Burden Of Blood (11 page)

 “You can take my truck back to James’ house to get your car and I’ll ride with Nicole to Birmingham.  It’s not a good idea for us to go in a police car so we’ll take your dad’s Chevelle.”

Nicole nodded to Luke.  They exited the police department together and made their way to the cars.  Luke went to his truck and got something from under the seat then returned to hand Kat the keys to his truck.  Kat gave Nicole a quick hug then left.

When Kat had pulled out of sight, Luke turned to Nicole.  “I think it’s time we talk.  Let’s put all our cards out on the table.” He looked her straight in the eyes, full of confidence. 

Nicole was taken aback by his words.  Panic shot through her. 
Aww crap, now what? 
She thought.  “Luke, now is really not the time for a heart to heart.  We need to get moving.  Time is running out.”

“Oh yeah, and how do you even know we aren’t on a wild goose chase?  Or is this like how you knew exactly where your dad’s truck was without me telling you?” He paused, gauging her reaction.  She began shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and refused to look him in the eyes.  “Nicole you’re not the only one with secrets, but you are the only one with a gift that could save your dad’s life.” He reached forward grabbing her chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes.  “You don’t have to do this alone.”

Nicole’s heart felt like it was going to explode inside her chest.  Now she knew what a deer in headlights felt like.  “Luke, I don’t know what you’re getting at.” She leaned back against the Chevelle in an attempt at looking cool and confident.  “You told me where Dad’s truck was at, that’s how I knew.” She glared at him, hoping to deflate his confidence so she could side step this conversation.  Luke continued to stand nose to nose with her for a few seconds, then much to her relief, he took a step back in what seemed a sign of his giving up.  Nicole watched him as he reached for a bag he had placed on the hood of the car.  He dug, inside pulling out something familiar to her.

“Dad’s hat…What are you getting at Luke
?”

Nicole noticed a small smirk play across Luke’s face as he held out the hat to her, then dropped it into her open hands.  Instantly she was swept away.  All of her senses were screaming in protest as her mind was pulled from her body.  The air was so stale now.  The smell of cheap soap and heavy cleaning products stung her nose.  She could hear the sounds of traffic whizzing by and the muffled sounds from a television.  Her eyes started to see a growing pin of light ahead.  Suddenly, things made sense again, like walking out of a dark tunnel into the bright sunlight.

She was inside a hotel room, well not she, really, but her mind, it was a bit like flying.  Nicole tried to take in everything all at once.  There were two double beds, one was in disarray and the other had an open suitcase laying on it.  A man whom she recognized at once from Jim’s description was packing clothes into it.  “Ronald.
”
she said, then gasped, realizing she had spoken aloud.  Much to her relief he didn’t react.  “Cool, I’m like a ghost.” she chuckled.  “I can think of a lot of places I’d like to haunt, starting with Luke’s shower.” With an impish smile she continued her inventory of the room.  A recliner sat in the corner near the window, a small dinette was a few feet over and a desk next to the wall.  On the desk was an open laptop.  She moved closer to see what was on the screen.  “Birmingham International Airport” she read aloud, “conformation email for 5:15 pm flight: Destination Kerry International Airport…” she gasped “He has booked two tickets to Ireland!  Okay, this could be very bad or very good.  The very good part is that ticket number two could be for dad and that would mean he’s alive.  The very bad part is we may not make it here in time.”

Just at that moment, Nicole started to hear a moaning sound coming from the bathroom.  Ronald moved to the door and opened it.  “Now before you get that mouth of yours fired up, you better listen to me and listen good.” he moved inside the room so Nicole eased to the bathroom doorway.  The sight she beheld started a fire burning inside of her in an instant.  James was sitting on the floor slumped against the wall.  His hands were tied behind his back and his ankles were bound together with large, black zip ties.  There was blood on his shirt she was sure came from his split and swollen lip.  James was staring up at Ronald with black eyes that refused to stay open for more than a few seconds at a time.  “Ronald must be keeping him drugged.” She mumbled through her anger-induced haze.  Her vision was tinted with red as the fire grew hotter inside of her.

“We are going to take a flight in a few hours and I can’t take you on it drugged out of your mind and tied up, so this is what’s going to happen,” Ronald knelt in front of James and took hold of his face roughly in one hand, forcing James to focus his rolling eyes on the thug’s face.  “You’re going to be quiet while this shit gets out of your system, then we are going to the airport.  Now if you try to draw attention to us in any way, I will kill that pretty daughter of yours.  It won’t be fast either, I promise.” He stared deep into James’ eyes like he was looking for something else, moving his hand so James’ face went from side to side.  “I know that girl of yours is powerful, so there’s a good chance she’s checking in on her old daddy.  If you’re there sweet heart, you better get your country ass on a plane to Dublin if you want to save your daddy,” he slapped James hard across the face then pulled him close again.  “And if I even think your police buddies are waiting for us at the airport, I’ll fucking gut him.”

Panic began to build inside of Nicole.  “How did he know I was watching?  Oh crap, this guy is not just some thug.  He has information on me that no one should know.  How am I going to save Dad now?”

Ronald gave one last squeeze of James’ face and then stood.  “Do you understand me?” James mumbled a weak agreement as he propped himself up against the wall.  Nicole had never seen her dad look so defeated.  She wanted to go to him and comfort him but she couldn’t. 
I have to get back so I can tell Luke what is going on. 
With that one thought, the room began to fade away.  She started to feel the tingle of her body and the cool wind against her skin.  With a big gasp, her eyes opened to find Luke staring at her intently.

“You ready to talk now?”

“There’s no time, they are flying out of Birmingham International Airport at 5:15.  So we’ve got about an hour and a half until the flight leaves but it’s a two hour drive from here.” She ran to the Chevelle with Luke hot on her heels.

*****

As soon as they got on the highway heading out of town, Luke asked Nicole what was going on.  She gave him every little detail she had seen and heard in the hotel room.  Luke listened intently without interrupting her until she went into details about the email.

“Did you notice a name on the email?  I mean, we know the thug that has your dad is Ronald but did you notice if someone else ordered the tickets for the man?”

Nicole thought back, trying to pull up an exact picture of the screen in her head.  “No, I couldn’t see the first few lines on the page.  Why?”

“This Ronald guy doesn’t strike me as the ring leader.  He hasn’t killed your dad or made a ransom for him.  That means he’s taking him to someone.”

“But who?  Dad doesn’t know anyone in Ireland.  Hell, neither one of us has ever been out of the South.  This doesn’t make sense!” Nicole banged her hand off of the steering wheel as frustration boiled over inside of her.  Images of her dad tied up and sitting on the cold bathroom floor kept playing over and over in her head.  She felt a warm hand holding her shoulder, the contact made a calm wash over her and the fire inside her seemed to die down a little.

“It’s time we talk, Nicole.” Luke said with wisdom in his eyes.  After a few moments he put his hand back into his lap, a soft smile stretched across his lips.

Nicole had never seen this side of Luke before.  She was a little bit frightened seeing him like this but at the same time she liked the mysterious part of him.

“How much do you know about your family history?”

“Umm, well I know my parents were born and raised in Alabama and my grandparents on dad’s side were from Georgia
-
”

“No, I’m talking about before your people came to the United States.” He took her puzzled look as a big no.  He gave a frustrated sigh then continued.  “Alright then, let me start with a little about me because our history is connected.”

“My family came here from Ireland and so did yours, but thousands of years before that my family was your family’s protector.” He paused waiting for her to laugh but she just stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face.  “We were warriors…with a twist,” a proud smile stretched across his face.  “We had special gifts that helped us, like superior strength and speed, making us perfect in battle.  We also were able to control the element of fire and there was a few of us who could control the minds of others.”

“Um…okay this is getting a bit weird, Luke.  You expect me to believe your ancestors were some kind of super warriors that could use mind control to kill people.” She gave him a weak smile as her stomach started to churn. 
Why am I listening to this, I must be going out of my freaking mind.

“We didn’t use mind control like you think.  A warrior could use his power to project the feelings of hopelessness onto his foe so there would be no fight or the warrior might choose to give his target false memories.  If he could convince someone they were longtime friends there wouldn’t be a fight.  Some of the greatest battles were won this way before any blood was spilt.”

Nicole stayed silent while Luke talked.  She was seeing flashes of a beautiful woman with curly waist-length brown hair standing on a balcony.  Behind her was a large man.  His chest was bare giving her perfect view of a long jagged scar running directly across his heart.  He was dressed in a green and blue kilt and had a long sword sheathed at his side.  He had a confidence about him she had never seen before.  He almost glowed with power.  Nicole shook her head to clear away the images. 
Wow, I have one vivid imagination. 
She thought to herself as she tried to refocus her mind on Luke.  “I don’t understand what your story has to do with my Dad.  How’s this going to help us save him?”

“You can help your dad, Nicole, don’t you see?  You have great powers locked away inside of you just waiting for you to call on them.”

“Okay, maybe I
do
have a little mind-reading ability but so do tons of other people in the world.  This is nothing that…”

“It’s way more than a “little” mind-reading ability Nicole.  You are descended from a royal line of fae.  The line that was once the most powerful and noble of all fairies-the Gentry.  They were known for being truth seers, much like you, from what I’ve noticed.  But what you are goes far beyond just knowing if someone is good or evil.” He paused searching her face.  “You see the warriors I come from vowed to protect the Gentry blood line until there were no more.”

“Well, some of the brotherhood didn’t feel that way and a war started to brew within my clan.  It was made worse when your grandmother, Queen Titania, fell in love with her warrior, Alaois.  Most of the fae looked down on the warriors.  They were no better than peasants in their eyes.  The ones within the brotherhood who were unhappy with serving the fairies saw this love as a slap in the face.  They did not want your grandmother or any fairy to have a child with a warrior.  They were afraid that it would create fairies that had all the powers of both races.  The ultimate blood line.” Luke gave her a weak smile as he continued on.

“We caught the puppeteer of this movement, he was a Kerrigan named Loch, and sentenced him to death for plotting to kill your family.  We did not catch him before he killed Alaois but he sent your grandmother into hiding before he was caught.  Queen Titania was carrying Alaois’s child and when she gave birth, she hid the baby away.  No one ever knew where that child was sent because the fae queen put a spell on him to lock away the powers, making him invisible to fea and warriors.  She did it to protect her son from being discovered.  The only way the spell would break is if her blood was threatened by a Kerrigan again.  That person would be able to call upon the power to save herself from the evil.”