Here Be Monsters [2] (8 page)

Fear rose like bile in his stomach. He took a step back from Illeië. Her age and her power unnerved him. She was beautiful and frightening. And she was also one of the few in Underhill he feared. "Illeië—"
 

She held up a hand and he closed his mouth. "You do what you feel must be done, Rhymer. But know this—if you betray my prince, or my king, I will hunt you down myself. And I will drag you back through a cairn and watch your body disintegrate with age…and turn to dust. Stay out of my house."
 

With that, she turned and glided back into the Sick House.
 

Thom hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until he felt light headed. He took in a deep breath and turned, wanting to get as far away from the Sick House as possible. Abyssinian was taken care of. The Fallen wouldn't get to him and use his blood. He just needed to find the other Winterbourne and—

He stopped short when he realized Xe-faun was standing in the center of the path. His skin was also white and his eyes looked haunted. Thom frowned as he approached. Had his aid discovered what he'd been up to? Did he know it was he that stabbed the prince?
 

"Steward," Xe-faun stopped and bowed. "Is it true?"
 

"Is what true?"
 

"That the prince was injured? That he was brought here?"

Damn. News like this traveled fast. Thom hadn't wanted anyone to know where Abyssinian was, and now it seemed all of Underhill did. "Yes. He is in the Sick House."

But when Xe-faun started to move past him, Thom put out a hand. "Leave him. He's fallen into "death" and the healers are looking after him."
 

Xe-faun's complexion paled even more. "He was poisoned with cold iron?"
 

"I'm afraid so. Please," he pulled gently at Xe-faun to follow him away from the Sick House. The last thing he wanted was him to speak to Illeië. "Now, tell me what's happening in the mortal world. Do you have news?"
 

Siobhan
decided last minute to detour home and get a proper shower and clothing. Stepping into her shop during daylight hours was going to unnerve the clientele that knew she was a vampire, so she took the back entrance by jumping on the roof and climbing down through the skylight.
 

After the shower, new clothing, and a dark pair of sunglasses and a wig, she returned to her bike and took the short cut over to the prison where Oberon was being held. Luckily the guards on duty were day guards and hadn't seen her before, so her daylight appearance wasn't a surprise.
 

What
was
surprising once she got in was to find Oberon was already in conversation with someone and unavailable.
 

Who the hell was he talking to?
 

Due to privacy issues within the prison, Siobhan wasn't allowed to know, but she
could
listen in…if she concentrated her preternatural hearing on a voice she knew better than her own.
 

It took a few minutes but she could hear him. He was speaking low, as if he was afraid he'd be overheard. And the voice that answered him was female.
 

Who?
 

"…isn't going to like this."
 

"No, he's not,"
Oberon said. She could hear him sigh.
"How many are there?"
 

"In his group? About six. They work in two teams, three a piece. They're going through the list of names and testing by date of known birth. Then the elf disappears and if we're lucky, the police find them."
 

Siobhan frowned. Who was this and what were they talking about? The dead elves? And
who
was working in teams?
 

"Is there any chance they have your name?"
 

"They have a name. I've been able to evade them this far because I know what they're doing."
 

There was another pause.
"And you're sure Rhymer knows about this?"
Oberon sounded worried.
 

"Sir, I'm
very
sure he knows about the deaths not being caused by vampires but by other elves. What I'm not sure of is if he's behind it. That's what I need to find out."
 

Siobhan lowered her head. She'd been right about the murderers being elves and not vamps. And Oberon and whomever this was knew this as well.
 

So…if these killings were still happening after Oberon was jailed…

Her head came up. Then…was it possible that Oberon was innocent? That he hadn't been the one to kill the elves in that blood bank she and Abyssinian had broken into? But no…she'd seen the recording of him over the bodies.
 

"And you're sure he's the one that hurt Aby?"
 

"Yes. Two of the guards in the tomb saw him do it."

Hurt Aby?
 

Her heart leapt into her throat. So what she'd dreamed, thought she'd seen in her mind was the truth. Abyssinian was in trouble. And this woman and his brother knew about it. She stood and started pacing the waiting room.
 

"Miss, you're going to need to calm down," said the attending guard behind the counter.
 

Siobhan gave her a scathing look and continued to pace. Let them try and stop her. She needed to talk to Oberon.
 

NOW.

As if the universe knew it was a bad idea to irritate a day-walking vampire, the door buzzed and a tall, thin, elegant elf was escorted through. She looked familiar to Siobhan. Her ears peeked out through the folds of her hair and her eyes were bright and—

Purple.
 

Just like Aby's were.
 

The elf nearly ran into Siobhan, but she stopped, made an excuse and left the room.
 

The room Siobhan entered was small, with one wall of thick plexi-glass. It was partitioned into six sections, each given a privacy wall, a chair, a desk and a phone.
 

Oberon sat in the one on the far end. He looked good. Even in prison blues.
 

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw her sit down in the chair the elf had just vacated and removed her glasses. Siobhan took the phone and put it to her ear.
 

Oberon raised a shaking hand and picked up the receiver. When he got it to his ear, Siobhan wasted no time.
 

"You listen to me, you fucker. Who the hell was that, who is Rhymer and what did he do to Abyssinian?"
 

- 9 -

Keith Song sat in his Jaguar, parked in the prison parking lot, racking up minutes on the parking meter. He'd somehow known where to find Siobhan, and arrived just in time to see her enter the front door of the jail.
 

In daylight.
 

How was she doing that? Was Siobhan that much different than the other vamps? Was she born that way? Did Geld know?
 

Hell…did anybody else know? Was it the stuff she drank?

He wanted to tell someone what he'd seen. A day-walking vampire.
 

But he couldn't. He physically
couldn't
. Even when he called his editor and opened his mouth, instead of letting Barney know what Siobhan O'Donnell could do, he'd wretched in the guy's ear. Literally got sick right there. Insto-puke. Not that he really threw up but he wanted to.
 

And might have if he'd have continued to try and talk about it.
 

That's when he'd really known he was fuckered. A ghoul. Bound to a vampire. Being a ghoul and being a reporter, was going to suck.
 

Ass.
 

"How the hell are you out here in the middle of the day?"
Oberon hissed into the receiver.
 

Siobhan's answer was a quiet tapping of her long nail on the counter in front of her. She was already getting queasy with the smells of urine, antiseptic and bleach. Not to mention blood.
 

There was old blood here.
 

"You drank his blood again."
 

"You need to answer my questions." She nodded toward the door. "Who was that? I think that's Silira—the elf that got away from Miller. She looks a little different, but it's her. She use glamour before?"
 

He glared at her.
 

She glared back.
 

Finally he sighed. "Yes, that was Silira."
 

"And?"
 

He arched a blond eyebrow. "She's UnSeleighe."
 

"And?"
 

"And what?"
 

Siobhan leaned forward and lowered her voice. "She's a Winter born, same as Aby, isn't she?"
 

She knew she was right the moment the color drained from her old lover's face. He reached out and put a hand on on the window. "It's Winter
bourne
, and please, don't get messed up in this. I don't know how you know that—but please Siobhan…"

"It's too late." She gave him a small cliff note version of what'd happened to her at Song's place and of the Fallen. Maeve.
 

"I never knew it had a name." Oberon rubbed at his stubbled chin. Hah…all those rumors about elves not growing facial hair—Oberon was the perfect example of how the steroids and chemicals in the food in the mortal realm had changed that. He was thicker than an Underhill elf. Which was why Abyssinian remained a vegetarian while not in Underhill.
 

"Yeah, it's got a name. And teeth."
 

"And power. Look Siobhan, you have to stay away from it. It's got your number, and more than likely it thinks you're its daughter. In fact, it thinks all of the vampires are its creatures. And if it got its way and came back to Underhill?" He shivered. "That thing would make all vampires day-walkers. It wants to destroy the elven race."

Being of the blood-sucking persuasion and missing long walks on the beach didn't sway Siobhan's opinion that vampires should stay in the dark. She had a good idea of what her kind could do if given that ability. And though she liked feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin—without the burning her to a cinder part—she didn't want that kind of future.
 

Not for anyone.
 

"So let me understand this," she scooted her chair closer. "You knew there was a Fallen running amuk in the mortal realm. And you and your special ops elves—this Black Guard—were trying to find it. By yourself."
 

"Yes. But shush on the Black Guard thing. I'm trying to keep them under wraps."
 

"You could have asked for help."

"No, we couldn't. Damn Siobhan, we didn't even realize that the whole Winterbourne part of this was true until I did a few tests on Abyssinian's blood. I didn't want to believe what my father had told me—that he was one of them."
 

"Is that why you kept him chained in your basement?" She glared at him even harder, remembering the burned scar on the elf's wrist. Cold Iron.
 

"Look, Aby's head strong, and I couldn't get him to listen to me. He wasn't going to believe that he could give a vampire the ability to walk in the daylight."

"Did you tell him?"

"Yes. He wouldn't believe me, but from what I saw that morning in your secret room, and now," he sighed. "He obviously does now."
 

Well, this explained how he knew by drinking his blood I wouldn't die. His brother had confessed as much while locking Aby in the basement.

 
"Siobhan, it's the breaking of Merlin's curse. And he tried to fight me—" he sighed. "So when he did I played dirty."
 

"You fucking did play dirty. Did you see what your shackle did to him?"
 

"Don't you think I realized he was in pain?" Oberon put his other hand flat on the counter in front of him. "But I also have my people to worry about, Siobhan. Aby's blood, and Silira's blood are the key to breaking that curse. Their blood—just one drop—could cause the annihilation of both of our races. So if it means I have to keep my brother chained up in a basement. In pain. Then yes," and he sat back. "I'll do it."
 

She pointed at the door. "So why isn't Silira chained up in a basement? Huh? Why is she walking around free. She's another one?"
 

"Because no one knows she is. To anyone else she's a human. Her glamor over mortals is that good. And she's working
with
me, unlike Aby who's always tried to work
against
me. She realizes what she could potentially do."
 

She was quiet for a moment. As terrible as it sounded, she knew Oberon was right. Abyssinian wasn't known for patience. Especially not when it came to his brother. She licked her lips. "Then why when you saw him in my shop that night when the body was dropped there, you didn't try to take him again?"

Oberon looked away before he answered. "Because I realized that you needed him. That if anyone was going to prove your innocence it'd be him. Only," he looked back at her. "I got caught in the crossfire of that one. And here I am. While Thom Rhymer is out there adding fuel to a fire he can't possibly contain."
 

"You said he hurt Aby. I felt something was wrong with Aby earlier today. This Rhymer—" and she stopped. "Wait.. Do you mean
Thomas the Rhymer
?"
 

"Unfortunately."
 

"But…the legend of Thomas the Rhymer is decades old. He's real?"
 

"Yep. And if he stepped back into the mortal realm," he snapped his fingers. "Those decades would catch up with him. I left him in charge."
 

"Abyssinian always talked about Thom, but he never said his last name. That's…weird."