Vampire - Kiss Of Darkness Part 36

"Somehow," Maggie said, "it will work out. It always does."

Sean smiled. "Hey, this is N'awleans. We've always been what we are, a little decay, a little voodoo, history, jazz...mystery. I had another interesting conversation today, too."

"With...?" Jessica asked.

"Florenscu," he said.

"Florenscu?" Jessica repeated. "The detective in Transylvania?"

"The same," Sean said. "I asked him to interview some of the partygoers about a hunch I had. He got back to me immediately, and d.a.m.ned if the information about the party didn't appear on the 'Master' site about twenty-four hours beforehand. If we'd known to look, I'm sure we would have found the same thing for the party here, even though the Master never meant to attend."

"We'll find it before the party in Scotland, then," Jade said.

"I can already tell you when it will be," Bryan told them.

They all looked at him.

"The Demon Moon, an occurrence that falls maybe once in a century. But the way the planets align, it's not an eclipse, it's a red moon."

"I've seen it," Maggie whispered.

"As have I," Jessica said dryly. "The Demon Moon, and the MacDonnough castle." She shook her head. "It wasn't all that well fortified. It wasn't even that big. There was a wooden fence around the clan homes, and the castle itself was stone, but..."

Jade DeVeau walked over to her with a sheaf of pages. "In the 1400s, the clan came into some money. They built a stone wall around the keep. You can see what remains of the courtyard. During the Jacobite uprisings it was abandoned, taken over by the Crown and forgotten. It's nothing but ruins now."

Tara walked over and showed Jessica the second page. "This is the original chapel. There are tombs beneath it. Lots of them.

Apparently it was a big family. The catacombs run like tunnels beneath the place. There's a huge memorial room there. The chapel itself was deconsecrated a long time ago, though." She was silent for a few seconds, thinking. "I can't be sure, but there have been a number of unexplained disappearances in the area over the years, and I believe the Master has been using it as a base while he regained his strength. I'm willing to bet he's created an entire army there, and they won't all be newly made vampires who have no idea how to defend themselves." She looked over at Bryan. "You need to be careful," she said softly. "I gather you have superhuman strength and an ability to heal, but everyone has a weakness." She shook her head. "Frankly, I don't think you should go." Bryan walked over and met Tara's eyes. "I have to go," he said flatly. He looked around at the group. "I have to go, and you know that. Perhaps it would be best if I go alone."

Tara sighed. "I knew he'd say that."

"No way in h.e.l.l are you going alone!" Jessica protested.

"You know," Lucien said, "I'm not underestimating your power, Bryan, but we're talking about an army. I think more of us than just Jessica should go."

"I think this is a battle Bryan and I have to face alone," Jessica said.

Bryan inhaled. "Frankly, you're exactly the one who shouldn't go. I have to destroy him."

"We have to destroy him," Jessica corrected him.

"Jessica, don't you see? That's what he wants. Both of us there to be destroyed."

They were all startled when the doorbell rang. "Who is that?" Sean asked, frowning.

"Want me to go?" Ragnor asked.

"No, it's all right," Jessica said. "I'll get it."

Bryan followed her at a discreet distance. He was startled to see a very distraught woman at the door, then he frowned as he realized he recognized her, then tried to remember from where.

"I knew he was going off the deep end," the woman was saying, nearly sobbing. Jessica had a hand on her shoulder, trying to soothe her. "He's been gone since last night, but I know he didn't run away," she said. "This is real. And it's not a ransom note, it's...I don't know what it means, but the police won't help, and your name is here.... Oh, G.o.d, what should I do?"

Bryan's memory clicked. It was Mrs. Peterson, mother of Jacob, the boy who thought he was a vampire. Without Jacob, he might not have been in the right cemetery that night.

The woman had brought Jessica a note hand printed on a torn piece of computer paper.

"Mrs. Peterson, we'll find Jacob," Jessica promised.

"You can find him?" the woman asked with desperate hope. "You think he's alive?"

Jessica nodded. "I'm sure of it."

She let out a deep sigh. "I'll find your son, Mrs. Peterson. And I'll bring him back to you. I swear it. Now go home, have a gla.s.s of wine, call a friend and leave this to me."

"Thank you. The police wouldn't even take a missing persons report yet-they said teenagers wander off all the time and he hasn't been gone long enough yet. But this note...it scares me."

Bryan realized someone was standing close behind him. Sean.

"I'll see her home. I can't leave New Orleans now, anyway," Sean said softly. He walked past Bryan, meeting the woman at the door. "Mrs. Peterson, I'm Lieutenant Canady. I'll get you home and take down all your information."

Mrs. Peterson, looking so lost and scared, stared numbly at Sean.As soon as Sean left with her, Bryan strode over to Jessica. "What does it say?" he demanded.

She handed him the paper.

He looked down at it. In pen, it said For Jessica Fraser. Beneath that three words had been scribbled in what appeared to be blood, one on top of the other, the middle word underlined.

Ioin and Igrainia

19.

T he land was no longer drenched in blood as it had been last time he saw it. For several minutes, standing atop the high tor, Bryan had been awed by the sheer beauty of the rugged landscape, the cottages on the slopes, the colors of fields and hills. White sheep and long-haired cows grazed on long rich gra.s.ses in the distance. Wildflowers grew in abundance. Only the remnants of old stone walls, some of them dating back to Roman times, divided the landscape. It was a magical vista.

Yet the night was coming, and with it, he knew, Father Gregore's Demon Moon.

Detective Florenscu had been the first to find a reference to the party. He had called Sean, who had called them. They had reported the possibility of trouble to the local authorities, realizing that in the end, when the party was over, there would be a need for official help.

Bryan looked back across the fields, savoring the sight, the scent and the breeze. The pastel colors, in their soft radiance. Because soon, with the darkening of the day, would come different shades.

At first, a pale maroon. And then, just before darkness, red.

Tonight the land would appear once again to be drenched in blood.

"Well?" Lucien, standing by his side, asked.

"So little has changed here," Bryan said softly. "All these years...the countryside is still magnificent." He pointed. "That's where Edward III paused, the position his troops took when his raiding party returned with Igrainia. To our right is the path to MacDonnough castle."

Ragnor and Brent, who had gone scouting to the north, returned in time to hear the last. "To the west, the only escape is the sea,"

Brent said. "Just as you remembered."

Bryan nodded and looked past them to where Jessica stood alone, staring down at the field of battle. He could only wonder at her thoughts.

What had happened here had happened many lifetimes ago, and yet, standing against the ever present Highland wind, he could close his eyes, hear the clash of steel....

He wondered if those same thoughts filled Jessica's mind, Igrainia. Or was she remembering how she had been seized and tormented, how the fire had singed her, how the teeth of the vampire had ripped her throat, turning her forever into something less than human?

"It's time to go. We've only got a few hours before sunset," Lucien said. They all knew that whatever they could do in that brief time might not mean much. The army they would face had been years in the making. Hundreds of years, perhaps.

And they were only a small force. Himself and Jessica, Lucien, Ragnor and Brent, and one more, called in at the last despite Lucien's unease because he was such a newly made vampire. Sean had argued that he was a cop, and he'd prevailed in the end.

The man's name was Rick Boudreaux, and like the others, he was ready to face whatever came. Jade had argued furiously with her husband that she should come, but in the end, she had stayed back in New Orleans. There had been no question of the other wives coming, they were far too human.

"Bryan?" Lucien said. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Bryan said. "A moment."

He walked over to Jessica. The breeze caught her hair, tossing it around her face. Her eyes were clouded and infinitely sad. She wore no wig tonight. She wasn't attending this party as the dominatrix. She was going as a wide-eyed innocent, hoping to be the chosen one. Bryan hadn't been able to argue her out of it, so all he could do now was watch like a hawk.

She was wearing gla.s.ses and a long white cloak with a fur collar. She was the picture of pristine innocence.

He had on his long railway coat and low-brimmed hat. He didn't give a d.a.m.n whether he was recognized or not.

"So long ago," Jessica murmured.

He closed his hands over her arms, turning her to him. "I still don't think you should go."

She offered him a smile. "I have to go. Bryan...years ago, this very place was where I learned we all need to be strong." She touched his cheek. "You're ever the champion, the knight, ready to lay down his life for others. But you have to believe in me. My life and destiny were stolen here so long ago, too. You have to let me fight beside you."

"I don't have to like it," he told her.

Someone cleared his throat nearby.

Brent walked up, determined to sound light. "Party time, kids. Time to go."

Jessica eased from Bryan's hold. "One by one," she reminded him. "No need to announce our intentions from the start."

They'd ridden horses in this part of the country, transportation far more convenient for the turf than cars. He watched her walk away and mount up. Ever graceful, ever proud.

The king's daughter. Royalty in any age. And always in his heart.

He could not fail her again.

Jessica made her way through the crowd milling just outside the ruins. This was worse than Transylvania. With the sea to one side and great, ragged tors to the other, there was only one escape route "Hey, baby."

She had barely seated herself at the bar set up just inside the ruined walls when the man accosted her. He had an Irish accent, and he was good-looking, with ink-black hair and startling blue eyes.

He was also a vampire.She smiled. "Hi."

"You're American?" he asked.

He didn't know what she was, she realized. He didn't look all that young. He should have learned to recognize his own. Too many vampires were so interested in their own hedonistic pleasures that they didn't learn everything they should.

"Yes, American."

"You know, there's a special privilege for the most beautiful girl here," he told her.

"You're flattering me."

"Not at all. I wish I could keep you for myself tonight."

"Then why don't you?"

He leaned against the bar, his eyes rapt on her. Instead of answering her question, he asked, "Want a drink?"

"Thank you."

"Two b.l.o.o.d.y Marys," he called to the bartender.

Tonight, she noticed, the bartender was also a vampire. He arched a brow, frowning as he looked at her companion. "Yeah, b.l.o.o.d.y Marys," the Irishman snapped. Then he turned to her and offered his hand. "Bruce. Bruce Mayo. And you're...?"

"Jesse."

The drinks arrived. She sipped hers. It was a b.l.o.o.d.y Mary, all right.

"Know what that is?" Bruce asked her, eyes gleaming.

"A b.l.o.o.d.y Mary?"

"Yes. But it's real blood."

She gave a little shudder and stared at him wide-eyed. "Really?"

He nodded. Then he gave a little shrug. "Cow's blood, but it's the fantasy that counts right?" He took her hand. "Let me show you around. The best stuff is downstairs."

He led her into the ruined castle and down an ancient, winding staircase to the stone catacombs, just as they had been laid out in the computer printout. She had memorized every twist and turn.

"Do the dead scare you?" he teased.

"They sadden me," she murmured.