Chapter Sixteen
Alara summoned Saintcrow late the following night.
“What do you think she wants this time?” Kadie asked as she watched Rylan pull on his boots.
“Who knows? I shouldn’t be gone long.”
“Is Jake going with you?”
“Yeah.” Saintcrow snorted. “It’s like having a babysitter. Lately, I can’t go anywhere without him.”
“One of these times, I want to go, too. I’m dying to see what she looks like and where she lives.”
“Maybe next time.” He kissed her gently. “Keep my side of the bed warm, darlin’. I love you.”
Kadie nodded. He seemed so calm tonight, just like his old self. She prayed for a miracle that would make it last.
~ * ~
Saintcrow met Kincaid at the foot of the treehouse. Dark clouds shrouded both moon and stars. The Everglades were pitch black, quiet as a tomb. Saintcrow took a deep breath as he floated up to the door and knocked.
“Enter.”
He opened the door and stepped inside, with Jake close on his heels.
“I see you brought your bodyguard,” Alara said, with an amused smile.
“Never leave home without one,” Saintcrow muttered.
As always, Jake remained by the door, his arms folded across his chest, his expression impassive, his eyes watchful.
“So, why am I here?” Saintcrow asked, taking the seat Alara indicated. She wore a gown of gold this evening. It clung to her slender form like a second skin. For an instant, he saw her as she really was and then the grotesque image was gone.
“I have been talking to some old friends,” Alara said. “Did you know Elowynne had an older sister? A half-sister, actually. The girls had different mothers. Elowynne’s mother was a dark witch who died a rather gruesome death.”
Saintcrow felt his gut clench as he waited for her to go on, certain, deep inside, that he already knew the identity of the other sister.
“The older sister’s mother was a mere mortal. The girls were quite young when their father passed away. Several years later, the older sister’s mother married a vampire, who bestowed the dark gift on the mother and her daughter. Decades later, the older sister bestowed the dark gift on Elowynne.”
“Eleni.” Saintcrow whispered the name as dread uncoiled inside him. “The older sister was Eleni, wasn’t she?”
Alara nodded solemnly, a touch of pity in her strange green eyes.
A muffled oath escaped Jake’s lips.
“Well, that explains why Elowynne wants me dead,” Saintcrow said. “I destroyed her sister.”
“Yes,” the witch said. “I believe so.”
“I destroyed Eleni centuries after Elowynne apparently put that poison inside me,” Saintcrow remarked. “What the hell was her original intention?”
“I suppose you would have to ask her for the answer,” Alara replied.
“Yeah. Any idea how to get her poison out of me?”
“Not at the moment,” Alara said. “I have spoken to your witch. We have agreed to put our heads together and see if we can come up with a solution.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll be in touch,” the witch said.
Saintcrow nodded “Yeah.”
Kincaid followed him out the door. Moments later, they were in the hotel bar in Morgan Creek.
“Well, hell,” Jake muttered. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Saintcrow grunted as he filled two glasses with dark red wine, then, abruptly, hurled the bottle across the room where it shattered against a wall, dripping onto the floor like drops of blood.
“That won’t help,” Jake said, dryly.
“I know. But it sure felt good.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
“Izabela’s.”
“Tonight?”
“No. It’s too late. I want to see if she can make a talisman that will protect Kadie from Elowynne.” He took a deep breath and exhaled it in a long, slow sigh. “And from me.”
~ * ~
The next evening, Rosa stopped by and coaxed Kadie into going to the movies in Casper. As soon as the girls left, Saintcrow transported himself to Izabela’s house.
Clad in her favorite broomstick skirt and a white shirt, she was waiting for him at the front door when he arrived. “Do you mean me any harm, Rylan Saintcrow?”
“No,” he muttered irritably. “Not you or anyone in your house.”
“Then come in and welcome,” she said, her voice softer than usual.
Saintcrow stared at her as he crossed the threshold. “Awfully pleasant today, aren’t you?”
Izabela shrugged one shoulder. “I know you are under a lot of stress. No sense adding to it.” She gestured at the sofa. “Sit down and tell me how I can help?”
“I need you to make a talisman for Kadie, similar to the one you made for her once before, so that any spell cast at her by a witch will backfire and strike the witch instead.”
“Ah.”
“Can you do it?”
“Of course. Simple spells are often the most effective.”
“I also need it to be strong enough to protect her from me if I...from me.”
The witch stared at him a long moment, and then nodded.
“What’s it gonna cost me? My blood’s not much good to you anymore.”
A thoughtful frown furrowed Izabela’s brow. “I will have to think on it. I will have your own talisman ready in the next day or two.”
Saintcrow nodded. “Make is strong.”
“Of course. The fact that Elowynne’s poison is already inside of you doesn’t help. Trying to subdue her spell with my own has complicated things.” Izabela smiled as the black cat strolled into the room, followed by her five equally black kittens.
“Not having much luck giving them away, are you?” Saintcrow asked.
“I believe Kincaid might still be in the market. If not, they’re welcome to stay.” She glanced at Saintcrow, her smile fading. “How are you, really?”
“Oriana has been generous with her blood. It calms me for two or three days, but I feel the need for it more and more often. I’m not sure how much longer she can continue to let me drink from her.”
“Perhaps Jake....?”
“No. I need him to be strong.”
Izabela nodded. “What of the other old ones? Will none of them help you?”
“No.” He had asked once. He would not ask again. He wouldn’t beg for their help.
“How is Kadie holding up?”
“She’s worried and afraid. She tries to hide it, but she can’t keep her thoughts from me.”
“Had you no idea that Eleni and Elowynne were related?”
“I had no idea they even knew each other. They looked nothing alike. Eleni never mentioned having a sister or any other kin at all.” He hadn’t wanted to destroy Eleni, but when she’d threatened Kadie’s life, she had signed her own death warrant.
“I will have Kadie’s talisman ready by tomorrow night,” Izabela said. “Stay strong, Saintcrow. I have never met a vampire as powerful as you are. Elowynne’s dark magic gives her a slight edge but I truly believe that you will defeat her.”
“I hope to hell you’re right.”
“I am always right,” she said. “Good day to you.”
With a shake of his head, Saintcrow left the witch’s house and transported himself to his office in Morgan Creek.
Standing at the window, he gazed into the distance, his thoughts turned inward.
He had fought many battles in his long life, both as a knight and a vampire and he had always prevailed.
Sometimes bloody, but he had never surrendered.
Taking a deep breath, he reached deep within himself. He had defeated Eleni. By damn, he would defeat her sister, too, or die trying.
~ * ~
Eager to get home to see Rylan, Kadie bid a quick farewell to Rosa, promising they would get together again soon as they left the theater.
She tried to hide how worried she was from Rylan when they were together, but it was impossible.
Even when she blocked him from her mind, he seemed to know what she was thinking, feeling.
Lately, he had shielded a part of his thoughts from her.
It troubled her even though she understood his reasons.
At various times, Rosa and the others had all expressed their concern and their willingness to help, but Rylan insisted there was little that any of them could do. And he was probably right. Compared to Saintcrow and Elowynne, she and the others were little more than fledglings.
The house was empty when she arrived. Wondering where he’d gone, Kadie glanced around the room.
The new furniture she had ordered had arrived.
It always amazed her how quickly things could be done if one had the money to pay for it.
Ordinarily, it would have taken weeks to get their new living room set, but Rylan had greased the palm of the store owner in Cheynne and their new furniture had arrived by private jet the day after she ordered it. The windows, too, had been replaced.
Where was Rylan? Opening the link between them, she knew he was in the hotel office. She frowned, wondering what he was doing there. Curious, she pictured him in her mind and the next thing she knew, she was beside him.
“Hello, wife,” he said, with a lazy smile. “Was there something you wanted?”
“Just you, my husband.”
His arm snaked around her waist, drawing her body against his. He had the power to arouse her with no more than a look and the next thing she knew, she was lying naked beneath him on the floor’s plush carpeting.
“Is this what you had in mind?” he growled.
“How did you know?” She raked her fingers down his broad back as he slowly ran his tongue along the length of her neck, in the valley between her breasts, along her collar bone, in the hollow of her throat.
She closed her eyes as she felt the touch of his fangs, sighed as his bite filled her with a deep, sensual pleasure made all the more satisfying as his body melded with hers.
Lost in myriad sensations, she gave herself into his keeping until, with a low growl, he carried them both over the edge.
~ * ~
Izabela was waiting for them the following evening. Kadie couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy as she and Rylan entered the witch’s house. The undercurrent of black magic was unmistakable. Funny, she had never really noticed it before.
“Please, sit.” Izabela said, settling into her rocker as Kadie and Saintcrow took seats on the sofa. “I have been working a bit of extremely powerful magic,” she explained. “A touch of it lingers in the air.”
Kadie nodded. Earlier, Rylan had told her why they were visiting the witch. She smiled when she noticed the black kittens curled up in front of the fireplace. Were they merely pets, or familiars to do Izabella’s bidding?
Reaching into the pocket of her colorful skirt, Izabela withdrew a bracelet.
Made of bronze, it was two inches wide and perhaps a quarter of an inch thick.
“This will repel any dark magic sent your way,” she explained as she leaned forward and clamped it around Kadie’s left wrist. “Neither you nor anyone else will be able to remove it.” She glanced at Saintcrow, who shook his head, warning her not to mention the talisman was also to protect Kadie from him if he lost control.
Kadie’s brows shot up as she felt a surge of power surround her. The bracelet was much lighter than it looked. “So I’m going to wear it forever?”
“Or until I remove it,” Izabela said.
Kadie nodded. It was going to take some getting used to, but at least it was pretty.
Turning toward Saintcrow, Izabela asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Not unless you can break Elowynne’s curse.”
“Sadly, I have not been able to do so. The magic she used is unknown to me. I suspect she obtained the spell from an evil spirit.”
“An evil spirit!” Kadie exclaimed. “Like from the underworld?”
“Exactly. There are some realms of magic that should not be tampered with. I have experimented with many kinds of magic but never that. It does awful things to those who dare to entertain it.”
Kadie grasped Rylan’s hand as a cold shiver ran down her spine.
Saintcrow leaned forward. “What kinds of awful things?”
“Sooner or later, the piper must be paid,” Izabela said.
“There is always a price to pay for delving into that kind of power. It does not always come soon, but it always comes. I have heard of those who suddenly went quite mad. Others who committed suicide in heinous ways. Others who were stricken with a horrible disease that caused them to lose their fingers and toes, and then their arms and legs....” She paused when Kadie let out a horrified cry. “You get the idea.”
Saintcrow nodded. “So, if Elowynne has called on that kind of magic–”
“Sooner or later, she will pay the price.”
“Will her death break the magic she used on me?”
Izabela nodded. “Most likely. If not, the magic will weaken until it fades away on its own.”
“And if I destroy her?”
“Her death at your hand would likely also destroy you.”
“Are we wasting our time looking for a cure?”
“I think not. To my knowledge, there is always a way to break a spell or an enchantment no matter who conjured it. Some are just more difficult to unravel than others.”
Saintcrow nodded, thinking that whatever price Elowynne had to pay might be his only hope. As long as the payback came due before it was too late.