Cronin's Key III (4 page)

“
So in this—” Eiji paused, and Alec saw him searching his
mind for the right word. “—time slip, you’re powerless?”

“
I think so,” Alec
admitted. “Though I’d need another encounter to test it for
certain. I was taken off-guard before, but now I’ll know what to
expect.”

Cronin’s
growl got louder. “Another encounter? Alec, you say such a thing as
though you look forward to it.”

“
Actually,” Alec said, trying to remain calm, “as you’ll
recall, I didn’t have any choice in it. It would appear that if the
Zoan wish to speak to me, then they will, regardless if I want them
to or not.”

“
And this concerns me the most,” Cronin replied. He walked
over to Alec and rest
ed his
forehead on Alec’s chin. “I apologize for my tone, Alec. I know you
don’t wish for such things, but the idea of you facing them alone…
now they’ve declared their hand as your enemy….”

“
I know,” Alec agreed quietly. He cupped Cronin’s face and
kissed the side of his head.

Cronin murmured, sounding defeated
already. “There has to be someone. Someone somewhere who knows of
such things! How has this escaped us? Why are we only learning of
such ancient creatures now?”

“
That’s what we need to find out,” Alec said. “We need to
work on the who, what, how, and why. We need to try and look behind
them to see who sent them or where they’re from, and most
importantly, what they want. That’s how we beat them. Find their
weak spot.”

Eiji grinned
and clapped his hands together. “I love it when you talk like that,
Alec.” Cronin huffed and glared at Eiji, but he wasn’t deterred. In
fact he laughed. “What? I can’t help it. When Alec does his
policing thing”—Eiji waved his hand at the whiteboard—“adventure
and mayhem usually follow.”

Alec smiled
at him, then looked to Jacques, Eleanor, and Kole. “Eiji, Jodis,
Cronin, and I will be leaving for a short time. There’s someone I
need to speak to.” Then Alec looked to Jacques again. “Can I ask
one thing?”

“
Of course,” he
replied.

“
Look into gargoyles,” Alec said. “I don’t know why. When I
first saw them, that word came to me. It was not a name they gave
me, but something in my mind thought it. Research what you
can.”

“
Gargoyles?” Cronin
asked.

Alec nodded
with a shrug. “I know it’s weird. But seriously, vampire mummies in
Egypt, terracotta vampires in China…. Nothing trips my
weird-shit-o-meter anymore.”

“
Where are we going?”
Jodis asked.

“
To see Jorge,” Alec
answered.

Eleanor
shook her head. “Alec, your talent far surpasses his. If you can’t
see the Zoan, no one can.”

“
Not Jorge himself,” Alec clarified. “But the vampire dead.
He speaks with them. I do not. I can see them in his mind, like a
window, but only he has that power.” He shrugged at all the
vampires looking at him. “Maybe if there isn’t a vampire alive who
knows about the Zoan, maybe there’s one that’s dead who
does.”

Alec made a small detour first to bring Jorge a gift. He’d
seen him a few times in the last twelve months
, and every time he brought along a small token
of thanks. Alec understood Jorge so much better now that he could
see into his mind. He knew the voices he spoke were often not his
own. Vampires all over the world had assumed Jorge was afflicted
with multiple personalities or dissociative identity disorder, as
it was called these days.

But it wasn’t that at all.

Jorge had a
mental window to the dead. Vampire dead, to be exact. Something
they’d learned only when Alec’s dead mother spoke to them when Alec
was changed into a vampire.

The voice
Jorge spoke with was his, but in his mind, Alec could see the dead
vampire talking. Jorge was, for all intents and purposes, a portal
to the vampire afterlife.

And what’s more, Alec liked the kid. Misunderstood for a
hundred years, but still just a five
-year-old boy, Jorge had been paramount to Alec’s survival
and transformation from human to vampire. Jorge had been abducted
from his humble hut in the jungles of Bolivia and used as bait to
lure Alec to China by Rilind, a vengeful Illyrian vampire who
wanted to use Alec’s powers. When Alec and Cronin had returned
Jorge safe and well, it was then Alec realized the distraught
Adelmo, the man who looked after Jorge, was a
father
to
Jorge. He wasn’t a caregiver, or baby-sitter, like some of the
rumors Alec had heard. He was, by vampire bond, the child’s father
figure.

Alec could see it. He could see the bond between fated
couples, like a tethering of souls. And not all bonds were for
couples, or so Alec had tried to explain. Some bonds were to be
family.
Like Adelmo and
Jorge. If Alec lived for a thousand years, he’d never forget the
moment they took Jorge back to Adelmo, how the little boy ran to
him, and how Adelmo scooped him up and cried tears of joy and
relief.

Adelmo and Jorge lived
a humble life: a small hut, sparse but practical furniture,
no electricity, with no comforts of the twenty-first century that
Alec took for granted. They were happy that way. But a gift was
warranted. Every time they visited—Jorge had only left his jungle
home once since the ordeal in China, and that was for Alec’s and
Cronin’s wedding—Alec took him something small but
special.

The first time it was a new watch
, after the one Alec had given him the very first time
they’d met, was taken. The second time it was a box of books, both
reading and coloring, with the biggest box of crayons and markers
Alec could find. Considering Jorge’s talents and his vampire age of
over one hundred years, the others had thought it stupid. But Jorge
was so excited, and Adelmo was most grateful.

This v
isit Alec had
decided a new soccer ball was in order. He’d leapt Cronin, Eiji,
and Jodis to the back alley behind a major retailer of sporting
goods in Sucre, Bolivia’s capital. It was evening and the store was
full of late night shoppers. While Alec collected what he wanted
and stood in the long line to be served, Cronin, Eiji, and Jodis
went off to the side waiting. Rather impatiently.

Granted, Alec had become rather accustomed to the
not-waiting that leaping brought with it, but he wanted to do this
right. Yes, he could leap to any store anywhere in the world and
take what he wanted, or leap it to him
without having to go anywhere, but a gift should be
chosen and purchased.

Much to Eiji’s displeasure. He hadn’t
stopped grumbling to himself yet.

Quit your whining
,
Alec told Eiji in his mind.

Eiji glared at him.
Alec
, he retorted
sharply.
A group of unknown
creatures threatened your life merely hours ago. I don’t think it’s
wise or funny that we risk a public outing to buy a child’s soccer
ball. Could you not have just taken it?

Do we not take enough from mankind?
Alec replied.

An image of himself feeding flashed through Eiji’s mind, so
Alec knew Eiji understood what he meant. He pouted.
Great. A vampire with a conscience.
Perhaps you could have chosen a store that was not so
busy.

Alec looked at Jodis and allowed himself to speak in her
mind.
How do you put up with
the constant whining?

Jodis only smiled.

Eiji shot her a look. “What did he say
to you just now?”

She lied terribly.
“Nothing.”

Eiji stared
at her for a long second. “Yes, he did.” He turned back to Alec.
“Yes you did.” Then back to Jodis. “Why did you say he didn’t? Why
did you lie to me?”

Cronin
chuckled. “Alec, do you think perhaps you could hurry things along.
Waiting in service lines is not something we’re accustomed
to.”

“
Waiting for anything,
really,” Eiji added.

“
For someone who’s as old
as you, I’d have thought you’d have acquired some patience,” Alec
said with a laugh.

But he was
right. People were starting to stare. In a store where the
clientele and staff were predominately South American, men were
starting to notice Jodis—with her porcelain skin, long white hair,
and breathtaking beauty. Eiji was just as striking, with his
Japanese features of high cheekbones and long black hair, but the
two of them together looked like a freakin’ commercial for
perfection. Not entirely a human beauty, but striking
nonetheless.

And Cronin… well, Alec couldn’t even
begin to quantify how attractive he was.

“
Disculpe, señor
,” a
woman’s voice called out. Alec looked up to see the sales assistant
smiling expectantly at him, waiting for him to come to the counter.
Alec made the transaction despite the woman’s thought processes
to-ing and fro-ing between finding him hot and finding him
frightening. She knew something wasn’t quite right—or even human.
She considered then dismissed the idea as foolish. She still wasn’t
too sure when she handed him his purchases.

“
Tenga un buen dia
,”
Alec replied smoothly, telling her to have a nice day. He gave his
voice a touch of huskiness and added his flirty eyes. The woman
stammered her thanks, though Alec could hear Cronin grind his teeth
over the sound of the woman’s giggles.

He grinned
as he walked out of the store. “What?” Alec replied to Cronin’s
glare. “She couldn’t decide if we were ridiculously sexy or an
inhuman threat. I went with the sexy option.”

Cronin huffed as they walked along the
sidewalk. “I’d have preferred you not flirt with her. A woman, no
less.”

Jodis scoffed. “Something wrong
with being a woman?”

“
No, no,” Cronin amended. “That was not my intention. It’s
just that—”

Alec laughed
and slipped his arm through Jodis’ and walked ahead with her,
leaving a smiling Eiji and a pouting Cronin to walk behind. They
turned into the dark alley they’d arrived in and when they were
completely shrouded in darkness, Alec dropped Jodis’ arm and kissed
Cronin until he smiled.

Eiji only sighed three
times.

When they
finally broke apart, Alec laughed before he leapt them to the now
familiar hut in the Rurrenabaque jungle.

* * * *

“
Alec!” Jorge cried, running and jumping into his open arms.
Alec hugged the vampire child, before putting him back on his own
two feet and ruffled the boy’s hair. “What you got for Jorge this
time?”

Adelmo hushed him. “Jorge! Manners.”
But Adelmo smiled regardless.

Cronin liked that Jorge and Alec had
become friends, and Adelmo too. And Cronin would be forever in
Jorge’s debt for saving Alec when they were in China.

Adelmo graciously welcomed them into his
home
, and they looked on
while Jorge opened the bag from the sporting goods store. He was so
excited for his brand new soccer ball, a pair of new soccer cleats,
and a shirt with the name Pelé on the back.

Needless to say, Jorge was incredibly
excited. He jumped and clapped, saying things like, “We are so
happy. Jorge is so happy. Alec is good friend.”

A
ll Alec could do was
laugh.

Cronin
likened Alec to be Jorge’s favorite uncle. He even did up the laces
in the cleats for him, then of course, they went into the clearing
and played a game of one-on-one.

This was their third trip to the Amazonian jungle in twelve
months, since China, and the second trip
that Eiji and Jodis had accompanied them
on.

“
I take it not all is
well,” Adelmo started.

Cronin shook his head. “There have
been developments.”

“
Has Jorge said anything?”
Eiji asked.

Adelmo shook
his head. “Not anything alarming. Nothing new.”

“
A group has presented themselves to Alec, and only to Alec.
We cannot see them. They’ve declared themselves
his enemy.”

Adelmo
gasped, and
hearing the conversation, Jorge stopped playing soccer. He looked
up at Alec, the game seemingly forgotten. “Enemy to the
key?”

Alec picked up the soccer ball and
sighed. He ruffled Jorge’s hair again. “Yep.
Apparently.”

“
Jorge not like it,” Jorge said. His face had grown
dark,
angry, and he scowled.
“Alec is our friend.”

Alec stared at the little boy. “Have
you seen anything?”

Cronin wasn’t sure if Alec was asking
Jorge himself or asking the vampire he saw in Jorge’s
mind.

Jorge shook his head. “No.”

“
They call themselves The
Zoan,” Alec said. If he was expecting an immediate reaction, he
didn’t get one.

Nothing.

Jorge stood
still, his face neutral, his eyes completely black, and Cronin knew
then that Alec was talking to the vampire he could see in Jorge’s
mind.