open like throwing a baseball.

Evelyn did.
A
six-foot burst of orange fire sprang forth from her fingers.

Wow! Did I do that?

You sure did.

Are Telkhines supposed to throw fire?

I don’t know all the Telkhines, so who knows? Close your fist. Now throw the imaginary ball harder.

Evelyn tentatively balled her fingers into a fist. Winding up, she threw. As her hand opened up and the fingers stretched, fire burst forth in a long pulsating rocket of light.

God! That had to be twenty or thirty feet maybe. If David were here, we’d have an exact measurement. He’s into that.
Laura giggled.

Evelyn laughed. Leave it to her sister to think like that when the most exciting thing in Evelyn’s life had just happened.

I have powers? I have powers!

Leaving Evelyn even for a short time was the last thing Max wanted to do, even if he had total confidence in her protectors.

Noblesse lifted her cell phone to her ear. Not all the Arnhem Knights were telepathic. Some had not yet acquired the skill.

“Sir, a human was attacked near Pier thirty-four.”

“Vincent, head for Pier thirty-four”

As they approached the pier, Max didn’t wait for the car to stop. He swung open the door and leapt out, his fangs already descended for the kill. In the shadows, he spotted two savages, but he would leave them for Noblesse and the four other Arnhem Knights already present. His target was the ancient of the conscience that he sensed watching from the dark, the master vampire.

Avron sat on the masthead of a freighter recently docked. Max could smell the scent of death on the sea washed deck.
Where’s the crew?

“Why are you interested in humans, Max? They mean nothing to us.” The master vampire stepped into the light. He hadn’t changed much. Avron once rode with Attila. Except for the suit and slicked back dark hair, he was still the Hun.

“Avron, you’re in my city. Get out.”

“Now that’s not very hospitable. We haven’t seen each other for what four, five hundred years?”

“Get out of my city.”

Avron jumped off the deck landing on the dock in front of him. “Max Vander Meer, we are reasonable men. There’s plenty of game here for all.”

“Leave now.”

Avron flew at him, knocking him on his back. But only for a second. Max flew straight up with his hand on Avron’s throat. Growling and screams filled the air, when the vampire’s minions attacked the Arnhem Knights.

“I do not want to destroy you, Avron.”