Intangible (21 page)

And she was gone.

TWENTY

L
uke shut his laptop with a little too much force, leaned his elbows on the table, and pressed his palms against his eyes. It would be so much easier to figure things out if he had all the information, if it had come as a complete vision. Of course, if it had he would have had no time to try to stop it and Sera would already be dead. So perhaps he shouldn’t wish for what wasn’t.

He needed to wish for what could be.

As it was, he had time. The vision wasn’t complete yet. Though now that he’d had several visions about her death, every time he felt one coming he was terrified that the vision would be the final one. And he wouldn’t be able to stop it because he still hadn’t figured it out.

He pressed his hands harder into his eyes. He
had
to be able to stop it. He couldn’t live with this vision coming true.

Across the room, Sera lounged on the couch, totally oblivious, sketchbook propped on her knees. She squinted at her drawing, three pencils laced through the fingers on her right hand, an eraser clutched in her left.

He couldn’t lose her. And he didn’t know how to save her. He was at a standstill and hadn’t a clue what to do.

Sera looked up from her sketch pad and gazed intently at Luke without saying a word. She raised her eyebrows and Luke smiled. She wanted a snack. He didn’t know how he knew, but he just did. Sometimes it seemed as if her thoughts became his.

Didn’t really matter. He needed a distraction for the moment, and this would do. As he and Sera both started to get up, he spotted their mom standing in the doorway.

“Popcorn?” Their mom held up the bowl in her hand, and walked toward the couch.

“Hey! We were just going to go make some.” Sera put her pencils and pad on the coffee table in front of her. “I’ll get drinks. Who’s thirsty?”

“Coke,” Luke said. “No ice.” He leaped over the back of the couch and landed right next to his mom, strategically close to the popcorn bowl.

Their mom shook her head at Sera. “No, thanks.”

Sera headed off to the kitchen.

“Smells good.” Luke leaned forward to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl as his mom placed it on the table. “How do you always know?”

“I use my psychic-mom powers.” She settled herself on the couch next to Luke, and tucked her legs up under her. “But only for good.”

Luke looked at his mom and bit back a smile.

“What?” she said.

“Nothing.”

“You don’t think I’m psychic?”

“Nope.” Luke couldn’t have stopped the smile even if he’d wanted to.

“I could be.”

“Nope.”

“You could be what?” Sera said as she came back into the room carrying two full glasses.

“Mom thinks she’s psychic,” Luke said, and reached for the glass Sera held out. “Thanks.”

“Really.” Sera smiled wide at Luke.

“Really.”

“No, not really,” Their mom said, laughing. “You two are impossible. Can’t a person make a joke?”

Sera sat down in the chair next to Luke’s end of the couch, put her glass on the table and reached for the popcorn.

“Only if it’s a good one,” Luke said.

“And funny,” Sera added.

Their mom threw popcorn at the two of them, which they both tried to catch in their mouths. She laughed, and shook her head. For a moment, Luke thought, she really looked happy. But then she got quiet. She’d done that a lot since their dad died.

“You okay, Mom?” Sera reached over and placed a hand on her arm.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay.” She looked back and forth from Luke to Sera. “There is something I need to tell you, though.”

Luke looked at Sera, then back at their mom. This was it. Whatever it was she’d been wanting to tell them for a while now. She was finally going to do it. Luke waited for her to continue.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. Luke nodded at her as if to say
it’s okay, we can handle this
. He saw Sera reach for her necklace.

“I’m going to preface this by admitting it is long overdue. And apologize for that. Your father and I didn’t agree on when to tell you, but now that he’s gone—” She pressed her lips together for a moment, and closed her eyes. “I am truly sorry that you haven’t known this all along. I thought you should have. But your dad was afraid it might hurt you in some way. Or hurt our family.”

Her eyes settled on Sera’s hand that still fingered her necklace. “I’ve never told you where your necklaces came from.”

Sera’s eyebrows shot up, and she looked at Luke then back at their mom. “Didn’t you give them to us?”

Luke sat up and leaned forward.

“They were a gift from your…” Their mom paused for a moment, and she looked from Luke to Sera. “Your…birth parents.”

No one moved. Luke’s mouth hung open, his mind stuttered and stopped.

“They died when you were babies.”

Sera stood up suddenly, then just as quickly sat back down. Her mouth gaped, her eyes were two immense silver dollars on her face. She clutched at her necklace. Luke gazed blindly at the coffee table for a few moments, trying to process what she was saying—and failing. Then he raised his eyes to meet his mom’s.

She spoke quickly, quietly. “I couldn’t have children. Dad and I tried for years. We went to doctors. We tried everything. But nothing worked. I wanted you both so desperately. From my soul I wanted you.

“Your birth parents and six older brothers died in a fire. That’s all I know about it. I don’t even know where and I have no idea how you two survived. But I’m so glad you did. When Dad and I got the call about you two—it was literally the happiest day of my life. And then when I had you in my arms, I almost couldn’t believe that you were mine. That I was this lucky. From that moment I have always believed that this was meant to be. That you were meant to be mine. That somehow it was fate.

“You two changed my life. You brought joy back into it. You brought
life
back into it. Dad loved you. And I love you. You are my children. This doesn’t change that. I believe that you were born to be my children, though you did not come from my body. And I hope that you can forgive me for not telling you this years ago.”

Luke’s brow was furrowed, his mind sluggish. He’d known that whatever she’d needed to tell them was important, but he hadn’t expected anything like this.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” he said.

“Were you hiding it from us?” Sera sat with her head in her hands.

“No! No, we weren’t hiding it. We weren’t ashamed of it. I hope you don’t think that. We—Dad—I don’t know. He didn’t want you to know. I think he was afraid you’d feel weird about it. Or about us. Or think we weren’t really your parents. I don’t know. But, I mean, it was never a big deal to me. So what if I didn’t give birth to you? You’re
my
kids. But with Dad—I think his mother said some things, but I don’t know.” She ran a hand through her hair. For a moment her eyes settled on the bowl of popcorn that now lay abandoned. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. It was wrong.”

Luke and Sera were both silent, just staring at her. Their mom shifted her position. Something clinked in her pocket, and she reached in and pulled out two silver rings.

“I have something else for you. From your birth parents.”

They were about a half inch wide and inscribed with symbols all the way around. For a moment it almost looked like the two rings were intertwined, one inside the other, but when Sera and Luke each reached for a ring, they parted easily.

“These are…” Luke said.

“Beautiful.” Sera turned her ring around and around, studying each symbol.

“They are yours,” their mom said. “Though we may need to have them resized if you want to wear them. They look a little big.”

As she said that, Luke was sliding his ring onto the middle finger of his right hand—somehow he just had a feeling that was where it needed to be. He glanced over at Sera. She was placing hers on the same finger. He blinked as he watched her—he’d almost swear the ring was shrinking as she pushed it up her finger. When she had it in place, it appeared to be just the right size. His was too.

Sera looked up and locked eyes with Luke. Then she stood up again, and this time she made her way around the table and headed out of the room.

“Sera?” Their mom’s voice was a broken whisper.

Sera paused in the doorway, and turned. “I’m not mad, Mom. At least I don’t think I am. I just need to think about it. Sort it out. By myself.” She took a couple more steps, but then turned back again before she disappeared from sight. “I love you,” she said looking right at her, then was gone down the hall to her room.

Their mom burst into tears. Luke wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned into his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’ll be fine. All of us.” It was wild, really, this altered perception of who he was. He wasn’t sure exactly how it changed things—he still had Sera and his mom, his family really hadn’t changed—but it felt different. He suddenly had a lot of questions about who he was and why he had the gifts he had. He was curious to know whether his parents or brothers had been gifted too. Maybe he and Sera came from a long line of healers and seers.

“I’m so sorry,” his mom said, breaking into his thoughts.

“I know.” Luke squeezed her hand gently. He didn’t really understand why his parents would have kept this from them, but he didn’t see any reason to make her feel worse.

“I hope you know—in here—” She reached up and touched his chest. “—that you are my son and Sera is my daughter. I feel as if you are my own, of my body, my flesh and blood. That is what’s in my heart and my mind.”

Luke looked at her. Just looked.

“Mine, too,” he said. Then he leaned toward her and spoke low. “Though it does explain a lot. I’ve always wondered where my rakish good looks came from because they weren’t readily apparent in my parentage.” Her mouth dropped open, but then a smile hinted at the corners. “And then there’s my blinding intellect—”

“Now hold on—”

“It’s just so obvious to me now that I didn’t get that from y—”

“Luke!”

“I’m just saying. It explains a lot.” He smiled then, mischief all over his face, and ducked when she tossed a throw pillow at his head. It sailed over him and landed in the corner with a soft
whump
. He hopped up from the couch, grabbed the bowl of popcorn, and sprinted for the door.

“Goodnight, Trouble.” She smiled, and then quietly added, “And, thank you.”

Luke paused in the doorway for a moment, serious again. “Thank you,” he said. “Really.” Then he was gone.

TWENTY-ONE

“J
onas! It’s about time you came to see me. You’ve been keeping secrets,
mon cher.
”

Jonas stepped out of the blackest shadows into the amber glow of the torchlight. Lilith had her back to him, her flame red hair falling in perfect waves to her waist. Even from behind she was enchanting, and for a moment he couldn’t move for the overwhelming beauty before him. He breathed in her intoxicating scent and felt the familiar pull to do anything, be anything she wanted.

She didn’t need to turn around to know he was there, Jonas knew. She’d sensed him, smelled him. She knew everything, could see everything. She was the Oldest of the Old Ones. The Original.

She turned to him, her onyx eyes locked on his, and she made no effort to hide her delight at seeing him. He, however, kept his face blank, his thoughts and emotions under control, and fought to not be taken in by her breathtaking beauty. Tall, lithe, and strong, she moved with the smooth, hypnotic grace of a jaguar. The ultimate siren, one look at her and any person would follow her unbidden. To death. She was the perfect predator.

And she knew it.

So did he, only too well. Each time he saw her it was as if he was human again and lying in the ecstasy of her parasitic embrace.

He fought off the old feelings and looked at her. Hard. It took all his mental energy to focus his way beneath the glamour to see the skeletal, gnarled reality that was the true Lilith. The Lilith no one but the most powerful of younger vampires could see, though there were only a handful of them. And, of course, the Old Ones. The Old Ones were fooled by no one, by no magick. They were the only vampires capable of creating another with comparable powers to their own. They didn’t do it lightly. Jonas was the only one Lilith had created, though she’d made thousands of vampires over the centuries.