Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (35 page)

I had no words for how I felt hearing his story, my very soul ached for him.  I expressed my sorrow for his loss and promised to never let him be that lonely again in the only way that I could.  My lips closed the distance between us, arms wrapping around his neck holding him close to me with the terrible image of James’ wrecked body burned into my mind.  I vowed silently to do everything in my power to protect him from ever experiencing that kind of pain again.

Ch. 43

The flight was just over six hours long.  I was so grateful that James had arranged for first class seats.  Being short, I normally didn’t care about coach seating.  But when we would be crushed together with complete strangers for over six hours inside a metal tube of recycled air and questionable meal options, I would take what luxury I could find.  I had to remember to thank James properly for the upgrade. 

We had both brought books to read for the flights, he tapped a finger questioningly on my choice currently lying idle in my hands. 

“What? Consider it homework.”  I had chosen a popular book about vampires and humans coexisting peacefully in the world. 

“You know that is pure fiction.  Our kind will never be able to get along side by side in society.  Not as a whole.” 

“Would you like to be ‘out of the coffin’ so to speak?”  I’d never asked how he felt about having to hide who he was.

“I’ve thought about it.”  He admitted with a shrug.  “There would be some benefits to it.  Getting our nutritional needs met might be a little easier; there will always be a certain segment of the population who would jump at the chance to be donors.  But I think the prejudices would be hard to overcome for the majority.  We would be hunted as we have been in the past.  Humans have too strong a fear of us.”

“When were you hunted before?  I thought nobody knew about you.”

“Do you remember the war Henry and I spoke of before?  The one that Bradley and his friends have already begun?” 

I nodded.  How could I forget; the thought of those vampires terrified me. 

“We have been fighting humans for millennia, since the time of Lillith.  You are familiar with the Bible?”

I nodded.

“It is a story among our kind that she was our first.  God created her before Eve and then he cast her out for her rebellious nature.”  He picked absentmindedly at an imaginary piece of lint on his shirt.  “Since the middle ages whenever covens are discovered, the humans have gone on witch hunts, please pardon the expression.” 

Looking around, I saw that most of the people in our area were sleeping.  One woman had headphones on, listening to a movie she was watching on her laptop.  We were essentially alone, our lights off, lending us a sense of privacy. 

“One of the longest and bloodiest hunts took place near Jerusalem when a large coven was discovered under the city.  The Catholic church, who by the way keeps our existence hidden as carefully as we do, proclaimed them infidels to prevent mass hysteria and waged a series of wars that lasted nearly two hundred years.  The Crusades’ true meaning has been lost to history but we remember.  It was the same with the French Revolution.  Why do you think they used a guillotine?  It is one of the only effective methods of execution for our kind.  Those are just some of the more famous large-scale wars.  There have been countless others that were smaller and more easily hidden.”  He was matter of fact, lecturing without evidence of upset.

“Is there anything I learned about history that’s real?”  My whole view of the world was changing.  It felt like my legs were being taken out from under me.

He looked down at me, one corner of his mouth twisted up in a derisive grin.  “All of history is one sided, none of the stories are wholly true.  We only hear the stories the victor wants told.  The remaining stories, the plights, justifications and heroics of the losers are gone with time.  Ours is such a history.  We are stronger, yet rarely fight together because most of us prefer things as they are.  Plus, humans have greater numbers and powerful weapons on their side.  Too many of ours would be lost if we were to clash on a large scale.”

“So why is anybody looking to start another war if they can’t win?”

“That is what we have been working on for some time now.  What our investigations have turned up is that there is something the instigators have in their possession that leads them to believe they can rally my kind and unite us under one banner for an uprising.  That would enable them to finally achieve their goal of eradication of humankind.”

Eyes growing wide, I gasped.  If there was an army of vampires united against humankind, how could they not win?  “James,” I asked deliberately, “how many would they have?  There aren’t that many of you, are there?  Not all of them would fight for Bradley’s side, right?”

It took some time for him to answer, his brow furrowed in thought.  “We aren’t certain on either of your questions, our numbers are not clear.  Our lifestyle of existing separately or in small groups keeps us largely disconnected from one another.  We are like other top predators and must exist separately, not overlapping hunting territory.  It is only those who choose to satisfy their appetites unconventionally that have been able to live successfully in groups like William’s or Henry’s.”

“How big is Henry’s group?  Will I meet more of them?”  I interrupted.

He held up a hand to stay my curiosity.  “You will eventually meet them.  The only reason that you haven’t yet is because we have been keeping you under wraps for your own safety.”  My mouth gaped.  “Because of the seriousness of this war we aren’t certain who might be on which side, or if there are spies in our own coven.  It wouldn’t help us in our future ventures to be known allies with humans.  Henry is doing me a great favor in helping to keep you alive.” 

Staring at him I could see how serious he was.  I felt like I was going to hyperventilate.  I knew they were keeping things from me, but this was incredible.  “Would Henry’s friends really kill me?”

James’ mouth tightened.  I watched his eyes darken again, his emotions were close to the surface today.  I’d noticed he was having some trouble with control himself.  “We are uncertain of any allegiances at this point, so only trust each other and the cats.  Because they are bound to Henry, they cannot betray him.  They’re compelled to obey through their bond.”  He had been holding my hand, as we were now doing constantly, so that I wouldn’t faint or zone out and I was starting to think it was draining him more than he let on.  We would have to find a way for him to feed again before seeing the Court so that we could have some autonomy.  He squeezed my hand and I flashed him a distracted smile; his corresponding effort felt forced.

There was too much to wrap my head around.  A war was coming between my kind and his and because of Bradley’s hatred of my lover and his mentor, my death could come from anywhere.  What did being involved with me do to James’ fate?  Would a vampire looking to take me out have a moral problem killing James or Stephen as well?  It didn’t sound like it.  The remainder of the plane ride, we spoke little. 

I tried to sleep, unsuccessfully.  My head was swimming and every time I started to drift off, I was haunted with visions of James being beheaded or Sasha torturing Stephen or me being chased by an unseen monster.  It was not with the usual sense of relief that I deplaned the next morning in Edinburgh.  I wasn’t so sure we weren’t serving ourselves up to the very group we were trying to stop. 

Ch. 44

In place of renting a car, we took a taxi to our hotel.  James argued not having one set vehicle made our movements less predictable and harder to follow.  Our taxi ride into New Town Edinburgh was chock full of new sights as it was my first visit.  The isles, given their long, rich histories and lush scenery, had always held an allure.  I loved how green it was and the rough, rocky terrain I had seen in pictures since I was a kid. 

Our hotel, The Howard, was in New Town.  From the street it didn’t even look like a hotel.  It was a discreet luxury hotel in the Georgian style.  Famed for its privacy, it only had eighteen rooms, each decorated in rich traditional motifs.  The limestone exterior was accented by one simple jade green door.  Our taxi pulled up to the address and James escorted me into the building.  The driver carried our bags into the lobby, where they were taken by a butler to our room while James checked us in.

With our travel now behind us, James turned to me and asked, grinning broadly, “Are you hungry or would you like to rest?  It is your first time in this great city.  What is your pleasure?”

It hit me that we were really here together.  It was exhilarating to be in a foreign country with him.  Not having done any traveling without my parents, I couldn’t help feeling like we were doing something we shouldn’t.  Stealing glances around me, I soaked in the atmosphere and smiled.  No matter what happened later, I was determined to enjoy my time with James now. 

“If I don’t look too gross, I would like to wander around the town.  What do you think?  What’s our timeline?  I mean, when are we expected?” 

He was surprisingly untroubled, answering lightly.  “We have all day today.  Tomorrow evening is our appointment.  So I ask you, Milady,” he raised my hand to brush his lips along the backs of my knuckles looking up at me steadily.  I couldn’t be sure if it was the touch of his lips or his dark blue eyes as they looked up at me through his dark eyelashes that sent a delighted shiver tingling up my back.  “What is your pleasure?”

The thrumming in my body at his touch made my first need clear.  “Let’s go see our room first.”

***

It was nearly lunch when we were ready to go on my first foray into Edinburgh.  James announced he’d spent significant time here and would gladly serve as my tour guide.  He said that he did need me to eat at a few places specifically during our stay so that he could write up something for his article.  Other than that, it was up to me what we saw.  Even more exciting than the prospect of seeing the new city and culture, I anticipated seeing it through the filter of his eyes.

“What do you think is an absolute must see?”  I wanted to know.

Enjoying his post as my entertainment director, James held up a finger.  “First has to be Edinburgh Castle.  We will go over the bridge into Old Town and head to the castle for the afternoon.  If you would like, there is a romantic restaurant I had intended to spotlight in my article.  We can stop there for a bite after.”

That sounded great to me.  Castles and romantic dinners were in keeping with my hopes for our time together while we were here.  We took a taxi over to the castle and I was awed by its sheer size as I got out of the car.  I had never seen a castle in real life and this one was in amazing shape.  It wasn’t in ruins like the castles in pictures and postcards that I had seen from my Dad’s trip across southern Spain years ago.  This castle was grey limestone that had withstood the centuries with only some darkening streaks to mark its age. 

We walked inside and I felt my jaw drop.  The interior was breathtaking in its opulence.  My head swam as I wrapped my head around the sheer size and age of the castle and the artifacts held within its walls.  My hands touched walls kings and queens had touched centuries before my country was even a thought.  The oldest section, a twelfth century building called St. Margaret’s Chapel, was my favorite.  James and I were the last to leave it.  He watched me pass through, reading the plaques marking special sites and touching what I was allowed, smiling when I would make a new discovery.   I spent the longest time of all in the chapel, even if it was the coldest. 

We spent several hours at the castle and I realized when my stomach growled in the late afternoon, that I’d never had lunch.  We strolled the Royal Mile and I got a coffee and pastry at the first café we crossed.  There was so much to see and enjoy as we walked.  I munched, taking it all in and enjoying my role as a tourist. 

With my hands full and unable to clasp his, James had to put his arm around my back to keep me upright so I didn’t have a fainting spell.  Despite the fact that we seemed to be compensating for my malady quite well and I certainly didn’t mind him touching me all the time, I couldn’t ignore the effects of the strain on him.  James was no longer bouncing back like he usually did.

“If this is where your kind is based can’t you find somewhere to get something to eat?”  I asked taking a nibble of pastry crust.