Incarnations (3 page)

"Sounds awful personal, feels worse." Jaxon nursed
her temples. She hadn't quite brought her shields all the way up
before the blazing anger rolled off of Brigid in white hot waves.
"So, what did this particular vampire do to you, because honestly,
unless he's wearing the brown robes of the Brotherhood, I don't
have a whole lot of interest." Jaxon stood up and went to the small
kitchenette off to the side. She filled her mug with the water that
had been boiling, and dropped a tea bag in.

"He used to run with another woman, although back
then it was another vampire instead of the witch he's using today.
The day Marc sired me, his little minion killed my entire family."
The name drew Jaxon's attention immediately. "He may not wear the
brown robes you and I both seek, but I have it on good authority
that he once did." Brigid drew closer to stand over Jaxon as she
fumbled around with her tea, adding honey and a little cream to it
before she turned to go sit back down.

"Does this Marc have a last name?" Jaxon knew it was
a long shot that she was thinking of the same vampire that Brigid
now wanted dead, but she still had to ask.

"Indeed, his surname is Pithview."

Jaxon had to swallow her reaction quickly. "Okay,"
she said simply as she sipped her tea. Brigid eyed her
suspiciously, but didn't say any more on the subject.

"I need a little downtime first to recharge my
batteries. I've been rolling along at a solid run for almost a
month now."

"Do I need to ask what you're running from?"

"No." Jaxon said and turned to head for the hot
shower she so desperately needed.

~*~

Jaxon stepped out of the bathroom with a smile on her
face. She looked right at Brigid, "did you find what you were
looking for?"

"Excuse me?"

"When you went through my bags, did you find what you
were looking for?"

"I..."

"Listen, I'm not angry. I would have done the same
thing. Don't bother lying either. I'm an empath, I could feel your
paranoia from in there." She nodded her head back to indicate the
bathroom she had just come from. "You wanted to know why I agreed
to help you so quickly the minute you mentioned Marc Pithview.
Truth is, I used to work for him in an art gallery. Not that I ever
met him as a result of that work, but I know he had me watched. He
was pulling strings in my life and my friend's life that he had no
business pulling. And for a final blow, he's the one that sent us
into hiding in the first place. So, I agreed to help you because it
also benefits me." Jaxon looked up at Brigid again as she towel
dried her hair and then ran her fingers through the natural curls
that were springing back into place as she dropped her hands.

"So, you're saying your dead honest when it benefits
you." Brigid just sat there looking for all the world as if she
hadn't just been caught in the act of snooping. "I like it. You're
going to be a great change of pace for me. For once," the
excitement in her voice was evident, "someone not afraid to just
say it and be done."

"Okay, the last time I saw Marc or Melina was when we
were in Ireland." Jaxon watched as Brigid's eyebrows rose a little.
"You didn't know they were there?"

"Oh, no. I knew they were there. It was the one place
I wouldn't follow them." At Jaxon's questioning look she continued,
"too many memories." Brigid looked away quickly, and Jaxon didn’t
press the issue.

"Okay, well that was..."

"A while ago. The last I heard they were heading to
Italy." Brigid's stillness gave way to pacing as if she needed to
move to think. "I've been trying to find a pattern in their
movements, but it's just not as simple as that."

"Maybe it is," Jaxon sat down on the couch, "did you
know why they were in Ireland?"

"No."

"I did." The pacing stopped and Jaxon now had
Brigid's full attention. "They were looking for my friend Caislyn.
At the time they were systematically going through each of the
properties that had been owned by her family." Jaxon looked up into
Brigid's face now. "We find out which properties Caislyn's family
owns in Italy, and we can venture a pretty big guess as to where
Marc and Melina are."

"Now, we just have to find a way around that
witch."

"That may be easier than you think too. When we saw
her in Ireland, she was looking very worn out. I think he may be
forcing her to use too much magic. It's taking a toll on her."

"I knew the fates were smiling on me when I watched
you kill Brother Andrew."

"Andrew?"

"Yes, I had been watching that particularly vile
creature for a few days before you got to him." As Jaxon began to
look a little sick on the couch she amended her comments, "I'm
sorry. I used to have a thing about names too. The more you know,
the worse it is. I have forgotten what that's like. If it helps,
this man was a pedophile. Someone who never deserved to live
anyway. If you must remember his name now, think on his future
victims - the ones who no longer have to bare the loss of their
innocence. That should cheer you up a bit."

"Yeah," Jaxon threw up a bigger shield, and pulled on
her vampire side to take away the feelings that were threatening to
drown her. "We have work to do. I don't suppose you have a laptop
or something."

"Right, down to business." Brigid pulled out a small
laptop and handed it to Jaxon. "So, any ideas for how we pull this
off once we find them?"

"Sure!" Jaxon looked up from the laptop, the
electronic glow amplifying her pale features, "we give them what
they've been looking for all along." Jaxon watched as Brigid
quirked an eyebrow up and then smiled as the answer dawned on
her.

"We give them you."

"Exactly."

***

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

"Hey man, how's it going out there? Any luck?"
Gregore sat back on the couch looking at everything he'd been
setting up for Caislyn.

"No luck at all. I had her for a while, she was
leaving a pretty evident trail. Now, I seem to have lost her." Seth
paused for a minute and then he continued, with a little more
desperation evident in his voice. "Has Caislyn, you know, seen
anything?"

"Man, I wish I could help you there, but she hasn't
had any of her visions lately. I think she's training too
hard."

"The training is important. It may be the only way we
get Jaxon back."

"Look, I know how badly you want her back, believe
me. Caislyn's pregnant though, for sure, she took a test. She needs
to get more rest, but with Ash hanging around..." His voice trailed
off.

"Congratulations, and I'm sorry." They both sat in
silence for a bit before Seth continued, "They don't make it easy
on either of us, do they?"

"No, that they don't." Gregore sighed into the phone,
"we'll find her for you. And hey, at least you don't have to worry
about some other guy with Jaxon."

"No, I just play second fiddle to her own
demons."

"Meanwhile, I get stuck fighting it out with the
green demon."

Seth laughed at Gregore, "yeah, well, like I said...
Look man, I gotta go. Give me a call if you hear anything, if
Caislyn sees anything."

"I will. Take care of yourself, Seth. We'll find her
and get her back to you." Seth never answered. The click on the
other end of the line let Gregore know that he wasn't alone in his
misery. Seth was just as bad off, only he wasn't battling another
guy. Gregore put the cell phone down and looked over the room
again. He had prepared an exquisite meal, lit the candles, spread
rose petals around. "Not a romantic cliché unturned," he whispered
to himself. Gregore wanted tonight to be something special for
Caislyn, an apology for all the arguing they had been doing since
they were married, since Ash came into the picture. Now, all that
was left was to head next door and sweep Caislyn off her feet.

~*~

"Caislyn," Gregore called out as he walked into the
other RV. Vesta was sitting on the couch, and she put her finger to
her lips and pointed back to the bedroom.

"I think she's sleeping," Vesta said softly.

"Sleeping or training?" Gregore questioned, unable to
keep the slight tinge of anger out of his voice. He didn't wait for
an answer he walked back to the bedroom area and saw Caislyn
sitting up in the middle of the bed, sketching on a pad of paper.
He watched her from the doorway for a minute, before some movement
in his peripheral caught his attention. "Ash," Gregore hissed.

Ash leaned over the bed to get a better view of
Gregore standing in the doorway. "Shh, she's sketching
something."

"Don't shush me. What the hell are you doing
here?"

"I'm guessing the same thing you are. I came to check
on Caislyn, and I found her sitting here sketching in her
sleep."

"I didn't come to check on Caislyn, I came to take my
wife to dinner." Gregore made sure to emphasize the word wife.

Ash just smiled at him, "well, it seems that won't be
happening, since she's sleeping and all."

Gregore was having a difficult time controlling his
emotions at this point. He was seething on the inside, ready to
tear Ash into pieces, and show him who the better, the real, man
was. "I've had about all I can take of you. Why don't you pack your
fairy ass up and hit the road now? She doesn't really need you here
anymore."

Again, Ash just looked at Gregore with mild
amusement. "My little fairy ass will leave when, and only when,
Caislyn sees fit to tell me to do so."

Gregore was seeing red now. He knew Ash would wait it
out. He knew he would stick around to see if his bastard seed took
and got Caislyn pregnant. He also felt as sure that Caislyn
wouldn’t send him away until they all knew for sure who’s baby she
was indeed carrying. This, more than anything, sent Gregore over
the edge as he watched Caislyn stop sketching momentarily, flipped
a page, and start back in on her project. Vigorous strokes of
madness began coloring the page before anything started to take
shape, but Gregore lost his patience. He went to the bed, climbed
up on his knees, "Caislyn!" He grabbed her by her elbows and shook
gently. "Caislyn, honey, it's time to wake up." He took the pad and
pencil from her and set them down to the side.

Ash was shaking his head and backing up with his
hands in the air, letting Gregore know that this was all on him.
"She's not going to be happy with this."

"Shut up!" Gregore snapped at the Fey who simply
stood back, with an unpleasant look on his own face. "Caislyn!"
Unfortunately, the snap in his voice that was there for Ash never
left as he tried to wake his wife a second time. Greg was pissed
and it wasn't easy to reign those emotions in. "Caislyn, wake up
now!"

Vesta, having heard the commotion, was now standing
in the doorway, "what in the hell are you doing, Gregore?"

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you are waking my daughter up from
some much needed rest."

Gregore let go of Caislyn, picked up her sketch pad,
and tossed it at Vesta. "Does this look like she's been resting?
She's got this asshole here influencing her, encouraging her to
train more and more. She can't even rest when she tries to
sleep."

"No, because there you are trying to wake her up. Ash
came in a few minutes before you did to check on her. You came in
to disrupt everything. I don't see where you are the one in the
right here, Greg."

"Damn it Vesta, back off!" Gregore yelled again. This
time, it woke Caislyn up. She looked around, groggily, at
everyone.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked.

"You were sketching, and pretty boy here decided he
didn't like it." Ash said, tipping his head towards Gregore, who
was still looming ominously above Caislyn on the bed.

"I was sketching?" Caislyn asked. "Let me see."

Vesta started to hand the sketch to Caislyn, but
Gregore slapped it out of her hand. "No. We have somewhere to be,
come on, get dressed."

"What the hell?" Caislyn's eyes had gone very wide,
and the anger that was boiling up was evident. "What the hell do
you think you're doing? You just woke me up in the middle of a
vision, one I haven't had in ages, and now you're slapping my
sketch book out of my mom's hands and demanding things of me?"

"Caislyn, you are pregnant! You shouldn't be training
like this constantly, or with him. This is getting ridiculous." The
rage boiling under the surface had nowhere else to go and Gregore
couldn’t control the level of his voice anymore. Everything was
coming out just under a demanding scream.

"No, you know what's getting ridiculous, Greg? You!"
Caislyn moved back away from him. "I came in here to get some rest
because I wasn't feeling well. I can't help that I started
auto-sketching. It's not something I have control over. There's no
part of training involved with that, it just comes. As for Ash
being here, he wasn't when I first came in. I can only assume,
since he isn't the madman trying to wake me up, that he was simply
checking on me." Caislyn's anger was just as evident in her voice,
"you know, unlike the asshole trying to wake me up in the middle of
a nap because I happened to start auto-sketching. This is a part of
me, Gregore, whether you like it or not. You need to either get on
board or walk away. And you need to leave here while you think
about it, because I don't want to even look at you right now!"

Gregore's face was obviously pained when he tried
pleading with Caislyn, "Cais, I..."

"Save it and get out!" Caislyn pointed to the door
that her mom had just vacated.

"I'm not going and leaving him here with you."

Caislyn screamed out an angry, frustrated cry. "Get
out, Greg, now!" Gregore turned and left the room. Ash was still
standing there, looking very unsure of what to do. "You too,"
Caislyn said quietly. He left without a word. Gregore heard the
quiet, soft voice telling Ash to go too. He wanted to be jealous
that she had spoken to the damn Fey with a softer emotion while she
just screamed at him, but a part of him knew, he deserved her
wrath. He just didn’t know what to do anymore. Every time he tried
to show Caislyn that he was still the sweet, fun loving guy she had
hung out with for years, something or someone got in the way. It
was, to him, as if the fates themselves were stepping in to let him
know that they could never have happiness together. ‘Maybe that’s
true,’ he thought to himself, ‘but I abadondoned her once when she
was right and she needed me. I won’t do it again.’ He looked back
at the RV one more time, before to heading to clean up the dinner
mess in the one next door. “I love you, Caislyn,” he whispered into
the wind, “always have!”