Sam Harlan (Book 3): Damned Cold (19 page)

“My father found out, actually, and he also learned about Nicholas’s handicap. He blamed me. He said it was a mistake in my genes and that I’d given Dorothy a retarded baby. Retarded,” he said, his voice breaking. “That was the word they used back then.” The muscles in his jaw tightened. “They didn’t even have a proper name for it. My father said the same defect had cursed my second child. He said it killed both the baby and Annette.”

By the time Meriwether finished, his eyes had narrowed and his cheeks reddened, and the temperature in the room had dropped by ten degrees. Meriwether blinked and there was a popping as one of the overhead lights blew out, plunging the area nearest the hallway into darkness.

“Holy Father,” Mosley whispered.

Meriwether’s eyes glanced in the direction of the hallway. “Sorry,” he said.

“No,” I said. “I understand. Cruel bastard, right?”

“Yes,” Meriwether said. “Quite a cruel bastard. But I did something then. I was so angry. I met the people adopting Nicholas and I charmed them, convincing them to give my boy to me.”

“I bet your old man wasn’t happy about that,” I said.

Meriwether glanced at Mosley. “That’s where the story takes a dark turn, I’m afraid. I did something I shouldn’t have. My father was furious. He didn’t want Nicholas in the house. He thought it better to let the boy die than ruin the family name.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I used my talent against my father,” Meriwether said. “I pressed him. Charmed him. He resisted, but I pushed harder than I ever had before. I wanted Nicholas to come home with me and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.”

“You subverted his will,” I said.

Meriwether chewed at his lip. “I’d never done anything like that before. His own talent in that area resisted, and when I finally overcame him, it did something.”

“You took away his free will,” Mosley said. “One of humanity’s most sacred possessions.”

Meriwether stood and glared at the priest, his hands clenched into fists. “It’s a terrible thing, but I’d do it again. No matter how much it hurt him, or how much it hurt me, I’d do it again to have my boy with me. I’m not an especially religious man, Father, but surely He will forgive me. When my father died, I was sure of only one thing. He wasn’t judged favorably.”

Mosley looked abashed. I didn’t blame Meriwether one bit. “We’re not concerned about that. We’re concerned about Jodie’s claim you wanted to be with Dorothy.”

“You think I’ve harbored feelings for her all these years? Please. I’ve raised Nicholas as best I can. I’ve loved him and protected him while Dorothy kept her distance. Jodie Rexford is clearly insane.”

“What about Randy Korman?” I asked.

Meriwether raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Randy said he used his gift to look into Nicholas. He thinks the boy is evil.”

“That’s what this is all about?” Meriwether asked. “All this time they’ve been accusing me because of that? Magic is unpredictable. I’ve learned that the hard way. You think it would be different for him? Randy’s family never liked my father, and I suffered because of that. What a farce.”

I had heard enough. “Jodie’s coven took it seriously enough to trap a vampire.”

Meriwether collapsed against the couch, stunned. “You—you can’t be serious.”

“They kept it in a pit on the Kormans’ farm,” I said. “They claim it was in self-defense because
you
had a vampire.”

Meriwether’s face went pale, his eyes big and shiny. “Do they still have it?”

“It’s gone. I put a silver knife through its heart.”

“They’ve gone insane,” Meriwether said, waving his hands in the air. “They’ve
all
gone insane. I’m not safe here. Nicholas isn’t safe here.”

“I killed the vampire,” I said. “You’re safe. Speaking of your son, where is he?”

“He’s staying with friends,” Meriwether said, nodding dismissively.

“Mr. Meriwether?” Mosley spoke up. “You never said whether you had a vampire.”

Meriwether’s face was blank. “What? Don’t be ridiculous. How on earth would I capture a vampire? Where would I keep it? And to what purpose?”

“Relax,” I said. “We promised the coven we’d look around. If we didn’t find anything, they said they’d let the issue go.”

“Let it go? You mean they will finally come to their senses and quit blaming me for their problems?”

I nodded. “That’s what they agreed to.”

Meriwether smiled sadly and shook his head. “Congratulations, Mr. Harlan. You have done the impossible. You brought them back to reality. Unless you prefer traipsing around my house looking for vampires?”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said. The fear and anxiety I’d been feeling evaporated and I relaxed for the first time since we’d arrived. “I’ll tell them we found nothing and that they need to make their peace with you.”

Meriwether stood and offered me a hand up from the couch. “Thank you, Mr. Harlan. I owe you for this. You might have saved my life. You might have saved my
son’s
life.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “I’m going to go back and give Jodie the news.”

“You’re an interesting man, Mr. Harlan. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.”

I smiled and shook Meriwether’s hand, then led Mosley to the front door. As I climbed into the van, I had the nagging sense in the back of my head that I’d forgotten something important.

* * *

“He wasn’t what I expected,” Mosley said.

I turned to him, momentarily taking my eyes from the road. “What did you expect?”

“Someone more … dangerous.”

I turned my attention back to the road. We were heading up a large hill near the south side of Monticello, passing a monument on the west side of the road with a sign I didn’t bother to read. “If there’s one thing I learned, Father, is that
anyone
can be dangerous under the right circumstances.”

“I know that,” Mosley said, “but based on how scared they were—”

“Yeah. How could the coven have been so wrong?”

“I’ve lived here for almost two years, Mr. Harlan. These are good people. They tend to be suspicious of outsiders, but they genuinely care for one another.”

We drove in silence for several minutes, “Their secrets caused most of these problems,” I said. “If they had just
talked
to each other, maybe it wouldn’t have come to this.”

“It’s been difficult,” Mosley said, staring out the window. “Dorothy’s disappearance certainly didn’t help.”

Dorothy?

That’s what I had forgotten.

So weird that I blanked on that.

I slowed and turned east to the Kormans’ farm, puzzling over the missing woman.

The van’s headlights sliced through the night and illuminated Jodie, who was waiting for us in the driveway. The temperature had dropped into the upper twenties, and her breath trailed behind her in little clouds as she paced back and forth in front of the garage, wrapped tightly in her black windbreaker.

We barely had time to get out of the van before she demanded, “What did he say? Does he still claim to be innocent? Did you find the vampire? Now do you believe us?”

“Let’s go inside where it’s warm,” I said.

“You didn’t find anything,” she said, her voice full of disappointment. “You think we made it up.”

“I don’t think you made
all
of it up. I think you’ve been under a lot of stress and maybe put things together that didn’t necessarily go together.”

Crestfallen, she turned to Mosley. “What about you, Father? You saw Carlton. What do you think?”

“I think he’s not—not the way you made him out to be,” Mosley stammered.

“But I was
so
sure,” Jodie said more to herself than to us, tugging at her windbreaker. “He’s been asked three times. He
can’t
lie.”

“It’s easy to get things wrong when it comes to family,” I said. “I know a bit about that.”

Maybe it was my tone, or maybe she was tired of hating Meriwether for so long, but Jodie nodded and said, “I guess that’s true. I’m sorry to have included you in this, Mr. Harlan. You’ve been more than patient.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I suggest you speak to Meriwether as soon as possible. As for your sister’s disappearance…”

“Yes?” Jodie asked.

Funny, I can’t remember what I was going to say.

Jodie gave me an odd look, then shrugged her shoulders and opened the kitchen door when I didn’t speak. “Please, come in.”

We followed her into the kitchen. Callie sat on a chair with her legs propped on another. Brady Warren’s wife, Rachel, was stroking Callie’s legs and humming softly. I stopped next to them. Callie looked up and smiled faintly. “You made it.”

“No vampire,” I said quietly. “Your legs are better?”

“It’s amazing. The wounds have closed.” She patted the black sweatpants she now wore. “Rachel says that as long as I take it easy, the pain will be gone in a few weeks.”

The woman, Rachel, stopped humming and smiled shyly before brushing her hands through her short blond hair. “She needs to rest for the muscles to knit correctly. We owe her this much.”

Callie leaned forward on the chair and whispered, “I’ll heal as fast as you do.”

A shiver ran up my spine as Jameson’s words came back to me.

All magic comes at a cost.

“Where’s Jameson?” I asked.

“He went to check on Dawn McKie. Everyone seems to have forgotten about her. Her mother is still missing, remember?”

I blinked. “How could I forget?”

Except, I
had
forgotten. Something buzzed against the back of my neck, a fleeting sense of unease, then it was gone. “Good for him.”

Mosley took the seat next to Rachel. “How is Mrs. Gary?”

Rachel frowned. “Molly is … she’s taking it hard. She’s still crying. I don’t know
how
Jodie’s going to explain this…”

“Anything like this happen before?” I asked.

“Never,” Rachel said. “Not
ever
. Magic is a force of nature. It’s to heal and to help those in need.” She paused, and when she spoke again, it was wistful. “When Jodie asked us to join the coven, it was all so different. So peaceful. It was … sexy. We danced naked around the fire—” She blushed and gave Mosley an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Father. I didn’t—”

“I understand,” Mosley said, a hint of rose to his cheeks. “I’m not blind to the temptations of the flesh.”

“Does Molly have any kids?” I asked.

“No,” Rachel said. “They tried for two years, but nothing worked. They had treatments at Carle Hospital, but the doctors finally said she couldn’t have kids.”

“At least she won’t have that to deal with,” I said.

Rachel’s mouth dropped. “I hadn’t thought of that. Oh my. Could you imagine?”

“Yes,” I said, perhaps a little too harshly, and left it at that.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Rachel said, “I just meant I couldn’t imagine someone telling
my
kids. Especially without telling them about … you know. The
other
world.”

The words just slipped out of me before I could stop myself. “You mean about magic and monsters and things that tear people’s heads off?”

Callie shook her head reproachfully. “Sam…”

“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed by my lack of control. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know about the world,” Rachel said. “The
real
world. I just never expected it to hurt us.”

Damn. There goes the anger again.

“If you didn’t expect anyone to get hurt,” I said as gently as I could, “then you weren’t paying attention.”

“Sam!” Callie said, louder than before.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I started to apologize to Rachel, who looked hurt by my comments, but then I felt it.

The oily, unclean feeling crept up my neck, buzzing against the back of my teeth, and the lizard part of my brain started screaming that danger wasn’t just coming, it was right damned there.

It was a vampire’s presence.

* * *

“Vampire!” I screamed. My hand moved so fast that the Kimber appeared as if by magic.

Callie’s eyes went wide and she grabbed the crucifix around her neck, her mouth moving as she prayed for the Lord’s protection.

Rachel jerked back like she’d been stung. “What?”

Father Mosley stared at me in horror. “My God. My God!”

I pointed to the living room. “Take them, Father. Keep them safe.”

Randy appeared in the doorway, a puzzled look on his face. “What’s going on in here? Why are you yelling?”

“A vampire,” I said, spinning to the front door. There was a small window in the top of the door and I flipped on the outside light and stood on my toes to peer outside. “Don’t you sense it?”

The driveway held a few cars and the Kormans’ van, but there wasn’t a soul in sight and certainly no signs of a vampire. I turned back to Randy, who was looking at me like I’d gone crazy, but he closed his eyes and muttered a few words. “There’s magic near.”

Magic?

“Get everyone to the living room,” I ordered.

Randy nodded, visibly shaken. Rachel helped Callie from the chair and they followed Randy deeper into the house. Mosley stood and asked, “What should I do?”

“You’ll follow me. Got it?”

“Got it,” Mosley said, then grabbed his stomach. “I don’t feel well.”

“It’s the vampire. You feel it now. Plus, you’re scared. It makes it worse.”

Mosley’s face went pale. “You’ve felt like this before?”

I twisted the doorknob with my left hand, keeping the Kimber aimed and ready with my right. “It’s not what you
feel
,” I said, “it’s how you
act
on it. Fear just means you’re smart.”

“What are we going to do out there?”

“We’re going to kill a vampire,” I said.

The evening air was frigid and held the sharp smell of cold earth and decay. The feeling of wrongness grated against my nerves. “It’s close,” I said. Based upon how creepy-crawly my skin felt, it wasn’t a youngling. “Watch yourself.”

Mosley nodded, his head whipping back and forth, staring into the night. I twisted my head and tried to find a position where I could mute the dull roar from the blowing wind, listening for footsteps.

It was too late.

A surge of energy battered into me and knocked me to the gravel driveway.