Broken Heart 02 Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire (30 page)

Only Ron and Charlie remained. I don't know what happened to them, only that the Consortium spirited
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them away to another location. Koschei and Otto the Onerous had disappeared. Otto hadn't had time to pack up his stuff, so the Consortium confiscated files, samples, and equipment. Chances were good that Koschei, not Ron, was behind the sudden and virulent taint that had spread among vampires.

The first victim had been his daughter, Ina.

"My name's Ruadan." The man sitting on the steps of my front porch looked every bit as gorgeous as his twin sons.

Holy freaking frijole
! Not only was he the father of Patrick and Lorcan, he was also the first vampire ever to walk the earth. "Should I bow or something, Your Highness?"

"My sons are trying to do away with the formalities of the Ancients. I tend to agree with them on the idea of relaxing protocol. Just call me Ruadan, darlin'."

"Okay, Ruadan Darling."

He laughed heartily, then patted the spot next to him. I sat down, keeping a foot between us.

The animals gathered around me as usual, which amused Ruadan no end. I had been waiting for Lorcan, hoping that he would visit me. I wasn't sure I could work up the nerve to seek him out.

My house would soon be emptied of its books, furniture, and memories.

Stan had given me a clean bill of health and was studying my blood. I didn't understand the scientific explanations. Somehow the royal lycan blood had fused to Lorcan's cells, creating a hybrid blood that destroyed the taint. Stan decided to work on a formula that could be directly injected into a sufferer.

Faustus agreed to be the guinea pig.

"You'll do, now, won't you, darlin'?"

"Do for what?"

"For my son. I'm sure you know him: tall, black hair, tormented soul?"

I couldn't help but smile. "That sounds about right."

"Do you know that you're meant for him and he for you?"

"Oh, no, you don't! Jessica told me about the
fede
ring and the soul mate story. You manipulated your son and the fates of the McCree women. You can't say the same about me and Lor."

"Sure an' I do," he said cheerfully. "But I didn't have to write Lor's story. He wrote his own. You're meant for him, Eva LeRoy."

"He probably doesn't think so." I sighed. "Ruadan, what about Koschei? Having an Ancient perpetuating death and destruction on vampires is not a good thing."

"He is
droch fola
," he said, his Irish lilt filled with anger. "Have no worries, darlin'. We will handle that horse's arse just fine."

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I couldn't help but laugh.

He looked at me. "Now, about you and my son…"

"Your son can't forgive himself," I said. "My mother said forgiving other people was less about giving them absolution and more about keeping your own soul from shriveling up."

"True enough." He smiled kindly. "Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman."

"She was. We lost her five years ago to cancer."

"I'm sorry she's no longer on this plane of existence," said Ruadan, his gaze compassionate. "But I'm sure she watches over you and Tamara every day."

I tried to swallow the sudden knot in my throat. I hadn't had enough time with my mother. As much as I appreciated her now, there were plenty of times I hadn't. We had our share of arguments. We were both mule-stubborn and to this day I wished I had hugged her more, told her I loved her more. Did telling my mother at the end of her life how much she meant to me make up for all those times when anger and annoyance ruled my words and actions?

Every day was an opportunity to express love and gratitude. I tried not to waste those opportunities.

You never knew how long you had with someone, whether it was sharing a five-minute elevator ride with a stranger or living an ordinary life with an extraordinary mother.

And maybe that was finally the lesson I had come to learn with Lorcan. I loved him. And I couldn't waste another moment pretending that I didn't.

"Lorcan will be here soon," said Ruadan. He winked. "Welcome to the family, love."

Not five minutes after Ruadan sparkled away, Lorcan arrived. He flew in from the direction of the compound.

I felt awkward and uncertain. We had been through so much together. He killed me and then I tried to kill him. It didn't seem like murder attempts were the way to bring two broken souls together. So, instead of talking about us, we talked about everything else.

"Koschei is a much bigger problem for the vampire population than the Wraiths are," said Lorcan.

"Koschei and Otto are the ones really responsible for the vampire plague."

"Why does he think you killed Ina?" I asked.

"She realized what her father was doing and came to me for help."

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"And she would do that because…"

"Once, long ago, we were more than friends."

"You were bound?" I don't know why I was so shocked that Lorcan had had prior relationships. He always seemed so lonely and monkish.

"I may have been a
filí
," said Lorcan, "but that didn't require me to be celibate." He put his arm around me and I relaxed. The tension dissolved and I enjoyed the easy affection. "By the time Ina reached me, the disease was in its final stages. I cared for her, but it was too late to save her. One night, she attacked me."

"It seems you keep getting attacked by those who are supposed to love you."

"Yet I'm still here." He smiled. "I didn't kill her, Eva. She walked into the dawn."

"Sometimes grief changes you. It makes you better or worse. Maybe Koschei needed someone to blame for his loss. Maybe he was always a little crazy and losing Ina was what broke him."

"Maybe." He kissed me. "I have to go, love. We have another meeting with the board. We also have to make preparations for the Ancients."

"They're coming here?"

"Right now, it's the safest place to host a conference."

Between the increased patrols, über-magic spells, and full-time vigilance of Ruadan, Broken Heart probably was the safest possible place for any paranormal being.

"They'll discuss what to do about Koschei. No Ancient has ever gone
droch fola
, and no one knows what will happen to the Family line if an Ancient dies." He stood up and I stood with him.

He kissed me lightly, then rose into the air.

I wanted to shout:
That's it? Where's the romantic gesture? The claim of undying love? The
marriage proposal
?

Instead, I watched him until he disappeared, feeling bereft.

The countdown to the demolition of my home ticked to zero.

That night, I sat down on the porch steps for the last time and petted the squirrel that had scurried into my lap.

Tamara and I had tried to get back to the way things had been before, but we were both changed.

We held a small memorial service for Johnny Angelo, though he had no grave. Jessica had declared that the old movie theater on Main Street would be restored and renamed Johnny Angelo Theatre. She even planned a weeklong movie marathon featuring all of Johnny's films.

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I looked over my shoulder at my empty, forlorn house. All the books were now installed in the Consortium library. Tamara and I had picked out a nice ranch-style house within the compound. Not only would it give us extra security, but it was also near the school.

The Consortium council wasn't convinced I would be a good teacher, but with Jessica and Lorcan advocating for me, I had been given temporary teacher status. School was starting late, the second week of October. The first of the month was only days away and I had a lot to do. I was really nervous, but excited, too. Mom always said that when God closed a door, he opened a window. I guess the library was my closed door and the school my open window.

Still, I was grappling with the idea that tomorrow evening the house would be torn down and a security tower built.