Chapter Sixteen

Anderson finally roused enough for me to feel confident he'd survive, and Will was a great help throughout all of it. When we finally returned to my rooms, the first thing I did was look under the bed.

The case was gone. Only the turquoise figurine remained.

Still on my knees, I picked it up and turned to Will. "He's come and gone."

"I'd guessed. There are spatters of water on the floor."

"We'll find him in Alexandria somehow." I strove for a confidence I didn't feel.

Will smiled gently. "I put traveling money and instructions in the case."

I sat back on my heels. "Good. Thank you."

Crossing the room, Will put a hand on my shoulder. "I don't possess any special powers beyond my observational skills, but I'd hazard a guess that Aharon Davies will seek you out, regardless of whether he gives the case to Randall."

My stomach lurched. "I mean…I don't…why would he?" Had we been so obvious as that?

Something in Will's smile shifted. "You have nothing to fear. Randall and I will keep your secret if you will keep ours."

Confusion had the effect of calming some of my panic. "You…and Randall. I didn't know."

Giving me a squeeze, Will said. "My given name is Wilhemina, but I've gone by Will since I was old enough to dress myself."

"Will…" My voice faded away as the gravity of his—her?—confession hit me. As a man of science, I knew such things were possible. I'd just never… "All right, then." I cleared my throat. I had neither the energy nor the desire to judge his choices. "As you say, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine."

"Thank you."

With that, Will left me alone with my thoughts. The icon was out of my hands, leaving me to hope that Aharon could accomplish what we'd set out to do. Tomorrow we'd reach Gibraltar, and four days later, Southampton. We'd be on British soil. Did I really need to return to Alexandria? It was reasonable to think Will could make the return voyage on his own.

And what? Send me a letter with the results of our quest?

Even as I entertained those thoughts, I knew they were lies. As much as it terrified me to trust a vampire, I found I believed in Aharon Davies despite his nature.

And I had every intention of tracking him down, no matter how long it took.

That vow could wait. First, I had to cope with an increasingly unhinged priest. If there was any blessing, it was that Fr. Dominic could no longer cast the spells that had affected the other passengers so dramatically. Still, Will and I were kept quite busy.

The night we left Gibraltar, Will met me in my rooms. "I stopped by the kitchen on my way down from the upper deck. Here," he said, handing me a basket covered with a linen cloth.

I peeked under it and saw bread and cheese. "You found a steward to sit with Fr. Dominic?"

"Wasn't easy." He gave me a rueful grin. "He did sleep for part of the day, but the rest was a steady stream of his babble."

"If there's a moral to this story, it's not to play with demons."

That made Will laugh. "I'll have to make a note of that."

"Do."

I settled on the foot of my bunk, leaving Will the chair. There was a new easiness between us, and while I had trouble imagining him in a dress, I found it really didn't matter. He was Will, and if Randall accepted him, that was enough.

Unpacking the basket, I found a bottle of wine and two cups in the bottom. I rarely drank, but after the last few days, the wine had some appeal. I poured the wine, Will sliced the cheese, and we dug in.

"I heard a rumor," he said between bites.

"Oh?"

"Last night, one of the rowboats they keep for emergencies was stolen."

I stared into my wine. The little turquoise figurine was tucked under my pillow, so I could keep it close. "Do you think…?"

"That would be my guess."

I met his gaze for a brief moment, then tossed off the rest of my wine. Pouring another cup full, I said, "Then we should drink a toast to Aharon's success."

Will raised his glass, and I tapped it with mine. "To all of us," he said. "May we be reunited with those closest to us."

I drank to cover how near I was to tears.

By the time we reached Southampton, I was out of both morphine and patience. For reasons I didn't fully understand, it fell to me to find someone to care for Fr. Dominic. The physician in charge of the only hospital in Southampton was willing to admit him, and I extracted a promise from the local Catholic church to oversee things from there.

And with that, Will and I booked passage on a steamer headed for Alexandria. They set sail on the third and the twentieth of every month, and since we'd missed the third by a day, we had some two weeks to wait.

If those two weeks went by slowly, the two weeks it took to sail from Southampton to Alexandria seemed to take much, much longer. We each had a second-class room, we took our meals together, and beyond that, I read and wrote and expressed gratitude that there was someone else tending to the hurts and illnesses on this voyage.

In all of that time, my mood rose and fell depending on whether I believed Aharon had returned with the icon. At times, I was sure he'd be waiting for us in Alexandria.

Other times, I knew in my bones he'd absconded with the icon and we'd never see him again.

I took to carrying the figurine in my pocket because simply touching it reassured me. It was as cool as Aharon and nearly as comforting. For one moment in time, we'd both had our hands on the thing. That seemed to mean something, though I wasn't sure what. Still, I rode the ebb and flow of my mood, the same way the boat rode the ocean waves. We couldn't reach Alexandria soon enough.

Unlike my first arrival, this time two brown-skinned Egyptians waited for us on the dock. They wore the kind of robes Aharon favored, and Will introduced them as Darius and Ebo. "Ebo is our landlord and Darius is his son, and they've been gracious enough to offer us a ride."

"How did they know when we'd arrive?"

Will and Ebo shared a glance. "We met the last boat from Southampton, and you weren't on it, so Randall asked us to try again today."

"I hope he made it worth your while."

Ebo's smile was broad and his teeth were very white. "He conjured a tea that helps a great deal with my wife's joint pain."

Conjured? I found I didn't want to know anything more. Together we loaded the luggage onto the back of a horse-drawn cart.

"So you'll drop me off at the L'Hotel d'Europe, then?"

A sudden upswell of noise on the dock made it necessary for me to repeat myself twice, but in the end, Will laughed. "No, you'll be staying with Randall and me."

"That's awfully generous of you." My mind went back to the cool comfort of the house where I'd met Randall. "Are you sure there's enough space?"

"Wouldn't have offered if there wasn't."

Ebo climbed into the cart. "If you need more space, I'll find you a place. I have a few vacancies."

"See? You're with friends." Will waved at the cart. "Climb in."

There was only space for three of us to sit on the cart's plank seat, but there was a sunshade overhead to keep off the worst of the glare. Ebo took the reins, Will and I sat on either side of him, and Darius walked beside us, a hood covering his head.

We didn't move quickly—the roads were far too crowded—but I found I didn't mind. The sun was directly overhead, which meant we had a few hours until sunset.

I was very much waiting for the sun to set.

The air was dry and dusty, interspersed with gusts of sweet floral scent. The sweat running between my shoulder blades had me looking enviously at Ebo's loose linen robe. "I could use a cup of tea," I murmured.

Will leaned forward so he could grin at me around Ebo. "Soon, Doctor. We'll be able to quench our thirst soon."

For some reason, I had the sense that he wasn't just talking about tea, but before I could push him further, we rolled to a stop. "The house is down there," Will said, pointing at a courtyard surrounded by low buildings, their thick walls coated with white plaster.

The area looked familiar, for all that I couldn't have named most of the foliage. There was peace here under the strong, bright sun. The air was scented with flowers and roasting meat, and the trees cast much-needed shade.

With help from Darius, Will and I carried our luggage to the house. Unlike my first visit, Randall met us in the doorway, and unlike my first visit, this was the Randall of my memory. He stood upright, his color robust rather than pale and wan. He still carried his ebony cane, but it seemed to be more of a prop rather than something he needed to support himself.

"Welcome." His smile was almost as wide as his open arms. "And congratulations on your successful adventure."

As I approached him, I noted Will hanging back. A glance showed me why. The color was high in his fair cheeks and there was a gleam of tears in his eyes. Filling in the pause, I shook my cousin's hand far more vigorously than I had at our last meeting. "You look…well."

His grin turned devilish. "Come inside. We have much to discuss."

He might have spoken to me, but his gaze was on Will. I ignored the breach and gave him a hearty, "And we have stories to tell, as well."

I could only hope that one of the things my cousin wanted to discuss was a certain vampire. All of our efforts would have been wasted if he hadn't successfully returned the icon to his church.

You don't just care about the icon .

Ignoring the voice in my head, I helped bring in our luggage. Randall used his cane to direct us, and after a flurry of activity, we were seated in his front parlor. He took the same wingback chair as on our first meeting, leaving an upholstered loveseat for me and Will. The high ceilings helped with the heat, as did the tea. Ebo and Darius had left us alone, and once Will took his seat, I pinned Randall with a stare.

"You don't look like the same man," I said bluntly.

He had the grace to blush. "Yes, well, I believe I am proof positive that the blood of a vampire has healing qualities."

Will gasped, and I found myself at a loss for words.

"I've just had a taste but look at me." He half rose from his chair.

"I can do nothing but," Will whispered.

Randall glanced from Will to me, his eyes wide. I shrugged, and he relaxed.

"So Aharon returned?" My voice was dry as the desert around us.

Again Randall nearly bounced out of his seat. "Indeed. The icon has been returned, and I have quite a number of other artifacts to research."

"Good." A huge weight lifted off my shoulders. "I'm glad he was successful."

"Not just him. He told me about Fr. Dominic and his demonic spells. You've done some excellent work, keeping the passengers safe and healthy."

I waved him off. "I did what needed to be done."

"And you gave me a gift beyond price." Randall's voice shook and he blinked rapidly. "I'm not sure I would have survived long enough to see you. Aharon arrived in the nick of time."

"I'm glad."

Will still hadn't said anything and so, taking my tea, I made some excuse to leave them alone. Randall told me where to find water for a bath. "We dine at eight. Mrs. Ebo is cooking and you don't want to be late."

Toasting him with my teacup, I moved toward the door.

"Oh," Randall said, his grin sly. "After dinner, we can discuss another little project I have in mind. You and Aharon together make a good team."

The idea wrong-footed me, if for no other reason than we'd have accomplished very little without Will. Then there was the implication that I might stay here for some unspecified period of time when I'd always meant to return to London.

Hadn't I?

I managed to stretch bathing, shaving, and dressing until nearly sunset. To my surprise, the closet in the room Randall had told me to use was full of the suits, shirts, and waistcoats that usually resided in my London flat.

In fact, looking closer, I noticed the book on my nightstand was one I'd meant to start reading upon my return.

"Randall." I should have been angry with him, but all I could do was shake my head.

If my cravat wasn't as tidy as Will would have made it, it couldn't be helped. The two of them were still in the front parlor, talking quietly, and I slipped out the door without drawing their attention.

The courtyard was much cooler, and while I couldn't see the sun directly, the band of gold and orange in the west let me know it was about to set. The open space was paved with small white stones, four spreading palm trees marked the corners, and a pair of benches faced each other in the center.

I took a seat, facing Randall's house, and for a long moment, I simply enjoyed the fact that the ground wasn't rocking the way it had on board the ship. The band of gold and orange deepened to scarlet, the sky overhead turning a deeper blue. I rubbed my thumb over the head of the figurine in my pocket, and I waited.

I felt his presence before I saw him. Aharon. He put his hand on my shoulder and straddled the bench, facing me. "You're here," he said.

Something deep inside me loosened and for the first time in a long while, I could draw a deep breath. "And so are you."

"How was your trip?"

"Exceedingly long. Yours?"

With a wry chuckle, he adjusted his robes. "It had its moments."

"Tell me."

"Suffice it to say that I learned more about what I can do than I'd ever thought possible." He paused and the last of the light faded, making him little more than a silhouette in the dark. "If nothing else, limits force a man to be creative."

He was dodging my question, but in truth, traveling from Gibraltar to Alexandria by night had to have presented him with fairly steep challenges. Rather than push him into revealing anything unpleasant, I let it go.

"Fr. Dominic?" He let the question stand between us.

"I left him at hospital in Southampton."

"He was…" His voice faded.

"Evil." I supplied. "He was as evil as they come, wholly consumed by some demon."

It seemed we both had unpleasant memories from our time apart. The priest's maniacal cries would echo in my nightmares for a good long while.

We sat in silence for a moment, though it was companionable, easy. Aharon looked the same, his features still precise and lovely, but he had an ease here, a confidence that I hadn't seen on the Haddington . This was his home, and it showed despite the change in his nature.

"What now?" I wondered, only realizing I'd said it out loud when he laughed.

"It's the oddest thing. Over the last few weeks, returning the icon grew less important than seeing you again."

I blinked in confusion. "But you did return it?"

"Oh yes, which left me with a single goal. Finding you."

Something warm and heavy filled my chest, the little figurine in my pocket growing weightier. "It seems we are of the same mind." Another silence, but this one rife with an unfamiliar—but not unpleasant—tension. "What do you propose we do next?"

"If we were alone, I'd offer to suck you off."

The boldness of his words made the heat rise in my cheeks, and this time I was the one to shift in my seat and adjust myself. "That would…perhaps…I might—"

He interrupted my dithering. "First, though, we should talk. I want to know more about Dr. Hugh St John."

My answering laugh held both relief and gratitude. "You might get more than you bargained for. It seems Randall intends to keep me here indefinitely."

"So he said."

I glanced his way, surprised. "You've spoken about me to Randall?"

"Only enough to know that he wants to put the both of us to work."

"He does?"

"Like he's said, we're a good team, St John. The idea appeals to me."

Heart pounding, I rose from the bench. "It intrigues me, too." More than I could explain or even understand. "Why don't you join us for supper, and we can hear more of my cousin's ideas."

He stood and clasped my hand. "And later…?"

I met his grin with one of my own. "Later we'll see what we'll see."

"Good." He squeezed my hand, his fingers cool and strong. "I can't wait to see…all of you."

Laughing, I led the way into my cousin's house. I should be angry at Randall for the way he'd taken over my life, but the vampire's presence made me glad my possessions were here. And wasn't that ironic? Me, being glad for a vampire?

While I might someday set sail for my old home, London would be a cold and lonely place without Aharon. For now, I would be grateful for the gifts I'd been given: this man who was more than a man, and the promise of adventures to come.