Kindling Flames: Burning Nights (The Ancient Fire Series Book 6) (20 page)

“Gabriel, my lord.”

Darien held his hand out to properly greet him. “It’s a pleasure.”

Gabriel stared at Darien in disbelief before looking down at his hand warily. Slowly, Gabriel reached out and took it for a good, solid shake.

After the introduction, Darien dropped his hand and gave the man a hard look. “And how do you know it was a lie.”

Gabriel fidgeted. “Kusanagi would never kill Kimberly. She was his plaything.”

“Then where is she?”

“Probably locked in his quarters.” And other man answered. “That’s what he did when someone upset him.”

Darien turned to the last of the group and held out his hand. This man was slight in build with skin so pale it was almost translucent. His short, dark hair was very oily and slicked away from his face.

He took Darien’s hand with both of his. “Dexter Reid,” he said, pumping Darien’s arm. “I just want to say, the way you killed Kusanagi. That was amazing. Just melted him right on the mat. Wow!”

Darien pulled his hand back from the man shocked by his behavior. “Death should never be taken lightly,” he scolded.

“Of course not, my lord,” Dexter said, shaking his head and backing up a step as if he expected Darien to strike out at him. “I’m sorry, my lord.”

The man’s behavior concerned Darien, but he let it go and got back to the subject he had been on. “So where are his quarters?”

“This way,” Dexter said as he turned and scurried out of the room.

Darien caught Vicky’s eye before following the man.

Hurrying, Vicky caught up with Darien. “You killed Kusanagi?”

Sighing, Darien nodded. “It’s a long story.”

Grabbing his hand, Vicky leaned into his side, giving him support. “Are you okay?” she asked softly, looking up at the bloody tear in his shirt.

“I’ve been better,” he admitted. The fight had left him tired, but his healing powers were chasing the last of the bone-deep ache the poison had left from his system. “I’ll need to rest later, but ten minutes should see me healed again.”

Vicky nodded.

Darien held her to his side, taking comfort in her presence while they followed Dexter down the hall and into the main room. As they climbed onto the wooden bridge once again, Darien looked down at the orange and white fish darting around. “Who cares for the fish?” he called back over his shoulder.

“Master Kou deals with them,” Makani said from just behind him.

Glancing back, Darien wasn’t surprised to see the entire group following him. He was, after all, their new leader. “Where is he?” Darien asked, thinking back on the way the man turned and left after Kusanagi was killed. He slowed so he could speak with Makani easier.

“I don’t know,” Makani said, coming up next to Darien so they could talk. “Master Kou was Kusanagi’s fledgling and vassal. He never left his master’s side.”

Darien considered this for a minute as they crossed the bridge and climbed the steps into the adjacent hall. “Do you think he could be plotting revenge?” he asked with concern.

Makani thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Kou kept to himself when Kusanagi didn’t need him.”

“I don’t need any nasty surprises,” Darien said, thinking about all the things Kou might try. “Can you send someone to find him, please?”

A surprised look crossed Makani’s face. It wasn’t that Darien had asked him to do something; it was the fact that he had done it so politely that astonished Makani. That common courtesy was an unusual characteristic to find in most older vampires. Even his former master had been prone to ordering people around before Kusanagi had come and taken over the Council. “As you wish,” he said, stepping back to go find Kou.

“Thank you,” Darien called as the man retreated. He pulled Vicky in tightly against his side and let his senses reach out to the world around him. If Kou was out there preparing to ambush them, he wanted to have some kind of notice.

“Here, my lord,” Dexter called, breaking into Darien’s attention. He stood in front of a closed door not far from the end of the hall.

“Thank you,” Darien said. He released Vicky and reached for the sliding door. Pushing it open, he stepped over the wooden sliders into a mostly empty room. Now this was what Darien had been expecting from the other apartment. This room had the same feel of an old Japanese home with its woven rush mats and sparse furnishings. He looked around at the low table that took up the center of the room. There were a few low shelves that held small items, but nothing really exciting. “Where is she?” he asked, turning back to Dexter as he hung onto the side of the doorframe staring into the room.

“Over there.” He pointed to another door in the side of the room.

Darien went over and slid the door open to expose a large bedroom. A futon mat was folded up against one wall, but there wasn’t much else. On the other side of the room was a closet with a knob-style handle. Since Kim wasn’t in this room, he went over to the closet and tried to turn the handle, but it was locked.

“It won’t open,” Dexter said from behind him.

Darien turned around to listen to the man.

“That’s where Master Kusanagi kept his most personal things,” Dexter said. “The door’s reinforced so you can’t break in.”

“Who’s got the key?” Darien asked, turning to look at the door again.

“Kou does,” Makani said as he came into the bedroom. “And he’s gone.”

“Gone?” Darien asked, looking back at Makani. He took a step away from the door as Makani came over to look at it.

“I went to his suite to check on him, but he wasn’t there,” Makani explained. “The man doesn’t have many things, but most of them were gone.” He looked over at Darien. “I’ve sent Mano to check the garage, but I’m pretty sure he’s left for good.”

“For good?”

“The only thing keeping Kou here was his debt to Kusanagi,” Makani explained.

“And with Kusanagi’s death and that debt gone, he didn’t have reason to stay,” Darien finished for him

Makani nodded.

Drawing in a heavy breath, Darien let it out as his mind worked over the issue. He thought about the man as he stared at the door. “That’s fine.” Turning, he walked back across the bedroom. “As long as the man doesn’t cause problems, he’s free to do as he pleases.”

The Council froze in surprise, watching as Darien made a turn around the Kusanagi’s room. It was shocking to see Darien have such a lax position on the man’s disappearance.

“What I need right now is a way to get into that room,” Darien said, perusing the low shelves, looking for something.

“We could search Kou’s room for the key,” Gabriel offered.

“He might have left it there,” Darien said, considering a lovely orchid perched on the corner of one of the shelves. After a brief perusal, he determined that there wasn’t enough light for the plant to be doing as well as it appeared to be. He reached out and caressed the bloom, glad to find it was silk. “But I’m not willing to wait that long.”

The Council gasped as Darien ripped the plant from the pot and started shredding the plastic from the stem as he walked.

Taking the metal wire that supported the bloom, he twisted it around and dropped down to his knees in front of the door.

“You’re going to pick it?” Vicky asked as she came over to watch.

“That’s the idea,” Darien said and stuck the wire into the lock.

Vicky watched him wiggle the wire around. The seconds ticked by. “Can you do it?” she asked after what seemed like a really long time.

The tip of Darien’s tongue slipped out between his teeth as he concentrated harder. Finally, he made excited satisfied noise as the tumblers slipped into place and he turned the handle. Standing up, he gave Vicky a smug smile, folded the wire up, and tucked it into his pocket. “You can’t rely on magic for everything.”

Amusement crept over Vicky’s face. “I think you need some work on your spy skills.” She teased. “That took way too long.”

Darien laughed at her. “Yes. James Bond I am not.” Letting the smile drop from his face, he turned to the door and got serious. “Let’s see what we have in here.” Turning the knob, he pushed the door open to a darkened room.

Leaving Vicky’s side, he stepped in and paused. He slid his hand over the wall, looking for a light switch, but there wasn’t one. The dim light from the bedroom gave him a vague impression of what was in the closet, but the room was too large for the light to reach the far end. Seeing what he believed was a lamp, Darien headed into the darkness. He’d taken two steps when the overhead fixtures flashed on, blinding him in their bright glare. Hissing in pain, he flinched away from the light.

“Sorry,” Makani said from the doorway. “The light switch was out here.”

Darien rubbed at his eyes. “It’s okay.” He blinked a few times to get the bright spots in his vision to clear. After a moment, he was better and could look around the room. The strange shape he had taken for a lamp wasn’t. It was a large porcelain vase. But that was the least interesting thing in the room. The walls were lined with shelves holding all sorts of wonders. Darien’s eyes skimmed over them for a second, counting the weapons, scrolls, and oddities. Turning away from the array of fascinating objects, he scanned for signs of the missing woman. Since her presence wasn’t apparent, he glanced at the objects big enough to hold a person.

The first was a highly decorated cabinet about halfway down the room. Walking to it, Darien pulled the door open to reveal an elegant set of samurai armor. The helmet had fangs in the horrifying mask. There was a snake motif decorating the suit. Closing the cabinet, Darien went to the second place. At the far end of the room were three trunks. A human could fit in any one of the large trunks if they curled up, but the smallest one had a silver cross on top of it. Reaching out, he held his hand just above the holy item. It tingled with energy, but it wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the crosses he was used to dealing with. Picking the cross up gently, Darien dropped it away from the box and lifted the lid. To his horror, he found Kimberly tucked inside.

“Is she there?” Vicky asked as she came closer to Darien’s back.

Darien held his hand out and shook his head, signaling that she should stay back. The twisted thing the box was only vaguely human. “She’s here,” he said, reached out, and touched the shriveled body.

Kimberly moaned in pain.

Makani glanced in over Darien’s shoulder. “He’s poisoned her.” Pity was heavy in his voice. “Not enough to kill her, but she’ll be in agony for months.”

Darien’s right eyebrow rose in question as he looked up at the younger vampire. “Did he do this often?”

There was a long pause as Makani gave Darien a serious look. “Yes. Anyone that upset Kusanagi was subjected to his poison. Not usually enough to kill, but the bone-deep ache never goes away.” Makani stretched his hand, feeling the pain.

“He’s poisoned you?” Darien asked, concerned.

“Along with most of the vampires in Hawaii,” Makani said angrily. “He liked to make sure we didn’t forget who was in charge.”

Darien made a disturbed noise deep in his chest. He added that to the list of things he need to check into and turned his focus back to the woman in the box. Opening his power, he touched her and grimaced. The damage was massive. The poison had destroyed a great deal of her flesh, and her body had used all the blood that it had to repair it.

She gasped as his power rushed over her, soothing her pain.

“Easy there,” Darien said as he reached into the trunk. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Kimberly moaned again while Darien worked her out of the box. Her skin was paper thin, and she creaked as he unfolded her.

Sliding his hands under her, he gently lifted her up into his arms and stood.

The smell of the blood on his shirt drew her and she turned into him. She clawed at him, climbing closer to his neck. Bearing her fangs, she struck, driving a gasp from him, but he did not stop her from drawing his blood.

Darien carried the starving woman out into Kusanagi’s room. “The pallet,” he said, pointing at the bedding with a slight move of his head.

Kimberly growled in protest at the move.

Rushing over, Vicky and Dexter flattened out the bedroll so Darien could put the woman down. They both stepped back to give him room.

“Release me,” he ordered, letting his energy roll out to enforce the command.

Kimberly whimpered, but pulled her fangs from his neck.

Darien laid her down on the bedding and considered her. Now that she had some blood in her, she didn’t look as shriveled as she had in the trunk, but she was going to need a lot more blood before she was healed. “She needs blood,” he said, looking up to Makani.

“She’ll kill anyone who comes near her,” Makani protested.

Darien considered this as he reached up and touched the bite on his neck. She had been vicious in her attack, leaving his skin torn. As it was, his neck was raw, but it was well on its way to being healed. His mind worked as he stared at the woman. He couldn’t just leave her like this, but he couldn’t endanger others to feed her hunger. An idea struck him. “The mead.” Looking back up at Makani, Darien asked his question. “Do you know what happened to the present I gave Kusanagi at the luau?”