Skye Morrison Vampire 2 Sins of the Father (16 page)

Everyone was gathered around the bar when
each of The Faithful took a seat on the swivel barstools. I walked
over to Jameson and stood by him as the vampires greeted each
other. After the formalities, the man with the striking emerald
eyes spoke to Archer.

“That is Ruarc,” Jameson said as he leaned
into me to whisper in my ear. “Ruarc is the second in command of
all
An Dílis
and the first in command of this field unit.
He’s been around a very long time.” I studied Ruarc’s handsome face
and emerald eyes as he turned to speak to The Mausoleum
vampires.

“I’ve called this meeting with you because we
have found a link between the victims,” Ruarc said as Aoife passed
around the glasses of blood to everyone. I was shocked when she set
a glass of whiskey in front of me and I tentatively smiled my
thanks to her.

“We looked extensively into everyone’s
background and acquaintances and came up empty handed,” Ruarc said
and took a sip from his glass. “It wasn’t until we started doing
research into their bloodlines that we found our first clue. It
seems that all of the victims come from one bloodline in
particular. Everyone who was killed had an Original’s blood in
them…one Original to be precise.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.
It was quiet as everyone hung onto Ruarc’s words, patiently waiting
for him to continue. I realized I was holding my breath and slowly
resumed breathing.

“Cináed (pronounced kin-awd) only made three
in his time, but that was enough to spread to over fifty
descendants currently alive today,” Ruarc said as he finished his
glass of blood and ran his hand through his short blond hair. I
heard Aoife gasp as she put a hand to her chest. Ruarc looked
poignantly over at Archer and seemed to have a quick silent
conversation with him in his head.

Archer sighed and looked around at his family
for a moment before finally speaking. “Cináed was my maker. He died
82 years after turning me.”

“What does this mean,
Athair
?” Hunter
asked. “We are of your bloodline and you are of Cináed’s. Does this
mean that whoever is doing this will come after us next?”

“We believe that you are all in significant
danger,” Ruarc answered. “All of the victims have been vampires so
far with the exception of the human we found today. I think it is
best that you all take the proper precautions at home and here at
your establishment. I am assigning three Faithful to be stationed
with you at all times. If this monster makes a move on you, you
will be covered. I’ve also alerted our leader and he is dispatching
more Faithful to the United States.”

Archer stood and took a deep breath. “Has
anyone informed my brother that this thing is after
Sliocht
Cináed?”

My head perked up at the mention of Archer’s
brother. I hadn’t ever given any thought to Archer possibly having
a blood brother from his maker. I watched his unsettled face as
Ruarc answered him.

“We haven’t been able to locate him yet,”
Ruarc said regretfully. “Ríoghán has been trying to contact him and
his Sliocht, but we haven’t been able to reach them. We have a crew
from
Éire
in route to his estate in Gairloch as we
speak.”

Archer sighed, closed his eyes and put his
head in his hands. I desperately wanted comfort him and was glad
when I saw Aoife slide over to him and put her hand on his
shoulder. When he looked up, I saw that his eyes were filled with
unshed tears.

“It’s too late,” Archer said steadily, his
voice not betraying his emotions. “Someone would have answered the
phone. I know Treasach and his children and that isn’t like
them.”

Ruarc nodded his head and sighed. “We are
praying for the best news possible, but I think we should prepare
ourselves for the worst.”

Jameson’s arm slid around my waist and he
pulled me close to him. I wrapped my arms around him and held him
tight. I didn’t know how well Jameson knew Archer’s brother
Treasach, but I could tell he was upset by the news.

“Um, excuse me, Ruarc, but I have a
question,” I said tentatively. He turned the full gaze of his
stunning emerald green eyes on me and I almost forgot what I was
going to ask him. He was insanely handsome with his blond hair,
deep green eyes, oval face and cleft chin. I swallowed hard and
continued. “Do you know why this monster is going around killing
everyone?”

He silently regarded me for a moment before
he turned back to Archer. “Other than the link we found in the
victims’ blood, we don’t have any other clues. We still do not know
why this person is only going after
Sliocht
Cináed. What I
can tell you is that the Dark Ones firmly deny any involvement in
the killings. They are a boastful species, so I am inclined to
believe they are telling the truth. I can also tell you that
whoever is doing this is most definitely preternatural. This thing
has been slipping in and out of homes, businesses, and cities
without being seen. All the video surveillance we’ve uncovered
shows nothing; no one going in or coming out. It’s very worrisome.
This monster is either drinking the blood of his victims or taking
it with him somehow because every one of them had been completely
drained of their supply. He or she is also very strong. The heads
of the victims were not removed by blade, but instead ripped off by
brute force.” I swallowed hard and tried to keep my stomach
contents in check. All I could see were Jesse’s cloudy brown eyes
looking up at me from the seat of my car.

“This…thing…is stealthy, fast, strong, and
smart. He will be looking for your weaknesses, so be sure you don’t
allow yourself to have any. Stay with someone at all times. Carry a
weapon that you are comfortable using and never take it off your
person. Be vigilant. Watch your surroundings and be mindful of the
people you interact with. All of the victims show no signs of
struggle; no evidence of fighting back. Whatever is doing this has
got to be taking them by surprise or somehow manipulating them into
trusting him. We don’t understand yet, but we are doing our best
to,” Ruarc said standing up. “I am giving
Sliocht
Fearchar
(pronounced far-char) Marcán, Hagan, and Pádraig until this thing
is caught.”

“What is
Sliocht
Fearchar?” I asked
leaning into Jameson and whispering in his ear.

“
Sliocht
means descendants and
Fearchar is Archer’s birth name. He changed it to Archer a few
hundred years ago to modernize it.
Sliocht
Fearchar
literally means the descendants of Archer,” Jameson answered
quietly.

Ruarc raised his hand to his side and three
towering men got up from the barstools and stood at attention. He
pointed to the man closest to me and spoke. “That is Hagan. Hagan
has been with the order for over 700 years. He is one of our best
fighters.” Hagan nodded his head to Archer and then to the group.
Hagan had wide set brown eyes, a straight nose, a clean shaven
rectangle face, and long brown hair that went down past his
shoulder blades. He was easily 6 feet 5 inches tall and
devastatingly handsome. I swallowed hard and looked away.

“This is Marcán,” Ruarc said pointing to a
man who was two seats down from Hagan. Marcán turned to Archer,
nodded his head in greeting and then did the same to the rest of
us. Marcán stood out from the other Faithful. He had olive skin,
shoulder length black hair, and heterochromatic eyes. One was a
beautiful grey and the other was a greenish-brown. You could tell
that most of The Faithful had come from Ireland or Great Brittan
based on their accents. I couldn’t tell where Marcán was from, but
I knew it wasn’t Ireland originally. “Marcán swore his oath a
little over a century ago and we are very lucky to have him,” Ruarc
continued. “His eyesight is completely unparalleled.” Marcán smiled
briefly as Ruarc moved on to introduce the last person.

“And, this is Pádraig,” Ruarc said, gesturing
to him with his hand. I watched as the last man stood at attention
and nodded to Archer and then the rest of us. “Pádraig has been
with us only a short time, but he has proven himself to be
invaluable time and time again. He is fast, he is sharp, and he is
deadly.” I took a good look at Pádraig and my first thought was how
young he looked. He couldn’t be more than 18 years old if he was a
day. He was relatively short compared to the others; he stood about
5 feet, 8 inches tall, had an innocent looking round face, short
dirty blond hair, and dark blue eyes. He was very cute, in a boyish
sort of way. I immediately felt a little bad for him. I imagined
that it wouldn’t be easy for him; he was a vampire and would look
this young for the rest of his life. Pádraig looked over at me and
smiled broadly before turning back to the group.

“With my men guarding you, nothing will
happen to you or yours, Archer,” Ruarc said as the other men in his
group stood too. “That is a promise. I have the utmost faith in my
men and their God given abilities and you will too by the time this
is all over.”

Archer walked up to him and shook his hand.
“
Go raibh maith agat
, Ruarc. I sincerely appreciate
An
Dílis’
help in these matters.”

Ruarc smiled and slapped one hand to Archer’s
back. “We will be in touch soon, brother. Let us pray that Treasach
and his family are safe.” I watched as everyone in the room bowed
their heads for a second and reverently cross themselves. “Either
way, good or bad, we’ll know something as soon as the crew in
Ireland gets to Scotland. I’ll call you as soon as I know
something, Archer.”

“Thank you, brother,” Archer said as he
nodded to Quinn. I watched Quinn escort the group of seven down the
stairs and disappear down the hall to the back door.

I turned back around as Jameson bent his head
down and nuzzled my ear. “Will you ride home with me?” he asked
sweetly.

I tilted my head into his and smiled. “Of
course I will.”

I watched as Archer and Seamus talked quietly
with Pádraig, Hagan, and Marcán for a minute. They were figuring
out who would ride with whom back to Archers. We now had four cars
including Jameson’s, so all twelve of us would have a ride.

When it looked like everyone was ready to
leave, Archer turned to Jameson and handed him a blue bank bag full
of money and a set of keys. “Put this in the safe and lock up my
loft for me.”

“Aye,” Jameson said as he turned and went
through the stairwell door. I quickly followed him up, grabbed my
messenger bag, and waited for him to finish. When he was done, we
interlocked our fingers together and I followed him and the rest of
the crew out to the employee parking lot.

Left by the back door were three black duffle
bags and each of The Faithful picked one up. I watched as Quinn,
Hunter, and Lochlan climbed in the black truck, Pádraig and Trey
got into the Audi, Seamus, Hagan, and Marcán rode in the Cadillac,
and Aoife and Archer got in the Lamborghini. Jameson led me over to
a sleek black Porsche 911 Turbo S and held the door open for
me.

“Nope,” I said crossing my arms over my chest
and grinning sweetly. “It’s my turn to drive.”

Jameson laughed and held up the keys for me.
“Alright, but be careful, love. We’re running out of cars.”

I rolled my eyes, snatched the keys out of
his hand, stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and ran around to the
driver’s side. It took me a minute to find everything and adjust
the seats and mirrors. By the time I was finished, our caravan of
vamps were starting to pull out.

“We’ll be the next-to-last to leave,” Jameson
said as he leaned back in his seat and got comfortable. “Archer
will bring up the rear.”

I nodded my head and looked over at Jameson,
biting my lip. I had wanted to tell him something all day, but I
didn’t want to upset him. “Jameson?” I said his name
hesitantly.

“Yeah, baby. What is it?” he asked, turning
to me.

“I…I just want to say that I’m sorry about
your friend Callum,” I said gently. “I remember you saying that he
was your friend and I’m so sorry that monster killed him.”

Jameson’s usually carefree face fell at the
mention of Callum’s name and my heart instantaneously hurt for his
loss. I took my hand off the gearshift and ran my fingers through
his soft, shoulder length brown hair. “I’m sorry I brought it up,
babe. I just wanted to let you know that I’m here for you if you
want to talk about it. I’m sorry I was out of my mind with grief
over Jesse earlier. I would have realized sooner that you were
hurting too if I had been in my right mind.”

Jameson reached over and rubbed my upper
thigh. “I appreciate it, love. I really do,” he said with a sigh.
“Callum and I kind of grew up together, if you know what I mean.
Callum was the blood son of Treasach and he had turned Callum a few
weeks before Archer turned me.”

He stopped rubbing my thigh and looked out
his window distractedly. “Treasach and Callum had a falling out in
the 1860s and Callum left Ireland for Boston. Archer and I tried to
get them to see reason several times over the years, to forgive
each other, but neither would without the other apologizing first.”
He looked over at me and swallowed hard. “I doubt Treasach even
knew Callum was missing. Archer said he didn’t bother to call him
because he doubted that Treasach would do anything about it anyway.
It was a very bad falling out they had.”

I bit my lip and shifted gears. I didn’t know
what to say to him to ease his pain so I just reached out and held
his hand. After a moment, I started thinking about Treasach and his
family in Scotland and how no one could reach them. I bit the
inside of my cheek, took a deep breath and turned back to
Jameson.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked
carefully. I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories for Jameson,
but I was really curious to know.