The Meridian Gamble (45 page)

“I am hardly going to have her
waste such an effort, Mother. This is not a party frock to turn heads. It is my
wedding dress, the only one I shall ever wear. And I would like to try it on
now, to be sure.”

Mother is taken aback by my
rudeness, but she tries to hold in her reaction.

“Of course, dear.”

“And has Mr. Durand sent you any of
his other fetching creations?” Marjorie asks, hopefully.

“Absolument! Clotilde, bring in the
other gowns, while I assist young Miss Caldwell.”

Madame LaForge takes my hand, and
leads me into the back of the shop.

Behind the front room, there is a
fitting area, with mirrors and screened off areas, for one to change in
private. I stop for a moment, and am almost ready to try on the wedding dress
she has shown me, but I remember the real purpose of my visit.

“Oh, what am I thinking …”

Madame LaForge holds a finger to
her lips, quieting me. She leads me down a narrow corridor, into a large room
farther on. It is a storeroom at the back of the shop, with high ceilings and
unfinished walls, along which rows and rows of dresses are stored. And in the
middle of the space, there is a chair that sits alone. Madame LaForge holds out
a hand, offering it to me. And she returns to her other customers.

I take my seat, and for a moment,
stare at the cold grey walls that surround me. The rack full of dresses nearby
suddenly seem so appealing, from a better time of my life when I had little
more to do than shop and try to look pretty. There are windows along the back
wall, toward the ceiling, ones that look out onto a building across the way,
and I wonder what the tenants of that other edifice will think if they see me,
and what is about to transpire.

Within moments, I hear a door open
from a darkened corridor to my left that must lead to the alley. Several men in
suits enter the storeroom of the shop.

There are four of them, all have a
distinct glow about them, the sign of the Luminos. But in two, it is more
pronounced than the others. I immediately recognize them, from my time as Saga.
Their faces flash back to when they had swarthier complexions, and I realize
that the men are my father and uncle. And though the General bears a false
smile that others might believe, there is something in the way he stares at me
that makes me rethink the risk I have taken today.

But nonetheless, I must press on.

It is strange, the General still
looks the same in some ways. He is roughly the same age as he was when I saw
him last, and has the same thin frame and balding head. But now he has a trim
grey beard and wears an expensive suit, and plays the role of the sophisticated
gentleman. And the pleasant smile he bears is the best part of his disguise, as
he always held such a grim expression in the past.

My uncle is older than the General
in this time, their ages are not in the same relation to what they were in the
past. And his frame is far more weak than the virile man I knew him as, but at
least he seems to hold some sympathy for me in his eyes.

It’s difficult for me to focus on
their present forms. Their visages from the past keep appearing before my eyes.
And I am dazzled by the glow that surrounds all of the men.

“Caroline Caldwell?”

“Yes,” I say, timidly.

“Do you recognize me? I am known
amongst my people as ‘The General.’”

“You were my father. And he was my
uncle.”

Uncle nods to me, with a small
smile.

“You sent me into the temple of
Pharaoh, to assassinate the vampires.”

“But that is not what happened, is
it?”

“I … I do not know. The memories
have only just begun to return to me. I remember my childhood in that time, my
training. And I remember them transforming me, a bit more.”

“Yes, well, it is perhaps best that
you do not remember everything. There are many unpleasant memories to be had
from that time,” he says. “Among my people, you are known as Saga, the great
betrayer.”

The men who are with the General
look to each other, as if afraid of me. And I begin to worry about the way the
General refers to the Luminos as “my people” and not “our people.” It seems
curious that he still does not consider me one of them.

“I understand that I made horrible
mistakes in the past. But hopefully, I can correct them now,” I say, softly.

“Yes, we’ll talk of that in a
moment,” he says. “But first I must know something. Since your life as Saga,
have you returned any other times?”

“No. I don’t believe that I have.”

“Interesting. You are the only one
of us who has returned so infrequently. And I wonder, why have you come back
now? What are your reasons for contacting us?”

“Because … I am afraid. I worry
that the vampires have something planned that will bring about the destruction
of us all.”

He smiles, just a bit sadly.

“The vampires constantly plot our
destruction. And we are well aware of their plans. They are in love with power,
and intend to absorb your father’s business into their empire. And your
marriage is the key to their scheme.”

“But there is more to it than just
that. They seem to have a sinister intention for me.”

“I’m quite sure that they do. But
for now, we must concentrate on stopping their takeover of the company.”

“Perhaps you should listen to the
girl,” Uncle says.

“We haven’t time. They could be coming
for us as we speak. Our other betrayer is skulking around.”

And I know he means Adam.

“What … what do you need me to do?”
I ask, timidly.

The General smiles down at me, in
the way one would look at a child you are trying to have patience with. And the
edges of his mouth curl in a sinister way that frightens me.

“Do? There is nothing for you to
do, per se. But your marriage must be stopped. And, unfortunately, there is an
elegantly simple way we can do this, and help you begin to pay for your
transgressions of the past, as you claim you want to do.”

I watch in horror, as the General
pulls a revolver from the coat of his jacket, one that he aims at me.

“Hopefully, when I see you again,
you can finally join the Luminos as an equal, and truly take part in our war.”

I gasp, and it’s over in an
instant. He doesn’t even give me the chance to beg. I see a flash of light, and
I feel a pain in my stomach, unlike anything I have ever felt before. It is so
severe that I barely notice as my chair falls backward and I land on the floor.

And a fight seems to break out
amongst them, for a moment. It flashes through my mind that perhaps one of the
Luminos men is defending me, maybe my old uncle is outraged that the General
would turn against me. But then I realize that it is Adam who is assaulting
them. And he quickly clears the room, as they flee in terror.

My head turns toward the door that
leads to the shop, and I realize it is locked. A pounding comes from the other
side, and I can hear Mother’s screams. And I feel such guilt at having brought
this upon them. I hope she will not feel too bad when I’m gone.

Because, to my horror, I can see a
pool of blood forming on the floor around me. And the last thing I feel is a
hunger for it.

I become more acutely aware of my
pain, as Adam lifts me. He is still with me, and looks at me with concern in
his beautiful eyes.

“How are you here?” I say.

“I was following you. I was using
you, to help find the Luminos. I should never have risked you in that way.”

He looks down at my stomach.

“Caroline, I’m sorry I’m too late.”

“Saga.”

“What?”

“Saga. I am Saga. I should have
told you,” I say. “Hopefully, this will at least help end your hatred of me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Adam says. “I
never did.”

There’s something in my mouth, and
I remember the taste from her time. It’s more of the blood. And I realize I
don’t have long.

“Did she ever tell you the truth?
Did Marion tell you why I begged her to change you?” I wheeze.

“No, she told me nothing,” Adam
says.

I cough, spattering red specks about
in an unseemly way. And I feel bad for a moment, that I have sullied Adam’s
shirt.

There’s too much to say, too much I
need for him to know, and I don’t know if I can do it. My pain is too great,
and I am weakening. But it occurs to me I don’t need to say it at all. There’s
another way.

“Bite me,” I say, in a whisper.
“Drink of me before I die, and absorb me. You need to know the truth.”

A look of fear comes into Adam’s
eyes.

“No, I can’t.”

“I’m going to die anyway. What does
it matter?”

“It is a sin,” Adam says. “The
worst our kind can make, to consume the life of another’s Chosen One. I will be
punished.”

And I’m sad, when I realize he
won’t do it. Maybe it’s that Adam simply doesn’t want my spirit walking around
with him. But hopefully, I have a few words left.

“I loved you. Since the beginning.
It was always you. I just wish you could have finally known me, for once.”

And something changes in Adam’s
face. He looks around in confusion, deciding. Before my light can disappear, he
bares his fangs, and plunges them into my neck.

Marion was right, the venom does
help to take the pain away. The delicious pleasure of the vampire bite begins
to course through my body. And in some small way, it feels nice, to finally
have Adam hold me close.

As he drinks, I look over his
shoulder, and see a vision; an image of a woman, with flowing black tresses and
a voluptuous figure. She wears a bright purple dress that plunges at her neck
in a daring way, that shocks me even in my state. And she smiles at me sweetly,
in a manner that comforts me. From her surroundings, I have the impression that
she lives in the future, some far away place that I can barely imagine exists.
One that I hope is better than here.

And a single word comes into my
mind, a strange one. Meridian.

It is a color, I think. Or
something to do with a map. But in this case, as odd as it seems, I know it is
the woman’s name, the one that belongs to my future self.

But in my world, Adam breaks our
connection. He pulls away, looking into my eyes. And I summon what little
strength I have left to utter my last words.

“I’ll come back to you again …”

A bright light forms around the
woman from my vision, and it becomes a tunnel that begins to pull at me. And
I’m too weak to fight it. I am ripped from this place, and hurdle off toward my
new adventure.

And I only hope that Adam will
remain safe until I can return.

I feel like I’ve just risen from
the dead.

My whole body is sore and I’m
groggy, barely able to move. I roll over and look around for a moment, confused
as to where I am, which is becoming a familiar feeling. So I search for some
visual clues to help me figure out which reality I’ve landed in.

I’m in a bed, a big one. Adam is
lying next to me under the covers, and being near him gives me the same thrill
it always does, the one that makes me feel like I’m still in a dream, that he’s
too beautiful to be real. His hair is short and tousled, so we’re not in
ancient Egypt. And though the bed has big posts with thick curtains, they’re
not the delicate, lacy white ones of Caroline’s bed. Behind him is the
spectacular view of New York I remember, the one from his bedroom window, which
tells me we’re in the real world, not the bizarre Astral Plane where we made
love before.

I look down at my arms, which have
one or two little brown moles, and they’re thicker than Caroline’s, which were
delicate and perfectly alabaster. And it feels unnatural for me to be in my own
body, as though I should still be in hers. I can almost feel the pain in my
stomach from where she was shot.

Adam stares at me for a long while,
fascinated by my reactions. But he seems to understand that I need a moment to
readjust to my surroundings. I brush aside the thick curls that have fallen
over my face, and try to shake off my stupor.

“Geez, what time is it?” I say with
a raspy voice.

“Don’t worry, it’s still early.”

“On what day?”

“You might want to worry about
that,” he says, with a small smile. “It’s Thursday.”

“Of what week?” I say, in a panic.

“The same week. You’ve been asleep
for a little over a day. I called your boss, to tell him you were ill.”

“Oh God, I’m sure Roy Thompson
loved that one. I’ve never had a boyfriend call in sick for me before.”

“Don’t worry, I’m very persuasive.
He thought it was the most natural thing in the world, whether he wanted to or
not,” Adam says with a smile.

And I shudder at the thought of my
lover using his mental powers on my boss. From a distance. It’s frightening to
think that the vampires are that powerful. But then again, Roy Thompson is a small
man who’s concerns rarely go beyond trying to figure out new ways to get me to
do all the work at the office. Maybe it didn’t take much to influence his mind,
after all.

“Here, you need to drink,” Adam
says.

He passes me one of the little
square bottles of water that I love. I take a big gulp, and the simple clear
fluid is the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. It’s like a slice of
heaven. I hadn’t even realized how parched I was.

Adam is still staring at me, and as
I look back at him, the enormity of what I’ve absorbed begins to sink in.
Sifting through Saga and Caroline’s lives has altered the reality of my own.

“You’re Luminos, like me,” I say.

“I once was,” Adam says. “But I’ve
lost that power, the ability to see them, when I became a vampire. But perhaps
I still retain some small sense of their presence, which is what makes me so
good at hunting them down.”