COMING BACK HOME THIS TIME was much gentler. Sydney could actually feel herself dropping into her own body. With the next blink, she was staring up at the ceiling over her bed.
Marit was sitting up in the armchair in the corner, smiling. “No headache. No reaction. How do you feel?”
“It was different this time,” Sydney confessed, sitting up. “The last few times, I worried. This time I tried looking around as you suggested. The worry dropped away and I could see…things.”
“Times and places,” Marit said in agreement.
Sydney thought again of the time-and-place that always seemed to be behind her, calling to her. This time, she had felt that if she could only listen long enough, she would hear its voice. It would be soft and reassuring, like a lullaby sung by a mother. It was, she guessed, one of those locations that Zoric had called a bookmark. She could feel the temptation to go there. However, on all these practice runs, the intention was not to complete the jump, but to navigate time and then return.
She was getting better at it.
Marit glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “I’m cook tonight,” she said. “I should go start in the kitchen, or everyone will be yelling at me about being hungry.”
“Everyone being the four of us, which includes two almost-teenagers who are always hungry,” Sydney pointed out.
“Five now, with Zoric,” Marit pointed out.
“Will your parents tell you what he was talking about?” Sydney asked. “I’d hate to think you missed out on anything critical because of me.” Rafe and Alex would recall everything of importance and share it with her, later, so she wouldn’t miss anything vital. Learning this new skill was more important.
Marit smiled. It had an odd tilt to it that reminded Sydney of Brody. Marit was Veris’ daughter by blood, yet Brody had wielded as much influence on her as Veris. She even smiled like Brody did, with the head-down, I’m-studying-you look in her eyes that he often used.
“What?” Sydney asked.
“I doubt that Zoric knows anything I don’t,” Marit said. Her smile turned into one of Veris’ full, I’m-the-king-of-the-world cocksure expressions.
Sydney considered that. “Have you two met before? I mean, out there?” She pointed to the ceiling.
“On the time plane?” Marit shook her head. “There are others out there. I feel them sometimes, only we don’t communicate. When I was little, I was afraid to. Now, I just don’t care to. The only person I’ve ever spoken to there is Alex. And now, you.”
“Why don’t you care to speak to them? They’re like you. I mean, they have that in common with you. I would have thought it would make you feel less…well, it must have been lonely, growing up and knowing you were so different.”
“I had Far and Athair and Mom and Uncle Alex. Later, I had you and Uncle Rafe. You all knew what I was and it didn’t matter to you. The others out there…I don’t know what they’re like as people. Besides, the one I’m waiting for isn’t there. Not yet.” She got to her feet and stretched.
Sydney felt her heart give a little squeeze. “The one you’re waiting for?”
Marit didn’t look awkward, or embarrassed. “I don’t know his name. I only know he’s there—somewhere ahead of me.”
“You’ve seen your future?”
“The shape of it, yes. Not the details. I don’t know his name. I do know his voice. The deep sound of it.” Marit grinned suddenly. “Don’t tell Far, will you? He has enough trouble thinking of me as anything but six with raw knees and missing teeth.”
“I think I’m suddenly having trouble with it, too,” Sydney confessed, moving to the side of the bed. She felt stiff and cold. “Don’t grow up too quickly, Marit. You’ll miss out on all the fun.”
Marit paused at the door, with her hand on the handle. “That’s what Uncle Alex told me when I was five.”
“You were never five. Fifty-five, maybe.” Sydney got to her feet and groaned. “I’m aching like a sore tooth. I haven’t moved at all today. While you get dinner, I’m going to walk around outside and iron out the kinks.”
* * * * *
The sun was heading for the horizon, lighting up the snow-caps on the mountains and turning them pink, orange and red, as Sydney stepped outside and moved along the path down to the bottom tier of the gardens. She pulled her coat around her tightly, for the cold was coming in. It was December 19th. In three days, it would be the winter solstice, which was the reason Taylor and her family were here. Christmas was a Christian festival that Veris objected to because of the commercial qualities, while the solstice was a natural phenomenon that all four of them—Veris, Brody, Alex and Rafe—could remember being celebrated in their lifetimes. They had therefore chosen the solstice as the annual family get-together.
When she and Alex and Rafe had dropped their old lives and taken up new identities in Spain, the tradition had carried on uninterrupted, although now everyone came to Spain. It would be a good few years before she and Alex and Rafe could risk returning to America.
It wasn’t a difficult compromise to make. Life here was very pleasant and very different from her old one. She had yet to figure out what she was going to do with this new life. There was no rush. Soon, Alex and Rafe would turn her as they had promised, although they had been putting it off with vague excuses and weak reasons.
Taylor had clued her in. “They will procrastinate you to death on the subject,” Taylor warned her. “The old vampires like Rafe and Alex have learned to appreciate humans—flaws, weakness and all. They enjoy watching you change from day to day. When you’re really, truly ready to turn, you’ll have to force them to it in some way. For now, relax and enjoy being human yourself. You’ll miss it, when it’s gone.”
Sydney had trouble imagining what she could possibly miss about being weak and flawed and vulnerable, yet she trusted Taylor as she trusted very few other people. She had relaxed and let the days roll by and tried to enjoy them.
Here in Granada, that was very easy to do.
She climbed down to the lower tier. On this tier there was a long, narrow pond lined with thin Cyprus trees. The pond held koi she liked to feed. The biggest and oldest fish sometimes let her tickle his belly.
Down here, the sun was too low to peep over the tall wall that separated the grounds from the public road on the other side. Shadows were creeping in and it was even colder. It made her walk at a brisker pace, which would be good after more than a day of laying around in bed. Alex and Veris had insisted on the inactivity after yesterday’s venture onto the time-plane with Marit. Sydney would have gone stir-crazy if Marit hadn’t agreed to help her practice this afternoon.
A car was parked just on the other side of the wall. She could hear the engine ticking over. A flower stall was located on the other side of the road just there, only she didn’t think it was open at this time of year.
Still, she would go to the trouble of unlocking the manhole built into the wall and check to see what was going on. The old security instincts never fully went away and she would be happier knowing it was someone pulled over to talk on their cellphone with the other hand gesturing, the way the voluble Spanish liked to do.
The shadows rose up from the darker corners of the yard, stepping out from among the foliage and bushes. There were at least three of them. Sydney didn’t have time to spot if there were any more of them, because they moved fast.
Too fast for humans, Sydney realized belatedly.
A hand grabbed her throat and squeezed, stealing her breath and her voice at the same time. She choked.
“I don’t want her dead. Not yet.”
Sydney froze, and not because of the hand on her throat, which eased off enough to let her breathe. She froze because she knew the voice.
The figure that stepped in front of her was skinny and short, just as Sydney remembered. Tira wore black and a balaclava, yet her eyes were exposed and that was all Sydney needed to confirm it was her. She would know those angry, blank eyes anywhere.
The others with Tira grabbed her arms and held her still.
“Where is Taylor Yates?” Tira hissed. She pressed a knife against Sydney’s throat.
Sydney almost laughed. Where did the woman think Taylor was? She had come all the way to Spain to find her and had found Sydney first. Taylor would be somewhere nearby. Had Tira lost all reason? And where had she come from? She had been abandoned somewhere in the tenth century.
Tira tore off the balaclava. She was completely unchanged. She still looked undernourished. “I know she is here,” Tira said quickly, “but this palace of yours is too big to quarter before the direct security alarm brings the policia here in force. I want to know exactly where she is, right now.”
“Cyrus left you in the tenth century,” Sydney said. Her voice was bodiless, because the fingers were pressing in on her voice box, sapping its power.
“Cyrus was stupid and died. I didn’t. I had to live through every tiresome war and revolution, plague and famine in history, all over again, until I could find a traveler. It’s that woman’s fault. Tell me where she is.”
The knife pricked a little deeper.
Sydney weighed up her options. Tira wasn’t interested in her, except as a means to find Taylor. She would kill Sydney once she told her where Taylor was, even if Sydney lied. She would most certainly kill Sydney if she didn’t speak. Tira’s fury radiated from her like a furnace, giving off heat and energy. A woman driven like that didn’t listen to reason.
“Tell me!” Tira hissed again, pressing harder with the knife.
Sydney could feel the edge of the blade against her skin. It was all she could feel. The blade felt very sharp. A little more pressure was all Tira needed to cut her jugular. Any sharp move Sydney made would produce the same result. Tira could move faster than Sydney and would react faster, too.
There was one place Sydney could go to where Tira could not reach her. Sydney didn’t consider any further than that. Speed would save her now.
She closed her eyes and jumped.
* * * * *
Marit told Rafe Sydney was out walking in the garden. He was pleased she had recovered enough to start moving. Sydney was a physical person—movement was her solution to most problems in life.
He hurried after her, sure that she would head for the koi pond first. While he loved having a houseful of dear friends, at times it was good to get away from them all, too. He would walk beside Sydney for a while, breathe in the cold air and enjoy her silence.
He reached the top of the stairs down to the bottom tier just in time to see five dark figures surrounding Sydney. Two of them had her by the arms, a third had a knife to her neck.
Rafe’s throat closed up as Sydney slumped to the ground between them. Then he saw the face of the person who had been standing in front of her. The one holding the knife.
Tira.
The rage came up from his toes, shredding all thought and emotion. It triggered him into reacting. The cry that came from his mouth was inhuman.
The five dark shapes on the path below spun to look. It didn’t matter. They were dead whether they had warning or not.
Rafe fell on them.
* * * * *
Alex jerked upright as the inhuman sound whispered through his mind, barely heard except as a quiver of notes on the air.
Brody looked up, too. Veris turned to look out the windows.
Taylor uncurled her legs and put her feet on the floor. “What on earth was that?” she breathed.
“What was what?” Marit asked, putting her knife and fork down on the tray next to her plate.
Zoric looked from one to the other of them, puzzled. He wasn’t asking useless questions, either.
Alex glanced around the room. The twins were in their rooms, grounded for the night and probably happy to be out of Veris’ sight, too. The only other person not here whose location he didn’t know was…
“Rafe,” he said shortly and scrambled to his feet. He pushed the sliding door aside with an impatient thrust and crossed the patio, heading for the front gardens, already moving fast. He heard Veris’ and Brody’s heavy steps behind him. Possibly, Taylor, too.
By the time he reached the first set of stairs next to the negative-edge pool, he was running, faster than he should. His pulse was thudding in his temples. He didn’t know what it was he feared, yet he trusted his instincts.
There were four terraces and the bottom one was the smallest. When he reached the third terrace, Rafe appeared, climbing the steps up from the bottom one.
Alex came to a halt, shock slithering through him. His gut actually clamped in a very human reaction to Rafe’s appearance.
Rafe’s face was covered in blood. There was not an inch of clear skin anywhere. It dripped down his neck and had soaked into the white collarless shirt he was wearing. There were more splatters on his shirt.
As he climbed, his arms came into view. He was carrying Sydney, who laid limp in his arms.
“Gods above,” Brody muttered.
“Spread out,” Veris said sharply. “Secure the boundaries. Zoric, Marit, back inside. Now. Marit, make sure the twins stay put.”
“They’re all dead,” Rafe said. His voice was ghostly and strange.
Alex’s heart squeezed again. What had happened here? He hurried to Rafe and tried to take Sydney from him. “Let me,” he said gently.
“I killed them,” Rafe whispered. “All of them.”
Alex eased Sydney from his grip. “Who, Rafe?” He relaxed as he heard Sydney’s heart beating and felt the warmth of her in his arms. The blood on her was not hers, either. He knew her scent too well to mistake it. He looked at Rafe. “Who did this?”
“Tira.”
Alex froze.
“Shit,” Brody breathed. “Taylor, go back inside. Lock yourself in.” He headed for the bottom terrace, moving fast.
“She’s dead,” Rafe said. “I tore her heart out.” He lifted his bloody hands and looked at them. “It was easy…”
Veris came over to them and studied Rafe. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was in shock,” he said quietly.
“Psychological shock,” Alex murmured. “All but the physical symptoms.”
Brody climbed back up the steps, still at vampire speed. “All vampires,” he said quietly to Veris. “A fuck-ton of ashes and this.” He held out a bloody knife. “Rafe was never a soldier, not even unofficially,” he added, studying at Rafe.
Veris turned to Alex. “Take them inside, Alex. Brody and I will secure the grounds. How well do you know the police? Would they patrol the area tonight just because you saw a shadow?”
“I’ll think of something that will bring them out,” Alex said.
Taylor hadn’t moved, despite Brody’s command that she go inside. Now she stirred. “I can phone and pretend I’m Sydney and I’m home alone and jumpy.” She gripped Rafe’s arm, despite its bloody state. “Come on, Rafe. You need a shower.”
Rafe nodded and let Taylor lead him back up to the house.
Alex followed, with Sydney in his arms.
* * * * *
The time-plane was becoming more familiar and comforting each time Sydney ventured here, only now she was afraid to let herself fall back toward her home point, for Tira was there.
Here on the time-plane she didn’t have a heart or a body to hold it, yet she could still feel the frantic beat of it in her mind. Don’t be afraid, she reminded herself.
Where was safe? Where could she go?
There was a tugging behind her, a silent call. It was the gentle, soothing lullaby she had felt and heard before. This time, she let herself turn and move toward it and the place-and-time rewarded her by pulling harder, drawing her down to it and enfolding her in warm arms….