A Vampire's Rise (41 page)

Despite the long, dark cloak and heavy hood over his pale face, I recognized those piercing eyes. I jumped up and almost knocked Sunaria to the floor.

“What’s going on?” Sunaria easily regained her balance.

“Out the back now,” I snapped. “Elijah’s here.” I headed for the side of the house.

“Where are you going?” Sunaria asked, panicked.

“I’m not leaving without Marcus.” I headed for him.

* * * *

Pacing the lounge back in Belshazzar’s, I subdued my anger. “How long?” I asked Sunaria again.

“Six months, maybe more,” she said.

Marcus stepped forward in an attempt to intervene.

I raised my hand to stop him. “Madam Rouge’s letters have been delivered here, yours sent to her?”

“Yes.” Sunaria couldn’t meet my gaze.

I balled my hands into fists. “Missives using servants?”

Sunaria nodded.

“How much did you tell her?”

“Hardly anything.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.”

“And yet when Elijah turns up at her door, she warns you,” I said.

“She knows about the Creda,” Sunaria blurted.

“Do you have any understanding of what you’ve done?” I snapped. “Keep a low profile. No one must know our address. I was specific.”

Marcus stepped closer. “Calm down.”

I turned to him. “They may have been watching us, watching me. Following where I go.”

“You don’t know that,” Marcus said.

“Then how did he find us at Madam Rouge’s?”

“It’s a hot spot for vampires.” Marcus shrugged.

“Great, you invited me into a death trap.” I glared at Sunaria.

She covered her face with her hands.

Marcus looked horrified. “No.”

I shut my eyes for a moment, trying to stay calm. “You told Madam Rouge about Jacob?”

Sunaria waved a pointed finger at me in defiance. “She’s my friend. I trust her.”

I headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Marcus asked.

“To get him.”

“Bring Jacob here?” Marcus asked. “Is that wise?”

Clutching the door handle, I turned to face him. “What choice do I have?”

* * * *

Waiting outside St. Theresa’s infirmary, I searched the many faces in the crowd. Minutes turned into an hour. I flew from the roof and went in search of him.

It was the usual hustle and bustle of Burberry’s Sunday fair. On foot now, I pushed through the shoppers on either side of me while market owners tried to grab their attention. My gut wrenched in fear that Elijah was amongst them. I neared the hospital’s main entrance and walked under the stone entranceway. I slowed my pace in an attempt to appear normal, but was hit with another wave of fear, and rushed around the corner, bumping straight into Jacob.

He dropped his leather medical bag. “Whoa, steady on.” He gave a smile.

Trying to avoid his stare by lowering mine, I picked up his bag and handed it back.

Words failed me.

With my head down, I continued on, not wanting him to recognize any familiarity. Taking the longest strides, I headed along the corridor. The institution’s scent carried and made me even edgier. I turned to see Jacob standing at the end of the corridor. He stared back at me.

I procrastinated, then strolled back in his direction.

Jacob turned and headed out.

Back on the tin roofs, tracing along the London skyline, I continued on after him. Jacob’s long strides led him through alleyways that were fast becoming slums.

Panic struck when I saw a shadowy figure looming a few roofs down. Elijah’s stare caught mine.

In my anger, I’d not thought it through. I blamed Sunaria for what I’d now done, unwittingly led him to my son. Jacob was oblivious to the drama unfolding above him and trekked on. Four children trailed behind him, and he threw several pennies in their direction.

Elijah shot across the alleyway that Jacob had just passed. He was closing in. I darted between the rickety shacks and landed in a puddle in the courtyard, near where the children were busy counting their coins.

“The physician, which way did he go?” I asked.

The pale faced children peered up. I reached into my pocket and threw the few coins that I had on me at them. They pointed east. With a painfully normal gait, I strolled in that direction, away from them.

Within the cul-de-sac, the homes were smaller and closer together. A few doors down, Jacob disappeared inside a rundown cottage. Out of nowhere, Elijah dashed into the house right behind him.

The scent of death caught my nostrils as I set foot inside. Whoever my son had arranged to visit had died. A black cat scampered over my foot and hissed. Several more steps in and I entered the largest room, everything in disarray. There, in the corner, clutching his medical bag, stood Jacob.

Elijah turned to me.

“Get out,” I signaled to him.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Jacob looked puzzled. “Didn’t I just see you back at the hospital?”

Words failed me.

“Did you come to give the last rites?” Jacob turned to Elijah, trying to get a better look beneath his hood.

Well-dressed, I looked out of place, and by Jacob’s expression, he thought so too. But even stranger than me was the monk-like figure, Elijah.

Elijah’s pale lips quivered. “Sunaria, it appears she’s not dead.”

I turned to see Sunaria lingering in the doorway.

“Where do I know you from?” Jacob asked Sunaria, his frown deepening.

Elijah neared him.

“I should be going.” Jacob started for the exit.

Elijah’s gaze slid my way. “Jacob, meet your father.”

I bit my lip, holding back my rage.

Jacob glanced at me, and then at Elijah, and then stared back at me as his bag slipped from his hands and landed with a thud.

“What do you want?” I asked Elijah.

His mouth slid into a grin.

“If it’s my attention, you have it,” I said through gritted teeth.

Sunaria stepped into the room. “Elijah, I’ll go with you.”

“No, you won’t.” I gestured for her to stay put.

“You’re not my father, are you?” Jacob asked.

“I’ll answer every question,” I replied. “But you are no longer needed here.”

“My father’s dead,” Jacob muttered.

“Now.” I threw a glance at Sunaria.

I hated Elijah for forcing my hand. I’d planned and re-planned my first rendezvous with my son, and this wasn’t it.

Sunaria guided Jacob out. My insides turned as my son disappeared from sight.

“I will find him.” Elijah’s voice was void of emotion.

“This obsession with your descendants is annoying.”

Elijah reached out and gestured. “Return with me and everything will be explained.”

“Talk here or not at all.”

Elijah sighed. “When I’d heard that Sunaria had turned you, I wept for days.”

“As you can see, I’m over it.”

“You have a forgiving nature.”

“Not so much now.” I folded my arms.

“Your son inherited your recklessness.”

“By reckless, you mean tending to the sick?”

“The woman he came to visit, do you know what she died of?”

“Old age? How would I know?”

“The Black Death.” Elijah almost blinked.

“I’ll send my condolences to the family.”

“Perhaps Jacob has your sense of immortality?”

“I’m leaving.” I headed for the door.

“There are some who believe that there is only one way to rid the city of the Black Death.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I’m telling you why I’m here,” he said. “Generations ago, they started a fire. It swept through London, and gutted the city.”

“Disease got out of hand?” My voice was barely a whisper, as I realized where this was going. “They tried to suppress it with fire?”

He nodded. “This plague is even worse than before, imagine how they’ll handle it now.”

“That was Roman’s secret?” I took a step back.

Elijah’s eyelid’s flickered. “Decay leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth.”

“Keep talking.”

“During the time that Roman spent amongst the Stone Masters, he gathered information that hinted that they planned a repeat of 1212.”

“Are you saying that Archer plans to burn down the city, again?”

“I am.”

“Delacroix told you this?” I said.

“Yes.”

“And you believe him?”

Elijah dismissed my remark with a wave of his hand, and shot me an uneasy glance. “Archer found out that Roman spied on him.”

“Roman was betrayed.”

“He was, and when Delacroix discovered who’d double-crossed his brother, he seduced him, luring the boy vampire with the promise that he would one day rule at his side.”

“Benjamin?”

He nodded. “Roman’s assistant. The Stone Masters captured Benjamin and only let him go because he swore to deliver his master to them. An ancient’s blood is worth more. Benjamin had no idea about Roman’s secret.”

I leaned against the wall.

Elijah stared with that empty expression of his. “Delacroix brought Roman back to life.”

“Well, if you call having your head attached to someone else’s body being brought back,” I said.

“Delacroix was desperate to discover the Stone Masters’ plan.”

“So he’s not mad after all.” I let out a laugh. “Perhaps I should rephrase that.”

An awful flashback of being strapped into Delacroix’s torture chair. Jitters slithered down my spine.

“Your inability to stay in the shadows has caused rumors to circulate.” Elijah frowned. “If people needed proof of our kind, you’ve given it to them.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“But of course you don’t.”

“Why didn’t Roman just leave the city?” I asked.

“The Stone Masters are growing exponentially.”

I realized that if another fire swept through the capital, Jacob would be caught in the middle of it.

“I’m here to get Jacob out of London,” Elijah said, having infringed upon my thoughts.

I secured my mind from any further breach. “You have no right to go anywhere near him.”

“I disagree.”

“You’re insane.”

“You always were arrogant.” He sighed. “When you drank from Delacroix . . .” Elijah’s cheeks blushed. “You have within you information that can stop Archer.”

“Ask Delacroix.”

“He’s not talking.”

“That may have something to do with the fact that you’ve buried him.”

Elijah flinched.

“If Roman was right,” I said, “and the Stone Masters intend to burn down the city, why haven’t they done it yet?”

“Only Roman knew that secret.” Elijah neared me. “And he passed it on to Delacroix.”

I cringed at the thought of his pale lips going anywhere near my neck.

His pale tongue flicked. “Let me drink from you.”

My stare gave my answer.

“Why are you being so difficult?” He rose to his full height.

“You made a mistake coming here.”

“In the bigger picture, Jacob’s unimportant. Sunaria has tainted your view of us. We are the elite.”

“You punish her for threatening your descendants, and yet you’re guilty of what you accuse her of.”

“This is different.”

“No, it’s not.”

Elijah’s face was calm, but underneath his cool exterior, I sensed his aggression.

His attack sent me hurtling. My head struck the wall and, when I opened my eyes again, Elijah glared down at me.

He sighed. “Your history runs in my veins.”

I tried to break from his grasp. “I’ve never been one for holding onto the past.”

Elijah’s sting went deep. His strength almost overcame mine, but with a quick yank, I pulled one arm free and reached for the dagger tucked inside my jacket lining, withdrew it, and swung it up, thrusting it into his chest. His face contorted, his mouth gaping in horror. Using all my force, I plunged it in further. A rasping rattle escaped his throat and his eyes bulged. He was paralyzed. With a shove, I spun him onto his back, and attacked his neck.

Drinking, taking it in, I exulted in the potency rippling through him, and now through me, an exquisite elixir fermented over centuries. Gorging, I tumbled back in time and went to a place where nothing existed, and yet everything did.

I stayed sharp, maintaining a steady course, as a legacy faded.

Chapter 50

BELSHAZZAR’S FELT DIFFERENT.

Jacob waited in the lounge. His presence brought a tangible serenity. I carried his medical bag, retrieved from the cottage.