Shift of Time (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 1) (15 page)

“Is that the gratitude I get for saving you?”

“No.” I chewed my bottom lip. “I apologize, but you have to admit I need to be careful. My sire isn’t around to train me or to keep me from falling into the traps set by people who’re more experienced.” I hated how pitiful I sounded.

Silvano frowned. “And he should be ashamed for leaving you when you need him most. I’m not your sire, and I won’t presume to take his place. However, I would be glad to fill in where I can until he returns—
if
he returns.”

“Ian will be back!”

“Of course.”

I spun away and took in the sky. A few days remained before the full moon. “Ian and I share a bond. I’m not sure I’m ready to, um, share that much with someone else.”

“I understand.” Silvano moved behind me and laid hands on my shoulders. I forced myself not to move away. “Have you spoken with him?”

“His cell phone is—”

Silvano brushed fingers along my cheek. “In your mind. You’re bonded, as you said. It doesn’t matter where he is, you should be able to trace along that connection and reach him.”

I spun to face him. “Is that really true?”

“Yes.” He glanced up and down the street and then focused on me. “Close your eyes.”

I pursed my lips.

“Fair enough. Focus on a single point in your vision and concentrate on the connection between the two of you.”

I did as he said and thought of Ian. Longing washed over me, an experience I hadn’t encountered since before I became a vampire. I realized in that moment how alone I felt. Scared, adrift, even though I had met people I liked who could eventually become true friends. The only person who knew the real me, the
old
me, was Ian, and he was gone.

“Ian.”

I called to him again and again. In fact, I was sure I sensed him just as Silvano said. He was there on the end of the tether. This was how I had known all along that he wasn’t dead, but to be ignored hurt me deeply. I shook my head and blinked a few times.

“It…didn’t work.”

Silvano looked at me in silence, probably well aware that it
had
worked. He let me have my pride and nodded. “Well, we’ll try again another time.”

I lowered my lashes. “Thank you for helping me.”

He squeezed my shoulders. “Rue, you’re not alone. I have a coven.”

I peered up at him. “A coven?”

“A group of likeminded individuals, who support each other by sharing our resources and our strengths. In a case such as what happened tonight, if you were in a coven, for one thing, you wouldn’t have been traveling alone. For another, you could easily have called on one of the group to come to your aid.”

“In my mind?”

“Yes. We share blood so we can all be connected. It’s a choice and a commitment once it’s made.”

“It sounds tempting, but I’m not sure I want anyone in my head.” I moved away from his touch.

“Let it tempt you. It’s not a bad thing. As I said, you won’t be alone, Rue. You would have my assistance and all the others in my coven’s help. They don’t all live in New Orleans, but a number of them do. They are powerful vampires that would never allow one of our kind to be harassed by the likes of demons.”

“What are demons? I know they’re beings from another plane of existence or something like that.”

“They’re tools.” The arrogance in his tone made me look at him, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. “They’re immortal, but not on our level.”

“Tools. Never heard it put like that before.”

“There’s a lot I can teach you.” The arrogance had slid to seductive tones.

I smirked at him. In this way, he wasn’t so different than Nathan. I had discovered after becoming a vampire, men were drawn to me. What I didn’t know was whether it was the dark allure of the vampire or my physical appearance. Since both were not of my original makeup, I had trouble getting too big in the head over it.

“I’ll think about the offer, Silvano. Thank you.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome. Any time.”

While I watched, he strode in the opposite direction to the one I headed, and then he picked up speed. I was able to trace him as he caught the wind, and then he disappeared just like that. Strain as I did, I couldn’t sense him or smell him. He had cloaked himself. What was most alarming was I had no idea if he had doubled back and was watching me again.

I needed to learn, and maybe Silvano would be another good teacher along with Bill’s combat training. I wouldn’t join the vampire coven, at least not yet.

“Ian, come home soon. Please.”

“
G
ot you
,” I whispered and grinned at my own cleverness.

I sat on a rooftop within sight of Bill’s library. From my distance, the liveliness of the building wasn’t apparent to the naked eye, except when a patron arrived and passed onto the property. Then the lights came on, and the door opened with Bill waiting to greet the visitors.

I had the thought that perhaps the humans who controlled the boy might have access to the paranormal underweb. The network wasn’t for their kind, but I started thinking what if the demons used it in some way to smuggle the boy out of New Orleans. They might be able to blink over to some other plane, but he was still human. If they wanted to use him, they had to find a way to get him out. After scouring the paranormal underweb for the last two hours, I believed I located the answer.

That was all to the ad, but I was sure it had to do with the boy, and it also had something to do with the library. Hence, I sat on a roof staking out the place. What I wasn’t clear on was why the people who had the boy would choose the library. There was no way any of them except the demons would have access to the place. Bill had told me it was for nonhumans only.

I considered marching inside and asking him straight out if he was involved with the abduction, but something told me not to take such an aggressive stance with Death. Not to mention the fact that our conversation was likely to be more of a runaround than enlightenment. If Bill was involved, my training would come to an end. I hoped I was wrong.

“What’s that?”

I grumbled. “You’re not supposed to be here, Nathan. What about Inna?”

“She’s safe.”

“You didn’t give her blood?”

He sat down beside me and hung his legs over the side of the roof. “No, you said she didn’t want to drink, so we’re keeping her quiet until it’s over, which should be in the next few hours. Three days goes by fast, huh?”

“I’m sure she doesn’t feel that way.”

“Well don’t worry. She’s fine, and one of the girls is playing chaperone.”

“Good.”

He pointed to my phone. “What was that you were looking at?”

“An ad.” I showed it to him. “I can’t prove it, but I think this is an ad to have someone get the boy out of town.”

Nathan studied it with a frown. “Extract, Sands. Is that somebody’s name?”

“No, it’s written to look like a name, but look at it in conjunction with everything on the same line.”

“Mm, nope, I’ve got nothing.”

I glared at him. “In my old life, I was a school teacher, and one of the places you could often find me was in the library. In fact, my best friend was a librarian.”

“I hear a note of wistfulness.”

“Never mind that.” I tapped the screen. “This ad looks more like information from a card catalog.”

“So can’t it just be someone’s secret message for their lover in the library?”

“Sure, except that I believe Sands refers to the boy.”

“Oh, like in sands of time? Clever.”

“Extract is they need to get him out.”

Nathan snapped his fingers, excitement in his expression. “And the organization is the bad guys that are either dropping him off or picking him up.”

“Or both,” I worried.

“The date’s wrong.”

I shook my head. “I think the date doesn’t matter. They’ve been called here, and they’re going to show up. Bill’s library is the most likely for this kind of business, and it’ll probably be under cover of darkness. I’ll stake out this place every night if I have to.”

“You won’t have to,” Nathan said.

“What do you mean?”

He touched his nose and pointed. A low rumble started in his throat. “Demons, twelve o’clock.”

I hardly had time to register what Nathan said before the sound of his clothes tearing off filled the air, and he leaped head first off the side of the rooftop. By the time he hit the ground, he had shifted to a wolf and was tearing off toward the library. I followed hard on his heels and overtook him. A sniff of the air told me the humans weren’t there, so I needed to question one of the demons before Nathan sent them all back where they came from.

We reached the library just as one of the demons stepped onto its grounds. I stumbled to a halt, and Nathan smashed into my legs from behind. The thing before me didn’t look like the men in black I had been seeing for a while. This beast had blood red skin and black as night eyes without a hint of white. When he sneered at me, he revealed jagged teeth that were anything but human. Deep gashes in his cheeks and elongated pointed ears accentuated a bald head.

“Ugly,” I whispered, amazed.

The thing scowled in offense, but he did step off the grounds of the library, and his glamour fell back into place. Thank goodness, because if I could blush I would have. Not even fur to cover the unmentionables, very disturbing.

“Where’s the boy?” I demanded, recalling why I was there.

The demon would have answered except Nathan leaped around me straight at the beast’s chest. I reached out to drag him back.

“Wait, Nathan, I need to question him.”

Nathan snapped at me, just missing my hand. He growled and fought my hold, and my muscles ached trying to keep control of him.

The demon laughed. “Fighting among yourselves? Good. Make it easier on us.”

“Who is us?”

I didn’t need the question answered as more demons arrived. Nathan bit me, and I let him go. The nearest demon was sent on his merry way while I clutched my bleeding arm. “You’ll pay for that, wolf!”

The night lit with fire and howls, Nathan ripping through the enemy. I had the presence of mind to grab one of the demons from the werewolf’s path and hurl him onto the library’s grounds. Just as I suspected, Nathan ran into an invisible barrier the moment he tried to follow. He frothed at the mouth as he leaped again and again at the gate. Each time, he was repelled backward.

The demon inside stood and danced around, jeering at the two of us and making faces. I strode up to the open gate, and he drew closer to smack his bony chest and swing his butt—covered in a loincloth, thank all that was good.

I flexed my fingers, hearing the bones crack each time and then stepped across the barrier onto the library grounds. The demon, a rather tall imp, fell back horrified. “But how? How can you come in? No one who means harm to anyone on these grounds can cross the barrier.”

I smiled. “Maybe it doesn’t work on vampires.”

His red skin might have paled some. I couldn’t be sure. The truth was I had no intention of killing him. I wanted information and nothing else. That was the difference between Nathan and me. He destroyed demons without a rational thought in his canine head. I was determined to know where to find the boy, and this demon could help me. Therefore, he needed to stay on our plain.

“Leave,” one of the demons on the outside shouted. “Go now!”

“I can’t,” the imp responded, confirming something else for me. No improper entrances into or out of Bill’s domain. I quite liked the advantages I had tonight.

I strolled over to him and took his arm. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide the cringe of disgust, and he glared at me. I kept a smile on my face. “Let’s go inside and have a chat, shall we?”

“No! I don’t want to.”

I called over my shoulder. “You can’t let a single one escape, Nathan. Not one.”

The growls and screams continued and then were muffled into total silence when the library door shut behind us.

“Bill,” I called, scanning the interior of the library. From what I could see, there was no one around. I squinted to try to see into the other dimensions, but no wisps of visitors from other worlds appeared.

Where was he? Bill was always in the library. Then again, I supposed he had to step out sometime. Otherwise how would he get his favorite food? Yet, I had the feeling he was around. Bill seemed to know nearly all, and he had to know about the happenings at the library tonight. He wouldn’t be off grocery shopping at a time like this.

I dragged the demon farther into the library and headed toward the kitchen. The scrape of claws on the floor made me look at the creature. He shook from head to toe, his eyes wide with fright. As we moved, he looked around, searching every corner.

“What’s wrong with you, demon?” I demanded. “What are you afraid of?”

He tried to scowl at me, but the fear overpowered the annoyance. His bottom lip trembled until he captured it between those sharp teeth. I wondered if he wouldn’t chew it clean off, but it seemed sturdy enough. All the while, his eyeballs rolled in the most unattractive way.

When we reached the kitchen door, I started to push it open, and the imp let out a cry of terror. He strained at my hold and dug claws into my hand. Blood bubbled where he broke my skin, and on instinct, I popped him in the nose. His head snapped back, and he whimpered even more.

“Shut up, will you!” I glanced behind us to see that there was a trail scratches made by his clawed toes from the entrance to the kitchen door. “Bill’s not going to like it that you messed up his floor.”

“W-who is Bill?” he croaked.

I recalled I was the only one who called him that. “You know, the librarian. Death.”

To my utter shock, the demon dropped to the floor like a shot, causing me to lose my grip on his arm. He pressed both hands atop his head and howled, pleading for mercy. That’s when I got it. The imp was mortally terrified of Death.

I crouched down beside him, squinting at the quivering pile of uselessness. One might think I could find an ounce of pity for the creature. I found none. Not when I knew it was holding an innocent little boy hostage, tricking him into believing he was a friend.

“Why are you afraid of Death? For all intents and purposes, you’re immortal, right? If you’re sent back, you can be reassigned to come here again. I’m guessing it’s an infinite amount of times. What’s the big deal?”

He kept wiggling about like a little worm, so I ignored him. I checked the kitchen to find it empty. When I returned to the front room, the imp lay where I left him. I moved past him and walked toward the entrance. Voices from outside reached me, and I paused to listen.

“I don’t know if we should go in, sir.”

I zipped several feet away from the door but kept my ears strained to listen. Ken had been the one to speak. I knew him now without a doubt.

“There’s the scent of several of the imps being sent back,” Ken explained. “It could be a trap.”

Yeah, it’s a trap that you set!

“We’re desperate, Ken.” This was a human, one of the ones that had been in the house with the boy. “I was told the pass that lets us come here won’t last for long, so we can’t come back another night, and those people will be here soon.”

I assumed the people were this organization referred to in the ad, but what did he mean by the temporary pass? Was it access to the library for a human? That would make sense, a library card.
Clever, Bill.
I had a few questions to ask him when I saw him.

The conversation went on outside, Ken trying to convince the man to wait, which didn’t make sense to me, unless he was just as afraid as the imp of coming into the library. I looked over at the imp, who had stretch out prostrate and was silent, but his lips were moving, and his eyes were wet with tears.

I rolled my eyes and moved over to him. Dragging him up with a hand around his nape produced no response whatsoever. I shook him as one would snap dust from a cloth. Nothing. At last, I set him on his feet and leaned close to his oversized, pointed ear.

“You will go to the door and convince the people out there to come inside,” I whispered.

He shook his head, and I ground my teeth.

“I’m guessing it’s painful for you to stay on this plane outside of a human body?”

His mouth opened in a silent cry.

“If you don’t do what I tell you to do, I’m going to hold you here.” I glanced at the windows. “Those blackout blinds would do nicely to keep me through day and night, but what about you? This is still the physical realm, even if the library is special. So what will it be? Stay here and suffer or do as I tell you?”

“All right, I’ll do it,” he grumbled. “I hate you, vampire.”

“Likewise.”

He started for the door.

“Oh, and if you think you can disappear, remember, you have to make it off the grounds first. Who do you think is faster, me or you?”

He grumbled, but his tears had dried, and the fear seemed to have settled down a bit. The imp opened the door and signaled to the others while I watched. “Come in,” he called, waving his arm. “It’s safe.”

More discussion reached my ears as I waited out of sight but within view of the door. I could hear the demons and sense them outside. I knew how many there were and the rankings I was familiar with. Four humans, including the one who had spoken with Ken and the boy himself stood out there. So why didn’t Ken or one of his compatriots know a vampire lay in wait?

I could theorize it was the library, but Bill told me from the beginning visitors to the library sensed my presence and decided not to visit on the nights they knew I was there. Only the ones from other dimensions, who believed they were safe still came. This was curious, but maybe it was Bill’s doing.

“I don’t understand why we’re here at this disgusting building?” one of the humans called. “It doesn’t seem safe to take the boy in there.”

He can’t see.
I itched to go out there, but I kept myself hidden.

Ken explained. “The passes are for the guardian and the boy. They hold them, so they can see. You stay out here. We won’t be long.”

The man Ken had called the guardian walked in, holding the boy’s hand. Ken followed along with another demon on his level. I still couldn’t handle two demons of his level at once.

Bill, where in the blue blazes are you?

The moment the front door shut behind the party, something like a blinder descended. I felt it all around the building on every side. No matter how far I stretched my senses, I couldn’t pick up anything from the outside—not the two humans left on the street or the demons that had escorted them, not anything. We were in a void and cut off from the world. I might have questioned who or what caused this phenomenon, except right then, Bill appeared behind me. He spoke a second after I sensed him.