Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I first met Letty a couple weeks after I saw her post in the forums,” Lazenti said. “You’re right, there’s a certain tone to the posts of the actual members. And there are far too many actual members for comfort. They truly believe in their cause, and the leader of the Brim Fire is charismatic beyond what you’d normally think possible for a human. Anyway, I noticed her posts and I could tell that she didn’t fit the typical profile. In my former life, before I was turned, I was a private investigator?—”

“Wait, you were?” I asked.

“Why do you think I’m interested in working with you? Aside from your charms,” he added, looking me up and down. I couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic.

“Well…when were you turned?” I asked.

“1972. I was on a case, investigating a series of vampire kills. Unfortunately, rogue vampires tend to be good at what they do.”

“So, were you in Seattle? What was your name?” Orik asked.

“Oh, you want to do some research on my past? Just wait. I may—or may not—tell you when we discuss whether I’ll be working with you on a regular basis.” He paused. “By the way, this isn’t as sudden as it seems. I’ve been watching your agency since I first contacted Carson. He’s good, but I’m better.”

“Okay, well…” Dante said, sounding resigned. “We’ll talk about that later. Anyway, so you noticed Letty?”

“Don’t rush me, Wolf,” Lazenti said. “Yes, I noticed Letty. She wasn’t nearly as good as I was at hiding under cover. I knew they were going to find out about her, and decided I’d better warn her.”

“Why? That seems odd for a…” Orik stopped.

“For a vampire ? Perhaps, yes. But I had my reasons. Anyway, she didn’t hide her name, which is beyond stupid. She had no clue how things work out on the Dark Web.” Lazenti’s eyes were shining with an unnatural light, and he sounded so somber that I really believed that he felt bad about Letty.

“How did you contact her? Not on the Dark Web, I assume?”

“No. It wasn’t that hard to find out where she lived. I contacted her in private. I figured her house might be bugged, so I watched her. One day, when she stopped in at a coffee shop, I conveniently showed up. I glamoured her to let me sit down, calmed her fears, then told her that I knew her from the forums and that I thought she was in danger.” He seemed sincerely concerned.

“What then?” I asked.

“I warned her to steer clear of the forums, of the group, and of the Dark Web. I told her it was dangerous, and I’ll admit, I used my glamour to reinforce it. She wasn’t the kind of woman who should be mucking around with a group like that. But I noticed, partway through our conversation, that she broke out of the glamour. It was like a light going off—a wall slamming up. And I don’t even think she realized that it was happening.” Lazenti leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I think she was under some sort of spell.”

“ Spell? Why did you think that?”

“Because when I pressed on the issue, she glazed over. The glamour I used was minor—just enough to get her to talk to me. But the shift she made was like going from…alive to being a zombie.”

“When did that happen during the conversation?” Orik asked. “What were you saying at that moment?”

“Let me think…I warned her that she needed to rethink hanging out in the forums…” He paused, then snapped his fingers. “I remember,” he said. “I asked her how she got involved with the group, and she was about to answer when—it was like everything shut down. The light in her eyes vanished, and she grabbed her purse, then looked at me and said, “Don’t bother me again. Seriously .” And that was that. She left the coffee shop. And when I tried to follow her, I…got lost.”

“What do you mean, you got lost?” I asked.

“I mean, I got lost . It was as though her address drained out of my thoughts. I knew who I was looking for, but I suddenly couldn’t remember why. In fact, every time I thought about her, my thoughts got so jumbled up, that it hurt.”

“Hurt? I didn’t know vampires felt pain,” I said.

“Oh, we can feel pain, but we don’t get sick and we don’t get headaches . But I got a massive migraine every time I tried to think about visiting Letty after that. And when I tried to engage her on the forums, she refused to answer. I’m on the edge of a migraine right now, since we started talking.”

I wasn’t sure what was happening. It sounded like he was under some sort of curse. But we needed a witch to tell us about magic. “Maybe I should call Penn,” I said.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Dante asked.

I knew it would mean exposing Penn to a vampire, but she was a powerful witch and she could handle herself.

“Let me talk to her.” I slid out of the car and walked a little ways away.

Penn answered on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”

“What do you think about meeting up with us in the Fairlane Cemetery?”

After a brief pause, she said, “When?”

“Um…now. As soon as you can get here.”

Another pause. Then, “It’s almost midnight. You want me to meet you in a deserted graveyard in the middle of the night? What are you doing? Exhuming a body? Fighting off zombies? Or do you need to talk to a ghost?”

I sighed. “Actually, I kind of need help determining whether there’s a curse on a vampire.”

Penn once again went silent, then exploded. “What the hell have you been drinking…or smoking?” I could almost hear her shake her head. “All right, start from the beginning.”

I told her what had happened. “I think somebody placed a curse of some sort on her that triggered and hit Lazenti when he pressed her for information.”

“Are you sure you want to hang out in a graveyard long enough for me to get there?”

“Well, I’m not taking him home with me. I suppose we could go to the office. That’s a bit safer. If you’re too tired, say the word. We can schedule it later.” I glanced at my watch. “In fact, let’s do that. Can you drop by the office after seven tomorrow night? The sun will be down by then.”

“Okay, let me know if plans change. And be careful. He’s a vampire, Kyann.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.”

I returned to the car, secured Lazenti’s promise to come by the office the next night, and we said goodbye. On the way back to the office to drop off Orik and Dante, we were all too tired to talk. But inside, I was running over a hundred questions, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d manage to find the answers to any of them.

Next morning, I groaned as I slid out of bed. Sometimes being around a vampire could drain energy, and I felt like I hadn’t slept a wink. Murdoch and Jangles bounced on the bed, both scrambling to nestle up to me, and I fell back asleep. Thank gods I had the snooze button on and the alarm woke me up a second time, ten minutes later.

I pushed out of bed, shivering as my feet hit the floor. My house had hardwood floors and they were chilly in the autumn and winter mornings. I grumbled my way into my bathrobe and decided a hot shower might help. As I slid into the shower, something felt odd. My head was foggy, but it wasn’t a hangover. I’d assumed it was energy drain, but as I turned on the water and waited for it to heat up, I realized that something else was going on. My body felt weird—but I couldn’t pinpoint how or why.

Dizzy, I decided to forego the shower. What if I slipped? I managed to turn off the water and, using the walls and furniture to steady myself, made it back to bed. As I climbed in, I grabbed my phone and texted Penn.

hey, i feel crappy and i’m not sure what’s wrong. can you drop by?

Penn answered, sure, i’ll be there before i open the shop.

Then, I texted Dante. i’m going to be late today. i feel like crap and i need to see if it’s going to wear off. make sure orik notes down what he found out at the supe community action council yesterday, please. i’ll try to be there as soon as i can.

Then, the vertigo setting in, I closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew, Penn was shaking me awake.

“Kyann, wake up. Are you all right? Kyann? Answer me!”

I squinted, peering up at Penn’s face. She looked a little blurry. “Hey,” I managed to say.

“I’m calling the doctor,” she said.

“No—” I started to protest, then stopped. Truth was, I felt like crap and something was wrong. “Number’s on the fridge.”

As she headed out of my bedroom, I closed my eyes, and promptly passed out again.

The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to the worst headache I’d had in ages. Everything was slightly blurry, but I felt more conscious than I had earlier. Maybe I’d even stay that way.

My doctor—she worked on various kinds of Supes—was sitting beside me. She had her stethoscope hanging around her neck, and she was holding my wrist, staring at her watch. As I stirred, she motioned to Penn, who was standing nearby.

“She’s awake.” She turned back to me. “What’s your name?”

“Kyann Sarasan. You’re my doctor. That’s Penn. What’s going on?” I tried to sit up, but she shoved me down again. She was a healer with more strength than she knew what to do with.

“Stop. Lay down. Okay, you know who you are. Where are you?”

“In my bedroom.” I quickly ascertained that I wasn’t going to be jumping out of bed until she allowed me to.

“What day is it?”

That was a little harder, but I finally said, “It’s Friday, the eighth. At least it was when I woke up first thing.”

“Correct, though it’s now late morning. Okay, let’s take your temperature.” She pointed a thermometer at my head and scanned me. “Normal. For you . Your pulse sounds fine. Your heart sounds good. How do you feel?”

“Like somebody played When the Levee Breaks using my head as a drum set. My head feels like it’s burning. I’m not sure what’s going on. I had one drink last night…actually, no. I didn’t drink. I had club soda. Can I sit up?”

She helped me sit up. I groaned and leaned back against the headboard.

Penn was texting someone. She looked over at me. “I texted Dante. He says he’ll be here in half an hour.”

“He doesn’t have to come—” I started to say, but then leaned back, my headache so bad I couldn’t keep my eyes open. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, but you’re not sick, that I can tell. This is something else,” Doctor Lana said. “That’s why I’ve called someone over to check you out—a colleague whose specialty is working with demons and their anatomy.”

I froze. I’d never met anyone who specialized in demon anatomy. I cleared my throat. “Not…in forensics, I hope? I’ve never heard of a demon healer before.”

“They’re around. Rare, but there are several specialists in the states—and one is here in Seattle. His name is Seton Anthony. He’ll be here in a few minutes. His practice is near here. Anyway, we need to figure out what’s going on with you.”

I leaned forward, pulling my knees up so I could rest my head on them. “I have no clue what happened, but I need to be on my feet by tonight.” A thought hit me. “My cats…they need food…”

“I fed them,” Penn said. “They’re fine. I also cleaned their water fountain while the doctor was examining you.” She turned to the doctor. “Should I bring her some water?”

“Water shouldn’t hurt. Go ahead, but I’d make it room temperature so it doesn’t give her a worse migraine than she has.” Dr. Lana sat beside me, taking my hand. “You’ve seldom been sick, so this is a bit of a surprise. I’ve sewed up several wounds on you before, but this is different. Can you remember when you started feeling sick?”

I shook my head. “I think when I woke up.”

“Have you been trying any drugs lately? Tell me the truth. Or odd liquors?”

Again, I shook my head. “No, not that I know of.”

“Well, rest. I’ll bring in Seton when he shows up.”

“Don’t let the cats out?—”

“They’re indoor only. Penelope already warned me. We’ll be careful.” The doctor tucked the covers over me, then headed out of the room.

Penn returned with the water. She had poured it into a water bottle so I couldn’t drop it and break it. I took a few sips, then handed it back to her. “I have no idea what happened to me.”

“Could it be something to do with the curse you said the vampire had on him?”

I shrugged, instantly regretting it. “I have no idea. Can you close the drapes? It’s too bright.”

As Penn went to close the curtains, the doctor returned, a tall, geeky looking guy with her. He looked young enough to be someone’s little brother, around nineteen, but he had to be older than that.

“Kyann, Penelope, meet Seton Anthony. That’s Dr . Seton Anthony, actually. He’s not only an MD with a specialty in demon anatomy, he’s a healer, as well, specializing in rare Supe varieties.” She turned to him. “This is our patient is Kyann Sarasan. And this is Penelope Fircrest.”

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, that’s probably Dante,” Penn said, exiting the room.

I turned to Dr. Anthony. “I’ve never met a demon specialist before,” I said, wincing as my head continued to pound out a heavy-metal rhythm.

“Call me Seton,” the doctor said. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Can you tell me what kind of demon you are, and which side of your parentage your demonic blood came from?”

I shook my head. “My mother was human. She never told me who my father was, except that he was a demon. I asked her time and again, but she wouldn’t ever say.”

“I need to take some of your blood. Please hold out your arm.”

I did as he asked. If Dr. Lara trusted him, I felt I could trust him. He quickly and painlessly drew three small tubes of blood and tucked them into his bag. After that, he asked Dr. Lara to stay while he performed an examination. He checked me out for birthmarks, he listened to my heart and lungs, did a throat exam, then examined my ears—which were slightly pointed—and looked over my hands and feet.

After that, he asked me to hold onto a crystal the size of a softball. It was quartz, striated with black tourmaline. As I took hold of it, a wave of energy flowed through me. It seemed to soothe the headache enough for me to take a deep breath. As I held onto it, he picked up another crystal, that looked almost like the sphere’s twin, and he fit it into a small object that looked like a round bronze bowl with a hole that fit the ball. Then, he set it on the nightstand next to me.

“If you would think of your mother, and—since you don’t have any memories of him—ask about your father, silently. Close your eyes if it helps.”

I tried to do as he asked. I closed my eyes and brought up an image of my mother. Then, I imagined myself asking her who my father was, and held onto that thought.

“What on earth—?” Dr. Lana whispered.

I slowly opened my eyes, trying to keep the question in mind. I glanced at the other crystal ball. Hovering over it was a symbol. It looked like something written in Chinese or Korean, but I knew it wasn’t one of those languages. It glimmered with an aura of misty fire, a faint red.

Seton stared at it, then let out a long breath. He sketched it onto a notepad, then took a picture of it. Then, he motioned to me. “You can relax now.”

“What is that?” I asked.

As soon as I spoke, the symbol vanished.

“That was the symbol of the Demonkin clan that your blood is from. I’ll have to examine your blood to be positive, but I can tell you that I’m ninety-five percent certain your father came from the Arosien Clan. And your demonic blood is starting to waken. You’re having growing pains as your powers from it begin to blossom in your body.”

I stared at him. “Growing pains? Arosien Clan? You mean I’m going through puberty?”

“I’m afraid so,” he said. “And it’s not going to be easy.”

At that moment, Penn peeked in the room. “Dante’s here. Can we come in?”

I slowly nodded. “Yeah. You’re not going to want to miss this.”