House of Ravens (6 page)

My presence here has drawn the attention of
several workers. It would be hard not to, sitting in my baby blue
Porsche. It’s a looker. Furrowed brows and extended necks turn in
my direction. I see their mouths move and their words float to my
enhanced ears.

“
That the Conrath girl?”
one asks.

“
I heard she died in the
storm,” another speaks up. “Thought she left her fortune to that
house of freaks she took from Jasmine.”

“
Looks alive and well to
me.”

“
Think the rumors are
true?”

This gains him a sharp look from the first
man. “Watch your tongue. You know what happened last time people
went speculating. You can wonder, but you don’t say it out
loud.”

They both look in my direction, distrust and
fear in their eyes.

I don’t know what to do about this. I’ve
been trying, for so long, to gain the trust of the people here. But
things keep happening, and I don’t know that they’re ever going to
stop happening.

Maybe there really is nothing I can do about
it.

Maybe in some ways, Henry was right to just
keep to himself.

It’s certainly easier.

I start the car and flip around. I can feel
eyes following me and can only imagine what’s running through their
heads.

I’m already gaining legendary status. In
this short timeframe. Just like Henry.

I’ve just rounded the corner, pulling back
onto Main Street, when flashing lights reflect in my rearview
mirror. I swear under my breath. “Are you kidding me?”

I pull over to the side of the road, parking
in front of one of the few historical houses that still line the
main drag of town. I breathe out an annoyed sigh as I pull my
license out of my wallet, preparing to have my day ruined.

But as I roll down my window, a familiar
face drops down into my view.

“
Morning, Miss
Ryan.”

“
Luke,” I breathe out, not
quite in relief, but also in surprise. “Were the lights really
necessary?”

A little smile tugs on one side of his mouth
that tells me he’s enjoying watching me suffer just a little bit.
“Hey, how else was I supposed to get your attention?”

“
Jerk,” I say, giving him a
glare and a smile.

He just shrugs, giving me a smile of his
own. “So, I see the rumors are not true. Here you are, in the
flesh. Alive.”

“
Apparently most of town
thought I was dead?” I question. I nod my chin for him to back up,
and I climb out of my car. Closing the door, I fold my arms across
my chest and lean against it.

Sheriff McCoy nods, hooking his thumbs in
his belt loops and looking very much the part of a cop in a small
Southern town. “No one had seen you in almost two months. You
wouldn’t be the only one who froze to death in that freak storm.
Your known associates seemed to be taking over for you. Town starts
talking.”

“
I nearly was a dead woman.
I got dragged to Austria for a trial. Did you know that?” I ask,
looking in his direction.

“
I heard,” he nods. “Anna
and Nial did a good job of keeping things under control while you
were gone.”

“
I’m glad to hear that. I
hope the House members were helpful while I was away.”

Luke shrugs. “When you’re terrified of the
group wandering town, asking what they can do to help, it’s hard to
be very appreciative.”

I chuckle at that. Yeah, this is going to be
a never ending, no-win battle.

“
I think they also blame
your House for the…unsettled feeling about town.” His eyes darken
at that and turn to the sky.

There’s no longer swirling clouds above us,
and constant thunder rippling through the sky. No more snow making
it impossible to maneuver through town. But the air. The thickness
to it. The way it catches in your throat. The way it makes your
heart race before tripping and falling flat. There’s a feeling of
terror that lingers around us all.

“
It’s a curse, you know
that, right?” I ask, dropping my voice several octaves lower. I nod
my chin in the direction of The Hanging Tree. “Just like that night
they hanged Elijah. Just like the Southern Estate. It’s changed in
the way it looks, feels. But it isn’t over yet.”

“
Yeah, I know,” he says. He
leans against my car, too, looking out over the river and the dead
tree that stands at the end of Main Street. Its dead, black limbs
stretch out far, reaching for the sky, never to bear leaves again.
“Timing sure was interesting for when it changed, huh?”

I look over at him and don’t miss the
accusation in his voice. “Sure was. I never said it wasn’t for me.
But…”

“
But you’re still standing,
and you and yours seem to be doing just fine,” he filled in. And
it’s there in his voice. While I am the obvious one to blame, what
he’s said is true.

“
Ian’s back,” I say,
changing the subject. The surprise on Luke’s face is obvious. “He’s
doing a lot better. And I think he’s going to be a lot of help in
the danger that’s about to start back up.”

“
Back to hunting vamps?” he
asks, the lines around his eyes tightening. “Even though he is one
now?”

I shake my head. “Like I said, he’s doing a
lot better. He’s not plagued by self-loathing all the time, at
least. But yeah, I have a feeling he’s not going to let anyone in
Silent Bend be hurt by this army anymore. He’s ready to get back to
his new—old, self.”

“
Well, praise Jesus for
that,” Luke says, and the relief in his voice is not hidden one
bit.

I nod, letting a tight smile pull on my
lips. “There’s something I need to ask you. And I’m serious.”

“
What’s that?” he says, his
features instantly darkening. I can’t blame him. When I ask for
something, it’s never easy, or good.

“
I need you to be on the
lookout for someone. I think I’m still being spied on, and I think
there still might be someone sneaking into the House.”

“
Who?” he asks as his brows
furrow.

“
Henry.”

The weight of the single word hits us both
heavy. Instantly bringing mass and seriousness to the
conversation.

Luke takes nearly a full minute, processing
what I just said, and applying it to the previous statement I just
made. I told him I was serious, so he knows not to ask that.

“
We’ve found some things.
He’d left little clues, right from the beginning. And, well, I
opened his tomb. It was empty.” My eyes lose focus, recalling that
intense moment. I should have found bones and decaying flesh.
Instead, all I discovered was air and another clue.

“
Henry Conrath is alive?”
Luke asks, and I know it’s for himself. “Then where has he been the
last ten months?”

I shake my head. “I don’t
know. But I’m sure he hasn’t stayed away this whole time. I need
you to be on the lookout for him. And I need you to tell me right
away if you see anyone who even
might
be Henry. Would you recognize
him?”

The Sheriff nods. “I met him once, about
four years back. People aren’t lying when they say you look just
like him.”

I know. I’ve seen it, too. We’re father and
daughter, in looks and DNA and immortal fate.

I open the door to my car, turning back for
a moment. “Everything else has been okay, right?”

His expression falls a bit. “Yeah,” he says.
“Things have been…almost normal for a few weeks.”

That makes my heart sink. “I’m sorry that’s
about to change again. I swear, I’m doing my best to make
everything right.”

I can tell he knows he should say something
like, “I know,” but he still doesn’t fully trust me and my ability
to make things right, not when I’ve been the inciter of so much
wrong.

“
Keep me informed,” he says
instead, with a nod.

I say a goodbye and climb back into the car,
starting the engine, and pulling back onto the road.

I pull my cell phone out and dial Nial. He
answers after just two rings. “Hey,” I say. “Could you and Lillian
meet me at the Institute in just a few minutes? I’m headed there
now.”

“
Of course,” he says.
“We’ll leave right now.”

“
Thanks, see you in a
minute.”

With a few minutes to kill, I loop around
town, my eyes searching the shadows. Looking for yellow eyes.
Looking for faces that look like mine.

I need to find so many different
individuals, and don’t know how to look for any of them.

Finally, I head toward the Institute.

As the road changes to gravel, the ground
outside becomes saturated. The trees that rise out of the ground
are full, lush.

But I swear, it’s just a little
different.

The smell isn’t what it once was.

There’s more greenery.

Maybe I’m just being hopeful. Seeing things
that aren’t really there.

I look into my rearview mirror when a motion
catches my eye and see Lillian’s car behind me. She and Nial sit
inside, sunglasses on. We turn right onto the driveway that leads
to the Institute.

I still can’t believe how much better it
looks as we pull into the line of cars that sit before the enormous
House. When Jasmine lived here, it was dilapidated. Destroyed.
Broken. And while it certainly isn’t as grand and perfectly
beautiful like the Conrath Estate, it is lovely.

“
I trust you slept well,”
Nial says as we all walk up the stairs together.

“
I did, thank you,” I say
appreciatively. He’s always taking such good care of me.

“
Does that mean you
actually got sleep last night?” Lillian teases, giving me a
look.

I blush at her insinuation. “Remember that
status I told you about? It still stands.”

She gives me a knowing look, smiling at our
little shared secret. Back before I was taken away and she doubted
me, I shared the fact that Ian is a virgin with her and Anna.

Nial clears his throat, clearly embarrassed
to be listening in on such a private conversation.

“
Sorry,” I say with a
chuckle.

He shares a little look with Lillian that
makes me glance at the two of them a second time. And makes me
wonder…

Lillian opens the door, and the three of us
step inside. And where once this house was dirty and broken, now it
is cozy and comfortable. The windows are fully blocked off, so it’s
dark, but perfect for a Born vampire’s eyes. Draperies line the
windows; paintings now hang on the wall. A beautiful rug dominates
the entryway, where an ornate table sits with a gorgeous vase of
fresh cut flowers.

“
Was this your work?” I ask
Lillian.

“
It was a team effort,” she
says with a smile. “Francesca has beautiful taste.”

The name echoes in the back of my head, and
I’m scrambling to place a face to it. So many new members joined my
house shortly before I was taken away, I never really got the
chance to get to know any of them.

But just then, a young woman rounds the
corner, walking into the foyer, and instantly, I am reminded.

Cyrus involuntarily made the House of
Allaway trade five members to my House. Francesca was forced to
volunteer to come to my House. In the end, it probably saved her
life, for when their House left mine, just minutes later, most of
them were slaughtered by the Bitten army.

“
Hello, Alivia,” she says,
giving me a little bow. “Welcome home.”

“
Thank you,” I say,
offering her a polite smile. “You’ve done some beautiful work with
the place.” It’s a little disorienting, knowing she helped do all
of this. She looks so young, probably only eighteen or so, but when
you’re dealing with immortal Born, they could be any age. Hundreds
of years old, or only barely Resurrected.

She blushes, bowing her head in humility.
She doesn’t quite seem to know what to do in my presence.

“
I look forward to getting
the chance to know you better,” I offer, trying to break the ice.
I’m generally not the most extroverted person when it comes to new
people, but this girl’s unease is tangible. “How long were you with
the House of Allaway?”

“
Nine years,” she says. “As
a Born, anyway. My family has lived around the Allaways for a long
time, but I was the first Born.”

I nod, getting some sense of this girl. She
knew what she was before she Resurrected. That seems to be a
rarity.

“
Excuse me, my Lady,”
Francesca says. “I need to wake Holland for the
meeting.”

“
Of course,” I say, trying
to be as friendly as I can. I want her to feel welcomed. A part of
our family.

She walks away, leaving just the three of
us.

“
Has anyone left yet?” I
ask as I watch the girl go.

“
Gerard left just two days
after Cyrus took you to Court,” Nial says.

“
Lexington keeps talking
about it, but he never leaves,” Lillian says. She takes no care to
lower her voice, which maybe she should, even though any resident
of this house will be able to hear even the smallest whisper. “But
the rest—I think they’re scared. It was the King’s doing that
brought them here. They’re scared if they leave, they’re betraying
his orders.”

I nod. It’s terrible, that they feel they
have no choice, but I understand it. Cyrus’ will is a force to be
reckoned with. “So, how many new members does that leave us with,
then?”

“
Nine, with everyone Cyrus
made the Allaways trade,” Nial answers. “Plus your friend from
prison, though I get the feeling he isn’t joining the
House.”