Bitter Fruits (7 page)

8.

We discover that Caleb does not have Henry, although he is amused as hell that we thought so. I’m not sure what’s funny about being a villain, but his mockery and condescension are blatant when we confront him. In the small cabin he must call home, he looks disinterested in our plight but he still kicks a chair over to where I stand and invites me to sit.

“I have better things to involve myself with than capturing men in tweed coats with whom I would discuss what? Campbell’s crossing of the threshold?” He winks at me, although I’m not sure what he’s trying to prove - that he knows his mythology or that he thinks the potential kidnapping of my friend is humorous.

“Brother,” is all Alec says, although I am more forthcoming.

“Henry could be dead! He
could be injured, and you want to make jokes? You think it’s hilarious when we suffer? Why? Because you have no compassion or empathy?” I scream at Caleb until Alec leads me to sit.

“So tell me how I can help,” Caleb says. “How can I use this empathy you speak of to solve all the ills that have potentially befallen your friend?”

“You were the last to see him,” I argue.

“That may be true, but I did not kill your professor, nor did I take him somewhere to reveal to him any evil plan you seem to imagine I’m concocting. I went to him for information; his information was useless, but killing him wasn’t necessary. It would only have called further attention to my brother and me, which, despite my best efforts, he seems to have forgotten it is critical we avoid.”

Alec stands behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders. His fingers dig into my flesh and I know that he is angry, but he does not speak. I stare at Caleb, his dark hair, as always, falling into his eyes. I try (and mostly fail) not to let his grin bother me. Who would possibly find this situation amusing if he had a soul? Even if Caleb had nothing to do with Henry’s disappearance, it’s not funny.

“Caleb, someone knows where he is and you were the last to speak to him. Maybe something you said-” I know I’m pleading and it goes against my nature, but I decide it’s best to play into the way he sees me. Let him think he is the hero if it gets him to help us out; his anger at his brother and his selfish jealousy started a war that has now reached into my mundane life.
Perhaps giving him the chance to shine will make him a willing ally.

“Sweetheart, we spoke of a myth he has been researching and then he asked me some personal questions, which I, of course, evaded. It’s a good thing that Alec wasn’t there, as Henry would likely now have every detail of our lives at his disposal. I don’t doubt he would be open to sharing them all with his torturers.”

I lean forward and speak slowly. Any human being would sense my agitation and feel sympathy - or at least
something
. Caleb, however, is cold and unfeeling. “Please, Caleb, for the love of all that may or may not matter to you, help me. Help
us
. If you think he’s being tortured, it is even more critical that we find him.” Tears try to fight free from my eyes but I will not allow them. Caleb may already have his assumptions and I may be willing to let him be the savior, but he isn’t going to call me weak again.

He leans back and takes in the sight of Alec and me. His eyes travel across my face and continue down. He smiles when they pause at my chest and I feel sick that I get tingly at the visual caress. What’s wrong with me?
There’s something about him that calls to my body even while his brother’s hands hold me in place. Shaking myself to release the tingles, I focus and steady my breathing. Alec is twitching and something is brewing in the room; there isn’t much time left for these two. Rage is tangible and I do my best to bring us back to the task at hand. Their battle will come, but not now. I only wish that I’d met Alec sooner, that I had more time to gather the tools to help him fight what stalks him. The tools, apparently, to help him destroy his brother.

“Fine,” Caleb says.
“Fine. It goes against all sense and reason, but I’ll help you.”

I jerk myself free from Alec and run to Caleb, embracing him. “Thank you,” I
say, my genuine surprise at his willingness overcoming all that is right. His hands move under my hair and I feel one tighten around my neck. Our lips are only a breath apart and I forget Alec in the instant, my head moving to Caleb’s, my lips parting to taste him on me again. He pulls me closer in the embrace, but avoids my kiss. Instead, he whispers in my ear, quiet enough that his brother cannot hear him. “Don’t deny what you feel; I feel it, too. It’s foolish to pretend there is nothing between us.”

Alec is watching us and I back away slowly, trying to remain unaffected by both Caleb’s touch and his comment. There is nothing to
be gained by revealing it and everything to be lost. Caleb’s eyes don’t leave mine as I back away, but neither of us makes any move to show that the moment even existed outside of our minds. When I reach Alec’s side, he wraps his arms around me, possessive suddenly, and I see the questions Caleb’s stare burns into me. I don’t have any answers, merely the same questions.

There is a brief contest between the brothers, as if they know something about me, something about what is brewing, but neither speaks. I get the impression that this has happened before, that I am not the first woman to stand between them in their epic feud. There is no revelation of whether this is true; they only glare at one another and Alec’s arms tighten as Caleb’s upper lip turns up in a smile.

“Shall we get to finding your professor?” He asks. The challenge is broken and my mind attempts to shake what just happened. There is no time to be thinking these things, to be caught up in whatever this is. I don’t have a plan for finding Henry, so I wait for instructions. None come and the silence weighs on me as powerfully as Henry’s disappearance.

Caleb begins. “Okay, so what do we already know? Other than that I don’t have him.”

I am shaking, although I don’t know what the trigger was. Alec pulls me back to my chair, comforting me, and helping me to settle down. He then finds his own; the conversation will take a while, now that we have exhausted our only lead.

“Scarlet came back to the dorm a mess. His office had been ransacked.”

“How could she tell?” Caleb asks and I can’t help but laugh. Henry’s office does have its own slovenly style.

“She said his things were missing. She also mentioned pages torn from books, entire shelves pushed to the floor, and a trail of blood. All of which I’m confident were not there this afternoon,” I add.

“But no note? No ransom?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I mean, Henry is a professor of mythology.
Who on earth would want to hurt him? What could they possibly gain that they couldn’t learn from a book?”

“He’s been poking around lately,” Caleb says softly. “I needed to talk to him because he was circling close to people who may have insight into Alec and me and our hunt; there are forces who would not want Henry to find the information.”

“Forces? So Lilith?” I ask. There are only three of them, according to Alec - and if neither of them has Henry, I think it’s pretty clear who does. “I mean, she’s your mother, right? The woman who turned you? All that?”

“She’s smart,” Caleb says to Alec.

“Why is that surprising?” I ask. “Because I’m a girl?”

“Because my brother has confided in you an ancient secret that has never been shared with one of your kind - and you’re still here, speaking of Lilith.
Therefore, you know what? I take it back. You’re abnormally stupid.”

“I pay attention in class.
And I love your brother, curses and monsters notwithstanding. Don’t threaten me or try to frighten me away. I want to end this cycle as badly as you both.” They both just look at me, but someone has to be optimistic. Might as well be me. “Anyway, is there anyone other than our small group who is privy to the information? Could it be anyone else?”

“There are only three who are like us,” Alec explains. “But there are other...less than savory types out there. It’s not necessarily Lilith. Lately there have been-”

“But there are no other vampires?” I ask.

“Ugh, I
hate
that word,” Caleb complains. “According to your people, we dance about, drinking blood, wooing teenage girls, and throwing lavish parties.”

I simply stare at him, given that
this
is basically exactly what he and Alec have done in the past few weeks. Alec chuckles when he sees my expression but neither of us contradicts Caleb. He’s not laughing.

“Not vampires,” Caleb answers with a sneer. “Your word would be revenant, although as you do, you have corrupted the concept.”

“Revenants? Like ghosts?”

Caleb puts his face in his hands and starts to breathe deeply. I think at first he is hyperventilating, but it turns out he is trying to hold his temper. Alec smiles at me weakly and shrugs when Caleb looks at me, rage still simmering in his eyes, and lets out a long, slow breath. Apparently, my mythological creature understanding is not
up to snuff.

“Not.
The. Same. Thing.”

“Fine,” I say. “God, I didn’t know.”

Caleb and Alec both start to spasm. My eyes dart between them; I don’t understand what could be so agonizing that they are suddenly in pain. A quick glance around the cabin reveals nothing, so I wait until the mini seizures pass for Alec to whimper, “Don’t use that word.”

It takes me a second to realize he means
God
, which only confuses me more. “How come you can go in a church if you can’t hear the word?”

“A church is a human construction. There is nothing holy in it,” Caleb replies.

“A lot of people would beg to differ,” I argue.

“Let them. It’s still just stone and mortar.”

“But why? You can speak of demons, of Eden, of Heaven, but you can’t speak of-”

“No,” Alec says. “We chose to abandon His grace. In return, even the slightest mention can harm us. It was part of the curse.”

“But I said it in vain,” I point out. “Which, I suppose, makes me a terrible person.”

“If you had said it with conviction, it would have made us useless to you. At least for a time,” Caleb says. “So be thankful it was only in vain.”

“You know, that’s a really ridiculous weakness. Like Superman has his Kryptonite and all, but that shit is hard to find. It’s not hard to find someone who believes in-”

“Don’t say it,” they say simultaneously.

“I know. Jeez.” I pause. “I can say that?”

“This is getting us nowhere,” Caleb remarks.

“All right. Still, you guys should look into some kind of word protection. All someone has to do is stroll over to you and say one thing and you’re out of commission. Kind of weakens your chances significantly.”

“No one’s hunting us,” Alec says. “The only fight we have is with one another - and with Lilith. And none of us can say the word.”

“Except these revenants.”

“One, we don’t know if they’re after us or not. Two, they
also
cannot say the word, being equally shunned,” Caleb explains.

“Sure. Totally understood,” I say, but I’m on guard.
So much for the magical vampires saving me from all evil. One dude walks into a room and says
God
and I am out of luck. If this is going to be a battle, I best start practicing my kung fu. “Anyway, the point is that Henry stumbled upon something and these revenants, who are not ghosts, are angry?”

“Maybe,” Alec replies.

“Maybe?”

“It’s a start,” he offers. “Although I don’t know what myth my brother...”

Caleb looks up. He’s been thinking, although I don’t know if it was even about Henry. “It may or may not be related. He was researching Lilith and the beginning, but the revenants didn’t begin to rise for nothing. They have to be connected somehow. I just can’t figure out-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alec says. “We just need to find Henry. The rest changes nothing about what we must do.”

“Okay, so what now?” I interrupt. I don’t know much about revenants, vampires, Biblical mythology, or kidnappings in general, and I certainly have no idea what Alec and Caleb are talking about with connections. All I know is that Henry is missing and I need to find him. I wait for directions but neither of them seems to have a plan. Finally, I stand up and neaten my clothes. “Well, let’s find these revenants,” I declare.

Caleb laughs. “
You
aren’t finding anything. My brother or I can go. They won’t dare to hurt us.”

“Why not?”

It's Alec who
replies. “The only one who can kill me is my brother; it is what has been fated.”

“What if someone were to kill Caleb?”

Caleb stands as well and takes his shirt off, showing off an obscenely sexy body.
Come on
, I think.
Really?
I try not to look, try not to be attracted to him, but it’s impossible. If Alec is beautiful, Caleb is even more so. I almost say aloud how unfair it is that he has such an amazing body until he turns, revealing scarred and burnt flesh along his back. The entirety of his back makes it look like he was whipped; thick white scar lines branch across the length of him. However, it is what is in the center of his back that causes me to step forward. In the middle rests a symbol, connecting lines and a circle, all stemming from the scars along the edge. In the absolute center of the circle is a thick triangle, which is not scarred. The black ashy mark could be a tattoo if it was not so obviously the source of great pain. I reach out a hand to touch it, but Caleb steps back.