Eventide: The Dark Ink Chronicles (22 page)

I smile back. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Mr. Arcos.” We hit the steps and make our way back to the great hall. “You’re coming back with us, right?” I ask.

Victorian nods. “Much to your lover’s disdain, yes. I have to ensure my brother’s safety.”

I nod. “Good. We can use your help.”

“Go to your man,” Victorian whispers, and hangs back. “The lucky bastard awaits you with the others. I think they are arranging a formal meeting for you.”

With a final smile at Vic, I walk ahead and join Eli and the others. Gilles has joined the group. All heads turn my way as I approach.

Eli, pacing, stops and walks directly to me. He grasps my shoulders. “Well?” he asks. “Are you okay?”

Giving him an assuring smile, I lean up and kiss him.
“Oui, Monsieur Dupré.”
I blink. The French rolls off my tongue as though it’s my first language. Intrigued, I decide to give it another try.
“Est-ce-que vous avez été examiner pour la rage récemment?”
I wait expectantly for praise.

A moment of silence hangs in the air before laughter breaks out in the Arcos great hall.

Eli’s lips purse tightly together, and he covers his mouth with his hand before shaking his head.

“What’d I say?” I ask. I look at Gilles. He’s still chuckling.

“Damn, girl,” Noah says, wiping his eyes. “You just asked Eli if he’d been checked for rabies recently.”

“Oops,” I say. “Guess I need to work on that, huh?”

Eli pulls me into a hug.
“Non,”
he whispers against my ear. “I like you just the way you are.”

I fall easily into his embrace. How simple it is for me to take comfort there. Much easier now that I’ve admitted to myself, and to Eli, how much I truly love him.

From the corner of my eye, I notice Victorian hanging back somewhat from the group. And for a moment, my heart aches.

He smiles at me.
No, love. Do not ache for me. As I said, I will wait for you. And I shall also enter your thoughts routinely. You’ll grow weary of hearing me, no doubt.

I do nothing more than smile back at him.

“We must prepare for departure,” Gilles announces, drawing everyone’s attention. “Luc has called several times. The situation is growing, and it’s no longer safe to leave the entire city and our loved ones solely in the hands of my children and wife.” He faces Eli. “Valerian has been in hiding, commanding his newlings. They’ve converged now. A large clan descends upon Savannah. We must leave at once.”

Jake Andorra moves to Eli. “My team and I will accompany you.”

Eli nods and grasps his shoulder. “
Merci
. We can use all the help we can get.
Merci
.”

“I will help as well,” Victorian adds, standing tall, erect, and meeting Eli’s hard gaze without flinching. “’Tis my duty to bring my brother home.”

Eli looks first at me, then back to Victorian. “Only because Riley trusts you so much will I allow this.”

Victorian simply nods and leaves the hall.

“Well,” Noah says, clapping his hands together and rubbing them vigorously. His smile is lethal, predatory. “Time to make like a tree and get the fuck out of here.”

I shake my head. Noah’s mercury gaze lights on me and I can’t help but grin at him. Sick fool.

Within an hour, we’d packed up and, thanks to Julian Arcos, boarded two helicopters bound for Bucharest.
Apparently I’d been so out of it on the journey that I’d missed the flight to Castell Arcos. But even I have to admit that the sight of the massive, ancient castle rising out of the misty rocks of the Carpathians is one I’ll not soon forget. Turrets and towers—foreboding, all of it. Yet…enticing. I guess that’s the whole vampire lure. To me, though, it is sheer beauty.

At the airport, we board the Arcoses’ private jet—a Gulfstream, no less, manufactured directly in my hometown of sultry Savannah, Georgia. The jet is immaculately decorated and lavishly furnished; I admit that it is pretty kick-ass to roll in so much luxury. Not sure I’d ever buy one myself, but it damn sure beats sitting all cramped in coach, with someone kicking the back of your seat or, worse, falling asleep on you. Had that happen to me once. Some weird dude who looked like Satan, complete with pointed goatee and all, fell right over on me. Tried to snuggle. No, thank you.

As we take off from Bucharest, the sun is setting, and the sky we fly into is various shades of orange, red, yellow, and purple. The Carpathians rise in the distance, and for a solid second, I feel sad that I’m leaving. It’s weird—I’ve never had the first little desire to go to Romania, yet I have some sort of connection to it. I now have the urge to return. Someday.

It’s not weird, love. The connection to my home is inside of you now, just as my blood, my brother’s, and my father’s
circulate with each pump of your heart. It’s natural to feel this. Mayhap one day you’ll come back?

My eyes shoot over to Victorian’s, and he’s of course watching me. I smile and shrug, then turn back to the window and watch Bucharest fade away. Maybe I will. One day.

I settle down next to Eli and take notice of my traveling companions. Five vampires, two werewolves, two ancient Pict Druthan warriors, and one mortal-turned-very-important-immortal. And me.

I have to wonder what exactly the pilot is.

“Well,” Jake Andorra says, addressing everyone. “Since we had to hurry and leave in such haste I suggest we take this time to acquaint Ms. Poe with WUP”—he slides me a glance—“and what would be expected of her.” His gaze lights on everyone. “Agreed?”

The plane fills with various forms of agreement: ayes and yeses and
oui
s.

Jake nods. “Good.” He’s sitting in the seat across from me, so he leans forward, clasps his hands together, and meets my gaze. “As you can see, my WUP team is made up of…rather unique beings.” He nods to the various occupants of the plane. “Werewolves. Vampires. Immortals.” He smiles. “And you, Riley Poe.”

“What am I?” I ask.

Jake shrugs. “That, I haven’t figured out yet, but trust me when I say, you’ll fit right in with the rest of
the team. You see, we take on cases too dangerous and powerful for mere mortals to handle. This case is probably our most dangerous thus far.”

I keep my gaze trained on Jake.

“You see, there’s really only one thing more lethal than a vampire,” he says. “A Black Fallen.”

“What’s that again?” I ask, not sure I got the full scoop earlier.

“’Tis a fallen angel, engulfed in the blackest of magic. And three of the Fallen have descended upon Edinburgh, Scotland, with a vengeance.”

“Why?” I ask.

Jake glances at another. “Gabriel?”

The big guy, Gabriel, meets my eyes. “The Black Fallen seek two things: one, a soul. No’ just any old soul. A pure one.”

“And the second?” I ask.

“’Tis an aged tome—the Seiagh—a dark, ancient book of the most potent spells, stolen from the Fallen’s possession centuries before.” His unusual eyes bore into mine. “They’ll stop at nothing to get both.”

“Aye, and it’ll take all of our powers combined to stop
them
,” Jake says.

“Ms. Maspeth,” Gabriel continues, “was chosen at birth to be the only one capable of reading the ancient script of the Seiagh.” He nods at Sydney. “The Fallen want her as badly as they want the bloody book.”

Across several rows, my eyes meet Sydney’s. Neither of us says a word. We don’t have to. I’ve been inside her body, linked to her soul. I’ve seen what happens in Edinburgh with the Fallen. I’ve been witness to the…things the Fallen have created to help seek out a pure soul to steal. They’re vicious, horrible creatures that are hideously gross when killed. What a frickin’ mess. And Sydney has kicked some major monster ass.

I move my gaze back to Jake. “And what about Ginger and Lucien’s deal?”

“It’s…complicated,” Jake begins. “But it’s a war brewing between two werewolf clans. Major treaties are being broken, and innocents are getting killed.”

I glance at Ginger. No lie, innocents are getting killed. I saw that while in her body, too.

I think for a moment, and raise my gaze to meet Eli’s. We look wordlessly at each other. For several long seconds. Then I glance at Jake.

“I’ll consider joining the team, Andorra,” I say. “If you consider taking my brother on, as well. I’m not leaving him behind, and he’s a damn good fighter.”

Jake grins and nods. “I know that to be true. Done, Riley.”

“I said I’d consider it,” I repeat. “I haven’t signed a contract yet.”

Jake merely grins again. “Ah, but you will. And I’ll
be ever so grateful for it. Besides, you owe me a new jet. You all but tore the other one to shreds.”

“Sorry ’bout that,” I answer, and Jake continues grinning at me. Prick.

Ginger, her head against Lucien’s shoulder, looks at me. “Your powers, your energy, they’re fantastic,” she says. “So many innocents can benefit from them, Riley. Join us, please?”

My gaze moves to Sydney, who echoes Ginger. “Please?”

I simply shake my head and sigh. “I will…heavily consider it.”

“You won’t regret it,” Ginger says.

Glancing out the plane’s window, I stare at the weightless, empty air. I’m in an airplane with two werewolves, several vampires, a couple of immortals, and whatever you want to call me.

How life has certainly changed.

When I think back on me as a kid, doing such stupid, stupid things like drugs, drinking, and quitting school, and then when I think of my life now? It’s impossible to even fathom. Absently, my fingers move to the black wings inked at the corner of my left eye. Damn, I’ve done some idiotic things in my life. I hate worse than anything that my mom had to suffer through them. She didn’t deserve all that I gave her. And she damn sure didn’t deserve to die the way she did.

I can’t help but wonder what she’d be like now. What she’d think of Seth and me now. Would any of this even have happened? To be perfectly honest I’m surprised I didn’t die young. All the shit I got into as a preteen? How it must’ve killed her inside, to see her baby become such a…loser. I know that I might not be who I am now had it not been for those poor choices, but it’s hard not to hate myself for putting my mom through it all. My heart still hurts, still longs for her. Sometimes I can even feel her close to me. Sometimes, I swear to God, I can smell her. I get a whiff of someone wearing some perfume that reminds me of her and—
whack!
Heartbreak all over again. I really miss her. At times, I wish she could see, just for a second, that I didn’t stay a loser.

Eli’s hand finds mine, and he laces his fingers through mine. He looks at me with those enigmatic eyes, and I immediately feel calm. He smiles, and it almost makes my heart seize.

I lay my head against Eli’s shoulder. My eyes grow heavy, and I close them. After tucking a pillow under my head, since Eli’s bicep isn’t the softest of things, I drift off to sleep.

“Riley, wake up,” Eli’s voice whispers against the shell of my ear. “We’re home.”

My eyes flutter open, and the moment my brain registers
my whereabouts, I sense newlings. I look at Eli. “We’ve got to hurry.”

The urgency in his face makes me know my words ring more than true.

We race from the airport in three cars, through Industrial Park and up Bay Street. I’d slept so hard on the flight home, I don’t even remember landing twice for fuel. Well, I’m full of energy and ready to fight. I’m sick and tired of our lives being disrupted. It has to end. Now.

We drive straight to Monterey Square and to the House of Dupré. It’s now four p.m. Seth meets me at the door and grabs me into a fierce hug. My feet literally leave the ground.

“Ri!” he says into my hair, hugging me so tight I can’t breathe. His arms are like bands of steel around me. He looks at me, those green eyes revealing every single emotion he possesses. “I was going crazy here, worrying about you,” he says. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course, squirt,” I reply, having to almost look up to answer him. I smile at him. “You’ve grown.”

Seth blushes. “Yeah, a little.” He kisses my cheek. “I’m glad you’re home, Ri. This time for good, right?”

I drape an arm over his shoulder. “Damn right.”

We walk in together.

The crowd behind me files in, and the moment Elise spies Gilles, she hurries to her husband and flings herself into his arms. They embrace for a long time.

“Riley!”

In the next second, Nyxinnia Foster throws herself at me, almost impales my eye with a pigtail, and hugs me tightly. “I’ve missed you!” she says. “Luc wanted me to stay here. Things are bad, Riley. I’m glad you’re home.”

“Yeah, looks like you brought the whole country back with you,” Luc says, walking up and pulling me against him. “Nice of you to come back mostly normal, Ri.”

“She’s never been normal,” Phin says, and he, too, pulls me into a hug.

“Whatever,” I answer. “And Nyx must be rubbing off on you guys. All this hugging.”

Phin says something to Luc in French.
She might not be normal, but she’s still hot as hell.

“Yeah, I’m hot as hell all right,” I say. Then smile.

“Damn,” Luc says. “What happened?”

“All right,” Gilles says, and walks to the center of the room. “We’ve guests and introductions.” He looks around the room and his gaze lands on me. “Then we’ve business to discuss.”

“Where’s Preacher and Estelle?” I ask Phin.

“On Da Island,” he answers. “They’re there with Josie, Zetty, and Riggs.”

Gilles makes fast introductions, then inclines his head. “Philippe will show you to your chambers,” he says. “You may settle in and meet in my study in thirty minutes. There is much to discuss.”

Eli now stands on one side of me, Seth on the other, and Phin and Luc fill in the spaces. “You brought back a pair of wolves, bro?” Luc asks. “Sick.” He glances around. “Arcos is staying here, too?”

“Yes,” I answer. “And don’t be an ass, Luc. He’s here to help.”

Luc glares at me.

“I want to hear more about what’s happening in Edinburgh,” Phin says. “How old is Darius, anyway?”

I shrug as I watch the ancient Pict climb the Dupré staircase behind Gabriel and Sydney. “Old as dirt, I think,” I answer. “Pretty cool guys, though.”