Dark Legend (20 page)

"
Where are you? "
She caught a glimpse of a busy room - filled with desks and people, mostly men.

"At the police station. I am unseen at the moment. I need to know everything about this kill. I want to hear the personal comments and read the reports. I have already visited the site. I do not know what Lucian is up to, but I want you to be very careful. Scan Skyler's memories each time you visit her."

"She is asleep and becoming restless."

"I want you safe, my love. Perhaps you should go back to the house and set safeguards. But do not think it will do more than slow him down if he attempts to come after you. Should you be in danger, you must call to me. Do not wait."

"I have to see my lawyer. He has drawn up the papers and the judge will see me this night. It is a special favor he is doing me and I must attend. The judge will ask Skyler if she agrees and as soon as Brice okays it, we will be able to take her home with us. There has been a reply from Aidan Savage via e-mail. A few members of his household are in London at the moment. He will contact them and see if they would be willing to aid us, housekeeping for Skyler during the daylight hours."

"Please be careful, Francesca,"
Gabriel cautioned as he slowly allowed the connection between them to fade. He liked none of it. It could only be Lucian merging with Skyler. Gabriel knew he would easily detect any other of their kind or the undead. Everything pointed to the handiwork of his twin. This kill. It was classic Lucian. Neat. Tidy. Unidentifiable to anyone except Gabriel. The opening gambit in their game.

He considered an attempt to lead Lucian away from the city and the two women. Both of them were at risk.

Gabriel examined the pictures of the body from all angles. In a few minutes he would go to the morgue and make sure that there were no telltale signs of vampirism. Most vampires were messy with their kills and the remains usually had to be incinerated to a fine ash, leaving little for the human police to trace. Lucian had always been different. It was as if he deliberately kept the game between Gabriel and himself.

This body was Lucian's kill. He was like a surgeon, never leaving so much as a pinprick behind. The blood was drained from the body, not a single drop spilled on the ground. Around the neck was a clean slice like a giant smile. The medical examiner could never quite figure out exactly what was used. The evidence pointed to a single razor-sharp claw like that of a long-extinct raptor. The only blood remaining in or on the victim was the thin line like a necklace around the throat. That macabre mystery was Lucian's calling card, his idea of a joke. In the past no one had ever determined what had caused the injury or how the blood loss had occurred. When Gabriel was a step and a half behind Lucian, as he was now, and the police found the bodies, these kills always created a major sensation. Everyone liked a good mystery.

Right now they were all speculating about the injury. It was so precise they were betting it was done with a surgical instrument by a surgeon. Gabriel walked among them unseen to the human eye. As he moved through their midst, he noticed that some of the detectives were more sensitive than others. One or two of them shivered unexpectedly, looking around to see where the cold draft came from.

Computers could make things much more dangerous now. With their ability to trace everything from DNA to voice to fingerprints, they could make the job of concealing evidence of Carpathians extremely difficult. Gabriel realized he needed to learn every aspect of the latest scientific discoveries. A great number of the topics being discussed were things he had no real knowledge of. He automatically shared the information with Lucian, and much to his shock found that Lucian already had studied the latest in medical research. The flow of data returning to him was astonishing, although he shouldn't have been surprised. Among their kind Lucian had been shockingly intelligent, assimilating information at a much more rapid rate than others. It was as if his brain constantly craved more data. Naturally Lucian had already discovered the scientific advances, the extraordinary technology that could make things so difficult for their people. Carpathians and vampires alike would undoubtedly have a much more difficult time hiding their existence.

"Do not worry so much, Gabriel, I am more than careful. They will not find what I do not wish to leave behind."

Gabriel took the opportunity to "see" through his twin's eyes. If he could lock in on his brother's position, he might have the opportunity to fulfill his vow. At once Lucian's soft, taunting laughter echoed in his mind and the view was distorted so that Gabriel had no chance to see anything that would help him.
"You do not think I would make our game so easy for you, do you? You must follow the clues I leave. That is the way it is done. You cannot cheat, Gabriel."

"This is between the two of us, Lucian. There may be other hunters in the city. I would keep this between us, as it should be."

"Do not worry so much for the safety of your brother. I am certain I will defeat all who come to threaten me. I am learning about this world fast and the knowledge is rather exhilarating. There is much to play with here. I like this place and do not want to hurry our battle."

Lucian was gone just like that. Gabriel felt a peculiar wrenching pain in the region of his heart. His brother. He missed their closeness. Missed the man he had followed for so many centuries. A great mind. A warrior unsurpassed. No one could orchestrate a battle as Lucian could. Sorrow engulfed Gabriel, nearly drove him to his knees. To destroy such a great man. To destroy the one who had always been there with him, for him, the one who had saved his life so many times. It was more than should be asked of anyone.

"Gabriel, you are not alone."
Francesca's voice was gentle and soothing.
"You know that is no longer truly Lucian. You are honoring him by fulfilling your commitment to him, by destroying the very thing he fought against for so many centuries."

"I remind myself of that fact often. Intellectually I know it is true, yet my heart is heavy with the burden."

"Fortunately, you have only to reach out to find me here. I am, after all, a healer."
There was the merest hint of teasing in her voice.

Gabriel instantly felt warmth surround his heart. It was supposed to be this way. Never alone, the two of them walking through life together, helping each other with the emotional entanglements, with each crisis that came their way. That note in her voice gave him a measure of comfort, gave him hope. He touched her mind to see if she had talked with Brice. He didn't want to ask and he was ashamed that he was jealous enough to invade her privacy to find out if she was sharing her time with the doctor.
"Perhaps you should leave Skyler to her rest and attend to the business of gaining custody of her so you may return to the safety of the house."
He made the suggestion carefully, choosing his words so they would not sound like an order.

Francesca's laughter was very soft.
"I am touching your mind as you are touching mine. You are not nearly as subtle as you think you are. I will leave the hospital, Gabriel, because I have much business to attend to."

She was not about to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was avoiding Brice on purpose. She no longer viewed Brice in the way she had before Gabriel had entered her life. It made her feel guilty. Francesca had no idea what to say to Brice. She knew Skyler was destined to live with her, yet Brice didn't want anything more to do with the teenager. He didn't know what Francesca was, what she needed to do to survive. Everything was different now that Gabriel had returned. She was very confused and needed time to sort everything out properly.

Francesca touched her stomach with the palm of her hand, a light caress. A child. Gabriel had given her a child when she had gone so many centuries certain she would never have such a gift. And now Skyler. Able to touch minds as she could, Francesca knew everything about the young girl. Everything. She already loved the girl as a daughter.

There was soft male laughter brushing her mind.
"You do not look old enough to have a daughter Skyler's age."

"I am old enough to be her ancestor. She knows we are not human."

"Not really. She knows we are different. She thinks we are psychic as she is. Eventually we will explain the full truth. In the meantime, we must treat her the way humans with money treat their children. She will need a bodyguard during the daylight hours when we cannot be with her, along with a housekeeper to see to her needs."

"I have to do this, Gabriel. I cannot leave her alone to face the world. She needs me."
Francesca was unsure whether she was apologizing or not.

"She needs the two of us,"
Gabriel corrected her gently.
"She must learn from someone that all men are not the monsters she has encountered. She is still of two minds. She wishes to retreat back into that place where nothing can touch her, yet the hand you are holding out to her is very tempting. She has felt you, the love you have for others, the compassion in your heart, and it calls loudly to her."

"She will choose to come with us, Gabriel. She is tremendously courageous."

Francesca flagged a cab to take her to the judge's office. Her lawyer would meet her there.
"We will meet back at the hospital as soon as the paperwork is finished so that the judge can ask Skyler if she is agreeable to my guardianship. I am concerned that Brice may make a scene over you. Are you prepared for such a thing?"

Gabriel censored his thoughts immediately. It was ingrained in him not to call unwarranted attention to himself. This was a situation he was unfamiliar with. His instinct was to remove the threat to himself and Francesca and even Skyler. Brice would not interfere with their plans. He would not allow such a thing.

"Gabriel?"
Francesca's voice was soft with worry.
"Why have you closed your mind to me? You will not harm Brice, will you? He has been a good friend to me when I needed one."

Gabriel swore to himself in several languages, mixing them up as he did so. Francesca had a way of forcing compliance on his part. It felt rather like being hobbled. What was he to do when she was always placing restrictions on his actions?
"Attend your meeting, woman, and leave me in peace. I will be there should you need me later. For now, I am hunting and cannot take the time to give you reassurance."

"Don't growl at me, you fraud. I was not the one monitoring your thoughts. You opened this conversation, not me."

She was laughing at him. Gabriel. The hunter of vampires. A warrior two thousand years old. Men feared him but Francesca was laughing at him. It was a new experience but one he could definitely get used to. She had a way of turning his heart over and melting his insides until he barely knew himself.

Gabriel streamed through the city, checking every haunt remembered from centuries earlier. He knew the layout of the huge sprawling city now. Every rat trap, every narrow alley and bolt-hole. He knew the cemeteries, the cathedrals, the hospitals and blood banks. He looked in every place he could think of for signs of Lucian. He knew his twin was in the city yet it was as if he were searching for the wind itself; there was no trace of Lucian's existence other than that body left for the police.

Gabriel touched Francesca's mind, knew she had re- turned to the hospital and was entering Skyler's room. He decided to meet her there. Francesca needed to lean on someone, whether she wanted to admit it or not. He fully intended to be that someone. He moved through the night air, a stream of mist blending with the bands of fog rising from the ground. He was not about to allow the doctor to be there alone with Francesca if anything should go wrong. He did not want to take a chance that Brice might attempt to influence the judge against allowing Skyler to live with Francesca. A small smile curved his mouth, but did not touch his coal-black eyes. Gabriel had a way of making sure the judge would give Francesca anything she wanted. He entered the room as fine molecules so he could easily slide under the door. As he moved inside, his powerful frame once again came together, still unseen by those in the room.

She was sitting on the edge of Skyler's bed holding the young girl's hand. Just the sight of Francesca took his breath away. He knew it always would. The judge was a tall, thin man with graying hair and kind eyes. The lawyer was altogether much too young and good-looking for Gabriel's peace of mind. He, also, was staring at Francesca with a kind of rapture on his face. Another fan. She seemed to have them everywhere.

"So you see, Skyler, if you want to live with me, the judge is willing to agree, but you'll have to talk to him," Francesca coaxed gently. She was not using her voice to sway the teenager in any way.

The judge moved to within a few feet of the bed. Skyler was visibly trembling. Gabriel reached automatically for her mind. She was under his protection, a female child with psychic ability, a precious treasure to be guarded at all times. He did not like her agitation, the terrible distress on her face. Francesca was also in her mind, bolstering her courage, soothing her, aiding her to face the male strangers invading her room. The terror of her childhood was far too fresh in her mind to be able to handle such an event alone.

At once he gathered Skyler into his mental arms, pouring his strength and power into her so that she blinked in amazement. He was surrounding her mind, repeating a healing chant in the ancient language of their people, whispering teasing nonsense so that Skyler could hardly keep a straight face. Her large soft eyes darted around the room searching for him, but Gabriel was nowhere to be found. She glanced at Francesca questioningly but Francesca could only smile and shrug her shoulders. She didn't know his exact location either, only that Gabriel's presence was strong enough to indicate he was very close to them.