Cronin's Key (5 page)

Half a second later, all the woman would have heard was a whispered “Run” and the weight of the would-be rapist was gone.

Cronin
carried the putrid man to the rooftop of a secluded and derelict building. A fitting end, he thought. The man hadn’t screamed, even as his confusion gave way to fear. Cronin could see the realization in the man’s eyes, the usual look of shock and horror.

Cronin didn’t bother with conversation. He rarely did. They always asked, “Why?” and “What are you going to do to me?”, then lastly, “What the fuck
are
you?”, though Cronin never replied. How big and brave these men always were when pitted against a weaker species. But when they
were
the weaker species? Oh, how the tables quickly turned.

None of it mattered. All Cronin could think about was getting back to Alec. So with a flex of his teeth, he pulled the man’s head back and bit into his neck.

* * * *

Cronin appeared in his living room, scaring the shit out of Alec. He was putting a glass of water on the coffee table and suddenly having someone appear beside him made him jump, sending the water flying.

Jodis put her hand out, turning the glass of water and the spilled contents into ice before a single drop hit the floor.

Alec put his hands out in an everybody-stop motion. “Jesus! You”—he looked at Cronin—“just scared the bajeezus outta me.” Then he glanced at the spray of ice and then at Jodis. “And how freakin’ cool is that?!”

“Sorry,” Cronin said with a smile. He was just happy to see Alec. The fact he wasn’t glaring at him was an added bonus. “I’m not used to having company unfamiliar with me… just appearing.”

Alec stared at Cronin for a long few seconds as if he’d missed him, and Cronin couldn’t look away. Alec’s heart rate spiked, which Cronin put down to being startled at his sudden appearance. Alec shook his head, as if to clear it. “It’s fine,” he said.

“I trust you slept well?” Cronin asked, sitting across from him.

“Yes,” Alec said, then almost as an afterthought he added, “Thank you.” He scraped up a shard of ice from the table and put it in the glass. “Jodis, that was seriously cool. I mean, I know Cronin said before you can turn things into ice, but to see it! Can you do it again?”

She laughed. “Of course.”

“Can you just turn liquids into ice?” Alec asked. “I mean, what’re the parameters? Are there limitations, or does it just need a molecular structure?”

Jodis glanced at Cronin and gave an approving smile. “Yes, anything with a molecular structure. There are limitations to quantities, nothing over a few cubic feet of water. And nothing more than a few feet away.”

“Humans?” Alec asked. There was no malice in his tone, just curiosity. “I mean, we’re made up of mostly water, so I guess you could. What about other vampires?”

Jodis was still smiling at Alec, her eyes a vivid blue. “Yes. I can freeze both humans and vampires.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Alec said. “In a… weird fascinating morbid kinda way. Is that why your eyes are so blue?” Alec asked. “Sorry, that’s so personal. I just have a lot of questions. And your eyes are blue, like
really
blue, and Cronin’s are black.” He looked at both of them in turn. “And Eiji can read DNA? How does that even work? I thought it was a way to determine heredity, like mitochondrial and nuclear DNA tells us of who we’re related to, yes? But he can see lifespans, like the future?”

Jodis answered first. “Yes. Human DNA can be read both ways, past and future. It doesn’t tell of events or which path one would choose, just the determined length and similarities to relatives.”

“It’s not an easy talent to explain,” Cronin added. “But as Jodis said, DNA can be read in both directions. Humans have only discovered the past aspect so far.”

“Wow” was all Alec could say.

“It is fascinating,” Cronin agreed. “Though Eiji never understood his gift until the discovery of DNA pathways by human scientists. When he saw what they were doing and describing, he had a name for what he can see.”

“DNA?”

Jodis nodded. “Up until then, he just assumed he could see some version of a lifespan.”

Alec sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” He pressed his hand against his chest and shook as head, then looked at Cronin. “I feel better now you’re here,” he said softly.

“As do I.” Cronin’s chest flooded with warmth at Alec’s words, and he smiled. Cronin was so out of practice with human needs, in particular sleeping habits. Alec had been asleep for a few hours, and Cronin wondered if that was enough. “Have you been awake long?”

Alec shook his head. “About five minutes before you got here.”

Cronin looked at the clock. He’d only been gone for a total of twenty minutes, at most.

Alec swallowed hard. “I think that’s what woke me. I wasn’t feeling well. I was just going to sip some water when you frightened the shit out of me and made me spill it.”

“I’m sorry for leaving,” Cronin said.

“Did you…” Alec cringed. “You know…?”

“I told him the reason for your absence,” Jodis added without apology. “There’s no point in hiding what we are. It is a fact of our existence. And something Alec must come to terms with.”

Cronin studied Alec’s face, looking for some sign of disgust. There wasn’t any. “Yes. I left to feed,” he told Alec. “Given you’re human, I thought it was best to keep as well-fed as possible.”

Alec’s brow furrowed and after a long beat of silence, he nodded. “I get it. I do. I just don’t… like it. And for what it’s worth,” he said, now looking at Cronin, “I feel safe around you. I don’t know why. Everything in my head should be telling me to run… but it’s not. It’s telling me to stay.”

Cronin smiled at that, and Alec put his hand up. “I don’t pretend to understand what the whole
fated
thing means. But I do know that something in me is different.” Alec pointed his finger at Cronin. “And just so we’re clear, with the fated thing, whatever the hell it is, it doesn’t mean you own me.

“And,” Alec continued, his voice lower, “I probably should apologize. I said some less-than nice things to you earlier. I tend to get grumpy without sleep.”

Cronin let out a laugh. Alec was nothing if not confounding. “You have no need to apologize for anything. Your reaction was warranted, and I’ll admit, more accepting than I could have dared hoped.” He smiled at Alec. “You need sleep. Duly noted.”

The two men stared at each other, each unable to look away. Cronin’s chest tightened and his whole body heated. He could taste desire on his tongue and feel it pulse in his groin. Alec’s breaths grew shallow, his pupils dilated, his heart rate spiked, and Cronin opened his mouth, feeling his teeth ready to flex.

“Right, then,” Jodis said as she stood, startling both men and breaking the tension between them. “You two need to take it down a notch. You rival Freyr.” She smiled as she walked gracefully to the kitchen.

One corner of Cronin’s lips curved upwards, while Alec struggled to catch his breath. “I, uh, I might grab a shower, if that’s okay?” he asked. He stood and wiped his hands on his jeans nervously, seeming to look everywhere except at Cronin.

“Of course,” Cronin answered, standing as well. “Please treat my house as your own. You don’t need to ask permission to do anything here.” Then, because he found it amusing, he said, “You’re free to do as you wish. I don’t own you, remember?”

Alec shot him a glare, which only made Cronin smile as he walked down the hall. “So,” Alec said, following him. “Is that you trying to be funny?”

Cronin opened the door to the bedroom Alec had slept in, but stood in the doorway so Alec would need to brush past him. He ignored his question. “You will find towels and soaps in your en suite bathroom.”

Alec stopped near the door so there was barely a foot between them. He was taller than Cronin by at least three inches, and probably a little broader too. Cronin liked the fact that Alec was bigger than him. It was more challenging…

Instead of looking into the room, Alec glanced at the closed door opposite them, then back at Cronin. “Is that your room?”

Cronin’s smile faltered. “Yes…” He looked at his bedroom door, hesitated for a moment, then stepped across the hall. He pushed the handle, letting the door swing open, but didn’t walk inside.

Alec stepped up to him, closer than was strictly necessary, before brushing past him. The room was dark, too dark for a human, and Alec only made it a step. “Have you got lights?”

Cronin flipped the switch. The room was furnished similarly to the other bedroom: large bed, luxurious black and gray bedcovers, matching drapes. Alec seemed to inspect the drapes, but they were of no use. The large window had been blacked out.

Not a sliver of light, a perfect seal.

Alec touched the covered glass. “Not a morning person, I take it?”

Cronin, who was nervous at Alec being in his private quarters, relaxed. “Is that you trying to be funny?”

Alec chuckled, seemingly pleased at having his own words repeated back to him. He looked again at the window. “I bet the window people who covered that thought you were mad,” Alec said. “Obscuring one of the most sought-after views in New York City.”

Cronin shrugged. “They believed, as do my cleaning and laundry staff, and the concierge and doormen, that I’m a financial broker. I travel a lot, and keep unusual hours, trading mostly in the London and Brunei time zones.” He smirked at the look of surprise on Alec’s face. “Not that it matters. I pay them enough to not ask questions.”

Alec nodded. “Makes sense.” Then he walked over to the far wall. It was a huge master bedroom, bigger than most Cronin had ever lived in. The far wall was bare except for one shelf at chest height. It was only five foot long, small in comparison to the vast blank wall, but it commanded presence. Because on the shelf, on little stands so they stood in perfect view, was an ax and a helmet.

Alec inspected the iron ax. Banged-up and crude, the blade curved, with a reverse spike on the head of it. The oak handle looked almost petrified now, and Alec raised his hand to gently touch one finger to it. Next to the ax, the helmet was made of a similar quality of iron. Merely an oval in shape, bent and held with an iron band to mold around a skull, it was dented, with a strip of iron that protruded downward to protect the nose, which was almost comical, Cronin granted. Protecting the nose did little good when the ax had gone through his chest.

They were fascinating, rudimentary, and Cronin could see Alec was in awe of them.

Cronin watched all of this in silence, as a wide-eyed Alec turned to face him. He was sure the human had a hundred questions—the man had questions at every turn—but yet he said nothing. He just blinked and shook his head, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

Cronin didn’t have to tell Alec that these weapons were his, that they took pride of place in his private bed chambers because he’d used them in war when he was human. Somehow, it seemed, Alec already knew.

Cronin assumed it had been one thing to be told of his age, but to see such relics, such human artifacts—well over a thousand years old—made it very, very real. Alec swallowed hard and licked his lips. “Um… shower,” he mumbled, walking distractedly out of the room.

After a few minutes, when Cronin heard the water start in the shower, he laid a change of clothes on Alec’s bed. He wasn’t sure if they’d fit exactly, and made a mental note that getting some personal effects for Alec would be in order.

He walked back out to find Jodis in the kitchen. She beamed at him. “My dear friend, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see you with him finally.”

Cronin took a sharp breath and let it out with a laugh. “Today is a better day. He seems able to stand me, at least.”

“Stand you? Is he not smitten already?” Jodis laughed musically, and Cronin ducked his head. “Eiji and I will leave you in peace tonight.”

Cronin pretended he wasn’t embarrassed by what she implied. “Where is Eiji?”

“Downstairs in the lobby. He wanted to make contact with a few of our friends to see if anyone knows anything of Mikka’s death or that of the Seeker. He thought it best if Alec were not privy to his conversation.” Jodis sighed. “He also has one of your credit cards.”

“Do I want to know what for?”

Just then the elevator pinged and the doors opened. Eiji’s usual chuckle came from behind the several boxes and grocery bags he carried. “I bought your human some human things,” he said, walking in with his burden. “Of all the things we’ve witnessed throughout time—inventions, developments, advances—I do believe the credit card, Internet, and home delivery may be my favorite. I didn’t even have to leave the lobby.”

He slid the boxes and bags onto the kitchen counter. “Though I found out little information. Only that yes, it was Mikka who met his fate. There was rumor of more than one Seeker in the city, though no proof. Only rumors.”

“Any word on the key?” Cronin asked.

Eiji shook his head. “No. Though if there is more than one Seeker, I would believe that whatever this key is, it is here in New York City.”

Cronin frowned. “We need to call a council meeting.”

Jodis and Eiji both nodded and answered in unison. “Agreed.”

Alec walked into the kitchen. Freshly showered and wearing Cronin’s clothes, and he did a double take. Alec’s scent, washed and warm, filled Cronin’s senses, making him feel lightheaded, if such a thing were possible.

Oblivious to his effect on Cronin, Alec stood beside him. “Oh, I forgot to show you this,” he said, holding out his hand. On his palm was the small wooden bullet. “I had it in my pocket and forgot all about it. It was in the ashes of that vampire. I think it was what killed him…”

Alec’s words trailed off when it was obvious the three vampires had gone stock-still. They looked at his hand, wide-eyed.

Eiji’s voice was eerily quiet. “It’s hawthorn.”

Cronin nodded. He knew what that meant.

“The Illyrians are here.”

The three vampires were more than alarmed, talking so fast and quietly that Alec couldn’t understand them, so he left them to it.