Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) (15 page)

“As much as I’d like to wipe that stupid
-ass grin off your face, I don’t think I want to feel that again for a while. It hurt like hell, like I’d been tasered.”

Dorian’s cell phone rang.
With it to his ear, he was on his feet in an instant, running for the door. “Something’s happened to Bill,” he called over his shoulder as he ran around the side of the shop. Eryk followed, close on his heels.

Jasmine was at the window staring across the street
for the third time when she saw Dorian and Eryk fly out of the gate and race toward the bed and breakfast. She flung down the brush she was holding and ran out the door.
Please don’t let it be Teresa
, she sent up a silent plea and realized in all likelihood it was Bill.
God, add Bill to that
, she amended as she ran down the narrow lane behind the shops to the side of the B & B. She ran through the open door to the lobby and up the wide staircase to their third floor apartment. The door gaped open.

Bill
lay sprawled on the floor, on his back, unconscious, his face and lips a matching pale gray. Dorian and Eryk knelt on either side. Teresa knelt at his head. When she looked up at Jasmine, there were tears in her eyes.

“I came up to check on him.” She
dashed away the tears. “He’d said he was tired and wanted to take a short nap.” She dropped her gaze to Dorian. “He’s been doing that a lot more recently.”

Dorian checked his pulse and his breathing. “Thready and shallow,” he said. “
Did you call Yancy?” He asked without even looking at her.

“Yes. Right
before I called Morgan.”

“Back away, Dorian,” Eryk said, his voice
resonated through the room, carrying a vibration. “I’ve only done this a couple of times but, I’m afraid if I don’t, he might not make it for the doctor.”

Dorian sat back, much like Teresa. Jasmine watched, gripping the doorframe, feeling the tears course down her face.

Eryk rubbed the palms of this hands together, as if trying to warm them, then reached out and grabbed hold of Bill’s upper arms. Bill visibly jerked on the floor and his face went from ashen to flushed in seconds. Eryk eased the pressure on the man’s arms and, while still having his hands firmly touching Bills arms, moved them down to the wrists.

Jasmine’s gaze moved from Bill to Eryk. It looked as though the very air around
Eryk shimmered. Bill moaned and Eryk released the older man. When Eryk tried to stand, he wobbled and Jasmine was there in an instant, grabbing his arm. She felt her own energy surge and pulse into him. This time, instead of it flowing back from him with a hum, hers slowed down. She led him over to a chair and let Dorian and Teresa help Bill onto the bed.

“What happened?” Bill
asked as Teresa propped the pillows up behind his head.

“You tell us
. You said you were going to take a nap and then I found you on the floor.”

He took Teresa’s hand. “I don’t remember.”

Still holding onto Jasmine’s hand, Eryk closed his eyes. When he opened them, Bill and Teresa both came into view as pulsing auras of light. Bill’s aura was still close around him but had less violet color and was completely filled in. There were no breaks at all. What he’d seen when he’d arrived was very different. Had he done that? Would it last? And for how long?

Teresa
’s aura was more pink, delicate, almost fae, except around her abdomen. There it dulled, flattened, became almost bluish. Maybe that was normal with an older woman, he thought, before he let the concern take hold.

He heard Jasmine’s intake of breath and th
e tightening of her hand in his and swung his head until his gaze rested on her. She was magnificent. Her aura was like bursts of fireworks, bright and flashy, jutting out from her body much further than he’d ever seen. He realized she was watching Bill and Teresa and closed his eyes. He smiled at her when he opened them and met her questioning look, squeezing her hand and sending a push of energy.

“What’s
he
doing here?” Bill asked from the bed.

Thinking the question was directed at him, Eryk started to answer
, but stopped when he heard a melodious voice flow from the door. “Teresa called me. Get over it.”

A tall
, lean man stood at the door, his gaze on Teresa. Without acknowledging anyone else, he lifted his medical bag, which looked as though it had come through several centuries of use, set it on the bed, and pulled out his stethoscope.

“
Now, if we can have some privacy,” he said over his shoulder. When Bill didn’t exclude Teresa from Dr. Yancy request, the doctor looked at her. “I could use a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.”

Teresa looked from Bill to
Mike Yancy, but made her way to the door with the rest of them. Jasmine slipped her arm around her cousin’s waist, led her to a sofa in the hallway, and eased her down onto the cushions. “Why don’t you wait here and I’ll go down and get some coffee for all of us. You want anything else?”

Teresa lifted pleading eyes to her young cousin, not saying anything. Jasmine patted her shoulder and
headed toward the stairs, giving Eryk and Dorian a brief smile and a silent command to stay with her cousin.

As Teresa
lifted her hand to brush back the hair from her face, her hand trembled. Without a word, Eryk stepped over and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving a small surge of energy.

“Thanks,
” Teresa said softly and patted his hand. And thanks for what you did for Bill.”

“No problem.”

He noticed she refrained from asking what he’d seen. Maybe she already knew.

****

“What the hell’s that for?” Bill scooched up against the pillows and watched the doctor pull several empty vials from this bag, a needle packet, and a band.

“You know damn well what.” Mike said. “And I’ll remind you that I’m the one drawing the blood so you might want to hold your tongue until
I’m done.”

Bill harrumphed
but said nothing as Mike found the vein and drew several vials of blood, marked them, and stored them.

He finished his exam
and pulled a chair next to the bed. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

“When hell freezes over,” Bill grumbled, making Mike laugh.

“It’s been decades, you old coot. I’ve gotten over it, why can’t you?”

Bill tugged
the blanket Mike had tossed over him a little higher and glared at the good doctor. “She loved you.”

“Yup. That she did.” Mike said, then added. “Then she loved you. She married you.
She’s not my concern, Bill. You are. When was the last time you went to a doctor?”

“You know the answer to that,” Bill said.

“There are other doctors that can see you.”

Bill didn’t comment.

“So, what happened today?” From the set of Bill’s jaw, Dr. Yancy knew it was like pulling quills out of a porcupine. He had a feeling when the big man finally let go, it would all come out at once.

“I guess I passed out.” Bill mumbled.

“And?”

“I’m dying.”

That got Yancy’s attention. He studied the man lying in the bed. His color was good. He was thin, which, from what he could see from the sagging flesh, was a recent thing. Blood pressure was slightly low, a common trait among descendants. No fever. He’d have to wait for the blood tests.

“Why do you think that?”

“I just know. The only reason I’m alive right now it because that young magician came in and gave me one hell of a boost. I don’t want to talk about me. I want to talk about Teresa.”

Mike Yancy could do his best to look professional, but when it came to Teresa, his insides were anything but. He didn’t say anything; he just let Bill talk.

“I know you still love her. I don’t know about her. She’d never admit it to me, even if she did. I just want to make sure she’s taken care of when I’m gone.”

“You aren’t gone
, yet.” There was harshness in Mike’s voice.

“Damn it, Yancy. Can’t you do this one thing for
me?”

“And that would be?”

“Take care of her. Love her. Let her enjoy the rest of her life.”

Mike wanted to rub his hand over his face
in frustration. The man hadn’t changed in years. He thought about grinning. Hell, it might stir Bill out of this mood. He didn’t.

“Mike, just promise me and let’s drop it. I promise to s
tay around as long as I can and you promise to help me do that. Then, it’s your turn.”

“If I weren’t a doctor, I’d slug you a good one.
Teresa’s not something to be handed around, you fool. But, sure, I’ll promise you, then I’ll make you live a nice long, miserable life. If I thought I could take her away from you, I’d grab her and be gone. But, that’s not the way this is going to play out, is it? For now, I’m going to place you on bed rest until I get the blood-work back. Make sure you don’t have something that will infect your guests, then release you with the promise that you will come see me in two weeks. Agreed?”

“Agreed
,” Bill said quietly and Mike watched him.

He’d put a stat on that blood
-work and go by and talk to Dorian and Morgan before he left. Eryk, too. Seeing the sadness in Bill’s eyes, he patted the man’s arm before he rose to call in Teresa.

“Come on in.” He opened the door, knowing she’d be on the other side, waiting.

She walked past him without as much as a glance and went straight to her husband. Bill smiled up at her. It was then that Teresa turned to Mike Yancy, the worry etching lines in her still beautiful face.

“
He seems fine, now. I’ve taken some blood. He’s on bed rest until I call you with the results. Keep him away from the kitchen and the guests until then.”

She nodded solemnly.

“I want to see him in my office in two weeks. If he has another episode, take him to the clinic or call the ambulance.” Mike stuffed the stethoscope back in his bag, closed it and faced Bill. “Do as I say.”

Bill nodded.

Teresa led the doctor to the door, standing with it open, in plain view of Bill. “Thank you for coming. I’ll have him there in two weeks.” Her face was a careful mask of politeness. Her eyes were worried. Mike wanted to reach out and stroke her soft cheek. Instead, he nodded and turned away, listening to the door close behind him.

Jasmine handed him a mug of hot coffee. “Let me take one in to Teresa and I’ll meet you all downstairs.” She walked over and tapped lightly on the door. When Teresa opened it, Jasmine didn’t mention the tears she saw in her eyes. She simply handed her the coffee. “We’ll be at
The Shoppe.”

They were waiting for Jasmine in the lobby
, talking quietly. Dorian had a sack of food and his coffee. “I don’t dare go back empty handed,” he said.

No one
spoke as they walked back to The Shoppe where Morgan was waiting at the door.

“He’s okay, for the time being,” the doctor informed her. “How are you?”
His professional gaze took in the roundness and height of her belly.

“Ready to pop.” She stepped back
to let everyone file into the kitchen, listening to the chairs scrape across the floor as they were pulled away from the table. Morgan blinked and let her aura scan them each in turn. The only one that concerned her was Eryk, whose aura was close to his body and almost pastel, not the vibrant autumn-ish colors she’d seen the day they’d met.

Morgan
waited until everyone was seated, coffee replenished, and the goodies plated and set in the middle of the table before taking a bite of an herb biscuit. She felt like a garbage disposal. She wiped her mouth and turned to Eryk. “You gave him one hell of a boost, didn’t you?”

The response was a nod as he finished off the first biscuit and grabbed a second. “Sorry, I’m starved.”

Yancy coughed. “Since I am a mere mortal, I need you guys to tell me what you saw.” He had a legal pad on the table and was ready to take notes.

Morgan spoke first. “I saw him a couple of weeks ago. I notice
d chinks in his aura. It flashed sporadically, not solid like it used to be. Bill’s aura—and I think this is in your notes somewhere—was very strong and very healthy when I first met him. It’s been since I got here, about a year ago, that he started changing.”

Eryk
furrowed his brow, trying to remember exactly what he saw. He looked at Morgan. “Did you notice a concentration of one color more than another?” he asked Morgan. Eryk noticed that her lip quivered slightly.

“What color
?” Her voice cracked.

“Violet.” Eryk said
.

Morgan blanched. Dorian reached over and took her hand.
Eryk instinctive reached over and took Jasmine’s hand, linking his fingers with hers.

Morgan looked at Jasmine, trying to figure out a way to say what she was about to say without scaring the hell out of her. Bill was,
in all ways but biological, Jasmine’s father. She turned to her husband in hopes of some assistance. But, he couldn’t see auras or creatures. He had to rely on her.