Cronin's Key (4 page)

Alec’s own words stunned him. He couldn’t recall the thought, the inclination that would make him say that. Or what on earth possessed him to stand between two vampires and threaten one of them? He only knew he had to protect Cronin. At all costs, he had to protect what was his…

Alec lowered the gun in his right hand and raised his left, palm forward, to Eiji in a sign of surrender and apology. He shook his head, still unable to process what he’d just done. He turned to stare at Cronin, who seemed as shocked as he was. “What the fuck was that?” Alec asked him. “Why would I do that?”

Cronin didn’t answer, but a smile played at his lips. And when Alec turned to look at Eiji and Jodis to apologize, he saw that they were smiling too.

“Okay, someone needs to start explaining what the fuck is going on,” Alec said. “I get the whole weird shit thing, even the vampire thing”—Alec shook his head—“or whatever. But
that
? Threatening Eiji isn’t me.” Alec looked at the Japanese man. “I wouldn’t… I didn’t mean… I just did it without meaning to.” Then Alec realized something. He turned to Cronin. “Like when you showed up at the police station and I just
had
to go with you. That’s what that was like. Why would I do that? Tell me, what is it about you? Why do I react to you?”

Cronin wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, he looked troubled.

Eiji stepped forward and put his hand on Alec’s arm. “I’m not offended, friend. In fact, I am pleased by your reaction. It is normal, expected, and very welcome.”

Huh?
Alec slowly put his gun on the table and shook his head. He was so confused, and he wondered what it would actually take for him to crack. He felt like he was losing his mind…

“You need to tell him,” Jodis said. She was looking at Cronin, so Alec presumed what she said was directed at him.

“He’s had enough for one night,” Cronin said, his voice was just a whisper.

Alec looked at Cronin. “Don’t tell me when I’ve had enough,” he snapped. Then he turned back to Jodis, seeing that she was fighting a smile. “Tell me what?”

“Cronin?” she pressed.

Alec was pretty sure Cronin had no intention of telling him anything, which, given how tired and mentally taut he was, just pissed Alec off. He let out a growl of his own and pointed his finger at the red-haired vampire. “You. Start talking. I have been ripped out of my life and thrown into this, told about fucking vampires—which I’ve handled pretty fucking well if you ask me—but I swear to Christ if you don’t start talking right the fuck now, I will walk out that door.”

Eiji and Jodis were both obviously amused. Cronin’s nostrils flared. He glared at his friends. “I fail to see the humor.”

“I like him,” Eiji said. Cronin’s jaw bulged.

“Fine.” Cronin looked squarely at Alec. “The reason you knew who I was, the reason you feel so calm around me, is the same reason I knew who you were upon first sight alone. That feeling of calm and peace that you are unable to describe is new for me also. The reason you react to me and I to you is…”

“Is what?” Alec asked.

“There is not the word in my native tongue to describe it exactly.” Cronin looked out through the heavily tinted windows, and when he finally made eye contact with Alec again, he was searching and vulnerable. “
Ionndrainn cridhe
. Or
dàn
.”

Alec shook his head. He had no clue what that meant or what language it was. It sounded…
Gaelic
? He was still stuck on Cronin admitting he reacted to him…

Jodis smiled, her face was so serene. “Fate, Alec,” she said. “You and Cronin are fate.”

“Fate?” Alec repeated.

“Yes. Meant to be together,” Jodis explained. “Like Eiji and myself. Two halves of the one whole. It is not conscious decision, Alec. Cronin called it
ionndrainn cridhe
, and that’s a very close description. Longing of the heart, but it’s not really a matter of the heart either. It is a predesign of the soul.”

Alec blinked. Then he blinked again. “Huh?”

“You are meant for each other,” Eiji added.

“So you’re telling me,” Alec said slowly, “that I have no choice? I am, for all intents and purposes, stuck in some arranged fucking…
marriage
?”

Cronin recoiled from Alec’s words as though he’d slapped him. Alec smiled with satisfaction, yet his gut twisted and his chest ached when he saw the hurt on Cronin’s face.

Alec swallowed hard. “You know what?” he said. “I’m done. I’m outta here.” He didn’t really know how to leave—he’d arrived by leaping, the unorthodox way of travelling—but he headed toward the elevator he’d seen Eiji use. He pressed any buttons he could find, hoping one of them would shut the doors.

Jodis followed after him. “Alec. You can’t fight it.”

The last thing he heard before the doors closed was Cronin’s haunted voice.

“Let him go.”

Cronin watched the elevator doors close, watched Alec leave, and he felt like he was going to be sick. If such a thing were possible.

“He can’t leave,” Jodis cried.

“Well, he clearly doesn’t want to stay,” Cronin said, his voice barely a whisper.

“He won’t get far,” Eiji added. “He’s just had a lot to take in, Cronin. He’ll be back.”

Cronin barked out a laugh. “He can chase down a Seeker, watch a vampire turn to dust in his hands, sit in a room with three vampires each over a thousand years old, and he doesn’t flinch. Yet you mention what I am to him…”

Jodis put her hand on Cronin’s arm; her eyes were kind and imploring. “Give him time,” she said.

“Time?” Cronin laughed, though it was a bitter sound. Then he shook his head and swallowed down the nauseous biting ache in his chest. “Not a concept he can appreciate, I’m sure.”

“You’re feeling his absence,” Jodis said softly.

Cronin pushed the heel of his hand against his sternum. “Ridiculous, is it not? That I can walk this earth for almost thirteen hundred years and not feel a thing. And now…” He shook his head again, and looked out across the city. The sun had risen completely. “I can’t even go after him.”

“He’s on his way back,” Eiji said, nodding toward the elevator. “He’s strong, Cronin, and stubborn. He’s very smart, and he has the ability to take in and see everything in a room. That’s why he was a good cop. That’s why he’ll make an even better vampire.”

Cronin hissed at Eiji, just as the elevator dinged to signal its arrival. “You know him better than I. I’ve still not forgiven you for keeping him from me.”

Eiji laughed. “You’ll be thanking me. Fate couldn’t have picked a better match for you, my friend.”

The elevator door opened and Alec walked slowly back into the room. He very deliberately didn’t look at the three vampires who were watching him. “So I can’t even leave, huh?”

“How far did you get?” Eiji asked with a toothy grin.

Alec glared at him. “Shut up.”

Eiji snorted. “I tried to leave when I first found my Jodis.”

“I frightened him,” Jodis said with a smile.

“I got no farther than a furlong,” Eiji said. “My feet refused another step, as did my heart.”

Alec ran both hands through his hair, but then he swayed. He could barely keep his eyes open, and it looked like his mind would not process another thought. Cronin was quick to steady him, holding his arm. “Are you well?”

“Just tired, ’s’all,” Alec mumbled.

“You must sleep,” Cronin said.

It seemed Alec was tempted to argue with the order, but perhaps the concern in Cronin’s eyes stopped him. He nodded instead.

Cronin led him down the hall and opened a door, second from the end on the left. Alec didn’t seem to care for the grand furnishings, he simply crawled onto the bed fully dressed, boots and all, closed his eyes, and slept.

* * * *

The sun was at its highest point in the sky, the filtered glass protecting Cronin as he stared across the skyline. He hadn’t spoken in a while, though long stretches of silence between vampires were not uncommon. “He’s human,” he said, knowing Eiji and Jodis would hear him.

Jodis’s voice was quiet. “He is.”

Cronin never took his eyes off the city. “He was never supposed to be human.”

“Do we not all start out that way?” she asked rhetorically.

“You cannot hurt him, if that is your concern,” Eiji told him. “Your entire being will not allow it.”

“Not on purpose,” Cronin said, turning to face him. “Though the beating heart we can hear from three rooms away reminds me of his mortality.”

“He won’t stay human,” Jodis said. “He will want endless days with you, Cronin. I know you don’t think that right now, but he will.”

“He called it an arranged marriage,” Cronin said softly, sadly, “as though the idea disgusts him.”

When Jodis spoke, Cronin didn’t have to see her smile. It was in her voice. “That will change. Give him time to adjust. You’ve already seen how he cannot leave.”

“Which he resents me for,” Cronin added.

“He defended you, against another vampire,” Jodis said. “Granted, Eiji was never a real threat, but he stood between you and pointed a gun at him.” Jodis was amused by this. “A human threatening a vampire? Have you ever seen such a thing?”

“I should be concerned for his mental welfare.”

Eiji put his arm around his oldest friend. “Cronin, he was born for this life. He was born to be yours. He won’t fight it for much longer. He won’t be able to. So enjoy it. You’ve waited a long time for this.” Then Eiji chuckled. “Though I do believe he’ll make you earn it. It shall be fun to witness the mighty Cronin being challenged at every turn by a human.”

Cronin scowled playfully at him. Eiji had a wicked sense of humor, and Cronin soon smiled. “He’s very handsome, yes?” The truth was, Cronin had never seen such a perfect man. Alec was tall and fit, his hair was a rich brown and his eyes… his eyes were the color of the moss Cronin had played in as a boy. It was a memory he’d long forgotten.

Jodis laughed, and Eiji clapped Cronin on the back. “Ah, so you noticed? And was it not obvious that he found you appealing? When you showed him your teeth, the pheromones coming off him were suffocating.”

Cronin gave an embarrassed smile. “So you felt that as well?”

Jodis scoffed. “It was difficult not to.”

“I know this is all exciting for you and a lot to take in. But we need to talk.” Eiji looked at Cronin. “Not about Alec, but about what he saw and what was said to him.”

“I know.” Cronin said, now serious. “Who died protecting him?”

“I can’t be sure,” Eiji answered. “Not until I meet with the others to find out who it was. It was either Mikka or Jacques. Alec never mentioned an accent, so I would guess it was Mikka.”

Cronin nodded sadly. “He saved Alec’s life.”

“Yes.” Eiji bowed his head. “It was an honorable death.”

Cronin looked at him. “Mikka said he touched the key. Before he died, that’s what he told Alec.”

“And that it had already started,” Jodis added. “He said it was not one, but both. Do you think it’s possible?”

Cronin sighed and nodded. “I have no reason to doubt Mikka. He was nothing but loyal.”

Eiji nodded also. “It means the rumors are true. We’ve heard the rumblings and seen the signs. There is a war coming, my friend. Maybe the biggest yet. Mikka said it was both. The Illyrians
and
the Egyptians, Cronin. We cannot fight them both.”

The three vampires stared at each other in a long, solemn silence.

Finally Cronin spoke. “We need to find the key.”

* * * *

It was agreed that Cronin should feed. He was reluctant to leave Alec, even as he slept, but he also couldn’t risk becoming thirsty in his presence. Cronin had spent a millennia around humans, and his self-control was one of his strengths. But Alec was different… he invoked a different kind of thirst in Cronin, a hunger. So being well-fed was paramount.

He stood at the closed door, listening to the steady heartbeat on the other side.

“Go,” Jodis urged him. “We will keep him safe.”

Cronin gave a resigned sigh and nodded. “Want me to bring you back something?” he asked with a smile. “I’m thinking French.”

Jodis chuckled. “No, thanks. We’ll head out after nightfall. I don’t think Alec would appreciate our version of takeout.”

Jodis and Eiji were limited to feeding at night—being unable to travel in the day—and Cronin had returned on many occasions bringing “food” back with him. He had the power of leaping, so it literally only took minutes for him to disappear to any country in the world where it was night and return with a somewhat bewildered human for Jodis and Eiji to feed upon. He could then leap to a different country, taking the drained human with him to dispose of.

No witnesses, no evidence.

“No, I guess he wouldn’t,” Cronin agreed. He refused to think of how Alec would perceive his dietary habits. Alec was a cop, no less, and no doubt believed murder was the grandest deal breaker…

“Go feed, Cronin,” Jodis said. “Bon appétit.”

Cronin gave her a half smirk, then disappeared.

He found it difficult to concentrate. The distance and time away from Alec felt like lead in his gut, but he leapt to an abandoned alley in Paris. The night was darkened with a color that did nothing to impede his sight and chilled with an air he acclimatized to quickly. Sometimes he would walk the streets, feeling the life in the city around him, or catch up with other vampires and discuss issues in their world.

But tonight he wasted no time. Cronin waited for just a moment, listening with his impeccable vampire hearing for the familiar conversation he sought.

He waited for the right words to slink through the air. Those words…

He didn’t have to wait long. He never did.

He listened as the would-be attacker struck up a conversation with a woman as she walked down the dark street alone. She ignored him at first, hurrying along, quickly deducing that the man wanted neither the time, nor a cigarette…

The woman begged for him to leave her alone, and when he grabbed her arm, dragged her into the alley, and pushed her to the ground, she begged for her life. Cronin didn’t really care about the life or death of humans, per se… but not like that. It was not supposed to be like that…