8. Chapter Seven
Chapter Seven
Keir
It was Thanksgiving, but with everything we had on our plates, we didn’t worry about eating a fancy meal. I was, however, thankful for Dash, my husband, without whom I couldn’t survive.
I was walking a knife’s edge because of the newfound threat against our child, and without Dash, I wasn’t sure if I could keep my balance—or my sanity.
Dash was talking to Jonas outside, so I pulled my phone from my pocket and tried Mom for the second time. Thankfully, she answered on the first ring.
“Hello, son. How are you? I’m sorry I missed your earlier call, but Lenny and I were on the sixteenth hole, and I was putting. We just got home and are headed to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. I know you boys have the wedding, but let’s plan to get together for Christmas, okay? Is everything okay with the baby?”
My mom’s voice was comforting and brought back beautiful childhood memories of holidays as a family. I wished we were together right now, but life worked out that way sometimes.
“Things are fine with the baby. I’m calling with a question. Did Dad ever follow through with tracing the family tree?”
One of my father’s hobbies had been tracing his ancestry, which I assumed was how he knew about the shit with Henri the monk and Maria the witch. Maybe he didn’t know about that until he died? Did he learn anything else when he got to the other side?
“Oh, tracing his roots? He worked on it off and on over the years. Why?”
I heard voices in the background on Mom’s end, so I decided to cut to the chase. “I’d like to look at his research. You know, with a baby on the way, family is on my mind. Since Dad’s not alive to tell the stories, I’m trying to get ready to do it in his place.”
“Aw, that’s sweet, son. Uh, we’re leaving now, but tonight when I get home, I’ll find the login and password your father had on the cloud so you can see what he discovered and maybe add to it. As far as I know, he never printed anything off.” I could tell her attention was focused elsewhere.
“Sure. Can you maybe send me the login and passwords before you go to dinner? We’ve got a ride to San Francisco and a boring wedding weekend. You know, Mom, there’s only about twenty days until the baby comes. I want to be up to speed.”
Mom laughed. “You are just like your father. I’ll do it right now. Happy Thanksgiving, son. Call me on Sunday night after you return home. Love you.”
We ended the call, and a few seconds later, my phone pinged.
FamilyTree.com. Login: [email protected]. Password: DearOneKeir1982. Happy reading.
I sighed. I hoped to hell there was information my father had uncovered that would give me insight into how to protect our unborn child.
The doorbell rang at seven fifty-eight on Friday morning. Dash was loading the SUV with our shared suitcase and garment bag. The cooler with Lilith’s blood was in the SUV on my side so I could get the blood to Dash in an emergency. I prayed there wouldn’t be one.
I opened the door and smiled at Vale’s put-upon expression. “Here as ordered.” He bowed.
“Where’s your luggage?”
“Dash took it when I got out of the rideshare. You guys are evil for not letting me bring more. It’s a fancy San Francisco affair, and I might get discovered while I’m there. Now, I’ve had to leave my tennis whites, my horseback riding costume, and my fox hunting togs. I’m not going to have any fun at this wedding.” His pout was almost real.
“Why on earth would you need fox hunting togs or a horseback riding costume, as you call them? You realize tonight is the rehearsal dinner. The wedding is tomorrow. The reception is tomorrow night, and there’s a brunch on Sunday before we leave to come home. My day has twenty-four hours. How many are in yours?”
My voice was tight by the time I reached the end of my diatribe, but the stress I was feeling was almost too much to bear. “Where’s Jonas?”
“He’s insisting on meeting us there. I’ve got his suitcase with me too.” I nodded and let him inside.
“Did you put some of your things in Jonas’s luggage?” Knowing Vale…
He smirked. “Just a little. Coffee?”
Vale followed me into the kitchen. I’d gone to my favorite bakery in town earlier that morning to pick up donuts, croissants, and danishes. Vale didn’t hesitate to dive right in.
“Did Jonas say where he was going?” I was sure he hadn’t, but then again, I had no idea how much he’d shared with Vale about his Celestial job or how Dash and I fit into things. They were going to get married. Could Jonas keep those truths a secret from his soon-to-be husband?
“He had to drop by the morgue to pick up his phone and check on Dr. Arroyo. Did you know someone tried to break into the morgue the other day and assaulted Joachim? Anyway, I think Jonas just wanted to ride his bike to San Francisco and didn’t want me and my baggage with him. He’s been acting odd over the last few days. He wants me to call my friends, Hanson and Nikki to go on a bachelor party week from December fourteenth to the twentieth. He offered to pay for us to go to Hawaii.”
My mind jumped to the dates he’d cited for his bachelor party. They coincided with the week our baby was due. Obviously, Jonas wanted to get Vale out of town and away from the possible war. Which reminded me that we needed to ensure Mom and Lenny didn’t come to Reardon for the birth. Hell, I didn’t even know if Dash and I would get to be there.
Vale was staring at me, so I snapped out of my thoughts. “You should go! I wish I’d had a bachelor week like that before Dash and I got married. It sounds like so much fun.”
After a moment, he grinned. “You know, you’re right. I might take him up on it. Anyway, I need to use the facilities before we get on the road. Excuse me.”
He left the room just as Dash came into the apartment. “It’s going to rain, so we need to leave soon. I don’t want to be caught in Black Friday shopping traffic in a shitty rainstorm.”
I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans and stared at my husband. “My love, what crawled up your ass? Don’t be pissy about this trip. We’re going to support our dear friends as they get married. Can you try to be happy?”
Dash stepped forward, pulling my arms to wrap around his neck. “I’m happy with you, Dearly. I’ll smile at Trent and Amelie’s wedding, but I’ll be filled with gratitude when we begin our life with Grace. Let’s go do this.”
A soft kiss to my forehead made me smile. Dash had a point. We had a future to prepare for.
Fifty miles outside of Reardon, I got a peck on my shoulder from the back seat. I turned to look over the headrest, seeing Vale blowing on his nails. “You rang?”
“I need something to drink. What’s in the cooler?”
I glanced at his nails to see he’d painted them the same orchid color as the vests we were all wearing for the wedding. It was Amelie’s favorite color, so I agreed to wear the orchid vest, even though it washed me out and made me look as if I should be one of my guests.
“Uh, it’s my sports drinks. You won’t want one of those, trust me. I’ll take the next exit and find a truck stop.” Dash glanced at me with a smirk that I returned. If I wanted to scare the daylights out of Vale, I’d show him the bags of blood, but I was afraid he’d jump out the window of Dash’s SUV.
We exited the highway and found a small grocery store. “You guys want anything?” Dash and I both shook our heads, so Vale hurried inside.
“What are you finding out?” Dash glanced at the tablet on my lap that was logged into the family tree website. I’d been reviewing my father’s research regarding his ancestors, and I was quite impressed. I’d always known my father was a smart man, but the attention to detail I found in his notes was incredible.
“Our family line isn’t the only Dearly or d’Erlie family line. Seems Claude had an older brother with the d’Erlie name. His brother signed on—or was forced to sign on—with the French Royal Navy in 1665. He was on the crew of the Saint Philippe, a 74-gun ship. It was later recommissioned under a different name, but it was burned by the English in 1692. After he went aboard, there’s nothing more on him. He might have had children. You know those sailors—a girl in every port.”
Dash laughed. “Okay, so maybe you’re not the reincarnated Claude who Lorraine has been chasing through the centuries? Did you find anything on Claude?”
“I did. He also joined the French Royal Navy four years after his older brother. His name, though, was listed on the ship’s registry as Bonfils, just like Lorraine said, but the Bonfils name doesn’t cross the d’Erlie line as far as I can find. I’m not sure how it all fits together.” I was more confused than ever.
“Did you find anything on Lorraine?” Dash leaned over the console and looked at the tablet.
I touched the link for Lorraine Joly. “She died by guillotine in the French witch hunts of 1669. Joly was her family name, so she never married after she lost Claude to the Navy. I need to speak with someone more knowledgeable in that era of history. My father was the history buff. It’ll just take me a little more time, I guess.”
In my gut, I knew there was more to the story, but my lack of patience was my downfall. I wanted to know the history before it was too late to do anything about the future.
“Maybe I could go downstairs and see if I can talk to your father? Have you discussed this with Scotty and Jay? Jay might be able to find out something more.”
My sensible husband.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll see if I can get in touch with them over the weekend. Obviously, if they were trailing Lorraine, there must be more to the story. Thanks, love.”
Before we could say anything more, Vale got into the back seat with enough snacks to feed an entire kindergarten class. I glanced at Dash, who laughed before heading back to the highway.
“Wow! This is really fancy.” Vale sat forward and pointed to the large, lighted sign on top. It simply read, “The Palace.”
Dash turned onto New Montgomery Street and stopped in front of the gorgeous Palace Hotel. The entrance was quite ornate and smacked of money, which we knew Amelie’s family was rolling in based on the wedding plans we’d been privy to hearing. I couldn’t guess how many rooms there were under that massive sign.
The bellman came out to the SUV and Dash popped the tailgate. The valet opened my door and Vale’s simultaneously, though Vale was scrambling to gather up all the snack packaging he’d already mauled his way through.
I stepped out and grabbed the little cooler. “Sir, we can put it on the trolley. We’ll deliver your bags as soon as you check-in.”
The bellman reached for the cooler, but I shifted it to my other hand. “I’m sorry, but I’ll keep it with me. It contains my medication.”
There was a low growl behind me before Dash took the cooler and put his arm around my shoulders. “I’ve got it, thanks.”
He steered us toward the entrance, chuckling next to me. Suddenly, he stopped and walked back to the guy. “How about I rip yours off and choke you on it? That’s my husband. You can fuck off.”
Dash returned to me and put his arm around my waist to guide me forward. “What was that about?”
“He said, ‘God, I’d like to have that hot piece choke on my cock.’ Didn’t you hear him?”
“When did he say that?” I was surprised at Dash’s words. I hadn’t heard the guy say it.
Vale was walking next to us with his remaining snacks sticking out of his jacket pocket. “I didn’t hear that. If he said it out loud, he must be nuts, and I need to get my ears checked.”
Can you hear me? I didn’t speak out loud this time.
Of course. You didn’t hear that guy say anything about you giving him head? Dash stopped us, but Vale continued inside.
“No, love. I didn’t hear it. Can you hear others? Could you hear Vale?” Was this the next step on his journey? Were more gifts being given to him so he could prevail in the fight?
Would we ever be normal again?