Triton’s hands tightened on the gearshift, but we sailed through the light where A1A intersects with Beach A1A.
“You love Saber.”
Triton spoke softly, a statement, not a question.
“I do.”
“Guess I blew my chance, huh?”
I snorted. “Your ‘just friends’ speech was loud and clear, Triton.”
“I meant my second chance. I moved back here for several reasons, one of them being you.”
My heart stuttered to a dead stop then pounded one painful beat. Was I hearing right? Triton had wanted a second chance with me?
“I heard on the national news,” he continued, “that you’d been unearthed, but I couldn’t get away from California for a while.”
“I’d been out of the box for seven months before I saw you at the beach,” I said carefully.
“I left my dolphin charm so you’d know I planned to see you again.”
“And then you disappeared for another five months.”
“I was a little tied up moving my business and dodging the big bad Void.”
“Too busy to call?”
He braked at the Dondanville stoplight and turned to hold my gaze.
“Would a call have made a difference?”
Would it?
I’d once dreamed of waking to those twinkling brown eyes each morning. I’d dreamed of the twinkle turning to passion. I’d dreamed of a life of joy with my best friend.
The spring before I turned sixteen, Triton told me flat out that we’d never be a couple and shattered my dreams. I’d accepted his reasons, mainly that I was sister to him, not a lover. But years later, when I’d been trapped in that coffin, I’d hoped that Triton would be the one to find and release me. That just maybe, after decades apart, he’d see me differently.
Now?
A horn blared behind us, and Triton hit the gas.
I hit a reality check. So, okay, if Triton had come back sooner, come back anytime before I met Saber, maybe it would have made a difference. Triton was my first love, and seeing him stirred memories. But nostalgia faded. My feelings for Triton might be pond deep, but what I felt for Saber was ocean vast.
“Never mind, Cesca. I can see you’re in love. Besides,” he added, throwing me a grin that seemed only a little forced, “I’m still looking for a female I can shift with.”
I made my tone as light as his. “Is that why you came back? You never found that special woman in California?”
“Or anywhere else. The kahuna woman in Hawaii told me I needed to return to the ocean of my birth to find my fin mate.”
“Cosmil confirmed you were born in the Atlantic?”
“More or less.”
“Huh. If you’re the son of a mermaid and a dolphin, why do you have a human form?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t ask. I figured it was a side effect of his goofed spell and left it at that.”
“Probably a good plan.”
We rode in quiet until he took the right turn on the 206 bridge.
“By the way, that display in my store? It looks like the captain’s quarters on your dad’s best ship because I designed it that way. Your father was a good man. Good to me, too.”
“I know he was.”
My father had thought so well of Triton that he’d left him with a responsibility most men would’ve turned down flat. Unbeknownst to me, Papa had bought one hundred acres on Anastasia Island in 1798, when I was eighteen. Maybe he meant to give it to me when I married or reached my majority, but even after I’d been Turned, my father kept the land. Then, before he and the family left St. Augustine, he put it in a trust and named Triton as trustee. I guess he hoped I’d break free of the vampires and would have a safe place away from town to settle. He couldn’t have known Triton would have such a long life span. Heck, I’d never considered that Triton would be nigh on immortal, and I don’t think he had, either.
I’d learned about the land and Triton’s part in the trust by accident when I helped Saber house hunt. The real estate agent had shown us a beach house on the last three lots left in trust and let the secret out.
“About the land, Cesca,” Triton said. “I didn’t mean for you to get ambushed with that tidbit.”
“Tidbit? Those are oceanfront lots worth a small fortune.”
“Yeah, well, with hurricanes and all, oceanfront property wasn’t worth much until the last four or five decades. And before you ask, no, you don’t owe me for taxes. That’s why I sold off parcels.”
“All right, then thank you for taking care of my father’s legacy.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And Triton?”
“What?”
“As long as I can speak my mind, don’t be reading it.”
He flashed a grin. “Make that a ditto, and we have a deal.”
He offered his hand to shake on it, and his palm warmed mine for a long moment before I let go.
“Deal,” I said.
Only then did I realize I hadn’t read his thoughts at all. Not a single one.
We caught up to Saber, idling on the side of the road at 206 and the far side of Interstate 95. He waved for Triton to take the lead, with a shouted, “Hurry.”
Tense minutes later, Triton slowed, turned on the left turn blinker, and steered onto a barely there dirt track carved between pines and scrub oaks and vines. The trail twisted first this direction, then that one, and the truck rocked from side to side as we crept along the rutted ground like a sloop tossed in high seas. I held tight to the grab bar and fretted about how the jostling would affect Cosmil’s injuries.
“Cos hides this entrance completely when he wants to. The times he’s been expecting me out here, he’s smoothed the road and took out most of the turns. Magically, of course.”
“Then I suppose he’s not conscious enough yet to do the smoothing. Not a good sign.”
“No, but we’re close now. If Pandora’s safe, maybe she can tell us how to doctor Cos.”
Triton hung another right, and like going from darkness to daylight, we rolled onto a smooth gravel drive. To my right, towering pines and ancient live oaks formed a perfect circle, sheltering a ramshackle cabin on the circle’s perimeter. Uneven steps led to a rickety porch running the full width of the shanty, and the roof looked ready to collapse under the weight of tree debris.
The place didn’t look habitable, much less sterile enough to house an injured man.
You will see
, I heard in my head.
Pandora’s voice, not Triton’s. Thank God she was safe.
A single knot of tension unraveled in my stiff shoulders as I climbed from the truck and saw Pandora in her panther form emerge from the far side of the circle. Tail twitching, she eyed Saber and Triton as they eased Cosmil out of the car. The wizard wasn’t steady on his feet, but he was upright.
Pandora paced to Cosmil’s side, sniffed, and sneezed.
“Yes, my friend. I reek, but we are safe for the moment. Go.”
The hefty panther whirled toward me.
Come, Princess Vampire
, she said, then loped to the shack.
She was her usual brusque self, but I psychically reached for any lurking remnant of the evil Void. Just in case. Since I came up with nada, and since Saber and Triton had Cosmil in hand, I hurried after Pandora. Fortunately, the shanty’s steps and porch felt sturdier under my sandals than they looked. I twisted the rusty doorknob and braced myself for primitive.
What I saw inside was modern. And huge compared to the footprint of the house. My interior design senses were overwhelmed as I glanced at the open-concept space.
The living area reflected more comfort than style, but the upholstered sofa and chairs had a timeless quality. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a stainless steel topped island big enough to be a boat. Beyond that, another mile of stainless counters, appliances, and a double sink made the kitchen look more like a laboratory. The open wooden cabinets and a wall of stainless steel shelves held everything from plates to pickles, along with homecanning jars that could contain eye of newt and tail of dog for all I knew.
A fine illusion, is it not?
Pandora boasted.
“The inside or outside?” I countered.
She snorted as footsteps clumped on the porch.
Go. Turn on the shower.
I followed her to a fair-sized master suite. Not magazine layout quality, but I spotted a queen bed and ornate armoire before ducking into the slate-tiled bathroom. A tankless water heater was mounted outside the curtain-free spa shower with built-in bench seat. Wow.
I found plush white towels in the linen closet and set them on the sink countertop. Every texture and temperature sure felt real, and I wondered if Cosmil simply conjured what he wanted. Talk about a cool way to redecorate.
The man himself entered on Triton’s arm, seeming firmer on his feet.
“Thank you, Francesca, Triton,” he said. “I will join you all shortly.”
Dismissed, I scooted out behind Triton to find Saber poking around in the kitchen cabinets.
“Saber, stop snooping,” I whispered. “It’s not polite.”
“I’m looking for the first aid kit.” He opened a deep drawer near the double stainless sink. “Got it.”
Triton sank into an armchair, and Saber set the kit on the coffee table before he settled on the sofa. I glanced at my watch and paced. Yes, I had another two hours before my ghost tour started, but I prided myself on being organized and early, whether for work or for turning in my online-design-class projects.
I was also pacing off my terror. I mean, come on. If the Void could get to a wizard as old and powerful as I suspected Cosmil to be, what chance did Saber, Triton, and I have? With amulets for ammo no less. We needed rocket launchers. And a division of Marines.
Sooner than I expected, Cosmil appeared in the bedroom doorway dressed in black pants and a deep purple tunic, his feet bare. His hand rested on Pandora’s noble head, and he looked a sight better in spite of the jagged gash slanting across his forehead.
He made his way across the room and sank into a chair. Saber snapped open the first aid box and ripped open the packaged surgical gloves before he assembled the sterile pads and gauze on the coffee table. Cosmil pointed to a small clear jar filled with mint green goo.
“Dab that on the cut, if you will.”
“Is it a magical potion?” I had to ask.
“Nothing so exotic, my dear. Over the counter antibacterial cream mixed with a few herbs and a small healing spell.” Cosmil winced as Saber used a cotton swab to apply the cream. “I do wish the local herb store had a wider selection, but we shall make do until I can safely travel the Veil again.”
“Tell us what happened,” Saber said, dressing the wound with efficient, gentle movements.
“I had word that a visitor was to arrive. A member of the Council of Ancients.” Cosmil cut his gaze to meet mine. “A vampire of your King Normand’s European line named Legrand.”
“Normand was not my king, Cosmil.”
“Nevertheless, Legrand wanted to check you out, I believe you would say.”
“Why?” Triton asked.
“And why now?” I added.
Cosmil leaned back in the chair and sighed. “He knew of your rescue from the coffin, but you were beneath his notice until you and Triton vanquished the vampires last month.”
“How did he find out about that?” Saber asked as he peeled off his gloves.
Cosmil leveled his gaze on Saber. “I must report to the Council just as you do to the VPA, although I may have edited some details of the event. I withheld the extent to which you are able to drain energy, Francesca. At any rate, Legrand’s stated intention was to test Francesca’s powers and to help groom her to battle the Void.”
“Why? Are vampires in other countries infected, too?” I asked.
“I must presume so, although Legrand did not speak openly of victims nor did he share details of the vampire community in general. Indeed, all of the Council of Ancients members are somewhat secretive about their communities.”
“I get the impression,” I said, “that you didn’t believe his story about training me.”
“I’m afraid Legrand was not known for altruism.”
Saber finished gathering the used first aid items and wrapped them in a paper towel. “That’s twice you used the past tense,” he said. “What happened?”
“When Legrand was hours past due, I went into the Veil to search. I found a body, too blackened and withered to identify.”
My stomach turned at the image, and I shuddered so hard, I rattled my teeth.
“That matches the way the vampires in VPA custody are dying.” Saber confirmed. “When the life force is drained, the tissue darkens and shrivels like a raisin.”
Cosmil nodded. “Legrand’s legendary ruby ring was on the body’s finger. When I bent to retrieve it, I was attacked by a force that slashed and attempted to smother me.”
“Then you’re infected now, too,” I said.
He shrugged. “I am well enough, and I will conduct a full purgehealing later. Thankfully, my escape spell worked, because the close encounter gave me information about the Void.”
“So you have a clue what we’re dealing with?” Saber asked.
“I do. I believe the Void is a thought form, though an atypical one.”
“You lost me, Cos,” Triton complained.
“In the mundane world,” he began, like a professor on a lecture roll, “our thoughts are merely thoughts. On the metaphysical plane, our thoughts have life and reality. They are powerful vibrations that can be consciously directed, but they can also be manifested unconsciously.”
“Sorry, still lost. Give me examples.”
“Thinking positive thoughts about getting a good job can yield a good job. Prayer circles sending health thoughts can assist in healing. And, relating to Francesca’s field, places believed to be haunted can become haunted due to the group mind phenomenon.”
“What does this have to do with the Void?” Saber asked.
“Most thought forms are nonphysical, but the Void is not. It is a magical construct, likely created in a ritual that focused willpower, visualization, and life force energy. It appears in and acts in the physical world as directed by its creator.”