60. The Shoe Drops
Chapter 60
The Shoe Drops
Rancho Bautista del Murciélago—Later that night
W hen the doorbell rang, Henry left his office chair and headed downstairs. Cerissa had phoned earlier that she’d be late and told him what happened during the day—how Karen’s body could be mortal or vampire. He was still adjusting to that news when a text arrived, asking for a meeting.
He opened the front door. “Good evening, Marcus.” He stepped aside, inviting him in. “Do I need to guess why you’re here?”
Marcus held out an envelope. “I’m sorry, Henry, but I decided to deliver this rather than let Tig.”
Before he could open the seal, Cerissa came through the door after Marcus, Bear following close at her heels. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, kissing Henry quickly, then she exchanged greetings with Marcus, who scratched behind Bear’s ears as the German shepherd sniffed his shoes and pant leg.
“Is Nicholas with you?” she asked.
“I’m here on a matter of town council business.”
“Then I’ll go upstairs. Come on, Bear.” She tapped her leg, and the dog heeled at her side.
“Wait, Cerissa,” Henry said. “You should probably hear this, too.”
Once they were seated in the drawing room with the dog curled at their feet, Henry read through the papers Marcus delivered, Cerissa looking over his arm.
Marcus cleared his throat. “The word about Karen being vampire is out. The community believes that either you or Rolf unlawfully turned her. With all the uproar, Liza had no choice but to schedule a hearing tomorrow night. She picked the shortest period of notice legally permissible because of public pressure—she’s trying to prevent mob violence. Vishon agreed, so you wouldn’t have time to prepare.”
Ave María Purísima . “One night?” Henry growled his anger. Had he been a cruder man, he would have told Marcus exactly what he could do with the written notice. “So you are now the council’s delivery boy?”
Marcus patted the air with both hands. “This is a very serious matter. As your lawyer, I advise you to admit your role in this and ask for the council’s mercy. If you and Rolf are going to save Karen, you must be honest with the council.”
Henry shook his head—he couldn’t name Karen’s maker out loud. Marcus wasn’t privy to the Lux’s existence.
Marcus eyed him. “There is talk of staking her. I don’t believe it is more than just talk, but the uncertainty regarding her creation has started rumors. The truth would go a long way to put those rumors to rest.”
Straightening in his seat, Henry imbued as much indignity into his voice as he could. “The truth, Marcus, is that Rolf and I had nothing to do with siring Karen. We begged her to let us get the council’s permission to turn her, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She didn’t want that connection with either of us. Unknown to both Rolf and I, she sought outside help.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Cerissa said. “I was there.”
“Then who turned Karen?” Marcus asked.
Cerissa averted her gaze. “I can’t out her without her consent.”
Marcus harrumphed . “Isn’t that convenient?”
Henry rubbed his forehead. He wished Cerissa had remained silent. “We will seek Karen’s maker’s agreement to name her, but it is unnecessary. Since Karen was not turned within your jurisdiction, you and your council have no authority over her. You may exclude her from the community, but you cannot stake her, not without causing ripples throughout the treaty communities. The unaffiliated still hold the right to make children.”
“I was hoping you would see reason.” Marcus ran his fingers through dishwater-blond hair, looking distressed. “It’s why I came to you first, and not Rolf. The council will not like this at all. I can’t guarantee what will happen to any of you if they are not appeased.”
“We both know the council will do what you tell them to do. They may bicker amongst themselves, but they will not go against their legal counsel. So be very careful what you advise them, Marcus. Our community is based on a very delicate balance, and it requires cooperation from those of us who are in a position of respect.”
Henry hadn’t played the “founder” card in a while, and the last time he did, the attempt hadn’t gotten him much leniency. Vishon’s reaction yesterday told him how weak his poker hand was.
“I see. I should have explained this from the start.” Marcus tugged at his mustache. “I will not be advising the council at the public hearing. Delivering this notice is my final official duty on the matter—I recused myself because of my close business relationship with you and Rolf. I informed the vice mayor I had a conflict of interest and would not represent the town.”
“Who will perform your role?”
“They are bringing in a special prosecutor from San Francisco. I don’t know who yet. But I’m now free to represent you. Except I can’t do anything for you and Rolf if you won’t level with me.”
Henry sat back in his chair, letting the situation sink in. Next to him, Cerissa shifted, her breathing elevated, her fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist. Having Marcus on their side might make a difference at the hearing. “I have leveled with you. Neither Rolf nor I knew anything about Karen’s plan until after it was done.”
Marcus harrumphed at him. “Please trust me. My loyalty is to you. Besides, this is all a political vendetta against Rolf. Vishon has stirred up the community. They wouldn’t be moving half this quick if he wasn’t trying to position himself to run for vice mayor.”
“P-politics?” Cerissa stammered. “Karen’s life is in danger because of politics ?”
Marcus tugged at the corner of his mustache again. “This may knock Rolf off the council, leaving the mayor’s role to Liza. It’s one reason Vishon pursued the matter so hard and so fast. He also wants to turn Haley, and he’s afraid there’ll be one less slot because of Karen, reducing the odds.” He rose from his seat. “I’ll call you later, Henry, to discuss the plan after I deliver Rolf’s notice to him. You’ll need to be honest with me at some point.”
Henry stole a glance at his watch. “We have until two thirty in the afternoon to prepare—then the moon sets.”
“At least that gives me extra time to knock some sense into you.”
After seeing Marcus to the door, Henry returned to the drawing room and collapsed onto his armchair, leaning forward, cupping his face in his hands. He’d known from the beginning how terrible this situation would become. He should have claimed to be Karen’s maker from the start and left for South America as soon as he learned the truth from Cerissa. Instead, he’d allowed his anger to waste time. And now time was too short. “I’ll sacrifice myself. I’ll confess and throw myself on the council’s mercy.”
Cerissa stepped in front of him. “What are you talking about? No one’s sacrificing anyone.” She gripped his ponytail and tugged it back until their gazes met. “We’ll find another way.”
“Then we’ll move to South America, not Rolf, and leave behind a written confession.”
He had to protect Cerissa. He’d find some way to spare her the pain of seeing her child staked. And he could not allow them all to fall prey to the same danger if Marcus’s warning was true and mob violence was indeed headed their way.
“Slow down,” she said. “You aren’t confessing anything. I don’t trust those assholes.”
If only Karen had slowed down. If only the council wasn’t already circling. Henry shook his head. “The lab is on autopilot—you said so yourself. Ari can manage it here, and we can open a second facility in Chile. Karen and Rolf can visit us, or come with us, if the council doesn’t allow her to take my place here.”
“This isn’t your problem to fix.” Cerissa bit her lower lip, tugging it between her teeth. “I acted unilaterally. No, I acted selfishly. That’s what got us into this situation. I couldn’t let Karen die because I didn’t want to lose my best friend—I can admit the truth now. Why are you the one offering to sacrifice your home, your vineyard, your life here, all because I gave in to my desire to save my friend? This is mine to fix.”
Henry scanned her face. He was offering because they were out of time. He wished things had played out differently, but he would do whatever it took to keep them safe. Pulling her onto his lap, he hugged her fiercely. “It’s ours to fix because I love you. I would give up everything for you, and more.”
Rancho Bautista del Murciélago—Moments earlier
C erissa wanted to shout es loco en la cabeza at Henry, but she refrained, and instead spoke softly, calmly, and caringly until she’d talked him off the ledge.
When Marcus contacted them later, they would put their heads together about the hearing. They’d have half of the day to plan because an early moonrise would keep the vampires awake. For now, she’d made Henry agree they’d continue as a united front, sticking to the same story. He wasn’t Karen’s maker. An unaffiliated vampire was responsible.
In the meantime, Cerissa needed to speak with Ari, pronto. She had questions only he could answer.
Striding into her office, she found him waiting, stretched out on her couch.
“Hey.” She reached out and knocked his feet to the floor. “I may have asked you to meet me here, but that doesn’t mean you can be a slob about it. Keep your shoes off the furniture.”
“Well, someone’s in a mood.” He toed off his brown loafers, letting them drop to the floor, and then sat up, crossing his legs, his bare feet tucked against the cushion.
“Have you spoken with Agathe?”
“Do you mean, did she finally give permission to read you in on what I know?”
“Yes.”
“She did.”
“Well?”
Ari tilted his head, then nodded to himself. “Remember the dome I installed around Rolf and Karen’s home for your wedding, to protect you and Henry from the person who delivered the silver stakes?”
Cerissa perched on the edge of her desk, blinking a little at the unexpected direction of the conversation. “Hard to forget. It was my wedding.”
“Have you ever considered why the dome technology was fast-tracked five years ago?”
“It was?”
“It was. They put out a major announcement.”
“Do you realize how many projects we launch that lead nowhere?” She pressed her fingers to her eyelids, then released them. “Besides, back then, I was just starting on my assignment to figure out how to feed vampires. If it wasn’t relevant to my research, why would I remember what another Lux sector announced five years ago?”
“Maybe because they’ve issued an update every three months for the last couple of years.”
“Oh.”
“Ciss, you really should read the reports that go out to all Watchers.”
“Not like I’ve had oodles of time. Between training to be an envoy, figuring out how to produce clone blood, solving the threat of the VDM, catching the Cutter, getting the lab built, falling in love, joining the vampire community, and getting married, I’ve fallen behind in the report-reading department. Besides, fixing the blood shortage was my major assignment until Agathe switched me to reproduction research. I have to prioritize my time, so I only read what applies to my current project.”
“Okay, okay.” Ari swung his feet off the couch and leaned forward, steepling his fingers together. “I’ll admit some of that is fair. Though I’ve been along for the ride, and I’m still reading the reports just fine.”
“Ari.”
He grinned. “I can’t help ribbing you, Ciss. You make it too easy.” He laughed. “So here’s the four-one-one. This world is past the tipping point. The impending climate catastrophe can’t be prevented, and—”
Cerissa waved a hand impatiently, cutting him off. “Ari, this part I know. I’ve been reading up on the situation—at least what I have access to—ever since the avalanche buried Henry for a day when we went back-country skiing, and again after the unprecedented hurricane on my honeymoon.”
Ari raised an eyebrow. “Okay, let’s start with North America. Tell me what you know is happening.”
She huffed out a frustrated breath. “I know it’s all bad. Floods will turn coastal farmland to mushy, moldy swamps, with incursions of brackish water—nothing edible will grow there. Blizzards will freeze Canada and sweep all the way through our grain belt, taking it to arctic levels. The Southwest will be just the opposite, worse than Oklahoma’s dust bowl. Parts of the Southwest will vacillate between flooding and no rain—until there is no plant life left, no topsoil, and finally, it’ll become so dry they won’t see rain, ever. And between hurricanes and tornadoes, the South will be unlivable. Oh, and I almost forgot, the forest fires destroying large swathes of land and polluting the air. Famine and disease will run rampant. And that’s just this continent.” Cerissa stopped, swallowing her anxiety at listing out the predictions. “Tell me what I don’t know: what is Agathe planning to do about it?”
“She’s thinking about the domes.”
Cerissa’s lips parted as realization hit her. “She’s going to drop domes until the Earth gets through it?”
“She’s going to drop domes so that life can survive.”
“But that would mean—” Cerissa met Ari’s eyes. “Agathe is going to reveal our existence. She’s going to reveal the Lux to the world.”
They’d talked about revealing themselves in a century or so as human technology grew exponentially and made hiding impossible, but this…this would be much sooner than expected.
“Yup,” Ari said. “We’re getting outed. It’s the only way to save what we can. Humans don’t have anything close to dome technology. And we don’t have the time to drop them the hints to create it themselves in time. And even if we did, they aren’t mature enough as a species to deal with it. They’re still threatening each other with mass destruction. They’d probably hoard the domes from one another. Make it an elitist survival ticket. Who knows?”
Cerissa nodded, and then a thought struck her. “Agathe was so stressed. She thought if I healed Karen’s cancer, it would reveal us. But why did she care? If it’s going to be sooner than we planned—”
“Ciss. Think it through. We don’t want a nuclear war to begin just before we deploy the domes. What would we have left to save? So we can’t risk some lunatic religious fringe using us as an excuse to start Armageddon. How and when we tell them still matters.”
Ari was right. Cerissa hummed her agreement as she moved to sit beside him on the couch. Then another thought rose. “How big can we make the domes?”
“Ooh, now you’re asking the right questions. About three hundred thousand acres per dome. In large population centers, we can put domes next to each other and provide transportation connectors. Everyone inside a dome will have clean air, filtered water, and a climate similar to the one predating the cataclysmic weather, all powered by fusion.”
“How many?”
“We’re still working on the numbers. But even our most optimistic estimates suggest that almost half of the world’s population will die outside the domes.”
Cerissa gasped and shot to her feet. “What. The. Fuck. Half , Ari? We can only save half?”
He jumped up from the couch and gripped her arms to steady her. “Yeah, kiddo, my words precisely.”
“When? How much time do we have?” She threaded her fingers in her hair and tugged. How much time did she have to figure this out? To save humans and vampires, as well as the Lux? To maybe increase the number of those saved? “Agathe said we have less than forty years, but how much less? A lot can happen in four decades.”
“The precise date of disclosure is tightly under wraps, and only Agathe knows.” Ari paused, resting his chin on the top of his fist. “But if you ask me, it could be any time in the next ten years. There’s debate over whether to let the polar ice caps go and allow the oceans to rise, or dome them first to slow their deterioration. Particularly the Doomsday Glacier in Antarctica, which will trigger a catastrophic saltwater dilution, killing the coral reefs and flooding coastal property worldwide when—not if—it collapses.”
Ten years . Only ten? Her mind rushed with all that she needed to do, and fast. Except… “Karen’s hearing is in less than twenty-four hours. I have to make sure she’s safe before I bury myself in the lab.”
“Why doesn’t she morph to mortal and appear that way at the trial?”
“Because Vishon recorded her in vampire form already discussing her new status, and both Tig and Jayden wear body cams as part of their uniforms. Plus Tig would have to gaslight Liza to make it work—even if you hacked and deleted all the videos—and I didn’t think she’d go along with that. Then there’s Agathe—I doubted she would permit us to parade Karen in her mortal form in front of the council either, because it wouldn’t take long for the scheme to backfire and someone catch Karen in vampire form and then all hell would break loose.”s
“Yeah, I get that. It’s not a great situation with Karen. Half the rumors point the finger at Henry and Rolf working together. The other half claim some nut job turned her, in which case residents are concerned her maker is a mentally unstable vampire. Apparently, that kind of instability can transfer to the child.”
“It didn’t with Gavin.”
“Different kind of instability. More like if Seaton made a child.”
Oh. A vampire under a hundred years old turned Seaton, and he didn’t socialize well with others. Gaea had adopted him, and Ari was still tutoring him to improve his computer chops. “But they’ll see that’s not the case with Karen, won’t they? You heard this gossip from Gaea, right?”
“But of course. And you and I both know the nut job who did the deed. It’s just not the kind they’re thinking about.”
“Thanks, Ari, I can always count on your sensitivity.”
“Look, Ciss, you can always count on me for the bald, honest truth. Not sure you can get that from everyone, even if you don’t always like my delivery.”
“Fine. Can we get to the point here? I need to locate a vampire by tomorrow, preferably an older one, who is unaffiliated and would take responsibility for turning Karen. I’ve left messages for Inanna, but so far, no response. She doesn’t have an electronic footprint, from what I can tell. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Now you’re not thinking straight.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “You forgot you have moi in your corner. I’m here to save the day. And here’s what I’ll do.”