Vampire Memories #5 - Ghosts of Memories (10 page)

Without nodding, he vanished. For all the confusion and worry he’d just caused, he
had
succeeded, and a meeting had been set up. But if Julian was here in the city, they needed to go right now.

However, Wade couldn’t walk into this meeting without knowing a few things, and there was no time or opportunity to tell him aloud. They’d all made a pact not to enter each other’s heads without warning, but she didn’t see a choice.

Philip started walking toward his coat, and he was momentarily distracted.

Don’t change your expression,
she flashed into Wade’s mind.
Just listen. Philip let me read some early memories, from just after he was turned. Christian was in one of them, so he’s an elder. That means he knows the laws, he’s over two hundred years old, and he somehow escaped Julian.

The barest flicker passed across Wade’s face. But she couldn’t read it.

Philip was busy buttoning his coat.

Why didn’t you tell me?
Wade flashed back.

No time. Philip was too freaked out, and I haven’t seen you alone.

“Ready?” Philip asked from the door, watching them both with a slight frown.

Eleisha grabbed her bag from the table. “Ready.”

Julian walked back into his hotel room to find Mary there waiting for him.

She stared at him coldly for a few seconds, almost quizzically, as if trying to figure him out. He didn’t speak and just waited.

“I’ve got an address, near the waterfront on Cherry Loop. Two vamps. Both are at home.”

“What do they look like?”

“He’s got a young face, but his hair’s gone totally gray…good-looking, nose up in the air like you.”

The description meant nothing to Julian. Most of the elders were haughty, but he’d never known one with a young face and gray hair, although this simply supported Eleisha’s statement that Christian was an unknown elder who’d managed to avoid being listed in Angelo’s book.

“The girl’s pretty,” she went on, “but kinda typical…you know, skinny, blond, low-cut dress, blah blah blah.” She tilted her head to one side as if considering something.

“And?” he asked.

“I wasn’t there very long, but I got the feeling the guy’s definitely the one in charge.”

Mary’s instincts were normally good, so he filed that information away. It suggested that Christian was the oldest of the duo and he’d probably turned the woman himself. But Mary still seemed thoughtful, as if deciding on whether or not to tell him something else. He didn’t like that.

“What?”

She shook her head. “That’s it. You want me to meet you there?”

He couldn’t help feeling that she was holding something back from him. But there wasn’t much he could do about it. She gave him the full address, and he didn’t bother taking off his coat or his sword while calling to arrange for a car.

chapter six

E
leisha sat in a large corner booth at McMenamin’s Pub. She and Wade were on one side, and Philip was on the other. Every inch of the interior of this place seemed to be made from dark wood. Normally she liked wooden décor, but the effect here was slightly suffocating. It was also a good thing two of them couldn’t eat food and that Wade wasn’t hungry. They’d been sitting for nearly twenty minutes, and no one had even brought them a menu or a glass of water—not that Eleisha gave this much thought.

She was too nervous and kept glancing at the door.

“Maybe I should have waited outside,” Philip said. “Kept a lookout for Julian.”

Eleisha shook her head. “The streets here are too public. He’d never attack out there. Hopefully, Christian and Ivory will just drive into the parking lot or get out of a cab in front. They should be okay for now.”

But no one was talking about what might happen later. What would happen if these two vampires wanted nothing to do with the church or with a community? Eleisha couldn’t help a sinking, guilty feeling that she’d just led Julian straight to them. If they agreed to come home to Oregon, she and Philip could protect them both.

But what if they didn’t?

In her eagerness to make contact and her desire to “help,” she always seemed to assume any vampires they found would
want
to come back to Portland. She should have thought this situation through a little more carefully before just blundering into Seattle like this.

If both these vampire were elders, then they already knew how to feed without killing, and they posed no danger to society. They seemed to have carved a comfortable life for themselves, and they had each other, so they weren’t alone.

What if by coming here, Eleisha had done nothing more than put their lives at risk?

She pushed the thought away. No, these two at least deserved to know that others of their kind still existed and were forming a community together. She would never give up on the underground. There was safety in numbers. They had to at least be offered the chance, and that couldn’t be done through a letter or a phone call. They had to see Eleisha and Philip in person…to have proof that others of their kind still existed.

Glancing over, she saw Philip watching her. He looked especially handsome tonight, in a stark white shirt under his black Armani coat, which was buttoned only high enough to hide his machete. His hair had less product in it than usual, and it hung in red-brown layers past the upturned collar of his coat.

“It will be all right,” he said. “Whenever you talk, people listen.”

She blinked, not sure how to respond, wishing she were as confident of her own abilities as he was. Wade hadn’t said much since they’d left the hotel, but she knew he must be worrying about many of the same things. Leaning back in the booth, he shifted his weight. Tonight he wore his usual faded jeans and old canvas jacket with the plastic buttons—with his gun strapped underneath. Philip hated that canvas jacket and was always trying to replace it, but Wade cared little about fashion.

“Philip,” he said. “See if you can flag down a waitress and order me a beer. They pay more attention to you.”

Philip appeared to accept this statement as truth, and he looked around for anyone wearing an apron.

Just then, the door opened, and two people stepped in from the night air.

Time seemed to slow as Eleisha took in the sight of them. Ivory appeared to be in her early twenties, wearing a coat over a long red dress. She was lovely, with shining white-blond hair.

But Eleisha didn’t look at her for long, as Christian spotted their booth almost instantly, and he began walking toward them with purpose. Even from across the room, Eleisha could feel the power of his personality as people around him automatically moved out of his way. He looked exactly as she’d seen him in Philip’s memories, but she’d forgotten how clear his eyes were, with only the slightest hint of blue.

He stopped at the end of the booth.

His face showed little emotion, but his eyes widened just a bit at the sight of Philip, and then he turned his head to look at Eleisha, drinking in her face. She knew he’d sense her as a vampire, no heartbeat, no scent of warm blood. But he seemed fascinated by her face and hair.

Philip stood up, leaving his side of the booth open, and he motioned for Christian and Ivory to take his place. Then he slid in beside Eleisha.

Both the newcomers sat down, but Christian continued to stare at Eleisha.

“Well,” he said in a French accent. “This is unexpected.”

Christian had no idea what he might find upon arriving here, but
this
was certainly not it. It took him a few seconds to even recognize Philip, who now looked like he’d just stepped off the cover of
GQ
.

He’d seen Philip only once—screaming, mad, half-naked, and covered in blood.

Christian ignored the mortal in the booth as unimportant.

But the girl…

Small boned and pale, she was staring back at him with a kind of vulnerable hope in her hazel eyes. She wanted something from him, and she wanted to please him at the same time. Just the sight of her expression brought excitement bubbling up into his chest. Dark blond wisps of hair hung around a pretty face without a speck of makeup. And she was a vampire. He almost couldn’t believe it.

Where had she come from?

She opened her mouth as if trying to speak, and he hung there in anticipation on the edge of his seat, wondering why she’d gone to such lengths to call him here.

“My name is Eleisha,” she said finally. Her voice was soft and hesitant. He had the immediate impression she’d be easy to dominate. Under the right circumstances, she’d do anything he told her.

“You know Philip,” she went on, as if they were friends meeting for a social engagement, “and this is Wade Sheffield.” She gestured to the mortal—who was busy studying Ivory. “He knows…everything about us. We can speak freely.”

Christian snapped his fingers, and a waitress stopped instantly. “Five glasses of red wine,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll have a beer,” Wade said.

Christian already didn’t like him. For a mortal who was apparently well aware that he was sitting in a booth with four vampires, he seemed far too sure of himself. Philip looked distinctly unsettled, which was good, but how
had
he survived? Christian needed to get control here quickly. He leaned back in the booth.

“You seem to have me at a disadvantage since I don’t need to introduce myself or Ivory. You already know our names,” he said. “And your ghost might have cost me a good deal of money tonight.”

To his further fascination, Eleisha looked chagrined. “I’m so sorry about that. He didn’t tell us what he was going to do…just that he’d get you to speak to us.” Good God. She did sound sorry. She meant it.

Christian smiled. “Well, he managed that much. We’re here. What is it you wish to say?”

In truth, he didn’t really care at this point.

For so many years now, more years than he could count, Ivory had been desperate to leave him, but he couldn’t let her go. The routine he’d developed required the both of them. He needed both a spiritualist and a conduit for the shows to work. They were unique, and their reputation preceded them: Christian Lefevre and his beautiful conduit to the spirits.

But for his conduit, he needed a telepath, another vampire.

In the few moments that he’d sat here, he could already see that Eleisha was far more pliable and far more eager to please than Ivory could ever be. What a relief this girl would be to him. She was not sophisticated, not yet, but he’d trained Ivory once, and he could do it again. With the right makeup and a silk gown, Eleisha could step right into Ivory’s place; they could go to a different state and find a new patron, and no one ever would know the difference.

“We’ve started looking for others…like ourselves,” Eleisha said, “and we’ve purchased a large church that we call the underground, where we’re living. We were hoping you might want to join us.”

As she said this, he stopped thinking about himself and his immediate future, and he actually began to listen. He did need to know why she believed she was here. But she was looking at Ivory now as her soft, hesitant voice rolled on, speaking about this church they’d furnished, about their methods for finding lost vampires—which she called her “mission”—and about their hope of forming a community. She said Wade used a computer to locate possible search locations and Philip provided protection.

Christian had trained Ivory to be silent unless she was handling a client or playing the ethereal conduit, so he was surprised when she asked, “Have you found anyone else?”

Eleisha nodded. “Yes, we found Rose de Spenser in San Francisco, and Maxim Carey in London. They’re both living with us at the church.”

Christian stiffened. “There are two more of us?”

“Hopefully more than that,” she said. “Every time we’re on the verge of giving up, we seem to find someone else.”

He didn’t care for this news—at all. It tied her to her current existence even more. Of course he had no interest in going back to her little “community.” He had no interest in Philip or Wade or in forming friendships with other vampires. For the most part, he never had, even in the old days. Eleisha was the only thing at this table that interested him. He’d been reading people long enough to know sincerity when he saw it. She was the soul of sincerity. After a little training, anyone would believe anything she said.

However, from the way she was talking, she seemed eager to get back to her old brick church as soon as possible.

He had to find some way—any way—to keep her here a little longer.

Wade was struggling to stop staring at Ivory. He’d once believed himself to be in love with Eleisha, and even before that, he’d always found her pretty to a heartbreaking degree. But this woman was different. She reminded him of a shining jewel. She’d hardly said anything, and her expression was guarded; yet she was hanging on Eleisha’s every word. He caught a few stolen glances into her green eyes, and he couldn’t help seeing a hint—possibly more than a hint—of sadness. He wanted to know what she was thinking, and he fought to keep from entering her mind to try to see as much as possible before she pushed him out.

What a foolish notion. They wanted her to trust them, and that trust would not be gained by invading her mind without an invitation.

Still looking at Eleisha, Ivory asked quietly, “You said Philip’s job was to protect whomever you found. Protect them from what?”

Eleisha blinked. “From Julian.”

“So he comes after the vampires you find?”

Wade flinched. The conversation had suddenly taken a wrong turn. It was moving toward dangerous ground, and he had no idea how to stop it.

Eleisha nodded.

“Has he killed any of them?” Ivory asked.

“Yes,” Philip answered, speaking up for the first time. Perhaps he considered this his territory. “Two. But one of them had moved outside my protection, and the other was mad. I’d have killed her myself.”

Ivory fell silent at this, but something in Christian’s face flickered. However, he didn’t look frightened. Had Wade not known better, before the quick flash vanished, he could have sworn Christian almost appeared…pleased.