Inescapable (Eternelles: The Beginning, Book 1) (13 page)

At a loss for words, Jeff stepped aside, letting her pass, and calmly walked to a table and sat down, his face grimmer than Lurch’s, the Addams family butler.
Lorraine had the decency to look guilty but rather than apologize, she tucked her tail between her legs and disappeared behind the kitchen door. Jeff kept sitting, impassive, saying nothing to no one, waiting for someone to come take his order. Or not. Poor guy broke Sera’s heart.

“
Lorraine needs someone to slap some sense into her,” Fiona said.

“Some people react differently to things. Who knows how she’s feeling? I think there’s more than meets the eye here.”

“Perhaps you should talk to her.”

“Not sure if I qualify for relationship help,” Sera admitted with a curve of her lips. “You may do better.”

“Me? You’re nuts. I have still to find a love like that.”

Fiona’s remark made Sera pay attention to her friend’s expression. Could Fiona desire something more than her existence as a social and sexual butterfly who took pride in her state as a liberated woman? However, that thoughtful face was soon smoothed out, all hints of wistfulness gone, if there had been any, and the familiar Fiona returned to check out two guys who’d just come in and rang the bell for a takeout order.

“Mmmm, nice. I like warlocks,” she said lustfully, drawing a sip of water from the straw.

“You’re something.” Sera laughed at her friend’s self-assurance, wishing she could have just a drop of it.

Like last night with Rafe. You were confident then, you hussy.

Heat pricked at her cheeks so she went the safe route and watched Jeff sulk. So much angst in the air! Sera wanted more than anything to help these two. Deep down, who wouldn’t want ‘a love like that,’ too? What she’d had with William had come close but she wasn’t even sure it had been the real deal. It had all been taken away before she’d had the chance to find out….

And Rafe? What the hell was he? Tamping down the rising anger, she continued to contemplate Jeff who sat directly across from her. Despite being built like a rock with dark looks, Jeff wasn’t too tall. He also wasn’t classically handsome, but something about him made much of the female population at Shadow Bridge swoon for he had enough charisma and charm to bottle and sell over a lifetime. Fiona found him attractive, Sera was sure, but despite her flighty nature, the girl had standards—no married men, someone else’s boyfriend, or any man who was coveted by someone she cared for and respected. Like Lorraine, even though the stubborn chef would never admit it to save her life.

Inter-species unions were not an everyday occurrence at
Shadow Bridge as interracial marriages had started to be in the human world. Apart from such unions being naturally barren—when people from different species married, they could not produce offspring, except, as far as Sera and Adri knew, in Sera’s case—they were normally frowned upon by the more conservative elders who wanted to preserve the purity of each community within their town.

Despite this, after Kyle and Petula Sager had broken tradition with their Fae-Witch wedding, the road was paved for more of the same. Kyle and Petula had made up for the lack of biological offspring by opening an orphanage in Shadow Bridge and giving a home to abandoned and wayward children, from infancy to the teen years. They had broken the mold. But, would others be willing to accept the fact that they would never have children of their own?

Lorraine wanted a family. This, no doubt, had a bearing on how she viewed Jeff and a possible relationship.

A chirpy voice signaled
Ada’s arrival with their plates. Steaming hot, and smelling heavenly.

“Make sure to leave space for a slice of devil’s food cake later. It’s worth it.” The cheerful, rotu
nd Ada winked and went to Jeff’s table. “Been waiting a while, have you? Here, darlin’, tell me what you want. Drinks on the house today for the new chief.” She grinned. “Got a rack of lamb that will make you speak in tongues and cry, ‘Hallelujah!’” she cried, enthusiastically waving her hands in the air.

“Just coffee and a slice of that cake, please,
Ada,” he said, eyes still glued to the kitchen door, as if he could see Lorraine through x-ray vision.

“That’s all, sugar? You must be coming down with something as you usually eat me out of house, home, and restaurant.” She guffawed but instantly stopped when he growled something intelligible. “Alright then, got your pants all in a twist. Must give that girl a good talk now.”

After taking the order from the two waiting men, Ada returned to her place in
The Stirring Pot
’s kitchen—her pride and joy in life, along with her adoring husband and three teen children who enjoyed nothing more than to drive her batty with their antics.

Sera took a bite of prune chicken, tasting the sweet fruit, mild curry, and bay leaves—a thick and comforting concoction served on a fluffy pillow of rice. Divine.

“What time are the bigwigs meeting tonight at Town Hall?” Fiona asked around a mouthful of salmon. “Speaking of meetings, I can’t wait for the post-Equinox ceremony so I can put on something funky and show them how it’s done with style. Hate those long black robes they put on at the ritual last month. Looked like burlap sacks covered in shoe polish.”

“I hope you’re not about to piss off Rose and Constance as you did at the last Equinox ritual, showing up decked like Elvira.”

Fiona leaned back, indignant. “What? I didn’t do it to tease them. I did it to feel good with myself.”

“This is not about you,” Sera argued. “It’s serious. We must do this to make sure the portal stays closed, and we must also discuss what happened a few days—”

“Shhh. Look,” Fiona said, a hand on Sera’s arm.

New patrons had entered the establishment. A couple in their early forties, two children, one middle school and the other high school age, and an older couple, probably the grandparents. From the looks of awe and the cameras hanging from a few necks, they were tourists. Human tourists. They chose a long table by the window and sat down. As if on cue,
Lorraine flitted out of the kitchen, carefully avoiding Jeff who was now chowing down the last crumbs of his chocolate cake. For his part, he, too, kept his head down over his food.

Lorraine
took the drinks orders and disappeared. Jeff took that moment to throw a few bills on the table and leave. The distinctive rev of a Harley engine took over soon after. Not a police issue vehicle, but everyone knew Jeff was Jeff—beyond the obvious rules to follow, he liked his freedom. In moments, the rumble got more distant as he flew down the street.

Most tables were occupied but when the humans came in, the voices got suddenly lower and conversations tamer. Apart from being the home of sups from all over the world, this was also a tourist town, and they had to live with that—they had an economy to run in the big picture made by the
United States of America. It would be a while before humans were ready to find out the truth about Shadow Bridge. Until then, things were best left as they were, and
The Stirring Pot
would remain the most sought-after eating joint in the area.

Sera lowered her voice to a whisper. “Mom has been grumpy all day, probably because of tonight. At least, she stayed out of my way. But I think—” Sera felt remorseful for having avoided Adri most of the day. “I think Susan’s death really threw her for a loop.”

Fact was, she was still resentful most of all about Will being banished from the castle. And Adri had still not gotten over the fact that she’d kept the not so small matter of the Second Sight from her. Not purposely, yet soon, they needed to talk.

“I’m not looking forward to it either, especially with that newbie being there.”

Fiona was surely referring to Willow McGreal, the young witch who’d moved to Shadow Bridge a couple of months earlier. She now worked at the Sagers’ YMCA-style teen club that had been in operation for a year. Wisely, they’d built it separate from the orphanage, and Willow worked full-time during first shift from seven AM to three PM. The rest of the time, she pretty much kept to herself, except for when she sucked up to Rose or Constance, the coven elders, and tried to get in their good graces. She had no parents and no other family in Shadow Bridge. Just a witch out of nowhere.

“I don’t like her,” Fiona asserted—a rare admission for her to say she didn’t like someone.

“Mom said something along the same lines,” Sera said thoughtfully. “But that’s harsh. I think Willow’s just young, a little insecure perhaps. She likes to be alone. In a way, I feel sorry for her.”

“She’s bitchy and acts superior.”

“Probably a coping mechanism.”

Fiona pursed her lips and dragged a forkful of salmon around her plate to pick up some herb sauce. “You can think what you like, Dr. Sera Dionysios, eternal optimist. But I will bet my ass she’s up to something.”

“Who cares right now, anyway? We have bigger fish to fry, Fiona, remember?”

The platinum blonde stuck out her lip, clearly dreading the whole thing.

Sera smiled at her. “Well, we got a few hours of free time so let’s cheer you up. Now, about that chocolate cake…”

“You wanted to see me?”

Adri ducked under a wood beam to start down the twisting staircase that led into a secluded area of the castle’s library. Most creatures wouldn’t be able to sneak down those stairs, seeing how the pathway lay protected by spells and runes to keep prying minds at bay. The most important relics of her prized collection were stashed in that big room, and she trusted no one except the keeper of this sanctuary.

Keeper who’d asked her down today, after Adri requested she look into the matter of the portal and unearth everything to be found about what lay prisoner behind that gateway.

By the time she navigated down the winding steps, her head spun, and she paused to gather her balance once on the sturdy wood floor. Books and manuscripts graced all four walls to heights of a dozen feet, at least. Still, light bathed the huge room, an illusion brought on by the witch who lived there. Thandi Radebe tried to emulate the brilliant sunshine of her African homeland in this part of the world, the space she hadn’t left for the past seventy-five years. Adri had offered her shelter in her castle when she came across Thandi in South Africa so many years earlier. She aimed at helping Thandi break the curse spelt on her by her own coven when she went astray by their rules, but Adri also had an ulterior motive. She needed someone trustworthy to look after the relics, and who better than a person who owed her everything?

A roar resounded behind her, and large, warm paws pressed down on her shoulders. A whiff of lion bad breath touched her nostrils as the animal roared again.

Thank goodness he hadn’t toppled her down this time. She turned and hugged the big feline that had drawn up on its hind legs. “It’s good to see you, too, Oscar.”

She rubbed his head, played with his mane, and kissed his wet nose.

Oscar, Thandi’s familiar, released her and roared again, looking at her with big Puss-in-Boots eyes. Adri tickled him behind his ear. “She’s not with me today. You miss Sera, don’t you?”

He growled. She hugged him once nore. Oscar adored Sera, who loved making a fuss over him. She should tell her daughter to visit him soon.

The lion left her side and went to lie down on a rug in front of the fireplace. He closed his eyes, and soon started snoring.

A shuffling noise alerted her to Thandi’s arrival. The African woman refused to wear anything except her native
boubou
, a long dress like a caftan. The frail Thandi nearly disappeared under the bulk of fabric, but she never wished to sever ties with her homeland.

Tears glistened on the caramel cheeks.

Adri took a deep breath and went to her friend. “He doesn’t remember again?”

Thandi shook her head. “It’s as if those moments we shared had never existed. He’s also all confused once more, even more this time than after every other change in the past.” She sobbed. “How can he forget, Adri? It’s barely been a month.”

Adri clasped her hand. Her heart clenched. She knew what it was to love someone and not have that love returned, but her plight had never been as desperate as Thandi’s. The witch did the one thing no witch was supposed to do—she fell in love with her familiar. Because of that, her coven had cursed her, and Oscar. Both of them forced into immortality, he would never be able to shift back to being a man, except for the twenty-four hours of the equinox, twice a year, and on Samhain, when the veil between worlds hung at its lowest. Even then, he would have no recollection of his time as a lion, and once he became an animal again, he would never remember being a human.

Adri hoped Thandi could find a way to break that curse through one of the relics in the library.

And speaking of relics, she remembered her purpose. “You said you had something for me?”

Thandi winced. “You’re not going to like this.”

Bad.
When the African’s accent thickened like that, it meant dire things. “What did you find?”

“Come.”

The other woman led her to a table in a far corner. An old document from the Alexandria library lay opened on it.

“You’re dealing with a prophecy.”

Another thing she liked about Thandi; the witch always cut to the chase.

“What sort of prophecy? I thought you were looking into what got stashed behind that portal.”

Thandi nodded. “And it all comes back to this prophecy.”

Great.
First vampires, now a prophecy. Could doom have been spelt so well? “Tell me.”

“You know how apparently, demons and angels walked the earth before the portal was closed?”

Adri nodded. Des had walked that world. As what? Could he be a demon? The castle had sigils against angels—pesky, self-righteous creatures who thought they knew everything, and were a pain to deal with—and he’d come through. But demons, that was another matter, for they could break through sigils....

“Well, the scroll says that something else got locked away back then.”

“Vampires.”

Thandi looked at her with big eyes. “No. It’s something else.”

Getting better and better.
“Go ahead.”

“There were twins. Two sisters. One pure evil, the other pure good. They were supposed to incarnate the balance of the world, like yin and yang.” The woman pulled in a long breath. “The evil one got the upper hand, and no one knows how. In order to keep the balance, they also locked up the good twin, because the world couldn’t be completely good, either. That, too, would lead to chaos.”

Adri closed her eyes for a second and pinched the bridge of her nose. “So what’s the prophecy, then?”

“It is said the twins will return, that blood from one of their descendants will unlock the seal on the portal.”

She had to be joking! Adri rushed past her to stare at the scroll. She read every single word on the paper, but saw nothing of what Thandi had said. She whirled toward her friend.

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing here.”

Thandi reached out and clasped her shoulder. “There is a message for people who can read between the lines. For the twins’ kind...”

Adri gasped. “They were witches?”

A nod confirmed her query.

She turned and stumbled to the staircase. Too much, too fast. First Sekhmet, now a duo of twins who could bring on the Apocalypse? What the hell was this world coming to?

And to think people with Second Sight could confirm or deny all that, and show them the way.... Sera was in danger. She had to protect her daughter. If she could find her first. Sera had done a runner on her that morning. The girl roamed the town, and as long as she was within its bounds, she would be somewhat safe, but that didn’t mean Adri wasn’t worried out of her wits.

And that damn prophecy. Only one race would know more about this. They had elevated the art of keeping secrets to a sly state of perfection. She was certain the former KGB learned how to keep secrets from them, from the fae. How she hated that lot and their high-handedness, but she’d have to bite the bullet and go see them. No way out for her. As if she needed more things to do. The Council would meet at twilight that day, and she had only a few hours ahead of her. Time she’d planned to put to another use.

Adri sighed. Guess she’d have to multitask from here on.

*****

The blare of techno and house music hurt her eardrums, and she pushed through crowds of lecherous and totally wasted or stoned youths gyrating on the dance floor of Vibiza, the trendiest club in Shadow Bridge and one of the top venues on the East coast. Never mind that outside, daytime blazed. The clubbing scene never let up.

Adri shuddered. She could kill whoever invented that kind of music, not that it was, in any way, music. What did youngsters find in those mind-numbing tunes? Sera adored those tracks, and Adri could wretch every time she felt that pulsing bass beat trying to coax her heart’s pulse to align on its rhythm.

But still, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and she was here to beg. A good strategist had to know when to lower her pride and ask for help; that kept trusted allies pliant and helpful, then. If there was one thing she’d learned throughout her millennia on Earth, it would be how to constitute her own circle of spies and informants and thus gather her intel. No one could dream of surviving the treacherous courts of Old Europe without such an ace up their sleeve.

Thandi was one of her “people” and here lay another. Inside this club that pulsed with music and debauchery 24/7, the one vampyre she would trust with her life kept his court in order.

She passed through a Staff-Only door—one spell-cast to keep unauthorized people out—and emerged into a luxurious corridor. For a second, she could swear she was on an antebellum property in the Old South before the Civil War. Candle sconces shed diffused light onto wood-paneled walls and threw the thick carpet into muffled shadows. Smoke didn’t hang in the air here, and the sounds of the club had been cut off as if by magic.

A door to her far right opened, and a smiling young man stepped out. Dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, he could pass for an Abercrombie model with his all-American wholesomeness. Silky chestnut hair flopped over his forehead and tickled mischievous eyes the color of pale ice.

“What a pleasant surprise,” he called out. “I wasn’t expecting such a sight for sore eyes out here.”

She smiled at him. Ever the charmer. He could lay on the Southern charisma so easily. “Sebastian.” She grabbed both his hands as he bent to kiss her cheeks.

Up close, she could see faint lines around the outer corners of his eyes. She’d say most of these probably came from laughing too much, but Sebastian Rampling could be a formidable enemy, too, if crossed. A century ago, when she had met him, he had looked like a barely legal teenager. A hundred years later, humans would peg him down as being in his mid-twenties. The difference between a born vampyre and one that’d been turned—born ones aged similar to a human decade in one hundred years.

She patted his cheek. “You were informed I was coming the minute I crossed into your territory. So spare me the charm, will you?” She softened the rebuttal with a smile.

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Come on in.”

She stepped into his windowless office and flopped down on the couch in the corner. Sebastian handed her a flute of pink champagne, and she declined at the last minute. He narrowed his eyes, because it was unheard of for her to refuse such a rare
millésime
.

“Do you have anything else?”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Scotch?”

She nodded. “That will do.”

He handed her a thick-bottomed crystal glass with two fingers of old Scottish malt in, and settled down beside her with his flute of champagne.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

Another one who cut to the chase. She loved that, how none of her trusted informants were fools.

And she, too, refused to dally around. Sebastian was one of the few who knew her as much as she’d allow another to get to know her.

Except maybe for Des, who had shared almost all of her private moments.... But he hadn’t been in her thoughts, didn’t know her. Or did he?

She shook the unsettling notion away and focused on her companion. Nothing happened in this part of
Shadow Bridge without him knowing, and where else would the Greek god of debauchery and revelry settle down except in the territory where there were clubs and bars upon every square foot of land?

“Do you know where Dionysos is staying?”

He twirled his flute. “Your biological father.”

Sebastian knew the truth about her upbringing, but she had never brought up the subject of her family with him. Until now.

She snorted. “I only lay claim to having his DNA inside me.”

“Trust me, I can empathize with that all too well.”

Sebastian had turned his back on his family, one of the most powerful and prestigious of the vampyre world. The old blood families reigned over the Vampyre Federation, and he would’ve had his spot in that authority once his father handed him the reins. But that had been before he fell in love with a human, and his father and brothers turned her into a soul stealer to do their worst bidding, before snuffing her out in front of him.

She’d barely settled into Shadow Bridge after bringing Sera here from England when the girl had been turned, and she’d found him skulking around the edges of town one night. On the brink of death, because he refused to replenish his energy by drinking human blood, she had saved his life and brought him into the town, allowing him to stay and grow his nest here. Little by little, he rose as an unwilling rebellion hero in the vampyre world, and more youngsters like him, who wanted to live in peace, defected from their families or masters to plead allegiance to his court.

That was why she trusted him, because Sebastian had never asked for any of what had been thrust onto him. But like a true leader, he rose to the task and controlled his part of their world with an iron hand in a velvet glove.

“So,” she asked before downing a gulp of whisky. “Any idea where he might be?”

He shrugged. “He’s not here. I would know if he had settled here.”

Just her luck. Where the hell could that god be?