The Rhiannon Chronicles Read online

  The grocer’s defiant expression melted away like a snowball in July. “Like what kinda Feds?” he asked. “FBI or something?”

  Officer Tenny shrugged and Mr. Schultz seemed to get a little hitch in his breathing and whispered, “DPI?"

  Clearly the guy had been watching the news. Officer Tenny's determinedly blank expression probably confirmed the grocer’s suspicion. “Hell, it’s those vampires from the hijacked ship, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t have any information about that, sir.”

  “Bullshit. It’s going around that some of the vamps jumped overboard off the Oregon coast. News can’t confirm it yet. Or won’t. I heard a couple of them were shot in the water… young ones, I heard.”

  “Where did you hear that, exactly?” Officer Tenny was not smiling, but his eyes were.

  He’d be a better cop when he developed a more convincing poker face, Patterson thought.

  Averting his face, the grocer shrugged. “I read it on Facebook. Posted and reposted. Who knows where it started out?” He shrugged and changed the subject. “The news says that ship was blown up not too far down the coast from here. You really think some of them survived?”

  “I have no reason to think anything about any of this since it’s all rumor and speculation.”

  “Except that the boat blew up. That’s not rumor.”

  Officer Tenny nodded once. “That’s being investigated by the Coast Guard. But I repeat, I don’t have any reason to think the theft of your vans is related to that.”

  The cop would make a terrible politician.

  “Well who else would steal two vans in the dead of night like that?” Schultz asked.

  Officer Tenny shrugged. “Car thief?”

  “Hell. Hell, I don’t want any trouble with their kind. They can keep the damn vans.” Schultz got to his feet. Colonel Patterson knew it was time to step in. “I’ve heard about them,” the grocer said. “I watch the news, read the papers. Vampires are for real, have been all along. And the government knew.” He shook his head hard. “Never mind,” he said. “I withdraw my complaint.”

  “A little too late for that, sir,” said Colonel Patterson, who had opened the door and entered the room almost silently and now stood right behind the grocer.

  Mr. Schultz turned so fast he almost lost his balance.

  The colonel flipped a badge. “I’m Colonel Patterson with the DPI.”

  “Ah, hell, I knew it.” Alvin Schultz sat back down. “Dammit, I don’t want any trouble with vampires.”

  Another cop opened the door and leaned inside. “We just pulled up the surveillance footage. It clearly shows the car thief, probably female, wearing jeans and a hoodie. She drove one van out, came back for the other, even closed the door behind her. Never shows her face to the camera, though.”

  Officer Tenny nodded and said, “Colonel, I’m sorry I got you out here for nothing. The thief clearly wasn’t a vampire.” He sounded almost heartbroken. Probably thought he was going to get a promotion for calling this in.

  “Why not?” the grocer asked, his eyes jumping from one man to another.

  “They don’t show up on camera,” Officer Tenny said.

  Schultz sighed heavily, and Patterson thought every muscle in the guy’s body relaxed a notch. “Good. Good. Just an ordinary thief. That's good.” He leaned back in his chair and his legs sort of melted out to full length.

  “That really doesn’t prove anything,” the Colonel said. “They sometimes use human accomplices. And we know for a fact there were several humans with the group we’re hunting.”

  “The ones from The Anemone?” Mr. Schultz asked, relief turning back into fear right before Patterson’s eyes.

  “That’s classified,” Patterson said. “Sir, I really just have one question for you, and then I’ll let you go on home. Are your vans equipped with GPS?”

  “Of course they are. What car isn’t these days?”

  “I wouldn’t know, Mr. Schultz.” Patterson’s heart beat a little faster. This could be the break he’d been waiting for. “Are the GPS systems in your vans factory-installed or aftermarket?” he asked.

  “Both, and that’s two questions. I really want to go now.”

  “You can leave when you’ve told me what I need to know, Mr. Schultz. Now explain what you mean by both.”

  The grocer didn't try to hide his impatience. He glanced Officer Tenny's way, but Patterson said, "The sooner you answer, the sooner you're out of here, Mr. Schultz."

  He sighed, but conceded. “The vans have factory installed, in-dash nav systems. My drivers use those to get around. But I used to have a lot of trouble with the systems getting shut off during the day."

  “By the drivers?”

  “Not that they would admit. But yeah, I figured they were taking unauthorized breaks, going home for lunch, stopping off at a bar or whatever. So I had backup systems installed. They stay on all the time. Drivers don't even know they're there."

  “You’re a smart businessman, Mr. Schultz,” Colonel Patterson said. “How are the backup systems working out for you?”

  “Good enough that I had to fire two drivers.”

  The Colonel felt the urge to high-five someone, but there was no one around who knew the importance of this. So he just kept his stoic face in place, and celebrated on the inside. “So we just need the info on those extra systems so we can track them, and then you’re free to go.”

  Mr. Schultz got to his feet. “I already gave all of that to Officer Tenny.” He turned toward the door, then turned back again. “I really don’t want any trouble with their kind,” he said. “Can you try to keep my name out of this?”

  “I’m sure as hell not gonna give them your name," Colonel Patterson said. "But they know perfectly well where they stole those vans.” He handed the grocer a card. “Don’t leave town, Mr. Schultz. Call me directly if you think of anything else. And, uh, I don’t recommend spreading it around that this is anything more than a garden variety, run-of-the-mill car theft. You don’t need to mention that DPI is involved or any imagined connection to anything you might have seen on the Internet lately.”

  Mr. Schultz swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bulging, and tried to ask, “Why not?” but the words came out like a croak.

  “Well, it’s like you said, you don’t want trouble with their kind.”

  Schultz looked scared. Truly scared. He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, and headed for the door.

  “Remember,” Patterson said, and when Schultz looked back, he put a finger to his lips. “Shhh.”

  Chapter Three

  Nikki was stretched out on the floor near the fireplace, playing a game of Trouble with Gareth and Ramses and eating potato chips, a treat she’d never had before. By the way she was eating them, I guessed they were a new favorite.

  It was a peaceful night for us, the most peaceful in recent memory. Roland and I had even managed to slip away into the nearby forest for an hour of woodland lovemaking that left me weak-kneed and sappy, a state that was far from normal for me. By Isis, how I loved him. And then we’d gathered in the cabin’s large living room for games and conversation.

  Roland and I needed this haven. This rest. The past two years and especially the past few weeks, had likely been the most tense period in our lives together. We’d been pursued, even in our sleep, hunted like animals. This cabin in the woods provided a rare and desperately needed respite from all of that. It felt like bliss to us. I looked around at the others in the room. My beloved Roland sat beside me, watching over the three younger children; Ramses, Gareth, and Nikki, my precious Nikki. Pandora lay beside them, ever vigilant for she adored them as much as I, though she tried to pretend otherwise. She also adored the fireplace, and was basking in its heat.

  Roxanne and Christian were arguing playfully over which type of pizza was the best and laughing. Every now and then I saw the children look their way during a burst of laughter, their eyes curious. I was sure they were talking amongst thems
elves, communicating without words. I could tell by the looks they exchanged. Laughter was a puzzle to them. I decided to let them work it out on their own. It was good that they were noticing expressions of emotion and wondering about them. It was very good.

  Charlie and Killian snuggled together in a love seat near the fire. Trish and Larissa were admiring the wood and stone of the hearth.

  These people around me were my family. There was no other way to describe this band of survivors we had formed. It was family. Well, with the exception of Lucas. I still did not trust him.

  The older children, the eleven-year-olds, were restless. They wanted to know everything. Particularly Iris, with her blood red hair hanging dead straight past her shoulders and eyes as bright green as emeralds. “How does the television work? How do you read all the countless books around this place? What lies beyond the next hill? What are the cities and towns like?” All of that and more. And with every question she asked, her siblings gathered round to listen to the answer. They were like the thirsty desert absorbing the first spring rainfall. The other girl, Damiana, had hair just as red with a more bronze tint. It was thicker, and wavy, but her eyes were just as green, her skin just as pale. The boys had auburn hair and eyes of cerulean blue. Thorn’s face was a little more angular, and Sage’s eyes were bigger, the curves of his face a bit softer.

  Trish had taken charge of them, with help from Charlotte and Killian. Charlotte had helped them choose their names from one of Roxy’s books about the medicinal and magical properties of plants. They’d taken names they thought emulated the qualities they saw in themselves.

  It had been a truly brilliant exercise in self-discovery for the children, I thought. Charlotte was going to be a wonderful guardian for them.

  Sage, the herbal kind, represented wisdom and protection. And while it was Iris asking all the questions—her plant also denoted wisdom tempered by purification—Sage was the one who seemed to be most intent on hearing the answers. Iris was usually interrupting the answer to ask another question, unless the topic utterly fascinated her. She was more of a sifter, where Sage wanted it all.

  “Did they sleep at all while we rested today?” Larissa asked, apparently noticing my eyes on the older children.

  Trish smiled and shook her head. “I keep thinking they’ll drop from exhaustion, sooner or later.”

  “They need structure, is what they need,” Roxanne said with a firm nod. “And an education. They need to socialize with regular kids. Maybe a nice private school, one pricey enough that they don’t ask too many questions. They could pass as mortals, if no one paid too much attention.”

  “Perhaps,” Roland said, “if we taught them to hide what they truly, are—”

  “And if we could be sure they wouldn’t murder the first classroom bully or arrogant cheerleader who deserved it,” I interrupted.

  “They won’t do that,” Roxy said. “They haven’t tried to kill any of us yet, have they? Or even any of you! And that’s saying something, isn’t it? Since they’ve been raised to think that’s their reason for being.”

  “What about St. Michael’s in Portland, where I went to middle school?” Charlotte asked. She shot a look at Killian. “Could it work, do you think?”

  “A little mental manipulation of the mortals in charge, and anything can work,” he said. Then he frowned. “Are you saying you want to…break up the band?”

  It was a topic that had been on my mind, on everyone’s mind, I thought, though no one wanted to broach it. So I cleared my throat and said, “It’s time we each decide what we intend to do next and where we intend to do it. There is no requirement that we remain together. Roland and I, for example, intend to journey to the East Coast. Maine. We have friends there and it’s familiar territory to us. We can make a home for Nikki, Gareth and Ramses there. A good one, I think.” I glanced down at Nikki and her brothers as I spoke, but they seemed too immersed in their game to pay what I said any mind.

  Trish nodded. “I’ve been thinking along the same lines as Charlie,” she said. “I want to take the Elevens back to Portland and give them the most normal childhood possible for as long as I can. Roxy’s had a false identity set up for me for months now. I’ll change my hair color and style, maybe finally give in and get some reading glasses. I should be able to stay under the radar without too much trouble.”

  Of them all, she was the least sought after by the authorities. She was neither Undead nor one of The Chosen like Lucas. Neither was she a BDXer like Christian, nor one of The Offspring. She was an ordinary mortal with an extraordinary love for her daughter.

  Roxanne’s eyes took on a look of worry. “You don’t have any idea what they can do, Trish. None of us have. Neither do they, though I have a feeling they know more about it than they’ve shared with us.”

  At that, Nikki stopped in the midst of moving her peg over the game board, but quickly resumed. I do not believe anyone else noticed the slip. But it was clear to me that, despite outward appearances, the children were listening intently to our every word.

  “You might not be able to handle them on your own,” Roxanne went on.

  “That’s why I’m hoping my daughter and new son-in-law will come with me.” Trish sent a longing smile Charlotte’s way. “We’ve been on the run too long. It’s time to try to get our lives back. Or rather, start new lives. That’s really what we’re talking about here.” Then she watched the Elevens calmly close the books they were each reading, get up onto their feet and walk to the back of the oversized living room, which spanned the depth of the cabin’s ground floor. They went out through the French doors and onto the cabin’s rear deck.

  Charlotte and Killian exchanged a long glance, speaking mentally, I suspected, though they kept it to themselves. At length, Killian gave a nod. Then Charlotte smiled at Trish and said, “Yes, we’ll come with you, Mom. We were planning to take the Elevens ourselves and try to raise them anyway, and we’d be grateful to do it with you.”

  Trish arched her brows. “I guess that makes me a grandma, doesn’t it?”

  “Not if it makes me a great,” Roxanne said, but she said it with a smile in her voice. The three of them then looked at Roxanne after she stopped speaking, and I realized they were waiting for her to say she was coming with them.

  Charlie’s grandmother didn’t give in. Instead she turned and said, “What about you, Lucas? Larissa?”

  Lucas spoke first, possibly because of the lost and confused look in Larissa’s Arctic blue eyes. He said, “I’ve been thinking that the best way I can help your kind, and my own, is from the inside. I’m going to report back to my unit or what’s left of it. I’ll say I escaped The Anemone before it was blown to bits and made my way to shore. I might even drape myself in seaweed and lie on some deserted beach until someone finds me, just to make it convincing.”

  I studied him, looking for signs of a lie, and I heard Roland in my head saying, I think he’s right, don’t you? We need someone on the inside, secretly working with us. He’s a Lieutenant, a DPI officer. He can help a great deal from that position.

  I’m not so sure he’ll help at all. I think he hasn’t made up his mind where his loyalties lie, Roland. I do not trust him.

  “And you Larissa?” Roxanne asked.

  “I don’t...I don’t know.”

  Christian was looking fretfully from one person to the next. “I don’t know, either,” he said.

  “You’ll come with us, then,” I told him. “Both of you, if that’s what you want, Larissa.” And then I looked at the ageless mortal redhead. “Roxanne? What about you?”

  “She’s coming with us, of course,” Charlie said. But there was uncertainty in her voice.

  Roxanne sent a resigned look her granddaughter’s way and shook her head. “Not just yet, Charlotte. I need to go with Rhiannon and Roland. They can’t raise the Sevens without help from someone who can be awake by day. And we all know Christian can’t remain mortal much longer.”

  “I’m still doin’
okay,” Christian said. The idea of becoming one of the Undead terrified the big man. Apparently, more than the notion of his heart exploding from his chest did. But it was a ticking time bomb, whether he was willing to admit it or not. The stress of battle could bring him to a rapid and gruesome end.

  Trying to change him over could bring one of us to the same.

  “I can find someone to help us once we get to Maine, Roxanne,” I told her, ignoring Christian’s ongoing state of denial. “You should go with your family.”

  “I’ll go with my family once you’ve found someone else. ‘Til then, you need me. ”

  I wanted to argue, but could not deny her logic. She was right. And as I was forming my next words, Nikki slowly got up from her game, turned to face the front door, and said, “Someone’s coming.”

  A chill went up my spine at the calm certainty in her voice. I rose and went to her, clasping her tiny shoulders gently in my hands while my mind scanned for the energy signatures of mortal intruders. I found none. “How do you know?” I asked, not even thinking to doubt her.

  “I just do.” She took a backward step, shaking her head left and right rapidly. “They’re coming, and they’re bad. They want to put us back in those cages. Don’t let them, Rhiannon!”

  “How could they have found us?” Roland asked, his expression as shattered as our peaceful interlude.

  “The vans. Has to be the vans.” Killian ran to the door and outside. Every vampire in the room was scanning for humans with evil intent, but I didn’t feel them yet. Which meant they were not yet close enough for a vampire to detect. But close enough for The Offspring to sense them. Nikki felt them.

  So, apparently, did the others. Her two brothers were on their feet, looking just as alarmed, and the Elevens came back inside. It was clear in their wide eyes that they were also sensing the approach of something dark. Something menacing. Damiana’s face reflected none of the love and passion that her plant name evoked. Instead she seemed afraid.