The Last Keeper (38 page)

“She is right,
Liebste,
” Al soothed her. “We do not want to tangle with The Seats again.”

“I’d rather take my chances with them than take orders from this
freak.
”
 

Ray snarled at her, baring his fangs and hissing in a way that made me want to retract everything I’d ever said about him being tame.
 

“I like you, Leo,” he told her, becoming every inch the vampire, “but don’t think I will side with you if you continue down this path. Serenity is everything to me, and I won’t hesitate killing you if it meant protecting her.”

The two of them stood eye to eye in the living room, neither budging. There was a look of pure determination on Ray’s face. He was standing up to the people he’d spent his new life with in an effort to protect me. I didn’t need protecting, but the gesture was nice.

“You know what? Forget it. Leola, you want to get yourself killed, be my guest. I won’t miss you, but Al would. So, be a complete bitch, and lose your head in the process. I won’t stop you,” I said. “But I warn you, you put my family in danger, and I’ll kill you myself. And I can do so much worse than The Seats could dream of.”

“I’d listen to her on that one.” Poppy chuckled. “They didn’t call her the Angel of Death for nothing.”

“Not many have lived to call her that,” Issac added. Clearly Poppy had told him the stories.
 

“And that, my dear, is the point.”

Leola never settled down. She grumbled at every plan we put into place, moaned at every precaution I insisted upon, but was wise enough not to openly object.
 

Lizzy and Jayne had agreed to stay home the following day. With Helen being in the hospital, they had all the time they needed.
 

“I need to know exactly what happened,” I told Ray.
 

We were in the kitchen at almost midnight cooking for the Cats. They’d been prowling the house since morning without a break. I hadn’t thought they would react as they had, but they protected their own.

“Poppy already told you everything.”

“I want to hear it from you, Ray. I need to know when the Cats got here, who called them, what was said. I need to know everything.”
 

He detailed the interaction between Leola and Lizzy, every word of it, and what he’d heard on the phone. I was surprised to hear it was Poppy who’d ordered everyone to my house and suggested calling the Cats. I was even more surprised when he told me she insisted on them coming to us. She hadn’t wanted to know where they were.
 

My opinion of Poppy Baruti was slowly shifting, from a menace to be avoided at all costs to a possible ally. I doubted I’d ever call her friend.
 

My opinion of Leola, on the other hand, was holding firm. I didn’t like her, and I certainly didn’t trust her.
 

“How did things go in Germany?” Ray asked, changing the subject.

“In and out. Nothing to report really.” I shrugged.

“I’m glad you’re home,” he whispered.

“As am I. Though I do wish I knew more about what Martin will eat. I’m not sure this will be enough.”
 

Ray laughed loudly, making me smile.

The kitchen was full of steam from bubbling pots of vegetables, potatoes, and the simmering meat in the oven. “If it isn’t, then the Cats can cook.”

“Are you looking forward to this evening?”
 

   
“I’m looking forward to spending the evening with you.”

“That’s a no.”

He could read me so well.
 

“It’s not a no, per se,” I said. “I’m just a little concerned about Lizzy and Jayne joining us.”
 

Issac had arranged the extra invitation at Poppy’s request. I had to agree it was better if they were where I could see them, but being in such a public setting was a worry.
 

For an entire week I’d been on edge. The others went about their business as normally as was possible. Work. Classes. Meeting up with friends. None of it went unsupervised.
 

Martin had practically moved in. I hadn’t slept. Ray never left my side, except for work. Lizzy was never out of my sight. Jayne would be off as long as I needed her to be.
 

“They’ll be fine. Jayne is going to get ready with Poppy, and Martin will be with Lizzy,” Ray reminded me.

“That is the problem.”

“If they’re even a second late, I will have
the talk
with them.”
 

“I have to be there to see that.”

We were taking turns. Martin would take the first watch, prowling the dark, almost invisible in the trees. Ray and I took the second part. Once dawn came around, we all retreated back inside. Ray had had a couple of problems with the sun since he started feeding from me. He didn’t need to kill me to gain power.
 

Our blood was more potent than that of a human. A layer of sunblock and staying indoors for most of the day did the trick, but there was a slight tan to Ray’s skin. He looked good for it. So long as a tan was all he’d get from it, we eventually came to an agreement that he would use me, and me alone.
 

The sun had barely been over the horizon an hour when the mail van pulled up, depositing a stack of letters through the door. As soon as the van was out of sight, we jogged out of the trees and back into the house.
 

“Again!” I growled, perusing the envelopes.

“What is it?”

“Work again,” I said.

“How can you tell?”

“You see the insignia by the return address?” It was part of the dead language we used. There was a set of five characters used to signify various things. Birth, death, partnership, maturation, and problems. It enabled us to send the letter to the right person, back in the days when the records were split. Now it helped me to see what I had to do.
 

Of course, the maturation symbol was one I longed to see again.

“When will you leave?” Ray asked.

“If I leave now, I can be back in time to meet you.”
 

With everyone busy with other things, I could get to London and back in a day without any problems. Trouble in London was rare. Being so close to a Seat meant the vampires were reasonably behaved. “Strange,” I murmured.

“What is it?”

“The London Seat must still be in Spain.” The thought made me both smile and worry.

If they were, it could be that things were worse there than anyone wanted to admit. If that was the case, why hadn’t I been called out there at least once in the last couple of years?
 

“Martin can’t let Lizzy out of his sight,” Ray said, obviously worried.

“Can Poppy be trusted?”

“I may not be overly fond of any of them at times, but if she knew all these years and
didn’t
say anything, then I believe she can.”

“Do you think she’d object if I read her mind?”
 

Normally I wouldn’t have done it, or considered it.
 

“I don’t see why not, but you can ask her yourself when she gets here.” Ray smiled, chuckling when I scowled at him.

What was I supposed to say to her?
Hi, Poppy. I’d like to go snooping around your mind to see if I can trust you while I run off, deal with, and possibly kill, a few vampires?
 

I didn’t think that would go down too well.

“Or I can ask her for you,” he offered.

“Thank you.”

It turned out Poppy had no problem letting me into her mind; she only asked that I be brief. Once I’d requested that she think about nothing in particular, I was as quick as possible. What I found was . . . so very average. It wasn’t what I’d expected from Poppy, the legend that she was.
 

Her thoughts were focused on Issac, what she needed to do to protect him. Her thoughts towards Ray were . . . well, they were almost
maternal.
There was no hint she wanted him anywhere near The Seats, and her thoughts about him were protective.
 

As far as vampires went, she was trustworthy.

“Thank you,” I told her, offering a small smile.

“I can’t say that Leola will ever warm to you, Serenity, but I know I have.” Her words surprised me. “You make him happy.”

It was the closest I’d ever come to calling a vampire a friend. Ray would never count.
 

It was fortunate that Poppy’s idea of “getting ready” for a night out was a full day in a salon. She’d arrived just as Jayne was crawling out of bed. I’m not sure even I’d dare to try to wake Jayne up before dawn. When that woman slept, she slept.
 

“Will you be back in time?” Ray asked.

I was ready to leave, mentally calculating where I’d need to stop for fuel, and what the quickest route was.
 

“If I don’t see you here, then I’ll meet you at the pub,” I promised.

“Do you have everything?”

“Yes, I even have my outfit so I can change in the car if needed.”
 

For days he’d been trying to get me to reveal what I would wear. He hadn’t stooped to snooping in my wardrobe, but I would’ve bet that he’d thought about it. He was desperate to know what I considered “smart attire.”
 

Can’t it wait?
The answer to that was simple. It
could,
but things would only get worse the longer I left them. The worse they got, the more likely someone from The Seats would be there when I arrived. That was something I wanted to avoid.

I was back on the homeward journey an hour later than I’d planned. It meant I was going to be late, but finding the vampires had been harder than I’d expected. The three were relatively new, and were trying to stake a claim on a territory that wasn’t theirs. The Seats weren’t something that were available to just anyone.
 

Vampires fighting was never a good thing. They paid little attention to those around them, human or otherwise. When they started, they were loud, violent, careless, and noticeable.
 

So I was running half an hour late by the time I reached the pub. It was simple enough to change in the car. My hair was another matter entirely. I’d planned on doing something with it, anything. Instead I had to settle for leaving it down.
 

The back room of the pub had been reserved for the university faculty and guests. Jayne was chatting happily with Poppy. I spotted Ray as soon as I entered. His eyes lit up as though he was seeing me step into his home for his birthday all over again, and a brilliant smile spread across his face.
 

“Is that . . . ?”
 

“I thought you might remember it.” Seeing Ray’s face as he recognised the dress was worth the week of secrets.
 

There were few of my dresses that had survived more than a couple of years. The one I was wearing was special. It was the dress Ray’s mother had given me for his birthday party. After the events of 1940, I’d kept it and taken care of it.
 

“You are as spectacular now as you were when I first saw you in it,” he whispered, eyes wide with appreciation as I twirled for him.

“Where’s Lizzy? She begged me to show her the dress”
 

Ray didn’t answer. He looked around and then said, “I haven’t seen her.”
 

A feeling of dread built in the pit of my stomach.

“She was supposed to be here half an hour ago.”
 

“Let me ask Jayne.”
 

While he hurried through the crowd, I made my way to the bar and asked to use their phone.
 

The first number I tried rang and rang, but no one picked up. It was the same with all the phones I had at the house.
 

The second person I tried was the same. Nothing but a ringing phone whose only purpose was to make me more nervous than I already was.
 

The third number I tried, the most recently memorised, yielded some success.
 

“Alex, it’s Serenity. Have you seen Martin or Lizzy?”
 

“No. He was with Lizzy this afternoon before taking her to that dance you were going to.” I could tell he was frowning.

“They aren’t here.”

“I can be at your house in the next half hour.”
 

“Thank you. It’s going to take us an hour to get back. If they’re distracted by each other, you mind if Ray gives them a sex talk?” I said, trying to ignore the rising dread I felt.

“Go for it.”

With a slam, I put the phone back on its cradle, and quickly found Ray and Jayne in the crowd. “No answer,” I said. “Tell me they’re here.”

“No one has seen either of them,” Ray told me.

“Something isn’t right,” Jayne said, confirming my own feelings of dread.

“Can you ride with Poppy?” I asked, not waiting for an answer.

If anything was wrong, I wanted to get there first. Jayne didn’t need to worry over nothing. And it was nothing. It had to be. I was kidding myself.