Burning (Brotherhood of the Blade Trilogy #1) (12 page)

Between my ex-priest temporary roommate, Mikhail—his bedchamber was currently plagued by rats so he was in my room—and me, I don’t know which one of us was more pathetic—me, constantly reaching for the bottle of ibuprofen, still with my sleep mask on my eyes, or him, throwing a pillow at that damned alarm clock and knocking it off the top of the desk area.

“
Stop whimpering, Rand,” he said good-naturedly one morning. “We are becoming formidable vampire hunters.”

“
I fight them in my sleep, Mikhail.”

“
I have those nightmares, too, even Biblically inspired ones, complete with the Four Horsemen.”

“
Damn.”

“
You’re telling me.”

“
It is all worth it. We are becoming formidable because the vampires know we exist and we aren’t dead yet.”

“
Cold comfort, my comrade in arms.”

“
I know. But, really, what’s to prevent the ones who can fly from coming in the castle whenever the hell they want and ripping out our jugular veins?”

I sat up bolt upright in bed and ripped off the sleep mask. “What are you saying? Besides Samantha Moon, which others of them can fly?”

“We don’t have that intel. It’s not like the vampires share that info, even among themselves.”

“
Mikhail, you might as well have told me that the castle is full of vampires with rabies. I don’t think I’ll ever sleep a wink here again.”

“
Yes, you will. No matter how scared I am, no matter how vengeful I am, no matter how determined I am, I pass out when my body runs out of gas. We all do. We’re human. We need sleep like vampires need blood.”

I still didn’t like it. “We have to secure the castle better than this.”

“What do you suggest?”

“
I have ideas that are as diabolical as the ones of our enemies.”

Mikhail crossed himself, right to left, in that religious gesture that let me know what he was made of. “Tell me.”

“Not yet. I want to run the plan by someone else first.”

“
I’m your vampire hunter brother of the blade. Your roommate who sleeps six feet from you, almost back to back, one hand on my blade, and the other in a fist.”

“
I know, and you are already valuable to me. It might be extremely dangerous for me to tell you what I have in mind. I want to bounce it off someone...higher.”

“
Who here is so almighty that he can know your brilliant ideas for securing the castle?”

“
Not a he. A she.”

“
Who are you talking about?”

“
Samantha Moon.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Are you crazy?”

“
She is the only person who can help us ensure that our enhanced security plan would even work.”

“
Why would she even do that?”

“
In exchange for knowing how to protect herself from us.”

“
That makes sense, but...you would trust her?”

“
She could have killed me, but she dropped me on a cruise ship.”

“
That was
our
plan. We paid her well.”

“
I didn’t know that at the time.”

“
As much as she is our ally, think about this, Rand. She dropped you on a cruise ship, probably while other vampires were murdering your wife and kidnapping your child.”

“
No. Not Samantha! I’ve run it over and over in my mind. I doubt Samantha Moon knew about the burning,” I replied through gritted teeth. “And Lucas hired her.”

“
How do you know she wasn’t trying to keep you away while her accomplices attacked your family? Like a double agent?”

“
Instinct. She doesn’t smell of evil.”

“
That’s how you tell? She
smells
good?”

“
One of the many ways. She doesn’t smell of death, destruction, or murder. She smells like baby shampoo and small children and cookies baking.”

Mikhail’s dark eyebrows scrunched. “You better go through the chain of command with this far-fetched idea of yours, Rand. Not that I know how to get a hold of Samantha Moon, but Lucas does.”

“She is a licensed investigator with a real phone number and email address.”

“
I hope to hell that we can trust her with security info about the castle.”

“
We can.”

“
Can’t you tell me what your idea is?”

“
I’d risk your life by telling you more.”

“
What would be the price if I’m totally ignorant?”

“
Point taken.” I paused. “Okay, Mikhail, there are two parts to my plan. First, I want to build a special type of security system to protect the castle and all of us in it. We have to have more of a fortress than a dry moat, a pack of wolves and some ravens can provide.”

“
We have a werewolf, too.”

“
What did you say?”

“
Corbin, the animal behavior biologist who takes care of the wolf pack, he’s a werewolf. You didn’t know?”

I took a deep breath. “Are you freakin’ kidding me? Werewolves are real?”

“Everyone stays inside on full-moon night but Corbin.”

“
And nobody worries about this?” I asked.

“
He’s been here for hundreds of years and hasn’t eaten anyone yet, that we know of.”

“
Has he turned anyone
into
a werewolf?”

“
Not in our lifetime. That we know of.” Mikhail had been gazing out the high window, which overlooked the grounds. “Yes, we are vulnerable here. Besides Lucas contacting Samantha Moon, where are you going with this big secret plan?”

“
I want to make a vampire trap.”

“
A vampire
trap
?” He chuckled. “Like some sort of gauntlet where we lie in wait with our silver-tipped blades and all attack the vampire?”

“
You’re half right. Once the vampire is caught in the trap, we won’t have to do anything at all. We wait.”

“
No offense, but you’re certifiable. You know that, right?”

“
Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“
Who else says that you are crazy?” Mikhail asked.

“
The Navy,” I said, grinning. “But...never mind.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Mikhail and I showered and dressed.

We raced each other down the spiral tower stairs to our 6 p.m. breakfast with the other Brothers of the Blade. The castle had taken on the feel of a swanky fraternity house and I was comfortable there, though I dearly missed my wife and daughter. I wondered if the “rats in my room” story was contrived to ensure that I began to bond with the other blade brothers. I had.

Lucas was in the great hall, too, a spiked silver hammer next to him on the battle-scarred table. Lucas sat there like a beefy Thor, waiting to use that hammer on any vampire who dared to invade our castle. As usual, we brothers wore our silver blades in our boots’ hidden scabbards. After weeks of training, it seemed natural for me to wear my weapons everywhere. We slept with our blades, and even showered with them only inches from our hands.

The Sisterhood of the Scythe filtered into the great hall as well. The six of us men rushed to hold out chairs for the deadly damsels, who were dressed alike tonight—they wore long, white cashmere dresses with tight sleeves that belled at the bottom, and black leather belts upon which hung various loops with female-friendly weapons and pouches that substituted for handbags. A silver circlet rested on each of their heads and all of them had their long hair flowing. Each of them wore the large Sisterhood of the Scythe heart-shaped necklace, her main weapon against vampires suspended on long silver chains that made the folding hearts rest between their cleavage. It was hard not to look at such a display of beauty and dedication with male admiration, though they were much more than eye candy.

“
You’re all dressed up,” I said, and held out Ambra’s usual chair by mine, because we sat with our training partners. Mikhail sat on the other side of her, like the wing man he was, poor guy. His partner had been killed on a mission the year before and he usually was the third man on trio missions.

I took the seat next to her. I could feel warmth emanating from her. I didn’t take much joy in the roaring fireplace—it reminded me of my house burning. The smell of the flames choked me a bit and dulled my sharp sense of smell.

Ambra looked striking, with her milky-white skin and silky blonde hair and that medieval-looking white gown that went almost to the floor. I could see the toes of her soft leather boots when she walked. Except for the lighter hair, she almost looked like she walked straight out of that John Waterhouse painting,
The Lady of Shalott.
They all did, for that matter.

“
The Sisterhood is having some sort of ceremony tonight?” I asked.

“
Yes,” she said, her eyes meeting mine. “After dinner, but before training class.”

“
What is the ceremony?”

“
You’ll see.” She turned her eyes on the steaming platters of food. “I’m starving.”

“
Me, too.” I noted how quickly she changed the subject. The Sisterhood of the Scythe was a little secretive about their girl-only rites.

“
You look like you’re ready to take some kind of oath,” I said, prodding. “It makes me nervous to see you all dressed up like this.”

“
Stop worrying, Rand. We have all come to this place with a common goal.”

“
To rid the earth of vampires.”

“
Yes,” she said quietly.

I poured her a mug of hot, spiced apple cider from a warming pitcher.

“Thank you.”

I cleared my throat. “Are you all planning to take a vow of celibacy?”

A flicker of a smile crossed her lips as she closed her eyes and carefully blew across the surface of the mug, and then sipped the hot liquid.

“
We are sisters united by our blood vengeance against vampires, not by chastity.”

I let out a relieved breath. But I did it for comedy effect, really. It had been many weeks since my wife’s murder. Sex was not an option for me. Not for a long time.

“Men,” she quipped. “You cut right to the chase in your heads.”

“
Someone has to,” I replied with equal sarcasm.

She studied me, then said, “Where one gender excels, the other lags. Women anticipate. Men react. It is the way. I’m learning this with every training session, from fencing to mixed martial arts. Without the yin and yang of male and female partners, perhaps we would be quickly killed by vampires. The sexes complement each other in battle.”

I thought about that and looked at the heart-shaped necklace resting between her breasts. In a moment, that silver heart could be folded in half and be used as a scythe, a sharp, curved weapon that was effective at close range for killing vampires.

“
My eyes are up here,” she said in her soft Swiss-French accent.

I blushed. “I was looking at your scythe necklace.”

“Of course you were.”

“
It’s been a long time since I even thought about a woman.” For now, I only thought of Ambra as a vampire hunting partner. and nothing more, despite her obvious beauty. I added, “You look vulnerable in dresses.”

“
I assure you, we are deadly.”

My eyes raised and met her clear blue ones. Yes, she was fearless. I had trained with her. I knew she was capable of killing a vampire. Hell, of killing anyone, myself included. But I still worried about her. Hard not to, when you’d dealt with the crap I’ve had to deal with.

“We worry when we care about someone,” she said, absorbing my emotions. “Don’t let it distract you in battle. I’m as competent a fighter as you are. If not more so.”

“
I worry about all of you, especially you, Ambra. All of you are like family to me. But mostly...”

“
Mostly you worry about your daughter.”

“
You have no idea.”

She reached across the table and placed her hand over my hand and squeezed slightly. I appreciated the gesture, although I did not return it. Hell, I wasn’t sure if I could ever return a woman’s tenderness again.