All Wounds (15 page)

“We live, and we die, just as you do,” Syd replied in a murmur. “Just...

not as often, from the same things, or as in so short a time. Our children are our thralls—those we nurture and take into our lives, under our wing, just as mortal parents do with their children. We’re born into this life, we live it, and yes, we can—and do—die. We honor our fallen and mourn our dead, just as you do. Just because we are not human does not mean we are not humane.” Rebecca reached up to touch Syd’s cheek, encouraging him to look at her. “You eat too,” she reminded him with a smile. “Just like real people.” Sydney smiled at her teasing and brought his hand to cover hers. He turned his head and kissed the inside of her wrist, nipping it playfully with his fangs as he looked into her eyes.

“You’re doing that...that hypnotic thing to me again,” she murmured.

“Remember what it means to look into the eyes of a Master vampire.

Not only is it extremely rude, you should never do so unless you’re prepared to surrender control of yourself. However, this is just simple entrancement, not allure.”

“Why is it rude?” Rebecca asked in a dreamy voice. “Eyes are a big deal in your world, huh? Earlier I had a staring contest with a hellhound.

Was that rude too? It didn’t seem like it...”

“Hellhounds are different,” Syd replied. “To them, eye contact estab-lishes rank and dominance—says who is in charge and who has the right to speak first. It isn’t rude to stare down a hellhound. It’s rude to meet a vampire’s gaze—especially that of a Master—because such a thing involves...let us say...a level of intimacy. And yes...eyes are a ‘big deal’ to Ethereals because eyes are, as you humans say, the window to the soul. Looking a vampire in the eye is like saying you wish to see their soul, and they have none to see.

The immortal soul was sacrificed so that the body and consciousness might take on that immortality. Now do you understand why it’s rude?”

“Mmm,” Rebecca said with a compliant nod. “I think so...I don’t know.

You’re making it hard for me to think.”

Syd gave a soft laugh. “Shall I cease?” he asked as he got to his feet.

He urged her up with him, tugging her arm lightly.

“No, after everything scary today, this feels lovely,” Rebecca replied with a silly smile, rising with his help. “All warm, and happy, and makes me forget that I’m supposed to be mad at you...”

“Don’t be angry with me, Acolyte,” he said in a soothing whisper as he brushed her hair back from her neck, exposing her Healer’s mark. “Anger taints the blood, and I’m not much for spicy food.” His fangs pierced her throat.

Rebecca gasped at the swiftness of it. Her arms went around his neck and she closed her eyes, giving herself completely over to him and hating herself for it.

Don’t hate yourself
, she heard him say in her mind.
And don’t hate me
.

I don’t
, she replied.
I was just scared. Nana
—

Hush
.

Sorry
.

It seemed to last a lot longer than when Ryan had done it, but Rebecca couldn’t be sure. Still, it was warmer, more intense, and she wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Syd moan as he lifted his mouth from her throat.

“Mmm,” Rebecca murmured again, blinking her eyes as she tried to force the cobwebs from them. “I don’t feel like this after Ryan takes my blood.”

Sydney laughed again.

“Ryan doesn’t use entrancement, or any of the other niceties available to us,” he replied. “Yet.” He pulled back a little to see her face. “Think of it as the difference between a gentleman and a brute.”

“He’s been the gentleman?” Rebecca replied, teasing.

Sydney smiled so wide she could see his fangs. His eyes had returned to a bright, metallic blue. “Oh, Acolyte, I’m afraid you know exactly which one I am,” he said. “Feeling better?”

She nodded, still trying to clear her brain of fuzziness.

“My apologies again for all you’ve endured today,” he said as he released her. “And my gratitude for your restoration. You’ve provided me with much more than replenishment.”

“I have?” Rebecca said. “I don’t understand.”

“Through your blood I’ve made sense of what has happened here today, both to you and in this house, and your feelings about it,” Syd replied.

“And I assure you, I will put everything right.” Then he was out the kitchen door, yelling for Billy.

The anubi was nowhere to be found.

Rebecca made herself a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table and tried hard not to think as she sipped at it. Her brow furrowed when she heard the front door open and heavy thuds in the foyer, like a very large person wiping their shoes on the inside mat.

Instantly Syd was by her side, looking highly annoyed.

“Where have you been?” he demanded when Billy finally entered the kitchen.

“Out,” Billy replied. “Some of us need real food, not like you bloodsuckers.”

He grinned at Rebecca, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“I told you, fighting makes me hungry!” Billy said as he set four family-size pizza boxes down on the table. “And didn’t I say I’d get you dinner?” He opened the top box and held it out to Rebecca.

She shook her head. “No thanks. Not hungry.” She surprised herself.

She’d been ravenous all day, until...until the demons...

“More for me,” Billy mumbled around an obscene bite of what looked like three slices of pizza folded into a taco-shape.

Rebecca looked to Syd, wrapping her hands around her own warm mug of tea. She took a sip and studied the vampire sitting across from her. All she really wanted to do was go to sleep and take care of her nana and go to school in the morning and deal with Marla Thompson like normal. Instead she was sitting at a table with a werewolf and a vampire, listening to them discuss how best to raid a demon lair.

She forced her thoughts back to what Syd was saying.

“Now, Billy we need to know which clan they’re from. Can you scent them?”“Sure I can,” Billy said with a shrug. “Their stink is all over the house.”

“Whose stink?” Rebecca asked.

Syd turned on her, his blue eyes fierce. “The demons that came looking for you! Do pay attention, Acolyte!”

Rebecca shook her head. “I don’t get it. I mean...why now? Everything’s been...I don’t know...
normal
forever. Now suddenly, in the last twenty-four hours...”

“It’s in your blood now,” Syd replied. “Now that you’ve been exposed to the Otherworlds, and your birthday is so close, more will follow. More demons. And they will do so at a pace I only hope you can keep up with, lest they consume you. Your power, that is. It’s far too strong. As...as Armaros said, I can’t hope to hide you. They already know where to look.” Rebecca glanced toward the ceiling, imagining the mirror-portal upstairs just waiting to unleash an army of demons the second she turned seventeen.

She swallowed hard and looked at Syd.

He nodded as though confirming her thoughts.

“If they can get to a Healer before she comes into her power, they can harness its manifestation for their own purposes,” Syd replied. “You’re turning seventeen in two days.”

“Can’t we...I don’t know...close the portal? To keep them from coming through until then?” Rebecca asked.

Syd leveled her with a piercing stare. She was careful not to look directly into his eyes, dark or no. “You could close the portal, yes, but to do so now would be turning your back on all that you are and everything you could become. You have that choice. It’s something mortals have that most Ethereals do not.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Free will,” Syd replied. “The portal hasn’t been opened long enough for most beings to realize it, and though war is on the horizon, all-out battle hasn’t begun yet. Believe me, it will begin, and casualties—all manner of creatures in dire need of your assistance—will come through it soon enough. That is, unless you close it again. Martha made that choice for you once, and now the choice is yours. Is it what you truly want, Acolyte? Could you now go back to your old life—for that is how you must look upon it now—knowing that you made this choice when it was presented to you?

That you—forgive my melodrama—turned your back on both who and what you were destined to become?”

Rebecca didn’t hesitate. Not for a second. When she thought about her life as it had been—macaroni and cheese in the cafeteria, Marla Thompson, not having a date for the winter formal—it all seemed so completely idiotic compared to what she had the chance to be. She was needed. Wanted. For the first time ever in her life, she mattered, and the thought of losing that twisted her insides until they hurt.

She shook her head. “I can’t. I won’t. No matter what...things...might um...try to hurt me. So if we can’t close the portal, what else can we do?”

“We know you’re a definite target,” Syd replied. “At first, it was just an educated guess that you would be, and I wasn’t even sure they knew about your existence, but apparently they do. How, I’m not sure. Demons are a lot of things, and one of the things you can do to protect yourself is control your emotions. Demons deliberately provoke stress and anxiety because those are the things they can sense most. Those emotions make you vulnerable to attack. You have to become strong and decisive—”

“Quit cryin’,” Billy interrupted, his mouth full.

Syd glared at the werewolf and went on. “If you do not, they will not only be able to find you easily, they will be able to access your mind and thoughts without much effort. Once they have control of that, it’s only a matter of time before they force full possession. You don’t want that, do you?”

“It’s just...this is hard, and new for me, and—”

“And you’re worried and anxious,” Syd interrupted her. “Time to get tough, Acolyte. Another thing you can do is put the things that worry you away somewhere safe.”

His eyes went to the kitchen entry, and Rebecca understood what he meant before he looked back at her.

Nana.

“You’re in danger, Acolyte, and Martha even more so,” he continued.

“They will kidnap her and use her to make you surrender to them. She doesn’t have enough power to be any use to them besides that, and they will not hesitate to use her to get to you. While Martha is in this house and the portal is open, both of you are in terrible danger.”

“Then we have to get her somewhere safe,” Rebecca said. “But...but she said...she’s only herself again because you’re here. If we send her somewhere...won’t she...slip back to being confused again?”

“I’ll give her a talisman and see that it contains enough of my power to sustain her in her absence,” Syd replied. “So she’ll be safe and you won’t have to worry about her. Remember what I said. You must not worry. You mustn’t. You’re just making yourself a larger target when you worry.”

“I can’t help it! She’s my nana!”

“Then where can she go that you won’t worry about her?” Syd asked.

“Can’t she go somewhere with you?” Rebecca asked. “I wouldn’t worry if she were with you.”

Syd shook his head. “The demons know I’m here now and it won’t take much for them to deduce that I’m protecting you. They’d come for Martha first thing if I tried to conceal her at my clan’s lair or one of the Otherworlds. And while I fear for her safety, you’re more important.” He held up a hand to stop Rebecca’s protest before he continued. “I’m sorry, but you are. You’re the concern, the priority. Now stop worrying and
think
.” Rebecca swallowed hard and thought for a long moment. “Nana used to have this really good friend. She lives two towns away and they haven’t talked in a long time. Once Nana stopped driving... Anyway, I’m sure Gretchen would be glad to...um...have the company for...for awhile. But Nana will worry and want to be here, and—”

Syd held up his hand again. “Stop worrying about her comfort. This is for her safety
and
comfort. Make the call. I’ll talk to her and explain.” Rebecca nodded as Syd left the kitchen. She tried to convince herself that this was the right thing to do. The safe thing. She had to get her nana out of there. The demons could have killed her nana today, or taken her hostage, or something horrible. All because of her.

Call!
she heard Syd order in her mind.

Rebecca stopped worrying and picked up the phone.

w x

Less than an hour later, Martha waved goodbye to her granddaughter from the passenger seat of a, “classic” according to Billy, 1981 Imperial.

Gretchen had been overjoyed to hear from her old friend’s granddaughter and was more than happy to host Martha for a week or so. “More than happy” was an understatement. Gretchen had detailed the remodel of her guest bedroom for Rebecca and raved about how nice it was that Martha would be the first to stay in it. Gretchen insisted that Rebecca not worry at all about her grandmother—she was going to have such a great time! They’d play Scrabble and Nana’s old favorite, gin rummy, and maybe even bridge if their other two friends that made up their old foursome were available.

Rebecca smiled and waved back, assuring her nana she’d be safe. After all, what was she going to do? Throw wild parties with all her friends?

When the car had disappeared from the driveway with her nana and the evil white menace Mishka inside it, Rebecca went back into the kitchen.

Syd and Billy were upstairs trying to figure out what clan the demons had come from. Rebecca poked what little remained of Billy’s three pizzas around inside their boxes and thought about cleaning up when the werewolf entered the kitchen carrying the fourth box with him, still scarfing now-cold pizza.

He offered her the box again, and again she waved him off. Ew.

Rebecca made a pot of coffee, glad for once that her nana wasn’t there.

Nana never let her make herself a coffee. She believed it would stunt her growth. At the very least it would keep her awake all night, which is exactly what Rebecca was hoping it would do.

It’s not like she was tired anyway. Like she could think about sleep after today! Besides, with everything that had happened over the last day or so, she was going to need the caffeine just to keep up with all she had to learn!