Cronin's Key (8 page)

Oh.
“Cats.”

Cronin petted Sammy, making the cat purr even louder. “You have a photographic memory, Alec, you’ve seen symbols of cats everywhere. Have you not?”

Alec’s mind scrambled through his memory banks to recall images of cats… Not just domesticated cats, but the biggest cats of all.

Lions.

National flags all around the world, monarchy symbols of European and Asian alike, dozens of coats of arms, on shields and crests of battle gear for most nations, statues at government offices, museums, and places of worship. There were lions on sarcophagi dating back to Greek mythology, and ancient Southeast Asian histories, South American lore, and medieval Europe showed lions on just about everything.

Lions were emblazoned on every continent. Every. Single. One. Hell, there were even flags of the British lion in Antarctica.

“Oh.” Alec swallowed hard as realization settled in. “They’re everywhere.”

The lion didn’t represent strength and bravery. It was a symbol to warn the evil and to protect the good, and it had been for thousands of years across the globe. Alec snorted in disbelief. “And I thought there was no documentation of vampire lore anywhere.” He shook his head again. “Jesus. It really is
everywhere
, isn’t it?”

“I told you it was there. You only had to know what to look for?”

“But cats?” Alec asked. “Seriously?”

Cronin smiled. “Where is the biggest, most famous of all?”

“Oh Jesus,” Alec whispered. “The Sphinx.”

“Yes.”

“And they protect?”

“The symbols are to warn. They hold no protective powers as such.”

“So if the biggest warning symbol is in Egypt, then it’s fair to assume that’s where the biggest… war will be?”

Cronin gave a small nod. “Well, that and the fact that the Egyptian covens are moving out, it seems most likely, yes.”

“Was that sarcasm?” Alec deadpanned. “Were you always such a smartass in your human life or did it take a good twelve hundred years to work on that one?”

Cronin chuckled. “I see it’s a skill you managed to master in just twenty-nine years.”

Alec rolled his eyes and sighed. He watched Cronin with Sammy for a moment and shook his head again, still not quite believing what he knew to be true. “Cats?”

Sammy nudged his head against Cronin’s chest, still purring loudly. Cronin smiled. “Yes, Alec. Cats.”

“Why not dogs?” Alec asked. “Oh wait, is that because of the whole werewolf thing? Because I’ve seen those lycan movies…” Alec’s eyes went wide. “Shit. Are there such things as werewolves? Who can tear through vampire flesh?”

Now it was Cronin who rolled his eyes. “Did you not want to collect some personal effects?”

“Oh,” Alec said, remembering what they’d actually come to his apartment for. He grabbed a duffel bag from his wardrobe and started shoving clothes in it. It occurred to him—like he knew it in his bones—that he’d never be coming back, so he stopped packing clothes and started with photos instead.

“I need to speak to my father,” Alec said. They’d collected everything he’d wanted from his apartment, including Sammy, without so much as another word between them and leapt back to Cronin’s apartment. Alec ran his hands through his hair and leaned his head against the back of the sofa.

Alec knew police protocol. He knew his father would have been questioned and in all likelihood was now under surveillance from the NYPD. He would have been told that his son had disappeared and very probably shown CCTV footage of him vanishing into thin air with another man.

“I understand,” Cronin said quietly.

“But?”

“But nothing,” he answered. “I will speak to Eiji and Jodis and hear what they have to say.” His brow furrowed. “Alec, I don’t wish to take anything away from you. If there is a way we can involve your father without causing harm or attention to him, then we should.”

Alec looked at Cronin for a long moment. “Thank you.”

Cronin smiled. “Tell me about him. Eiji said he’s a Scot?”

Alec snorted. “Yes. He was born in Callanish, Scotland but came to the US as a boy. I never knew my mother. She died not long after I was born. My dad and I are close. Well, I mean, we were. Growing up, he was cool with everything. He handled the weird shit right along with me.”

“What weird shit?”

“Well, when I was a kid, there were a few times when things didn’t quite add up. Like the time I was about four and I was climbing the bookcase like a ladder. It was six foot high and heavy as hell, and my dad told me a hundred times not to climb it. I did anyway and it fell. I should have been underneath it and it probably should’ve killed me, but I was pulled out before it flattened me. Dad came running back in and I was a good few feet from the bookcase. He swore I must’ve just fell farther than I thought, but I remember being pulled out of the way.”

Cronin pursed his lips and his nostrils flared.

“Then there was the time I was supposed to be having a sleepover at Bobby Monroe’s house, but we fought over some game or something stupid and I walked home. It wasn’t too far, just a block or two, but it was nine o’clock at night and I was about eight years old.”

Cronin’s voice was quiet and methodical. “You walked the streets of New York City alone at night when you were eight?”

“Uh, yeah,” Alec admitted. He cringed. “Just that once. Anyway, there was a man who asked me if I wanted him to take me home, but my dad had told me a hundred times not to talk to strangers so I took off. Well, he chased me, so I took a shortcut through the alley, but he caught me. He grabbed my jacket and I turned around just in time to see him get lifted off me in a blur. I heard him screaming, and man, I ran. I ran all the way home.” Alec shook his head. “I scared the crap outta my dad. And holy hell did I get my ass kicked for that.”

Cronin took a slow, deep breath. “I get the feeling there are a lot of these kinds of stories?”

“Yep. I almost drowned once, but got pulled out of the local indoor pool. My dad saw that one. He ran after the guy who pulled me out, but it was raining and he was gone. Like he literally disappeared.”

Cronin nodded. “And?”

“Dad started to believe me then. There were a few times throughout high school. Some seniors tried to lock me in the storage lockers under the bleachers in my junior year, and the three of them ended leaving the school citing some crap about ghosts or some shit. I heard one of them was in therapy for years,” Alec said with a slow nod as he realized something. “It was all Eiji, wasn’t it? Every time?”

“I’m starting to think so,” Cronin said. “Believe me, I’ll be asking him.” He tilted his head. “There was an incident with a bullet?”

“Oh, there sure was.” Alec smiled. “It was the weirdest one of all. It was just two years ago, routine bust, just at sunset. The perp swung his pistol and it discharged. It was five feet from me, aimed right at my head, but the bullet kind of blurred and changed trajectory in midair, like it bent or something. It went from head-height straight down and got me in the leg instead.” Alec touched the indent on his thigh. He could feel the divot through his jeans. “It went straight through. I had muscle damage and spent five months doing physical therapy, but I heal fast apparently. It’s as good as new now. Well, it was better than being shot in the head.”

Alec could have sworn that Cronin growled.

“Six other cops saw that bullet change direction. They all reported it but it just got written off as some freak anomaly.” Alec studied Cronin for a moment. “How did Eiji do that?”

“From what you describe, I’d say he deflected the bullet,” Cronin answered. “If his speed was that of the bullet or faster, simply brushing it would have made it appear to bend.”

“Faster than a bullet?”

Cronin nodded. “Vampires can move very fast, beyond what the human eye can detect.”

“Or what the human brain will process,” Alec added. “What humans actually see and what they convince themselves they see are not always the same thing.”

“Very true.” Cronin looked at Alec’s leg. “Does your leg hurt?”

Alec saw the set of Cronin’s jaw and the way he failed to disguise his anger. “Why do I get the feeling that whatever pain level I admit to will be directly proportional to how much you yell at Eiji?”

Cronin laughed. “Because you almost being shot in the head is directly proportional to how much he deserves to be yelled at.”

“Oh, leave him alone. He was doing what he thought was right.”

Cronin raised one eyebrow at him. “Is that so?”

“Yep. And anyway—” Alec shrugged. “—my leg doesn’t hurt anymore. He saved me plenty of times, or so it seems.”

Cronin sighed loudly, angrily even, then was quiet for a while. Eventually, he said, “Your father…”

“Yeah? What about him?”

“Do you still talk often?”

“Yeah, kind of. Not as much as I should, though. It’s just that life gets busy, ya know? I try to visit once a week. We have Sunday lunch together sometimes, but I was always busy with work.”

Delaying those phone calls and postponing visits was something Alec was truly starting to regret. “I’d like to see him, not just talk to him.”

Cronin nodded, then his brow furrowed. “I’d like to meet him also,” he said. “If you’re agreeable.”

“If I’m agreeable?” Alec repeated with a smile. “You know, it’s kinda cute the way you speak.”

Embarrassment heated Cronin’s cheeks.

“And vampires blush?” Alec asked, his smile smug.

Cronin barked out a laugh. “It is something I’ve not experienced in a very long time. Well, not before I met you.” He was particularly cute when he spoke with a smile. “I have adapted over the centuries. It helps with blending in, though human traits remain. My accent is long faded.”

“Your accent is sexy as hell,” Alec said, unsure of what made him say something so brazen.

Cronin blinked. “Oh.”

Alec cleared his throat. “I really have no idea why I said that,” he said. “I mean, it’s true. But I’m not usually so… I don’t normally just blurt shit out like that.”

Cronin laughed again, and there was nothing but warmth in his eyes. Alec couldn’t believe eyes that dark could be so warm. “For what it’s worth, Alec, I like the sound of your voice too.”

Alec smiled back at him, their eye contact intense. It was the first time he realized he might actually be smitten with Cronin.

Smitten
, Alec thought.
Who the fuck uses words like
smitten
? Oh, that’s right. I do. Apparently. Since Mr. Suave-and-Sexy-Vampire here leapt into my life and informed me that we’re fated to one another for all eternity.

The more Alec thought about the whole fated-soul thing, the less he minded. He couldn’t deny his physical attraction to Cronin. His heart rate spiked and his whole body flushed when he saw him, and dear God, when he was near him… But it wasn’t just physical. He was so intelligent and learned, he’d lived through things Alec couldn’t fathom, and Alec wanted to hear every story, every recount of every year he’d lived. Oh, and that rust-colored hair was so damn perfect, and he had the sexiest smirk. The kind that made Alec’s insides flip.

Before Alec’s thoughts could get away from him, Cronin said, “It’s quite late. I hope you don’t think it rude, but I will retire to my room.”

Alec looked at his watch. It was four in the morning. “Oh yeah. Me too,” he said, standing up. Then he realized how that sounded. “I mean, I’ll be going to my room. Not yours.”

Cronin stood up as well, leaving just two feet between them. Alec could have sworn the air in the room was suddenly thick and electric. Cronin’s eyes seemed to darken, and his voice was softer when he spoke. “I knew what you meant.”

Alec tried to laugh it off. “So, you
do
sleep? I mean, you said you did, but unless I missed something last night, I didn’t think you had.”

“I didn’t sleep last night. I don’t require as much as a human, and I can go for a few days without sleep, though I do need to eventually, yes, but only for a few hours.”

Alec nodded slowly, their eyes locked on each other. “Right. Good to know,” he whispered.

They didn’t move, they didn’t blink. Alec could hear his own heart hammering in his chest and he was sure Cronin could too. The vampire smiled and took a step backward, away from him, though Alec thought he saw a glimpse of fangs before he turned and walked toward the hall.

Alec took a deep breath as quietly as he could, though he knew damn well Cronin could hear that too. He followed Cronin to where the bedrooms were, and Cronin stopped at his own door. It was open and he pushed on it. “Oh.”

“What is it?” Alec asked, looking around Cronin into the room. Sammy the cat was curled up and sound asleep on Cronin’s bed. Alec laughed. “Wondered where he went to.”

“Well, he can’t…” Cronin started to say. “It can’t sleep on my bed.”

Alec opened the door to his own room and chuckled at the horrified look on Cronin’s face. “He’s a bed hog too. Sprawls out like he owns it.” He walked into the room, and just before he closed the door behind him, he said, “Good luck with that.”

All jokes aside, lying in bed, all Alec could think about was how much he wished he was in Cronin’s bed, instead of the cat.

Smitten?
Yeah, right.
He knew he’d give in. He knew he’d get the chance to kiss him soon, to taste his lips, to feel his body pressed against his. He wanted it. He wanted Cronin.

The last thought Alec had before drifting off to sleep was to wonder just how much of the attraction was fated? Was it real? How would he know? If they weren’t fated and he’d met Cronin in a bar, would he even be interested?

And the truth was, having all choice removed made the jittery smitten feeling taste a little like betrayal.

* * * *

Alec woke up tired. His watch told him it was almost 10:00 a.m. The smell of coffee dragged him out of bed and into the shower.

Alec tried not to think about how it must have been Cronin who made the coffee he could smell, Lord knew it wasn’t on his list of dietary requirements.

He knew Cronin had to feed, and he knew vampires would be feeding all around the world and had been for millennia. Just because he now knew about it didn’t change that fact.