In Memories We Fear (19 page)

He knew this was a pointless question, but he had to ask.

“No, and she’s not answering. I think she turned her phone off.” Wade spoke these last words bitterly.

Philip’s whole body tightened. If Seamus had not returned and Wade had not managed to contact Eleisha, the only thing left to do was pace the room again, and he did not think he could stand that for even five minutes.

Rose’s bedroom door opened, and she walked out with a composed facial expression. How long had she been alone in there? Something was wrong. Philip didn’t know what, but he was no fool, and she had her gloved hands clasped together. She did that only when she was nervous.

“What’s wrong?” he asked instantly.

She hesitated. “Philip, I know this isn’t a good time, but I need to feed. It’s been too long.”

This was the last thing he’d expected her to say, and she caught him off guard.

“When Seamus returns, he’ll come directly to me wherever I am,” Rose continued, “so we won’t lose any time.”

To his shame, the thought of doing anything, anything at all, in this moment appealed to Philip. He could take Rose out to feed, and Seamus would come directly if he located a signature.

“But if Seamus comes to you,” Wade said, sounding confused, “you’ll pull him off the search for the vampire and tell him to look for Eleisha? Right? We have to find her.”

“Yes,” Rose answered. “Of course.”

“Then I’ll come, too,” Wade said, standing up.

“No, you should wait here in case she comes back,” Rose said. “We’ll phone you if Seamus finds anything.”

Wade frowned but did not argue.

Good, Philip thought. He had no intention of phoning Wade, and he had no intention of pulling Seamus off his current search. He knew of only one way to protect Eleisha, and that was to remove the threat. He didn’t care if Rose watched him take the feral vampire’s head. At this point, he didn’t care if Eleisha watched him.

“Come on,” he told Rose, heading for the door.

She followed him out of the hotel and into the night. “Where shall we go?” she asked. “Eleisha says you know the city well.”

How could she sound so calm when Eleisha was missing? As if they were simply two tourists going out on the town? Her manner made him angry, and he kept walking without bothering to answer.

He headed south, toward the Tube station on New Oxford Street, wondering if Rose might simply be able to lure someone off into the many shadowed nooks and crannies of the station itself.

“Rose,” a deep voice said.

Philip froze at the Scottish accent, casting his gaze around wildly until he spotted the yellow in Seamus’ plaid from the mouth of an alley. He ran over.

“Where is it?” he demanded, no longer thinking of the feral vampire as a “he.”

“Near Leicester Square,” Seamus answered.

“Is Eleisha there?”

“No, I’ve not sensed her.”

Relief flooded Philip as Rose hurried up behind him. This was so much better than he’d hoped that he didn’t even shout his anger at Seamus for taking so long.

Philip knew Leicester Square well, and Eleisha was nowhere near the vampire. He had only one problem now, and he glanced back at Rose, expecting her to tell him to phone Wade immediately, but she did not.

“Go,” she said. “I’ll be all right.”

He blinked in surprise. Perhaps he’d misjudged her, and she understood this situation better than he’d realized. After all, she’d seen Eleisha’s throat, too. Maybe she did understand what he had to do now.

Without another word, he turned and ran after Seamus, who vanished in and out, depending on whether they were in a populated street or a deserted alley. They ran on and on.

“This way,” Seamus said, appearing in a nearly black alley, and then moving southwest.

Just as Philip stepped out onto Monmouth, Seamus disappeared, but Philip did not worry. The street was busy even this late at night. He strode quickly toward Leicester Square, looking about for a shadowed, empty space where he might reconnect with Seamus. All his rage at the ghost was gone now. Once he’d taken this vampire’s head, he could turn to finding Eleisha.

Everything would be all right.

He moved in the darkness behind a pub, seeing no one about. “Seamus?” he called quietly. “I’m here. Where to next?”

Nothing happened.

Philip waited. Seamus did not materialize. At first, Philip still wasn’t concerned, but the minutes continued to pass.

“Seamus?” he called again.

Anxiety began tickling the back of his mind, and he stepped back out onto the street, casting about with his thoughts, trying to connect with the vampire on his own.

He found nothing.

Nothing at all.

Anxiety turned to fear, and he started running back toward Oxford Street where he’d left Rose. He could feel alarm emanating from the people he ran past, but he didn’t slow down, and he skidded to a stop near the alley where Seamus had first appeared.

“Rose!” he called.

She was nowhere in sight. Flipping open his cell phone, Philip hit the button to dial Wade.

“Do you have a signature?” Wade asked on the other end without even a greeting. “Where are you?”

“Has Rose come back?” Philip asked. “Put her on.”

“Rose?” Wade asked. “What do you mean? Isn’t she with you?”

Philip’s hand dropped, and he closed the phone, not knowing what to think . . . not knowing what to feel.

 

Eleisha explored the interior of the small decaying building. Maxim followed her as she moved about—and so did both the cats. Eleisha talked to him the whole time, about anything she could think of, and although he did not try to speak again, she had the distinct sense that he was listening to her.

This place Maxim inhabited consisted of two rooms: a larger open area and a smaller one. Spiderwebs hung from all the corners. The open area was littered with stacks and stacks of dusty wooden crates, some still filled with old paperwork, as if someone had begun moving once and given up before everything was out. In the very back of the smaller area, she found the remnants of a bathroom. “Oh, look,” she said. “The sink is intact.”

But when she turned on the faucet, a spitting sound, followed by rusty water, came from the spigot. Maxim jumped backward, snarling at the sound. Molly and Silverpants echoed him, their fur standing on end.

“Don’t be afraid,” Eleisha said, turning off the water, but still ready to make him freeze if he bolted. Now that she had him, she was not letting him out of here.

Rose’s voice sounded inside her head.

Blessing Seamus’ name, Eleisha flashed back,
Where are you?

Just the thought of having help from Rose made Eleisha feel better, more confident in their chance of success, but she kept her focus sharp, ready to stop Maxim if he charged at Rose.

She slipped into his head.

His expression shifted to panic, and she knew he’d understood some of what she’d just related.

Long, brown hair with white streaks came through the hole near the ground, and in spite of the bizarre circumstances, Eleisha could not help thinking how strange it was to see Rose crawling through a hole into an abandoned building and hiking her long skirt with one hand. Both her gloves were soiled.

Maxim dropped onto all fours again, moving nervously on the balls of his feet from one side to the other, nearly dancing in agitation, but a feeling of calm spread through Eleisha as Rose stood up and smiled gently.

“It’s all right,” she said.

When she spoke, Maxim stopped shifting, and Eleisha could hear the power of Rose’s words, hear her wisdom, and could know indeed that everything was all right. Shaking her head, Eleisha tried to focus again, to shake off the strength of Rose’s gift, but she found herself in a haze of awe at Rose’s wisdom.

“Turn it down a little,” she said. “I can’t think straight.”

The feeling faded, but thankfully, Maxim still watched Rose in wonder.

“Oh my God,” Rose whispered, staring back at him.

Eleisha suddenly remembered this was the first time Rose had seen Maxim. His appearance could be quite shocking at first.

“Don’t get too close yet,” Eleisha warned. “He startles easily, but he’s getting better by the hour.”

“Look at the state of him.”

“I know.” Eleisha hesitated, not sure how to broach her next idea. “That may be part of the problem where Philip’s concerned.” She wished Rose could see some of Maxim’s memories right now, but they had no time. “I brought some clothes and soap . . . a towel. I thought the first thing we should try to do is improve his appearance. He seems to react to how others react to him.”

Rose was still absorbing the situation, but she held up a small drugstore bag. “I bought a toothbrush and a mirror.”

“Good.” Then a hint of worry struck Eleisha. “But you gave Philip the slip? He has no idea where you are?”

“None,” Rose said with resolution. “Seamus led him toward the south side of the city, then teleported back and brought me here.”

Well, that was something. They needed to get Maxim clean, dressed, and a great deal more coherent before Philip or Wade saw him again.

However, good intentions were cheap. Achieving them was another matter. Eleisha took off her coat and dropped it on a crate.

“Um . . . okay, Rose, you keep him here for a few minutes. There’s a sink in the back, but I need to run the water for a few minutes to get it clean. Don’t try to touch him or move toward him. Just talk to him and keep your gift on.”

This was not going to be easy.

She grabbed the backpack with the clothes and shampoo, and she hurried to the sink, turning on the faucet and letting it spit until the air pockets were cleaned out and the brown water began turning clear.

Turning the faucet off, she went back to Maxim and Rose.

“See if you can coax him to follow. Don’t worry. I won’t let him rush at you if he panics.”

Rose nodded and smiled at Maxim. “Come with me,” she said. “Come this way.” She stepped toward the sink, and Eleisha remained poised and ready, but the strength of Rose’s gift flowed out, and Maxim followed her like a child all the way to the sink.

Eleisha stepped around him. She took the mirror from Rose’s shopping bag and held it up for Maxim to see. “Look in here. This is you. This is what you look like to other people.”

She remembered Adalrik showing Maxim his beautiful, slender face in the dining room mirror, and how they’d both studied it. Maxim’s eyes lowered into the mirror in confusion, and then his teeth snapped together. He jumped backward.

“No,” Eleisha repeated, holding the mirror up and moving after him. “You need to see this.”

“Look in the mirror, Maxim,” Rose said gently. “See yourself.”

The power of her gift drifted through the small space, and this time, he focused on the reflection looking back at him. Something flickered in his face . . . first shock and then sorrow. A small noise came from the back of his throat.

Eleisha knew he was ready.

Okay,
she flashed to Rose,
we’re going to have to do this next part the hard way, and you’ll need to do most of the work. Get ready.

She hated to damage whatever trust she’d established with Maxim, but she just didn’t see any other way. He’d never let them undress him and wash his hair. Not even Rose’s gift would get him to allow that.

She drove the command into his brain so hard that every muscle in his body tensed. His face contorted as he tried to fight, but otherwise, he was completely rigid. Eleisha focused all her strength on holding him there.

Rose did not waste any time or need any instructions. She instantly peeled the tattered remains of his shirt from his body, and then she unfastened his pants, pulling them down.

Lift your leg,
Eleisha commanded.

Maxim did, and Rose got his pant leg off.

He wasn’t wearing underwear, and his body was crusted with filth. Rose took off her gloves, got the washcloth wet, and soaped it up.

“Try to get him closer to the water,” she said.

Step forward and lean down,
Eleisha ordered.

Fear and confusion poured from his mind, but he could not help acting upon her commands, and he seemed to have no mental defenses at all. Apparently, Adalrik had never taught him how to block another telepath. How was that possible? That was always the first thing Eleisha taught.

However, at the moment, she wasn’t complaining.

Within seconds, Rose was soaping him up and scrubbing him, and Eleisha couldn’t help but admire the ease with which her friend handled this task. In life, Rose had been a midwife, and the human body was no mystery to her—although how many naked men she’d seen was uncertain.

Eleisha, however, had seen naked men before, but only a few. In both her mortal life and after she’d been turned, she’d cared for Julian’s father, including helping him to bathe. She’d seen Philip naked a number of times, but only when he stepped from the shower or changed his clothes.

Rose washed Maxim and then rinsed him with her hands as if such an act were second nature. She washed his hair with shampoo, scrubbing his scalp with her fingers while his eyes stared wide with panic, and he continued trying to fight Eleisha’s control.

Rose dried him thoroughly with a towel and then said, “Perhaps we should wait to brush his teeth. I think he’s had enough.”

“No,” Eleisha managed to get out, still holding him with her mind. “I don’t want to put him through this again for a while. Do it now.”