Entwined With the Dark (15 page)

"Having fun?" I asked the
Iunctio's
Interrogator. Avery Rousseau given free reign to torment. What was the Champion thinking when she gave him that position on the council?

"Immensely, Ms. Monk," he drawled. "But you are interrupting."

"Well, I don't intend to stay long," I said shrugging my shoulders. "You look well," I added, hoping to see if he was as tired as me.

"Fighting fit, Ms. Monk. Now let's get on with this."

He did seem sprightly as he sprang forward off the wall, stashing his knife in lightning vampiric speed. There didn't seem to be a thing wrong with him, other than his slightly dishevelled hair, and blood splattered clothes and skin. I was remarkably jealous.

He took a step forward and I held up my hand for him to stop. He did, with a small smirk playing on his lips. No doubt he knew exactly what I was about to say, Avery could pluck random thoughts at a whim.

"Michel is with me, if you so much as step one toe out of line, his dragon will have a little fun with you himself. OK?"

"Peachy, Ms. Monk," he murmured. "Now if you don't mind, I am working to a schedule and you are putting me behind."

I took a breath in and forced myself to touch the one vampire I despised above all others. He wouldn't have enjoyed the moment anymore than me, but it still rankled that he had been a supporter of the Champion’s plan to join with me. Avery, like most vampires, desired power. He'd got a fair bit when he joined with me, but not as much as he had hoped. And now even less, it would seem.

He had blood on his hands and dotted all over his face. I needed to touch skin on skin, and usually we would just shake hands and be done with it, but I didn't fancy poor Stretch-'N-Racked's blood all over me, so I paused with my hand hovering in the air between us. Avery watched me for a second, maybe two, then growled in annoyance and undid the top button of his shirt, revealing cream unblemished skin beneath.

"Get on with it, would you?" he demanded, sidling up beside me. "For someone who stakes vampires for a living, you have an unbelievably annoying dislike of blood."

"Not all blood," I muttered as I reached for his collar bone and laid a bare hand there.

The moment contact was made I felt my body relax. I hated this part of it, the reminder that together we are stronger, apart we are weak. Touching Avery in my mind was repulsive, but touching him in reality felt like coming home.

His eyes bore into mine as the connection re-established between us, changing from their usual lazy hazel, to amber and ochre, with flashes of jade. He smiled sardonically, and purposely let his fangs descend. Avery wasn't attracted to me in the slightest, but he was attracted to my power and Light.

I wrenched my hand back and shook it, then abruptly wiped it on the material of my skirt. Avery just laughed. "As usual, Ms. Monk, you are a refreshing breeze."

"Feeling the effects of the joining, Avery?" I asked sweetly. He frowned in reply.

"Actually, Ms. Monk, I've been fine. You?"

"Peachy," I repeated his word back to him, he just smiled in return. "So, until next time then," I offered, taking a few steps away. I didn't need the distance to fall back down the Dream Walk path and return to my body, but I liked it.

"Not so fast, my
kindred
," he said with obvious delight at the crestfallen look on my face. "Your question raises some of my own."

Uh oh.

"How have you been, my sweet little Nosferatin?"

I glared at him and crossed my arms over my chest, then thought better of it and pulled a stake from my jacket pocket instead. "Spit it out, Avery, I haven't got all day to play your games. Some of us have a life."

"And what an interesting life you lead. London fun? Enjoy your dinner with the Master of the City? I hear he likes his woman obliging. Do you oblige his tastes?"

I blinked slowly. This was familiar ground, even if the content was a little unnerving. How did Avery know what I had been up to? But, Avery's tone didn't raise any surprise, tormenting was his number one game.

"What do want, Avery?" I asked in a steady, but quiet voice. Then added for fun, "Michel's getting impatient. Well, at least his dragon is."

Avery blanched slightly, his fear of Michel's dragon-within was amusing, to say the least. And helpful.

"They know," he said simply, all of the posturing suddenly gone.

I stood still for a moment, digesting his words. "Who and what?" I finally managed to get out. Avery stripped bare to what I saw now was frightening. Not because I was scared of
him
, but because I was scared of
why
he was behaving this way.

"The Keeper and the Champion. They know I am losing your power, that the
Iunctio
is losing your power. We have mere hours to fix this, before they summon us to their side."

Oh shit. "Fix it how?" I said through an incredibly dry mouth.

He shrugged. "Re-join?"

I frowned. "I don't think it works that way."

"Then how the hell does it work, Ms. Monk! Because you and I are living on borrowed time. She is furious, she thinks we have deceived her." What? "She believes we are against the
Iunctio
, in collusion with the fairies. She
knows
you had a Fey visitor."

Oh hell no. But that explained how he knew about my dinner with Amun. I was being watched by an
Iunctio
spy. Ironic really. Considering Michel is their top spy and not aware of this.

"What can we do?" I asked, stupidly. My mind was a blank.

He let a roar of frustration and anger out at my inability to put this right and then from out of nowhere pulled a sword from a scabbard, and swiped cleanly through the vampire on the rack's neck. No warning, no preamble, no preparation for his death. Dust burst forth in the room and coated us all in a single blast.

I coughed out the vampire residue, having inhaled in my fright, and dry retched onto the ground at my feet. Fuck! Avery was fuming.

And then we were no longer in the dank, dark, room.

A beautiful garden surrounded us, pink and red flowers, vines dripping with verdant green leaves. The smell of honeysuckle and lavender on the air. The trickle of a water feature, from the middle of the paved courtyard we were in. Avery looked mortified and quickly spun to face Michel's dragon.

"I didn't harm her!" he yelled before the dragon had even moved. He stared back at the vampire with emotionless magenta coloured eyes. "I was angry at the situation, I took it out on someone else."

This was always so disconcerting, seeing Avery kowtow to Michel's vampire-within. I knew Michel's vampire was strong, a force to be reckoned with, but I never really appreciated it until moments like this. Avery was not a weakling, by vampire standards, a level one
Sanguis Vitam
Master. But he was nothing compared to this magical creature. To Michel. And he knew it.

I stood still and let it all play out before me. I had tried in the past to calm things down between them, but as much as Michel's dragon loved me, he did not tolerate my interference in this. I quietly walked over to a stone bench and sat down soaking up the sun's rays. The sunlight didn't bother either Avery or the dragon, but it was always sunny here. I pushed my hair back out of my eyes and leaned my neck back, tilting my face to the sun's rays. Closing my lids I let the warmth of the sun calm me and wash away the fear that had recently taken hold.

She knows. It's finally happened. And what did Avery mean that we were living on borrowed time? The Champion couldn't kill me - and by extension, she couldn't kill Avery either, as that would mean my death - she couldn't even arrange for it to happen either. The connection she and I shared would not allow it. Thanks to Nut. It didn't make me feel safe, but it did allow me a modicum of quiet, in order to reason through the consequences of this news.

What would the
Iunctio
do? Well, they would expect me to fix it and they would make me comply by holding something over my head. Michel.

I opened my eyes suddenly at the realisation of this. The dragon was standing directly before me and Avery was trying not to watch the way the enormous, scaled creature gazed at me in utter awe. His leathery wings were stretched out behind him, softly waving as if in a breeze.

My sweet little one
, he whispered in my mind.
You are beautiful
.

I smiled up at him and then flicked my glance to Avery. "He wasn't going to hurt me, you know?" I said softly. The dragon snorted.

He could have, he was angry enough
.

"I need to sort this out. I need to talk to Michel." The dragon nodded.

You wish to leave.
He always sounded so sad when I suggested he let us go back to our realm.

"It doesn't sound like I have much choice. Avery said we have hours to sort this out.
To fix it
, those were his words. I don't have any idea how, so I need to get to work."

The dragon shifted before me, an image of Michel overlaid with the image of a green, scaly monster that didn't frighten me anymore. Michel's dragon was separate from him, but also very much part of the same. They could appear as separate entities, have separate opinions and thoughts, but they could not be separated. Part of the dragon was Michel. Part of Michel was the dragon. And that's why I could love them both.

Avery did not understand this at all. Right now he looked uncomfortable having to witness this exchange. That just made my day. The dragon snorted again at my thoughts.

Take care, little one. I will think on this too.

I nodded, reached up and stroked his rough, scaly jaw and then walked back to Avery.

"You going to behave now?" He glared at me, but didn't say a thing. "I'll be in touch, then. Let you know what I find out. Make sure you phone me if you hear anything from the
Iunctio
. Don't be shy."

"Ms. Monk, shyness is not one of my character traits," he said a little sullenly, disliking the
change in our dynamics from moments before.

"No, Avery, that would be egotism with a healthy dose of sadism thrown into the mix."

"You know me so well," he murmured, but with none of his usual bravado.

I didn't like this attitude, it made the fear come crawling back in, but I chose to ignore his statement and let myself drift back down the Dream Walk connection to my body back in Michel's London home. I only hoped the dragon wouldn't hold on to Avery and torture him just for fun after I left.

Oh, maybe just a little bit was OK.

I woke up next to a sleeping Michel. He'd be out for three hours now. Like Dream Walking, there are caveats to using the dragon's skill. If I Dream Walk twice in one night, I am out for three days. If Michel uses his dragon-within to
pull
me into his mind, he is out for three hours. Annoying, but a reason why he only does it if I am under immediate threat. I hadn't been today, not really, but Avery's loss of temper had been enough for Michel to act, regardless of the consequences.

I leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek, then settled in for another long distance phone call to New Zealand. At least Gregor can't have a go at me for waking them up, it was early evening in Wellington. They'd be at
Desire de Sang
, his club.

Haunting music wafted down the phone line before I heard Amisi's voice.

"Luce! Better timing, I see. What's up?" There was a bang of a door and the music became a muffled noise. Amisi had just left the club room floor.

"I need your Nosferatin know-how," I said, glancing down at Michel's beautiful sleeping profile. I sighed softly as I ran a hand through his sleek hair.

"This sounds serious," Amisi said. "What do you need to know?"

"What happens when a joining is losing its... potency?"

"Ah, you and Avery? Well, I've not really heard of it happening before, not that that means it hasn't. But at a guess it would just affect your powers. One or both of the kindred in the pair simply lose that extra oomph a joining provides. I can't see it draining any more than that which had been gained upon the joining, but in theory you could return to your previous power status."

In Avery's case that would still be a level one
Sanguis Vitam
master vampire. In mine, well, I hadn't lost any of my joined powers when the joining with Michel had been reversed. Michel had, but I hadn't. And when I joined with Avery I just picked up a little speed and a bit more cat-like grace. They still seemed to be prevalent, I hadn't felt either diminishing at all. So was Amisi's conjecture right?

"OK, what about fixing it? Can it be done?" I asked instead.

"Fixing it, why would you want to do that? It could possibly provide more power to the
Iunctio
and then they'd have a better chance of closing the portals to
Álfheimr
."

"I know, but I may not have much choice in the matter. The Champion has become aware of how weak the joining is, she expects me to fix it."

"And the consequences if you don't, could be bad," Amisi finished my sentence for me.

"Yeah, exactly. So do you think it can be fixed? Avery suggested we join again."

Amisi huffed out a breath at that. "That's ridiculous, once you've performed the ceremony it cannot be repeated."

"Are you sure?" I asked, unable to decide if I was relieved or not.

"I'll have to check with some of the Nosferatins back home. Give me a half an hour and I'll be in touch."

"OK," I answered and then remembered the other pressing thing I wanted Amisi's Nosferatin know-how on. "Hey, got a question for you."

"Another?" she replied and I could hear the teasing tone in her voice. "Speak."

I took a deep breath in and tried to organise my thoughts. No matter what way I looked at it, this was going to sound strange. "You know Michel has to go away on missions for the Champion?"

"Hmm-mm," Amisi said encouragingly. She would have known what those missions were likely to entail. I was sure Gregor would have kept her informed, even if I hadn't.

"Well, no matter what I try, I can't seem to get him to open up about them. To tell me
anything
about what transpires when he's away. It's like he shuts me out, puts up this brick wall and I can't break through it." I sighed. "If I'm honest, Amisi, it's not like him." And I realised in that second that it wasn't. Michel
would
tell me everything, if he
could.
"I know he's pulled away from me in the past, but we've been through too much for it to be simply his desire to protect me from something horrid now." She didn't say anything when I paused, so I went on. Verbal diarrhoea starting to make an unwanted appearance. "I get this feeling that he
can't
tell me, not that he
won't
. I don't think I'm explaining it right, but I'm sure
something
is making it impossible for him to let me in." Another sigh. "Amisi, it's killing me."

"You're sure it's a case of
can't
not
won't
?" she asked softly.

"Yes, but I don't really know why I'm so sure. Gut feeling, some of the things he's said or not said. It just all adds up." And I was really starting to believe that, because if it was just Michel not communicating with me due to his desire to protect, it just didn't make sense anymore. We were a team, we'd been through too much. I couldn't see Michel shutting me out like this intentionally.

"Well, you know him better than anyone, so if you say
can't,
I believe you." I was surprised at how much relief I felt at her words. I didn't realise I needed someone else to back me on this hunch, but there you are. I obviously did. "I've heard of this happening before," she said, surprising me again
and
making me hope all at once. "It could be a
Celamentum Contractus
. I wouldn't put it past the Champion to use such a thing on top-secret missions. Plus, she'd also know how much this would cause tension at home for Michel and you. It makes sense, the more I think about it actually. Kill two birds with one stone."

She'd lost me at
Celamentum Contractus
. I hadn't really heard a word she'd said since. The fact that there was a title for what I had suspected was happening to Michel, meant more than I could have thought.

"How does it work? And how do I get rid of it?" I asked, my voice a little numb.

Amisi let a huff of breath out in frustration. "I'm sorry, Luce. I've only heard it referred to in passing back home in Egypt and I would have no idea where to go to find out more. It's a vampire thing, not Nosferatin. All I know is, it is a concealment contract. It's designed to keep the parties within silent. They can't reveal anything pertaining to it. So, if the Champion has used one, it will be to keep Michel from disclosing any details of his trips away."

"And when he's away, he remains out of touch in order to keep any knowledge of the missions silent," I added, but Amisi didn't agree or disagree.

I had a name and a rough idea of what it could do, but nothing else. It was a start and at the very least it confirmed my greatest fears. Michel was being influenced by something the Champion had devised. Had he agreed to it? Was it a natural part of being a spy, sent on delicate political missions? If I tried to remove it, would he be angry? Would the Champion know?

I didn't have any answers, but then I didn't need them. I would not allow the Champion to control Michel's actions to such a degree. He was more than capable of keeping sensitive information to himself, without her having to resort to such measures. Knowing the Champion, the fact that it would mean Michel couldn't communicate with
me
, would have played the biggest part in her using this charm or spell or whatever it was. The Champion always had more than one reason for anything she chose to do.

Kill two birds with one stone.
Amisi couldn't have said it better.

She rang off after that, returning her attention to my initial request, namely the failing joining. If anyone had access to Nosferatin lore on that, it was Amisi. If Nero were still alive I'd be going to him for that, but Amisi was raised in the same Nosferatin community as my Egyptian trainer and friend. She had access to their library and the older, more experienced Nosferatins there.

Half an hour. Michel was still out cold and as it was nearing the middle of the day, the rest of the house being on a nocturnal schedule, were resting or sleeping themselves. I decided I'd fill in some time with a bath. Despite the ancient décor in Michel's house his bathroom was well appointed. Claw foot bath with antique fixtures, but the hot water was quick to come out of the taps, and with my favourite mandarin smelling bath foam, I was set. I made sure my cellphone was nearby and then as Michel was out cold, decided I'd better let his guards and mine know, so sent a quick text before slipping out of my hunting gear and into the steaming bath.

I'd been soaking for several minutes when there was a soft knock on the door.