Twice as High, page 12
“Well, I pray that he is as faithful to the thought of you, as you are to him.”
He leaned over, took my hand in his, and kissed the back of it. “Until we meet again, Leslie.”
I smiled politely, backed away with one last glance, and moved farther away, as he caught someone else in conversation.
None of these old dusty things spoke to me. Nothing vibrated.
Come on, sixth sense.
I moved on, away from the T-Rex, the sauropods, the pterosaurs, and migrated toward what seemed like a hall of cultural artifacts. First, there was a tablet that referenced Helga the Horrible and her proclivity for singing opera concertos and turning children into smoked fish.
Then, bypassing the Mycenaean exhibit, I landed among the Ancient Greek temple of Athens. Black-figure pottery depicting some of the most known myths in Greek lore—recognizable was that of Medusa, the Pegasus, and even Hades and Persephone. Of course, my knowledge of Greek myth was limited, besides what I’d learned in high school.
And with knowing that the supernatural existed, my thoughts began to drift to those of the gods, only to then ping, whirl, and land on Sunflower again.
She had been my friend since kindergarten, the strange one who didn’t mind playing in her mother’s flowerpots, and always had a story about rescuing some lost animal or another.
A movement caught my attention, and I turned.
For a moment, I thought I saw a woman in the crowd who looked just like Sunflower. With a wreath of sunflowers crowning her newly kaleidoscope-colored hair and dressed in a daffodil-yellow flowy hippy dress, she headed toward the dinosaur exhibit.
How was that possible? I followed.
“Sunflower?” I called after her.
I picked up speed, breaking into a small jog. Maybe the news had been wrong. Maybe she was fine.
I rushed to where she seemed to stop, and across the empty room, over in the corner, I watched Rose as she stood against a wall in the shadows, and the man leaning over her was the one who had ignored my pleas, my calls.
Alistair?
My hope shattered.
It was easy to lie to oneself, after all, those were the easiest of lies told.
A part of me broke.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away. My biggest fear had been confirmed, to be found lacking, and replaced by everything I wasn’t. It was like I was invisible. He was focused on her.
I watched as Alistair pushed a strand of Rose’s brown hair behind her pointy ear. Her grating giggle slapped me. She bit her lip and stared at him longingly, like he was her salvation.
My fear had often been not being good enough. I’d wondered why he liked me. And in the end, I’d not been enough.
I couldn’t turn away. Sort of like watching a car accident. He raised his hand to her face, cupped it, and leaned forward. Their lips only grazed to then deepen.
He kissed her like he’d never kissed me.
Their kiss seared me.
Their shared passion made me a criminal.
Those emotions hit me harder than I’d thought. I closed my eyes to block it all out and felt the air shift around me. A warm hand touched me. I opened them again to focus on who’d approached me to save me from this.
Again, Sunflower.
Her warmth reached a sense of me that I’d not even realized. Like she knew my fear and doubt and wished only to help me, but when I clasped her hand into my own, her warm face, bright smile, disappeared. Instead, it was replaced with that of alabaster white, her eyes smudged with death in them. “Look what you did to me, Leslie. Look what you let them do to me.” She pointed at Rose and Alistair. “I am dead because they killed me. But you can undo it all, Leslie. Give me the relic in your hand.”
I looked down at the meteorite-looking stone, which I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. “You can resurrect me, just like Alistair did for you.”
My knees knocked.
I’d never been weak. I’d also never allowed my emotions to cloud my judgment. Had I really been building something up between Alistair and I that wasn’t there?
“How will this help you?”
“All gods require sacrifices, and that is it.” Sunflower snatched it out of my hand, and in a cloud of smoke, she disappeared, and I came to find myself surrounded by vampires, and Rose wearing a villainous smile.
Her face shimmered, sparkled, and I knew my hunch, my intuition had been correct. That wasn’t Rose but someone else.
“Take her with us, boys,” the Rose imposter ordered. “We still might have a use for her.”
Chapter 20
Alistair
Scotland, Friday
Alistair awoke in the grotto of his castle, Gillianbusti loudly huffing and pawing at him. Despite his beastly shape, Gillianbusti could still emote his dwarf concern. His large brown eyes shimmered with a mixture of worry, and dare Alistair say, fear.
Alistair turned his head and looked around, noticing only the calm, soothing lapping of the waters moving into the space. He patted Gillianbusti's head, to then suddenly notice an unfamiliar cat approach.
“You’ve been away quite a while, Alistair.” He jumped at the sound. Cats were not usually at his residence, and this was not just a cat, but instead one of Freyja’s cats. The cat’s master rested off to the shoulder.
Previously, cats had been a symbol of royalty, and to the Norse, they provided a connection between the magic for the Völva. They’d been venerated since the Neolithic Age. Magic infused with a cat essence even, but not for him.
“What brings you here, Grandmother?” His head hurt like he’d had too much to drink, but it would usually take a tankard of good wine to cause any sort of “buzz,” as Leslie would say.
“You are lucky to have such a mate as Leslie, as she interceded on your behalf with magic.”
“Magic?” Everything still blurred around the edges. “Leslie doesn’t know enough magic to do anything.”
“Be thankful for her innate sense and her grimoire. It seems to have guided her in what to do.”
“An intelligent grimoire.”
“And a useful one.” Freyja examined him, seeming to find him to be in one piece, she stepped back. “It takes a lot to bring down a dragon, but so has been done to you, and while you were sleeping, your fated mate has unfortunately found herself in grave danger.”
“And you have come to tell me?”
“I’ve come to tell you that the eternal circle is not looking on this travesty with good intentions, but more as a test. I’ve been told to stay out of it, and we both know I do not do well with orders.”
He glanced from her to her cat. He knew his grandmother well enough. Just because she was commanded to the sidelines didn’t mean that her furry felines would not intervene on her behalf. Those magical animals that helped to increase one’s magical abilities. They could act like totems, homing in even more on the pure magical energy, at the same time, acting as shields and wards to protect their chosen ally.
“And Grandfather?”
“There is much that I know which I cannot tell. It is almost as if snakes and serpents speak with forked tongues, dear boy. There is much here that you fight against, but not only to help your family, but the gods and the way our treaty may stand.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“As both, you and Leslie will be tested. That which seeks to destroy the gods also seeks to destroy you.”
“Why would they be after Leslie?” Alistair asked. “She is no one.” Sure, Leslie was someone but barely a baby vampire: she had some skills that they were piecing together, but she was like so many others. His venom had made her into something special after all.
“It takes a fool not to understand the gem he holds in the palm of his hands. Leslie is one of a kind, a seer who can touch the tools of the gods and use them.”
Alistair raised his eyebrows. “Use them?”
“Use them and remain unharmed. In the wrong hands, under the wrong influence, she could decimate us all. You did not make her special, Grandson,” Freyja said as if reading his mind. “She was blessed so before she ever encountered you. While you have been wrestling with that of saving her, know that it is her power that will eventually save you.”
Alistair dipped his hands into the pool of water, and wiping his face and neck with its coolness, he then stood to his full towering height.
“Head upstairs and grab your gear, Grandson, then use the runes to transport to New York. Time is of the essence. Leslie will need you. I will go and stir the waters of the ancient magic from the rivers of Ginnungagap. Poseidon threatens to decimate the city, and the only thing standing in his way is your Leslie.”
Alistair reached out his hand, took the offered rune stones, and bounded up the stairs toward the weapons’ hold. This would mean informing all of the others on the watch to take up arms. The Order was in danger.
A banging from the holding cells caught his attention and the striking voice of one he knew: Rose.
“Bloody bastard, when I get out of here, I will gut you,” Rose shouted.
Alistair rounded the corner to find the other cells empty and Rose fighting against the wards in place.
“Rose?”
“Alistair, thank the gods. Everything went to hell, and we were overwhelmed by rogue vampires.” She pushed her hair back from her face. “Right after you left, the castle was overrun. Those who could escape did, to higher ground or other Order operations to activate them. But this is something like we’ve never seen. Ancient magic.”
Alistair raised his hands and chanted the primordial language, as spoken by the giant Ymir before his death: it was the magic his people drew upon.
The cell door popped open.
“We need to head to New York now,” Alistair said.
Rose nodded. “That is the center of what these monsters seek.”
“It is not a what, but a whom. They are all after Leslie.”
Rose frowned and released a biting laugh. “All of this is about her? How can that be when you didn’t even think enough about her to bring her into the fold?”
“This isn’t the time to point fingers at me, Rose.”
“I am one to show you your shortcomings. That has always been my talent and our relationship, before we complicated things, was to help strengthen you in fulfilling your destiny. Instead, you have fallen off course.”
“You sound like my grandmother.”
“Ever the wise woman. The vampires will then all converge on the city, and I expect a bounty on her head.”
“There is more.”
“Who else has Leslie pissed off?”
“No, it is not Leslie, but Poseidon’s trident is missing, and he’s focused his anger on me.”
“So, let me get this straight: we have hungry vampires after your fated mate, and an angry god after you?”
Alistair moved back to the weaponry, where the go-bags were. Both he and Rose grabbed one.
“The world has just gone amok, and you’ve been missing too long from the smell of you.” Rose wrinkled her nose.
How long had he been gone?
“Once we land, you are to call Killian. We will need the troops in New York to activate as quickly as possible.
Clutching the amber rune of Fehu in his palm, and holding Rose’s hand, he closed his eyes and focused on New York City.
A bright-red glowing sigil lit up under their feet.
He could hear the sound of wind instruments and loud ancient drums, combined with the hissing sound of a cat. The air was again perfumed with the sweet aroma of magic. It felt like home. Power rose up his feet, seeping into the fabric of his black clothes to soak into his skin, down through the bone until it fused into the marrow, into the nucleus of his cells.
He threw his head back, and the dragon’s roar pierced the heavens.
But, he was not in his dragon form, but that of a man. He released Rose and pushed himself up from the floor.
On top of the empty Empire State Building Observation Deck, he stared down at the bright city lights, yellow taxis, New York accents, and sniffed the air, catching the aroma of fresh pizza. They’d arrived.
With one last glance at Rose, she retrieved her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Killian.
“Let us find Leslie. Turn on your communication’s radio.” Climbing on to the ledge, he turned to Rose. “I will meet you at the street level.” Again, Alistair roared. He focused on his mother, the goddess Nanna.
He was a water dragon. It would be up to his mother if that was what he was to remain.
“I need your help now, Mother,” he called out, and taking a leap of faith, he jumped.
Alistair knew that there was only one way to find Leslie, considering she was radio silent.
Alistair headed to Leslie’s building. The renovated, pre-World War II building had character for sure. He could almost imagine her staring out the window to catch a view from one of those panes, but also understanding why she cursed his name with the smell of fresh pizza wafting from a nearby pizzeria.
After a little magic, the doorman waved them in, and he and Rose bounded up the stairs, and he pounded on the door.
The walk up was like he’d remembered the apartment building to be. Clean, but dark, the floors still seemed to be the original wood, but well maintained. Tons of character. The hallway was nicely painted in neutral tones.
Finally, reaching the dark wooden door with gold numbers, he knocked. “Leslie, are you there?” he called out. “Leslie?”
“I don’t think you’ve ever had to knock on a door in all of your life. Must be the way of finding your fated mate,” Rose quipped.
“Should I have left you in Scotland?”
“And have you do this alone? This is an obstacle to your happily ever after, god ordained. It is not like I should have had a say in this.”
He turned to Rose. “Do you want to do this now? We were no longer together.”
Things between he and Rose were difficult, and they’d always been on this up-and-down rollercoaster.
“A break? I didn’t expect forever to make it permanent. Now, you’ve replaced me.”
It wasn’t the time nor the place to divulge how he felt, or why he was the way he was. The heart wasn’t something he even understood. He’d always cared for Rose, but what he felt for Leslie wasn’t a passing fancy.
“The reason she’s even in peril is because you’ve not stepped up to do right by her. Come now, I know you well enough to know that if you cared as much as you say you do, then there is no way Leslie would be in this situation.”
Her words irked him. He and Rose had been over for a while. Sure, he knew she’d hoped for reconciliation, but he wasn’t a caged-in bearded dragon, or a pet walked on a leash. She’d expected him to lick his wounds and come back. But with Leslie, there were no games; she said what she meant.
“I didn’t replace you. What I have with Leslie, I never had with you. Please, we still have to work with each other.”
“Your imagination is playing games with you.” Rose winked.
The door creaked open. “If you two are done with your ex-lovers spat, I take it this is about my granddaughter, and not about where you wish to stick your penis, Alistair?”
Leslie’s gran opened the door, wearing a dobok—a Tae Kwon Do uniform, tied with a black belt. “I’m not here to listen to your relationship or provide advice, as you’ve seemingly screwed that up enough.”
He felt his face flame. He stared down at his shoes and clenched his jaw to find his composure. “I assure you, madam, that I am here only out of concern. I’m looking for Leslie.”
“With all of the strange things happening around here,” she continued, “even that you can see me without issue, speaks to this truth. I’m sure you’ll have some answers. But you are not bringing her in here. She was just here looking all Vampire Hunter with Lycra and latex.”
Alistair turned to look at Rose.
“But you are going to explain why there are then two of these things.” She pointed at Rose.
“I assure you, madam, that this is the genuine Rose from the Order.”
“Well, aren’t we all in one heck of a mess. If this is the real Rose, then who is out there with my granddaughter?”
“They headed out, you say?” Rose interrupted.
“Mmhmm.” Gran nodded.
“Do you know where they were headed?”
“Only if you plan on taking me with you, as this spells trouble. Leslie has the ring, so I’m free to leave.”
Chapter 21
Leslie
“Rose?” There in the heart of what must have been the basement of the museum, surrounded by large wooden crates, I waited with bated breath to see what these vampires were going to do with me.
Rose’s face again shimmered like she was using magic to block her true appearance from me.
The Rose I knew might not like me, but to turn me over to people who didn’t have the Order’s best interest in consideration? That gave me pause.
“Who are you?” I demanded, and she smiled but didn’t answer the question.
“This one doesn’t seem to know anything about what it even means to be a vampire,” one said.
“She smells familiar,” said another.
They held on to my arms, dragging me farther into the belly of darkness until the room opened up to reveal a chamber, illuminated by flickering candles. More vampires waited, but they were dressed in the rich, crimson robes akin to those of a Vatican bishop.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but none of this is my business, truly,” I said. “I just want to head on home.”
“Home? It has such a great meaning when there is one.” Sam Dolomite rounded the corner. “Take her to the altar.”
Rose moved toward him. “You now have the firestone and the trident. What do you plan to do with her? We must test and see if it all works, and she must come willingly. The will is a powerful thing and must first be broken.”
Turning my head, I recognized a woman who came to stand next to Sam. She was the assistant from the talk show, Jenny.
