Blood Kin (12 page)

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They don’t have scent.”

“No scent, that’s—” I stopped as my sense memory
kicked in. Niko: check; Tucker: always. Adam: check. Rhys: family. Liz: same. Daffyd … I cast my thoughts back to when we’d met, just a few days ago when I’d been down in the cave where he’d lived for the past thirty years. I remembered shine, light and music, but no scent particular to the man himself. Even Gary Pursell had one. Moving forward to earlier today, in the smaller space of the plane, the closer quarters of the cab. Our driver had smelled of earth, a hobbyist gardener most likely, a man who liked to be close to growing things. I even recalled the light citrus of his body wash, the slight bitterness of a long work day overlying it, a whiff of the oil/metal/cloth from the taxicab on his skin. But from Daffyd? Nothing, not a bloody damned thing. How could I have not noticed?

“That’s fucking impossible,” I said. “He is a living being. We all have a scent.”

“He’s Sidhe, Keira,” Rhys said and fluffed the final drape, done with his task. “They are more not-human than we are. What you think of as scent isn’t quite the same.”

“Well, yes,” Tucker said as he joined Niko on the couch. “That much is obvious, but I’ve never heard of them not having scent, nor the ability to disappear—other than—” He looked at me. “Hey, could he have cast a strong glamour and slipped out of the cab when we stopped?”

“No,” Niko said. “You forget, I was sitting pressed against him. When the cab swerved, he was gone and I slid into the seat. He was definitely gone before we opened any of the doors.”

“Do you think Daffyd came to Vancouver with you simply to lose himself in a city?” Liz asked. “Sidhe live from absorbing energy. Maybe he wanted to come somewhere there were plenty of humans and energy—”

“Well, hell,” I said, “if he wanted a city, all he had to
do was travel southeast of the Wild Moon and lose himself in either Austin or San Antonio. Why on earth travel thousands of miles with us? He’s either up to something nefarious or, for all we know, is simply wandering the streets of Vancouver. He seemed genuine enough when he asked to come, but damn it, he’s Sidhe—”

“Seelie,” Rhys interrupted.

“Seelie or no,” I said, “as far as I’m concerned, they’re no more to be trusted than the Unseelie Sidhe. The only difference between the two is that the Unseelie are a hell of a lot more honest and open about screwing you over—or for that matter, just screwing you.”

Rhys and Tucker both laughed, knowing I was right. “I thought he was different, but hell, I’ve known him all of a few days,” I said. “Who knows if this isn’t some twisted, long-term plot of my mother’s tribe, or, hell, maybe even Gigi.”

“Yeah, right,” Tucker snorted and relaxed back into the soft leather cushion. “Our Clan chief is out there plotting with your mother’s people. Don’t you think she had enough of that when they negotiated your release to us?”

“Well, when you put it that way.” I smiled. Tucker was right. None of us got along very well. Like the British Isles in the old days, we were many groups with many kings, but no single leader, no one ruler to unite us. I wasn’t all that sure any of us wanted to
be
united. My own Clan, and I assumed that of the Sidhe, the vampires, the wers and all the others were probably perfectly happy as is. No one was looking for a modern-day Pendragon to wake and lead them.

I let myself relax into the softness of the chair. Rhys sat in a large armchair to my left, his long legs straight out and crossed at the ankles, mirroring Liz. Like his twin, Ianto,
Rhys was tall, but not as tall as Tucker, lean and lanky with that rawboned look peculiar to many Celts. He and his twin both wore their dark hair cropped short, unlike Tucker’s long mane. In the spirit of Kelly casual, Rhys wore jeans and a T-shirt, the family uniform for those of us of the same generation—that is, my father’s children. Even boring old Ciprian had long ago given up the more formal male attire and spent most of his life in jeans or sweats. Rhys looked as at home here in the penthouse as he did running around the Hill Country or in the forests of British Columbia.

The building had originally been built by Japanese investors who’d had to sell at a great loss when the Nikkei had bottomed out some years ago. My family picked up the entire building for pennies on the loonie. Ciprian, who was my eldest brother and our financial genius, heard about the sale and before Gigi could even say go, he’d snapped up the place, presenting her with a fait accompli and an amazing pied-a-terre in the middle of Vancouver’s soon-to-be vibrant downtown area. Gigi had fallen in love with the building and immediately set her team to updating the structure, decorating the interior and setting the wards. This was one of several residences owned by our family, all due to Ciprian’s rapacious perusal of industry publications. I was pretty sure that every time he bought property, he had an orgasm. To be fair, accounting and finance ran in his being and he was damned good at it. Over the centuries, he’d grown the family trust into a behemoth that kept gaining value. I knew that not a one of us—except Ciprian himself and maybe Gigi—had any idea of the full extent of the Kelly holdings. I didn’t want to know, really, but I had a sneaking suspicion that lessons would be forthcoming.

Most of the condos in this building would sell for at least
two to four million in the current market, high luxury in the city of many luxurious residences bought with Singapore-based money. But the penthouse—oh, this was the jewel indeed. If it weren’t for the fact that I’d made my Texas bed and would prefer to lie in it, the idea of moving to Canada would have been a whole lot less angst-ridden with this gem of an apartment to live in. The penthouse consisted of five en suite bedrooms, a half bath for guests and an open-plan living and dining area with a lovely rooftop garden. If I had to come live near family, I was calling dibs on this place. With a few modifications, Adam could live here, too. We’d have to keep up the blackout curtains permanently or modify the tinted glass somehow.

I looked over at Rhys. “Thanks for the efforts, bro,” I said to Rhys. “All that glass would be pretty unhealthy for the undead among us.”

In the morning, the place would be filled with sunlight. I recognized the type of drapes Rhys had hung on all the windows. Complete blackout, expensive and damn well worth it. With them drawn, Niko could have the freedom of the penthouse and not be cooped up in one of the baths … come to think of it, most of the bathrooms had windows, too, only not floor to ceiling. Good thing Rhys thought ahead.

Come to think on it … how the hell had he known we’d have a vampire in tow?

“J
UST HAPPENED
to have those drapes on hand, Rhys? Or did you have to make a special trip? I can’t imagine that you could get custom draperies in a couple of hours, even for a Kelly.” None of the walls of windows in the penthouse were standard sizes. “How’d you know you needed them, anyway? I didn’t call you and you’re not prescient.”

Rhys shrugged. “You never know what you’re going to find on hand around here,” he responded. “Sometimes it’s caviar, sometimes it’s blackout drapes.” He looked at the three of us. “Dad called me. Told me you were coming and to get stuff ready.”

“Oh, so you’re the brother Isabel meant.”

“Huh, what?”

“Isabel. When I talked to her and Dad on the phone. She said Gigi filled in my brother. I thought she was talking about Tucker.”

“Oh, gotcha, yeah. Gigi said to get my ass to Vancouver and take care of things. Frankly, I was on the verge of some serious cabin fever,” Rhys said. He ran a hand through his hair and sprawled out even more. “Gigi had us spit-polishing the place for the past several weeks. I was glad to get a break.”

“So instead you come here and play Suzy Homemaker?” I asked. “What’s Gigi doing anyway, getting ready for all those visitors?”

Rhys looked at me in surprise. “Visitors? Surely you jest, sister mine,” he said. “Since when does Gigi ever put on the dog for mere visitors? Besides, I don’t know anything about visitors.”

“I thought …” I frowned, trying to remember what the customs agent had said. “Liz, refresh my memory, didn’t Ben say something about Kellys in a blue plane arriving?”

“Oh yeah,” she said. “Does sound like out-of-town cousins. There’ve been a few of them in and out over the past few days, but you know, Rhys meant the sprucing-up routine was for you. Our fearless leader had the entire inresidence gang running around like we were expecting royalty—oh—wait.” She ducked her head and smiled. “I guess we kind of were.”

I rolled my eyes and waved a hand in a bad imitation of Queen Elizabeth II. “Shall I practice the royal salute?”

Tucker burst out laughing. “I’m thinking your salute might be somewhat different, Keira.” He began to raise a couple of fingers and Niko grabbed his hand.

“You people are children,” he scolded. “Your leader goes to special pains to welcome you as her heir and you joke?”

“Niko, please,” I said. “It’s so ridiculous. I’m sorry, but I don’t want any pomp and circumstance. I’d rather do this quietly.” I’d rather not do this at all.

He nodded. “Perhaps you are correct,” he said. “And I do not know if this is customary. I presume it is not, from your responses?”

Rhys and Tucker looked at each other. “I don’t have any idea,” Rhys said. “It’s been too long. None of us were alive when Gigi took the throne, much less when she Changed.”
Liz argued, “The customs might be lost in the mists of time, or whatever, but c’mon, it only makes sense. It’s not like the Kelly heir is the firstborn or even pulls a sword out of a stone, eh? There’s probably some sort of formal recognition.”

“Yeah, like the baby princess in ‘Sleeping Beauty, ’” I said in a drawl. “We hold a big hoopla and someone will curse the honoree—me. That’s all I need.” I sat up straight. “Hell and damnation, do you think Gideon got cursed?” Could that have been what happened?

Tucker looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t be surprised. If he’s still dabbling in the dark arts and pissed someone off …”

“And that someone … or someones … might have placed a curse on him,” I finished for him.

“Well, yes.”

“Now that’s a thought not too far from probable reality,” Rhys said. “I didn’t see him, but …”

“A death curse?” Niko asked. “Is that possible with your people?”

“If you really, really mean it,” I said. “Mostly, our people don’t die until they’re ready. Then, someone like me, an Escort, helps them cross—voluntarily. With the help of drugs and some spells, they leave behind their bodies and their spirits move on. A death curse is kind of like the same thing, but involuntary. It takes a great deal of power, an immense amount of evil intent and, frankly, some weakness on the part of the cursed. Gideon’s not weak, though.” Far from it, I thought, remembering. He’d always been stronger than me, power-wise. I’d been able to do the small homely things, work as an Escort, but that was it. Both of us were pre-Changed and our abilities were limited, but he’d been able to work stronger magicks than I had.

“He’s arrogant,” Tucker said. “Arrogance is its own kind of weakness.”

Niko and Rhys agreed to Tucker’s assessment with nods. “I’ve not met the man,” Niko said. “But I’ve found that to be true.”

I nearly burst out laughing. When I’d first met him, a few short months ago, last October, Niko had been one of the most arrogant men I’d ever met. Granted, he’d mellowed, most especially after taking up with Tucker.

“I imagine we’ll find out about Gideon when we get to the enclave,” I said. “As for Daffyd, I’d feel better about it if we went back out … now … and looked for him. He was kind of under my care. I’d rather not give up on him without a search.”

“I guess we could go out and take a look-see,” Tucker said. “Besides, we still need to grab some food.”

“Anyone else we know in town?” Tucker responded. “We could put out an alert.”

“That’s a good thought, Tucker,” I said. Multiple Kellys equaled many different sets of eyes, ears, senses on the search.

Rhys shook his head. “I’m pretty much it, except for you all. Gigi called everyone local back to the enclave.”

“Where do we start looking?” Liz asked. “Back where he vanished?”

“You were close to Gastown when he disappeared,” Rhys said. “Couple of places doing the late-late dinner there these days so that would solve finding food. We could wander in that direction, keep an eye out, talk to some of the street folk. A Sidhe’s bound to be pretty conspicuous.”

“Except maybe this one,” I said as I stood. “He’s damned good at the glamour.”

Rhys gave me a serious look. “Keira, do you have any other ideas as to what happened? If Daffyd left the car voluntarily?”

“Well, if he didn’t, that puts a whole other spin on things.” Could it have been some sort of summoning spell? As far as I knew, none of my own people could do anything of that caliber, but what I knew about Sidhe powers could fit onto the head of a pin and still have room for some dancing angels. “Is that possible, Rhys? Do you know?”

“Not really,” he said. “Other than one or two visits by the courts years ago, I’ve not had any exposure to the Sidhe.”

Niko had seen Sidhe at least once as a small child. Rhys had been around when the Courts came calling a couple of times. Tucker and Liz were even more clueless. I’d lived among them, was part Sidhe, but I knew nothing myself. Not exactly an expert search team for a missing fey. “Okay, I say we get out there, get food and, on the way, do some looking. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

I crossed mental fingers at that final hope. Luck was kind of the last thing that had visited me lately … although I supposed some would call it that. Becoming the heir wasn’t my idea of winning the lottery; in fact, it was the diametric opposite. I would have happily spent the balance of my many, many years as a shapeshifter, a healer, a weather witch … whatever. No responsibilities beyond that of my own household and life. A boring, but satisfying life. I’d found someone I could love, be happy with. Someone not human and who loved me back. That would have been more than enough for now.

Niko nodded at me, a look of approval on his face. “We have several hours until sunrise. We should all go search.”