A Stone-Kissed Sea

  The ancient water vampire was laughing. “Yield, young one! Give me your fealty. For I would have you as a friend, Emil Conti.”

  Emil hung from one of the old towers, water dripping from his black hair and coating his skin. Hanging from the tower put him face-to-face with the ancient as the water lifted him.

  “Make me second only to you,” Emil said, “and I will give you my glad fealty, ancient king.”

  Kato’s eyes narrowed as he examined the vampire who was still hanging on, unyielding before the awesome power of the ancients.

  “You will be challenged,” Kato said.

  “I will face those challenges as I have faced you.”

  Kato spread his hands, and the water lowered him to the old stone rampart. “Yield to me, Emil Conti, and you will be second to me in power over the ancient sea.”

  Emil jumped down, walked over, and bent to kiss Kato’s outstretched hand. “My lord.”

  “You are a worthy opponent. Rise and greet your king.”

  Emil stood, and Kato bent to kiss both his cheeks.

  “What just happened?” Makeda said. “Kato’s not going to kill him?”

  “Emil is very smart,” Lucien said. “And possibly more rash than I’d anticipated. But it worked out for him in the end.”

  “How?”

  “All the others bowed without challenge,” Lucien said. “By challenging Kato—even if he didn’t win—he has risen above the others in Kato’s estimation and reputation in our world. The court in Rome will be second only to Alitea when Kato and the others take control.”

  Lucien put his arm around Makeda and steered her back toward the fortress. The air was damp and misty, churned up by the battle they’d witnessed. A fire would be very welcome.

  “Kato could have killed Emil,” Makeda said. “He wasn’t even struggling.”

  Lucien kissed Makeda’s temple. “But he didn’t. And Kato respects him more for taking the chance. Plus, it gave Kato an opportunity to stretch his muscles.”

  “A practice run before Laskaris?” Makeda shook her head. “Nothing in this world is simple, is it?”

  “Simple?” Lucien glanced over his shoulder to see Emil and Kato deep in conversation, their earlier fight forgotten. “What would be the fun in simple?”

  ❖

  Two hours before dawn, rough agreements with both Naples and Rome were settled, and warriors from both courts were traveling to Crotone to join Kato and Saba. Emil had left after promising a large yacht to take their party across the Ionian Sea, and Filomena had departed after him. Lucien was feeling remarkably sanguine about their upcoming assault on the fortified compound of Alitea, but Makeda was pacing the ramparts.

  “We should have heard by now,” she said. “We should have heard something.”

  “We’ve been traveling all over the place,” Lucien pointed out. “If a messenger was sent, he might not be able to find us.”

  “But the pilots all have mobile phones. Dr. McTierney has their numbers.”

  The fact that they’d heard nothing about the success of the Elixir trial was beginning to worry Lucien as well. Saba had staked her authority partly on the ability to cure the afflicted. If it came to nothing, her position would be weakened, and her word would no longer be seen as reliable.

  “I could try to call Carwyn,” Lucien said.

  “There’s no phone here! When you said it was medieval, I had no idea how literal you were being.”

  He shrugged. “Send a message to the pilots to call them.”

  “I did! He hasn’t sent a message back.” Makeda kicked the stone wall, and Lucien gently moved it back into place with a touch. “What is McTierney thinking?” she griped.

  “Makeda?”

  “What?”

  “I’m not going to do this.”

  “What?”

  “Placate you when you’re determined to be irritable.” He walked toward the open door of the tower that led back to their chamber. “I can think of far better ways to make you relax if you’re interested. If not, then I’ll leave you to rant.”

  Her eyes flashed, but she didn’t take the hand he held out.

  “Fine.” He turned his back to her and walked to the head of the stairs.

  “Lucien.”

  He turned.

  “I hate that I’m not running this trial. Everything about it is out of my control. I can’t monitor the patients. I have no idea whether a slight change in a single drug could affect how the treatment goes.”

  “I know.”

  “I hate feeling helpless!”

  He walked to her and put a hand on her cheek. “My love, I know.”

  “How can I be so powerful now and so much weaker at the same time?”

  He brought his arms around her and forced her stiff body into a hug. “Something has to keep you humble, Dr. Abel. You’d probably become insufferable otherwise.”

  “You mean like you?”

  He couldn’t stop the smile. “We’ll know when we know, Makeda.” Lucien drew her mouth to his in a kiss, hoping to sooth her troubled spirit.

  “Very philosophical, Doctor,” said a voice from the courtyard.

  Lucien looked down, and even in the gloom and shadows, he could spot the flash of bright hibiscus and hula girls.

  “Are you still wearing those hideous shirts?” he called. “Hasn’t your wife confiscated them by now?”

  Quick bursts of fire flew from a small woman at Carwyn’s side to the torches set in the walls of the fortress. “I burn one up and he finds another,” Brigid said. “I’ve given up at this point.”

  Lucien let out a breath. He’d been a little wary that Giovanni Vecchio might join them despite the scholar’s normal aversion to violence and politics. If Carwyn was around, Vecchio often was as well.

  But so was Arosh. And two male fire vampires in one war party was never a good idea.

  Luckily, instead of his friend, the Welshman had brought his wife. Brigid and Arosh would rub each other the wrong way—most fire vampires did—but they weren’t likely to kill each other. Especially with Carwyn to keep Brigid occupied and Saba to distract Arosh.

  Lucien turned his head toward the slow, familiar step he heard on the stairs. Baojia walked through a shadowed doorway, his eyes locked on Makeda. She turned immediately and flew to his arms.

  “Heya, Mak,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around Lucien’s mate.

  Makeda laughed and cried at the same time, holding on to her sire with both arms. “I didn’t know you were coming. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Lucien couldn’t resent the obvious joy and affection between them. Baojia might not have been Makeda’s master, but his blood still flowed in her veins. When Lucien walked toward his old friend, he felt nothing but profound gratitude. For Makeda’s life. For Baojia’s friendship.

  Baojia released Makeda and held his hand out to Lucien, but Lucien enveloped him in a hug.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I can’t even tell you how much.”

  “So you finally figured it out, huh?”

  Lucien pulled away. “You knew.”

  “Of course I did,” Baojia said. “I’m not an old codger like you, but I’ve got eyes in my head.” He smiled at Makeda. “I’m happy for you both.”

  “We didn’t know you were coming,” Makeda said.

  “I made a promise a long time ago,” Baojia said. “Someone called it in.” He squeezed Makeda’s hand. “Plus I had to make sure you hadn’t killed Lucien yet.”

  Makeda laughed and wiped her eyes as Carwyn and Brigid joined them on the rampart.

  “So what now?” Makeda asked. “Are we the JV team or something?”

  Lucien frowned. “The what?”

  Makeda shook her head. “Never mind. We don’t have a wind vampire anyway.”

  “Says who?”

  Lucien looked up and saw the ancient, birdlike woman perched on the top of a tower. He hadn’t heard her or felt her when she arrived. But then concealment was one
of Tenzin’s skills.

  “I told you someone called in a favor,” Baojia said. “Apparently she didn’t trust me to follow through.”

  “Don’t be offended,” Tenzin said. “Besides, my presence here serves several purposes. None of which you want to be without.”

  Lucien said, “Are you and Ziri going to argue?”

  Tenzin curled her lip. “Is he here?”

  “He’s part of the new council,” Makeda said. “Who are you?”

  Tenzin flew down and danced in the air before Makeda. “Officially? I’m a representative of the elders of Penglai Island, who will establish a relationship with the new council of Alitea as soon as Laskaris finally kicks it, thereby solidifying the council’s position as the equal and balancing power to the elders in the East.”

  “Not that they need your stamp of approval,” muttered Lucien.

  “And unofficially?” Makeda asked.

  “Here I am now”—Tenzin bared her odd, raptor-claw fangs—“entertain me.”

  Lucien tried not to shudder. Sometimes the old wind vampire was amusing. Other times… she was just creepy.

  “Well, until we can provide Tenzin with entertainment,” Carwyn said, “perhaps you’d like to hear the news from Brenden.”

  Lucien and Makeda’s eyes both locked on Carwyn.

  “What?” Makeda asked. “What is it? Is everything all right? I’ve been waiting to hear if the transplants—”

  “Good news and bad, my girl.” Carwyn gave Lucien a rueful smile. “Isn’t that always the way? But I think in this case, the good outweighs the bad.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “The good news.” Carwyn started talking once they’d taken shelter inside and gathered around a fire Brigid lit in one of the fireplaces in Lucien and Makeda’s quarters. “It’s working on the immortals. Both the peripheral…”

  “Peripheral stem cell transplantation?” Makeda prompted.

  “Yes, that one. Both that and the marrow transplants are working.”

  Lucien asked, “Equally well?”

  Carwyn drew a folder from the messenger bag Brigid carried. “Well, you can see his full report here, but—”

  Makeda snatched the folder from him and opened it.

  Carwyn’s eyes widened. “The short answer is yes. It appears they’re both working equally well.”

  She scanned the report from McTierney. “Replication proceeded even faster than I’d predicted.”

  Lucien looked over her shoulder. “The marrow actually replicated more slowly than the PBSCT. That’s surprising.”

  “Not significantly so,” she said. “We’re only dealing with six test subjects. It’s possible it will vary with the patients.”

  “But since peripheral cells are so much easier to collect—”

  “Treatment on a larger scale could go much faster than we’d anticipated.” Makeda looked up. Her natural skepticism couldn’t temper the smile on her face. “Lucien, it’s working.”

  Brigid said, “And it’s working quickly. The treated vampires are having more than a little trouble with the transition—all but two of them were water vampires—but they’re recovering.”

  “They’re like newborns,” Carwyn said. “Murphy is working with my daughter Deirdre to mentor them until they can come to Saba.”

  “Bloodlust?”

  “That’s the one thing that doesn’t seem to be affected,” Brigid said. “All of them have newborn hunger, but none of them have uncontrollable bloodlust.”

  “It’s behavioral more than biological,” Makeda said. “Because they’ve already developed the coping strategies to be around humans, they’ve conquered the bloodlust. The hunger is something they can control because they’re already used to the scent of humans.”

  “Speaking of coping strategies.” Brigid nodded at Makeda. “I’d never expect a newborn to be as rational or focused as you. I’m practically a baby myself, so I remember that stage. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”

  Lucien put an arm around her shoulders. “Makeda is an imminently rational scientist, Brigid. She won’t allow herself to lose control.”

  “Imminently rational?” Carwyn poked Brigid’s side. “Well, there’s your problem, love.”

  “Says the man who pretends professional wrestling is real,” Brigid said.

  Makeda didn’t feel worthy of the praise. “When you’re forced to adapt to something quickly, you don’t have a choice,” she said. “None of this has gone according to plan. I’m just coping.” She flipped to the next page of the report and felt her heart sink. “And there’s the bad news.”

  Lucien leaned closer. “What is it?”

  “The human patients.”

  “Damn.”

  Makeda skimmed Dr. McTierney’s notes. The team in Ireland had followed roughly the same protocols with the human and immortal patients. The chemotherapy. The stem cell treatments. “None of the treatments are killing the virus.”

  Lucien took a deep breath and squeezed the arm around her shoulders. “We knew it might not work. They were always more at risk than the immortals. At least we know one thing that will work for them.”

  “It’s not fair.”

  “I know, yene konjo.”

  Brigid sat up straight. “What will work? Why haven’t you tried it yet if you think it will work? Why hasn’t Brenden been trying—”

  “Saba’s blood,” Carwyn said, lacing Brigid’s hand with his. “It’s Saba’s blood, isn’t it? That’s the only thing that will cure the virus.”

  Lucien and Makeda both nodded.

  “Damn,” Baojia said, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “So in order for a human to be cured of Elixir…”

  “They have to take Saba’s blood.”

  Tenzin said, “But humans can’t take vampire blood.”

  “Not unless they’re turned,” Lucien said. “Humans with Elixir poisoning can be saved. But only if they turn. And only if Saba sires them.”

  “So they die or they’re made a vampire?” Brigid said. “That’s not fair.”

  “Nothing about this is fair,” Baojia said. “At least it’s an option they didn’t have before. We give them the option. They take it or they don’t. It’s more than what we had before.”

  “How do we know it’ll work?” Carwyn asked. “No offense to the brilliant minds here, but other vampires have tried. They’ve drained the infected blood and given their humans their own. It didn’t work. They died of blood loss because their bodies couldn’t make the transition.”

  “They didn’t use Saba’s blood,” Makeda said. “She’s the only one with antibodies that work.”

  “Is she?” Tenzin’s eyes glinted. “I wonder.”

  “She’s the only one we’ve tested,” Lucien said. “So she’s the only one that matters.” Lucien rose. “Okay, it’s getting near dawn. Does everyone have a secure room? Baojia, if you don’t, you’re welcome to rest in our quarters, but the rest of you need to leave.”

  Tenzin smirked. “Protective much, Thrax?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Not that you would understand.”

  “Now that’s just mean.”

  Makeda watched the tension between the two vampires. Lucien had told her Tenzin was thousands of years older than he was, but somehow she seemed more childlike. Or perhaps she was simply more playful than Makeda’s serious mate.

  “We’ve all been taken care of,” Brigid said. “Saba’s people are frighteningly efficient.”

  “I believe one of Inaya’s daughters has taken over hosting logistics,” Makeda said. “Every place we go, we gather more people.”

  Carwyn asked, “What is the plan for Athens?”

  “Boat,” Lucien said. “But we’ll talk logistics tomorrow night. For now, all of you get out.”

  ❖

  Makeda woke to Lucien stroking up and down her spine with long fingers. He was awake but silent. She let herself sink into the comfort of his body. The warmth. The possession. The long, smooth line of his legs and
his skin pressed against hers. His blood stirred in her, and she felt her heart beat twice.

  “What are you thinking of?” she asked quietly.

  “Infected humans.”

  Knowing what must have been weighing on his mind, Makeda asked, “Will she agree to it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  They’d never directly asked Saba about siring humans affected by Elixir, but Makeda had a feeling the ancient immortal knew it was a possibility. Saba was too intelligent to not see the connection. If her blood was the only thing that could heal immortals, why would it be different for humans? They’d hoped, but the backup plan had always been Saba.

  “She can be… mercurial. At best,” Lucien said. “It will likely depend on why the human was infected. Our patients in California who were infected against their will? She would have sired them if they wanted it. Young people who took Elixir looking for a new thrill? I doubt it.”

  “That’s not how medicine works,” she said. “We don’t get to pick our patients.”

  “But this isn’t medicine. It’s Saba. And siring a human in the traditional manner—even if that human is weakened from Elixir poisoning—has a myriad of consequences.”

  “Can we do the stem cell treatment instead?” Makeda asked. “Is there any reason the procedure we use on the vampires wouldn’t work on humans?”

  “Maybe.” He frowned. “If it’s not blood, it might… It’s worth looking into.”

  “And we will.” Makeda took a deep breath and said, “When this is over, you and I will look at all the options. At least we have one solution, Lucien. We didn’t have that before.”

  “I know.” Lucien’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “I want to crush Laskaris. Wipe him from the planet. From history. I want his name to be forgotten.”

  “You will.”

  “No, I imagine Kato will. Or Saba.” He huffed. “I doubt they’ll give me the chance. But this evil he spread over the world…”

  “Saba will end it.”

  “I hope so.” He hugged her closer. “I hope it’s not too late.”

  Makeda thought of the ship Emil Conti was sending from his port in Civitavecchia to Crotone. The immortal army Kato had gathered would travel by boat from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean. There was little doubt the council of Athens knew they were coming, but no one seemed to know what that would mean for the physical assault on the island.