Cronin's Key (11 page)

“Yes,” Cronin answered. “A key is the prophetic name given to an item that will see the demise of rogue covens. It is not always the same. The key that saw the demise of the Aztec coven was the Coyolxauhqui Stone. The key that saw the demise of the ancient Illyrians was the humble bow and arrow. You may have heard of the Egyptian ‘nine bows’. As lore sees it told, it was effectively these nine Egyptian vampires alone who saw the Illyrians undone.”

“So this key is not a living thing?” Kole asked. He was still pale, and Cronin wondered if he’d taken ill.

Alec leaned forward a little, clearly concerned by his father’s reaction. “Dad?”

“Wait here,” Kole said softly. He got up slowly and walked unsteadily out of the room. He came back with a book in his hands. It was large, and from the binding, Cronin could tell it was of a fair age. He handed it to Cronin. “You read Gaelic?”

“Yes,” Cronin answered, looking at the book he held. It was of Gaelic mythology, folklore, and traditional Gaelic names and histories. He looked up at Kole questioningly.

“Do me a favor,” Kole said gruffly. “Find the section on names.”

Cronin flipped through pages until he found what Kole had instructed. Alec leaned over Cronin’s shoulder to look at the book, and although he knew some Gaelic words, he was not fluent enough to read.

Kole sat down in his seat. He looked as though he’d aged a decade. “Our name, MacAidan, spelled with an
an
is the only one. All other MacAidens are
en
. The prefix of Mac means what?”

Alec answered that one. “Son of.”

Kole looked at Cronin. “Look up the meaning of Son of Aidan.”

Cronin turned the page and scanned down the lists of Gaelic definitions until he found it.

Key.

“My name,” Kole said softly. “Kole with a K, not a C. It’s not Scottish, but English. It means Keeper of the Key.”

Cronin’s eyes met Kole’s. The old man swallowed hard. “We never chose the name for Alec. His mother and I had the same dream on the same night, the day before he was born. We were both told what his name would be.”

“You never told me that,” Alec said.

“We never told anyone that,” his father answered. Then he looked back to Cronin. “We call him Alec, but his real name is the Gaelic adaption, Ailig.”

Cronin turned back a few pages until he found the name and his blood ran cold. His eyes shot to Kole, and Alec’s father nodded slowly.

Cronin turned to Alec. “We need to leave.”

“Why?” Alec asked. “What does it mean?”

Kole answered him. “Ailig means Defender of Mankind. Your name literally means Defender of Mankind; Key.”

“We don’t need to search for information on the key, Alec,” Cronin said quietly. “Because it’s you. That’s why you’ve been tracked down, that’s why you’ve been protected.
You’re
the key.”

“Me? Protected?” Alec asked, standing up. “You mean Eiji knew? Is that why he protected me? Cronin, the vampire who got shot with the wooden bullet, he called me Ailig. And it was Eiji who put him on detail; he had to have known my real name. Eiji must have known what it meant.”

Cronin blinked. This thought or realization was terribly unsettling. His jaw clenched and he stood up. He threw the book onto the sofa and held out his hand for Alec. “I don’t know, but I can assure you I will find out.”

Alec took Cronin’s hand, the two looking only at each other for a long moment, then Kole quickly stood as well. Alec dropped Cronin’s hand and hugged his father. “Stay safe, Dad.”

“Will I see you again?” Kole asked his son.

Alec opened his mouth, but closed it again. He clearly had no clue how to answer. Cronin answered for him. “Yes. Mr. MacAidan, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure you see him again, but right now we need to leave.” Cronin held his arm out and waited for Alec to slide in against him.

Cronin couldn’t believe he didn’t see this before. He couldn’t believe he didn’t know.

His fated one, his Alec—the one he’d waited a millennium for—was the Key.

Cronin tightened both arms around him, breathing in his scent and feeling the warmth of home against him. “When we get to the gathering, stay close to me at all times.”

Alec nodded against him, and they leapt.

Alec gritted his teeth and focused on the energy of leaping rather than the pain. When they’d arrived at wherever Cronin had taken him, he surprised himself by only needing a deep breath to shake off the lingering sting.

Cronin kept his arm around him, though, and it took a moment for Alec to get his bearings and orient himself. That was when he saw where he was.

It was a large abandoned warehouse. The floor space was huge and there were few windows, but from what Alec could see through the grimy glass, he was still in New York City and it was just getting dark.

Then he saw who he was with.

Cronin kept his body in front of Alec at all times, and with the many dozen vampires in the room, Alec didn’t mind at all. Cronin told him to stay close, and now he knew why.

The warehouse was rectangular and there were no lights, which Alec realized was because the vampires didn’t need illumination to see. There was a table at one end, close to where Cronin had brought them, and Alec saw Eiji and Jodis sitting at it. But Cronin didn’t address them, he faced the hundred inquisitive faces of his fellow vampires, who were clearly curious as to why he’d brought along a human. He had their full attention.

“I’ll have you know,” Cronin said lowly. “This human man is mine. Touch him, even look at him in a manner I do not care for, and I will kill you myself.”

Right, then. That was one way to say it.

Alec didn’t know what to do or what was considered proper etiquette, especially now that Cronin had threatened to kill them if they looked him. He wasn’t sure how to come back from that. Did he wave? Did he introduce himself? He wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans and smiled at every single vampire who stood, stunned, staring at him.

It was then that Eiji laughed from his seat at the table. “Nice introduction, my friend.”

Cronin spun to face him. His voice was quiet, eerily so, and seething. “I need explanations from you.”

If the whole warehouse wasn’t quiet before, it certainly was now. The mass of vampires took a collective step back, and the dynamics in the room were clear to Alec. Cronin was someone important, and given there was one spare seat at the only table at the head of the room next to Eiji and Jodis, he deduced the three of them were important.

Eiji stood up. “Explanations of what?”

“Alec. You knew. You had him protected. It was how he could chase down a Seeker, it’s why Mikka died protecting him.”

Eiji shook his head. “Of course I had him protected since he was born. I told you this. What circumstance has changed, Cronin? To which explanation do you refer?”

“The vampire who died for me—was it Mikka?” Alec asked. Cronin nodded. “He called me by name.”

Eiji looked confused. “So? He knew your name. Of course he did!”

“He called me Ailig,” Alec explained.

“I don’t understand,” Eiji said. “Your name is Alec.”

The gentle rumble in Cronin’s chest became a dull roar. “His name is Ailig, traditional Gaelic. Roughly translated, Eiji, his name means The Key.” There were quiet gasps from the other vampires. Alec didn’t dare look at them.

Eiji’s mouth fell open. “The key…?” He shook his head. “No…”

“Tell me you knew!” Cronin demanded. The hundred or so vampires in the room scattered to the walls.

“I knew no such thing!” Eiji defended himself immediately.

Jodis was now beside her mate. Her eyes were wide and filled with concern. “Cronin, he couldn’t have known. He cannot lie to you.”

“Then explain to me how he didn’t know,” Cronin asked. “He sees life maps with a touch. It’s encoded in their DNA. So tell me. How did he not know? It seems a lie in either direction.”

“All I see from Alec,” Eiji said quickly, “is that he’s important and that your lives are inextricably entwined. I see he is your fated one loud and clear. If I have misread his importance, I apologize. I saw his significance in relation to you, that is all, Cronin. Because of the magnitude he would mean
to you
. That is what I saw.”

Alec could feel the anger leaving Cronin. Eiji’s response, his justification and emotional reaction, was honest, and it was clear Cronin believed him. “Then how did Mikka know his real name?”

Eiji shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“I told him,” came a woman’s voice from behind them. It was an old voice, feeble, yet determined.

Alec turned to see who the voice belonged to, but Cronin maneuvered himself to put his body between Alec and the woman who spoke. He had to look over Cronin’s shoulder to see her. She was old, with wrinkled skin and gray hair, clearly the oldest amongst the other vampires, which was remarkable given that every other vampire in the warehouse looked under forty in human years. How old they were in vampire years, Alec had no clue. But that wasn’t the most significant thing about her. What stood out the most was her eyes. They were a murky, milky white, and there was no iris.

“I told him,” she said again. “This one, your fated one, Cronin, is the Key. I have seen it.”

A low growl rumbled from Cronin. “Explain!” he snapped. Again, the other vampires flinched, though the woman did not.

“I am a seer,” she said. “You know this, Cronin. I have seen many things, of what has happened and of what is yet to pass. Born to Gaelic blood, not unlike yourself, your Ailig is the defender of mankind. He was born to be the key, Cronin, and a subject to his birthright, he shall be.”

“Why was I not told?” Cronin was furious.

The woman, whose name Alec still didn’t know, said, “There is safety in anonymity. Is that not a law we live by? The human was safer shrouded in secrecy. If his presence was made known, his life would have been over before it began.” She lifted her chin. “No one was to know, not you, not Eiji, not Jodis. I am sorry for the betrayal—a crime fitting of punishment, I am fully aware—but it was to keep Ailig safe. It was not to benefit you, Elder Cronin, but all of our kind.”

“Mikka knew,” Cronin said, his voice just a whisper. “I assume Jacques does also, given he was sworn to guard Alec. Who else? And if they knew, Eleanor, where is the secrecy in that?”

Eleanor kept still, her unblinking eyes unnerving as she looked at Alec. “Only those two,” she said. “When Eiji had set them the duty of protecting Ailig, I took it upon myself to divulge the secret. Eiji had explained that the infant, as he was then, was important, but gave no other information. Both Mikka and Jacques obliged because of their loyalty to this coven and its leaders, but they had to know the weight of such a duty. They had to know it wasn’t just to protect him, as Eiji had said. They needed to know the magnitude of their responsibility—it wasn’t just to offer their lives for your mate. It was also to protect the key.”

Cronin looked at the crowd of vampires. “Jacques. Step forward.”

A vampire came from the crowd to stand beside the woman named Eleanor. Eiji and Jodis now stood on either side of Cronin, Alec still shielded by him. Jacques was young in human years, maybe eighteen, he had blond hair and dark eyes, and spoke with a French accent. “Leaders,” he said, bowing his head slightly.

“You stand by what Eleanor has claimed?” Cronin asked.

Jacques kept his head bowed. “I do. I was set to detail Ailig when he was just a newborn baby, as was Mikka. Eiji ordered us to protect the child until the day you found him.”

“You knew of his importance?” Cronin pressed.

“Yes, Elder. Eiji told us what he was to you, Eleanor told us what he was to our kind,” Jacques answered, still not looking up.

“Did you divulge this information to anyone?”

Jacques looked up then. His eyes dark and piercing. “Never.”

“And Mikka?”

“His loyalty remained to his cause, Elder. He died protecting Ailig.”

“You were there?”

“Yes. Ailig chased down the Seeker,” Jacques said, and there was a quiet murmur through the warehouse. “We ran with him, of course. The Seeker was luring him somewhere, so we followed to find out what we could. But the Seeker turned, held a blow dart to his mouth, and shot at Mikka. I’ve never seen anything like it. Mikka stopped, just as Ailig jumped the wall. I wanted to follow the Seeker, to chase him down and demand answers, but I could not.”

“Why not?” Cronin asked.

Jacques looked a little confused. “I could not leave Ailig,” he answered simply. “It was dark and raining. He was alone. Much faster than his fellow policemen. He held Mikka and tried to save him, but it was of no use. I watched over him until he was at the police station and you arrived.” Jacques bowed his head again. “It was the next day when I got word this meeting had been called.”

Cronin studied Jacques and Eleanor. “You have both withheld information and therefore defied the laws of this coven. Eleanor more so than Jacques, but defied nonetheless,” he said firmly, “an act not taken lightly.” Both accused vampires bowed their heads.

Jesus
, Alec thought.
Was there about to be an execution?

“However, in light of the circumstances,” Cronin went on to say, “I can see your reasons were justified. You kept Alec alive, not just because of what he is to me, but what he means to our kind. And yet it is I who is most grateful. Though know this: any further deception to any member of this coven, be it blatant lie or omission of fact, I will not hesitate to see you tried for treason.”

Both vampires nodded before looking up. Cronin focused on Jacques. “You have protected Alec well.”

“Thank you,” Jacques replied.

“You are familiar with Alec’s father?”

My father?
Alec thought.
What?

“Yes,” the French vampire replied.

Cronin’s voice was strong and resonated like that of a leader. “I want him kept safe. Protect him as you would Alec. Choose two to help you, and choose them well. I am entrusting his life to you.”

Alec let out a breath of relief and fisted the back of Cronin’s shirt in thanks.