Faith Revisited (5 page)
“What? When?” Arak demanded.
“Oh, it's been nothing as destructive as what occurred in Germany. A member here or there, nothing to draw too much attention, but we've lost greater numbers in the last fifty years than in the previous five hundred.”
“What was so special about Germany?”
Remy shrugged at Arak's question. “I'm sure the answer to that would be very interesting, but no one knows.”
“What of Raym and Caym? They were the only two to survive,” Levi asked quietly. This was not something Remy and Bale hadn't considered hundreds of times, but until recently the troubles in Europe had not crossed the Atlantic. And while Remy accused Bale of being a suspicious bastard, Bale had been unwilling to lay any type of blame without proof.
“I can hardly go about pointing the finger,” Remy replied. “Raym and Caym are not the only ones to have ties to the German enclave. Our numbers are dwindling; we are stretched too thin. We have all left at one time or another to help out our brothers around the world. And it was negligent of me not to realize whoever tried to take out Bale might go after Zeke.”
“Because Zeke, with his power to see the truth in words, would have known which of us is the traitor,” Arak added quietly.
Bale grew thoughtful. With Zeke missing, he felt Arak could be ruled out. While Arak might find a reason to turn against the rest of the Grigori, Bale could not in all honesty justify a reason he would turn on Zeke. If not for Zeke, Bale did not think Arak would have survived the termination of Saraknyal. Instead he would have fallen further, to the very bowels of Hell. They would have lost him and eventually would have found themselves hunting their own brother.
Levi, though, was another story, having been found washed up upon the shores of the Mediterranean only five thousand years ago. The famed leviathan of lore, he had served out his punishment in solitude only to suddenly find himself transformed from a giant sea creature to one resembling a human. Thrust into a world no longer familiar, he'd sought revenge against those who had tricked him. Or so he claimed.
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A door banging open pulled Bale from his musings. Then Penny's voice, screaming for Arak, echoed through the halls. Her frantic tone caused a chill to sweep down his spine, and Bale teleported to the scene, his brethren appearing around him. There, sandwiched between Kash and a wounded Raym, was Zeke. At first Bale could not determine the extent of Zeke's injuries and was really just relieved to see he was still alive. Then his mind registered the amount of blood pooling around Zeke's feet on the wood floor and the gaping wound across his abdomen.
“He's fading fast,” Raym rasped out, his attention focused on Arak. “He should be healing already, but he's only getting worse. You've got to help him.”
Arak immediately took charge. “Bale, take Raym's place,” he ordered, grabbing hold of Zeke around the waist to help support him while the two males switched positions. Once Bale was beside Zeke, Arak said, “Hope is still in Zeke's room, so take him to the infirmary.”
Remy led the procession, clearing the way for Bale and Kash to maneuver Zeke to the second floor. Arak attempted to halt Raym from following, but he waved away Arak's assistance, stumbling behind Bale and Kash. Penny was immediately at his side, trying to remove Raym's leather jacket.
“Forget about me,” Raym said, his eyes filled with rage as he glanced down at the mess covering his clothing. “Most of the blood isn't mine.”
Arak snorted as he watched Raym falter halfway up the steps and heard Penny murmur to him quietly. Outside the door of the infirmary, Raym leaned against the wall, his gaze following Bale's and Kash's every movement as if he thought more harm might come to Zeke within the walls of the abbey.
“Where are you hurt?” Arak asked, stepping in front of Raym, blocking off his view of the room.
“Don't worry about me, Arak. You're going to need all your strength for Zeke.”
There was a threat in Raym's tone that caused Arak to tense and meet his gaze. It was clear Raym didn't trust him, and Arak silently cursed. This night just kept getting better.
“Make sure you have Penny check your injuries, Raym. If Zeke ails from what I think he does, you're right, I'll need all my strength and yours.” Arak turned when Bale called his name urgently, but Raym grabbed his arm.
“What does that mean?” Raym asked softly.
“You were not the only one attacked tonight. Instead of Bale lying abed, we have two injured female vampires.”
Arak yanked his arm free and entered the room, then strode to the bed. He wasted no time, immediately sitting beside Zeke and pressing his hand to the wound across his abdomen. He sensed the poison coursing through Zeke, but it was not as potent as the dose the female Faith had received.
“Help me get his clothes off,” Arak ordered Bale, who stood to the side, clenching and unclenching his fists impotently. “I need to try to draw the poison out of him, or we will lose him.”
“Poison? What poison?” Kash asked from the other side of the bed.
“Utukku essence,” Arak explained, grabbing Zeke around the waist and forcing the male into a sitting position as Bale lifted his shirt over his head. As Arak lowered Zeke back to the bed, Zeke grabbed his arm with what little strength he still possessed.
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“Don't put me out, Arak,” he said, his tone desperate. “I have to tell you—”
“Not now, Zeke. You can tell us when you are healed. If I don't get this out of you now, you're going to die.” Arak pulled his arm free from Zeke's grip and placed his hand on Zeke's forehead. A warm glow emanated from it as his power began to flow into his brother.
“No, Arak…Caym…” Then Zeke passed out.
“Shouldn't you have let him talk?” Bale asked quietly.
“Which is more important?” Arak asked, glancing up from Zeke's supine figure momentarily before moving his hand to cover the wound. “Zeke living or finding a traitor?
Because I vote for Zeke.”
Bale nodded slowly, but Arak was not even paying attention to him any longer. As his gaze roamed around the room, he realized someone was missing. “Where is Caym?” he asked, eyes narrowing at Raym.
Caym was Raym's twin, though not really twins in the human sense. They were mirror images of each other and an anomaly in both Heaven and Hell. For whatever reason, they were the only pair created to do more than just resemble each other.
“He didn't make it,” Raym snarled. At Penny's gasp, he yanked his arm from her grip and limped off down the hallway.
“What do you mean he didn't make it?” Bale called, exiting the room and stopping beside Penny.
Raym had already reached the top of the staircase when he turned and pinned Bale with a glare. “Exactly what I said. He's gone.” He shouldered his way past Levi and stormed down the stairs.
Penny called his name, running after Raym. Bale turned back to the bedroom. Arak was immersed in healing Zeke, completely unaware of what was occurring around him. But Remy and Kash had heard, and both looked as shocked as he felt.
“We can't do anything else here,” Remy said, placing a hand on Bale's shoulder.
Bale watched him follow after Raym. Glancing back at Kash, who still stood beside the bed, he shook his head wearily.
“What the hell is going on?” Kash asked, his voice raw and his gaze pleading.
“I don't know,” Bale whispered. He reluctantly dragged his gaze from the bed where Zeke lay motionless and forced his feet to follow Remy. The only way to get answers was to begin piecing together the puzzle, and Raym possessed a huge chunk of it.
* * * *
She set off across the bailey as the sun was just bursting over the horizon. The light seemed odd given the circumstances, out of touch with all that was occurring around her.
Not knowing in which direction Raym traveled, she first went to the gatehouse and up the stairs to the rooms she, Raym, and Caym shared. When she found it empty, she stepped back outside, scanning across the bailey at the various outcroppings of buildings. She couldn't imagine 18
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why he would have headed west, as only Ridefort Tower and Zeke's studio lay in that direction.
To the south was Tremelay Tower, which held Kash's forge and the armory. If not for the approaching daylight, she might have considered looking for Raym there. But demons dissipated with the approach of dawn, so even if he sought vengeance—and Penny was certain Raym would—he would have to wait until the sun set. That left Molay Tower and the chapel hidden within.
The abbey, a loose replica of a Templar stronghold overlooking the Pacific Ocean, had been built by Remy some two hundred years prior as a safe haven not only for the Grigori, but to house the relics accumulated over the centuries. It served as a reminder, as did the towers named after the Grand Masters Remy and some of the others had followed, of how far they could still fall if they let greed consume them.
Penny entered the chapel quietly and immediately sensed Raym's presence inside. His grief was overwhelming, and it damn near strangled her. Forcing herself to step farther into the darkened recesses, her gaze finally settled on him.
He knelt upon the stone floor beneath a large cross, as still as the statue of Mary Magdalene on the windowsill, and as silent. With his chin resting on his chest and his eyes tightly closed, he mourned his twin, and Penny's heart broke in two. She longed to go to him, to take him into her arms and console him. But she knew he would only push her away.
“I don't even have his sword to bury,” he mumbled hoarsely.
Since their bodies, like the demons they fought, turned to dust at death, the Grigori had begun sometime in the first century to bury their fallens' swords in consecrated ground. It was a show of honor and respect for those who had given their lives for the cause.
“Raym,” she finally whispered, his grief in addition to her own too much to take.
“Go away, Penemuel,” he said harshly.
“Raym, please. I can't bear it…”
“No one asked you to,” he snarled as he turned, his gaze capturing hers.
The eyes that bore into hers held none of their usual warmth. Now they were just dead inside, and Penny clutched a hand to her chest, covering her heart as if she could protect his cruel words from shattering it.
“You don't belong here, Penemuel. You never have, and you never will. I wish you would just accept that you are nothing to me. Not even a sister.”
Penny stumbled backward as Raym dismissed her, effectively cutting her from his life.
With a sob, she fled the chapel. Without Raym, nothing else mattered. Nothing.
* * * *
Levi stood silently in the corner, partially hidden within the shadows. It was best if he were forgotten; that way he could observe how things unfolded. It helped him gain perspective, brought things more clearly into focus. He had never particularly liked Bale, had always thought him a suspicious, smug son of a bitch, and the fact that someone wanted him dead was no big surprise. He knew in Bale's mind he was the most likely suspect. The rest all seemed to truly be the brothers they claimed, which made the treachery all the more difficult to comprehend.
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He watched Bale and Remy exchange a look. They weren't certain about Kash. Next to Raym and Caym, he'd spent the most time living with the enclave in Germany. Levi could almost see the wheels turning within Bale's dubious little mind. He wanted to laugh as he watched Bale's perfect world fall apart around him.
“You tell
me
,” Remy countered. “What happened to Zeke?”
The mention of the Grigori lying upstairs fighting for his life sobered Levi. If not for Zeke, he would be enjoying Bale's misery openly for all to see. But this was not just about Bale. There would be time to enjoy his fall later.
Kash silently watched Remy a moment, a look of confusion crossing his face. He shook his head, turning away from the pair, but not enough that Levi couldn't still see his face. “The best I could piece together from Zeke's mumblings,” Kash began slowly, “was that they were ambushed outside the Mercury. He was supposed to meet his snitch there at the bar.”
“And did he?” Remy asked as he stepped farther into the room, crossing the wood floor to the wet bar in the corner. “Did Zeke meet this demon?”
An incredulous look passed over Kash's face as he watched Remy pour himself a glass of Macallan 25 scotch. “How should I know? Raym might have mentioned something to Penny, but I couldn't get shit out of him. Hell, I didn't even know about Caym.”
“Christ,” Remy mumbled wearily, running a hand through his hair. “It's been a long night.
Why doesn't everyone get some sleep? Hopefully all of this will be clearer when we rise.”
Kash snorted derisively. “Sure. Whatever.”
Levi watched him stride from the room. The slamming of the front door echoed into the room, signaling Kash's departure from the main residence. He remained silent, observing in fascination the interaction between Remy and Bale. It was obvious that at least Bale had forgotten his presence.
“I hate this,” Bale murmured, sinking into one of the dining chairs. “To think that any of them…”
