Following the thread, she found herself standing in a courtyard, a centuries old building around her. This must be inside the University grounds. The sky was overcast and students walked to and fro, all bundled up in coats and scarves against the cold, books and bags in their arms. Something inside of her knew that this was the last of the rabble for the semester. Exams were just starting and Christmas holidays were on everyone's minds.
Glancing across the courtyard, she saw a woman in a bright green coat. She'd seen her before and it was who she was counting on seeing. A shock of red hair peeked out from under a cream woolen hat and her heart stopped. She watched the woman as she exited the building on the right and crossed the courtyard into the library, just as she'd done every day that week.
Following her inside, she watched as the woman went into a room and came back out, sans coat and bag.
"Hey, Izzy," a man called out as she passed a large desk. He sat behind a computer she supposed was a catalogue of some kind. He worked here as well.
"Hey Matt," she answered. "Slaving away as per usual I see."
"Slave to the wage," he said with a laugh. "You researching up in the vault today?"
"Yep." She seemed rather happy about it, bouncing on her heels.
"Lucky," Matt answered with a jealous sigh. "They don't let me touch anything in there and I work here. So unfair."
Her vision started to blur and Gabby jerked back, snatching her hand away from the vampire, the warehouse coming back into focus. That was close. Too close.
"Gabby?" Aya asked.
"He's trying to get into the vault," she said, peering at the vampire. "Izzy is his way in. He's been watching her for days."
"Then we have to get in before he does," Tristan said. "Can we get rid of this guy yet? He's givin' me the you know whats."
Gabby regarded the restrained vampire with sadness. He was gone. Totally and utterly. The humane thing to do would be to put him out of his misery. Covering her face with her cold hands, she nodded.
"I'll do it," Tristan said. "You can go back to Isobel's and I will see you there."
"Thank you," Aya said and a moment later, Gabby felt the hybrid's arm around her waist.
"Let's take a walk," she said. "By the looks of you, you saw something a little more that what Tristan and I managed to compel out of him, yes?"
As they walked through the abandoned warehouse and back to the street Gabby thought over the scene in the library with Isobel and the clerk named Matt. There had been something else there. Something she couldn't understand. "It was like he recognized her. How could he, when he's been bound for three thousand years?"
"Well, he's not getting close to her again, so hopefully we never have to find out."
"I hope not."
"I know you were worried about involving Isobel," Aya said kindly. "I know it's hard, but she would've been in more trouble if we hadn't of."
"There was no way of knowing…"
"No, there wasn't. Blaming yourself isn't going to help, Gabby. We need to find the grimoire and we need to find someone to turn. Isobel won't be safe until Aed is dead. None of us will. We keep fighting until it's over. There is no other choice."
Aya could be callous and inappropriate at times, but she was right on the money. They had a way forward and they had to take it, no matter the consequence for themselves. If they didn't…things would be a lot worse than they already were.
"Lets go back to Isobel's and work out a plan," she said to Aya. "We're going to get the grimoire tonight."
CHAPTER TWENTY
Alex stood in the arrivals hall at Heathrow airport and rubbed his tired eyes. What the hell had crossed his mind when he got on that plane? He'd never been out of the country before and now he was in the United Kingdom. Didn't they drive on the opposite side of the road here?
He pulled out his cell and turned it on, hoping that it would connect to some network. He needed to call his sister, Isobel. Last he heard, she was still in Oxford. That was, until he'd received a voicemail from her almost two days ago. Her frantic voice had terrified him.
"Alex, it's Izzy. Something's happened. We need your help like, yesterday. Please bro, call me back as soon as you get this. Please, your friends are here. Gabby and some guy, Zac and some scary woman. Call me back as…" The message had cut off along with his heartbeat. Izzy was in trouble and the fact that Gabby and Zac were there…that could only mean trouble of the crazy kind. He assumed the 'scary woman' was Aya.
When Aya had disappeared and Zac had left with Regulus, he thought that was it. None of them were coming back. Then Sam and Liz had moved to LA and he was on his own. He'd been happy for a while, but it seemed that it was only a mirage. And now here he was standing in the airport in London in the early hours of the morning. What the hell was he thinking?
Twelve hours on a stuffy plane and a short stopover in New York saw him beat. It was an odd sensation, knowing he was standing in another country. The signs were different, the prices were all in pounds, people of all different nationalities walked around him…it was just strange and he hadn't even left the airport yet. His worry for his sister hadn't abated, though. Spying an information desk, he walked up and smiled at the guy behind the counter.
"How can I get to Oxford?" he asked.
"Oxford?" the clerk scratched his head. "Well, you can go into London and get a train or a coach, or you can just rent a car. It's a few hours from here."
"What's the quickest way?"
"This time of the morning? You'd be better off renting a car. Hardly any traffic on the motorways at this time. Take you less than an hour or so."
"Thanks," he said, tapping the counter top and looking for a rental desk of some sort.
Walking through the concourse, he found a bunch of signs for different companies. Stopping at the first one he startled a sleepy looking woman. Seemed Heathrow was a twenty-four hour kind of place.
"Can I help you?" she asked, sitting up straight.
"I'd like to rent a car, please."
As the woman put through his details, his mind couldn't stop focusing on Isobel. He was worried…like mega worried about her. When Gabby had left, he'd assumed she was going to travel. You know, do the backpacking thing, but it seemed like that was a lie on her behalf. She was obviously in cahoots with Zac and Aya about something and his bet it had something to do with those Roman vampires. What exactly, he couldn't say. Whenever he thought about it it felt like too much hard work. He just felt confused and blank about the whole thing.
One thing was certain, though. When he got his hands on Zac, he'd throttle him, vampire or no vampire.
"There's a courtesy bus out front that'll take you to the lot," the woman said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "This time of the morning, there'll be one there waiting." She pointed to the automatic doors behind him. "Just out there and to your left."
Once Alex had finally located the car he stared at the right hand drive and scratched his head. This was mental. Absolutely, one hundred percent the most stupidest thing he'd ever done. He slid into the seat and fumbled with the GPS and had a mild heart attack when he saw how complicated the highways were around the airport.
Isobel better be in a shit load of trouble, because he was blaming all of this on her.
When Alex finally arrived in Oxford, he killed the engine and looked up at Isobel's apartment. He'd never seen it before, so he took a moment to take in the place that his sister had called home for the past three years. He was fast learning that everything in the UK was smaller and super old. The street that he was in looked like something out of medieval Britain with it's cobblestoned road and bluestone buildings.
That's how he saw them walking up the street, Isobel and some guy. He held her around the waist, almost possessively, but that's not what made his blood boil. The guy looked like a thug in his big black coat and boots and his face… Without a second thought, he opened the car door, slammed it behind him and strode down the street.
Isobe
l's eyes met his and for a moment she didn't say anything, she just looked at him like he was some kind of mirage.
"Alex?" she finally gasped.
"This is your brother?" the guy with the scarred face asked.
"And who are you?" Alex asked, puffing out his chest. "I don't like the look of you. What are you doing here? What are you messed up in, Izzy?"
"The name's Nye," the guy said and then pointed to his face. "War hero. Thanks a lot."
Isobel pushed the guy away and grabbed her brother's hand. "You can't be here," she said, pulling him forward toward her building.
"You said you needed my help," he exclaimed.
"I said call me back, not get on a fucking plane."
"Siblings," Nye said with a chuckle.
"Vampires, Izzy? Really?" He rose an eyebrow at her.
"It's not what you think."
"It's not?"
"You might wanna go inside and have this conversation," Nye said, nodding at a passerby.
Isobel dragged Alex up the stairs and into her apartment. Normally he would've stopped to take in his sister's home, but today he was mad and nobody was giving him any answers. Nye walked in behind them and he almost blew a fuse.
"You invited him in?" he almost yelled at his sister. "What the fuck, Izzy?"
"He's a good guy, Alex. He might be a little rough, but he helped save me."
"Save you from what?" When neither of them answered, he yelled, "Saved you from what?"
Nye placed a hand on his arm. "Calm down, mate. Take a breath, okay?"
"Get your hands off me. Don't even think of trying that freaky eye shit with me."
Nye stood back, holding his hands out. "Suit yourself."
Turning sharply at the sound of the door opening, Alex's eyes collided with Gabby's familiar brown.
"Alex?" Gabby exclaimed.
"Gabby," he said sharply, not even bothering with a hello. "You better give me some answers, because I'm fucking mad as all hell."
"What are you doing here?" This time, it was Aya who spoke and he realized that Zac was behind her and another guy he didn't recognize. How many vampires could fit in here for fuck's sake?
"I called him," Isobel explained. "I didn't mean for him to come. I just wanted to talk to him."
"You called him?" Gabby exclaimed. "I wanted to keep him out of it."
"He knows about this. What was I supposed to do? He's my brother," Isobel exclaimed.
"He doesn't know about this," Aya said, waiving her hands around wildly. "I compelled him to forget."
"I know you're vampires," Alex said like they were all stupid. "I don't know what the hell you're doing with my sister. I'd appreciate it if you all fucked off and left her out of whatever crazy scheme you've cooked up."
Gabby glared at Aya. "You compelled him, too?"
"What do you mean, too?" Alex asked.
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Aya exclaimed. "You asked me to, Alex. And I compelled Liz to forget about what I am. So what."
"Maybe I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I sure as hell do now." He pointed at Isobel. "If she so much as gets hurt…"
"Oh, for crying out loud," Aya exclaimed and was across the room in a flash. Grasping Alex's face, she looked him right in the eye and said, "I asked you to forget some things. Now's the time to remember them." She let him go and sat back on the sofa like nothing had happened.
Alex blinked a couple of times before shaking his head. "Geesus, Aya. Be nice about it."
"I fixed you, can we get the grimoire now?" she asked, exasperated.
"Grimoire? Someone better explain to me what's going on, because I'm going insane here."
Zac snorted, stifling a laugh. "You don't know how appropriate that comment is."
Alex, ground his teeth together, trying to keep under control.
Gabby took his hand with a sigh and sat him at the table. "Let me explain this as simply as I can…"
The story she told him next seemed like a farfetched fairytale and fairies were involved. Though, they weren't anything like the glittery flying things in picture books. Gabby told him everything from beginning to end. The truth behind the Romans, the Tuatha and their war with the Celestines, the Coven…everything that had happened in the last few months laid out. When she was finally done, he slumped back in the chair and stared into space. An insane fairy vampire hybrid was after his sister for a book?
"I can't let anything happen to Izzy," he said after a moment. "I'll do anything to help, just leave her out of it."
"You can't help with this, Alex," Zac said. "Aya won't let anything happen to her."
"Neither will I," Gabby added.
"You want to break into the University vault to get this grimoire?"
"Yes," Aya said.
"Where did that guy go?" He suddenly realized that that Nye guy was gone. He probably took off somewhere between the fairy and Aya's witch massacre.
"Nye's out with Maddox doing some reconnaissance on the security system," Zac answered.
"Who's Maddox?" Alex asked, glancing between the vampires.
"Another vampire who's helping."
"And where's Regulus?"
When nobody replied, he glanced between them all and caught the expression on Gabby's face.
"He's dead," Zac said gently, glancing at the witch.
"And you're sad about it?" Alex didn't understand. Wasn't he the bad guy?
"He was our only chance at killing the hybrid forever," Aya said gently.
"That's why we need the grimoire. It was Katrin's," Gabby said with a sniff. Did she care for him? Alex wasn't sure what he should think about that. "It has the spell that created the Romans. We need it to…"
"The only way..." Alex started to interrupt, but then fell silent.
"It's imperative we get our hands on Katrin's grimoire before Aed does," Aya stated.
"That's why you need the book," he exclaimed. "You need to make another vampire..." Understanding suddenly dawned on him and he stood, anger boiling to the surface. "Keep your hands off her. No, Izzy. Is that what you're doing? No..."
"Alex," Gabby began. "We haven't even got the spell yet..."
"I won't allow it," he hissed. "I'll do anything, but leave her out of it."
"It hasn't come to that yet."
"I'll do it. Change me."
"You can't be serious," Isobel exclaimed.
Alex turned to face his big sister. "Oh, I'm dead fucking serious. I'm not letting you ruin your life."
"And you'll ruin yours?" she shrieked at him.
"If I have my way," Gabby interrupted, "I'm not changing either of you."
"What other choice do you have?" Alex asked. "I may only be a small town kinda guy, but I understand a bind when I see one. You don't have any options. Just the one and it's me."
Maybe he'd regret it once he had a chance to cool down. Maybe he wouldn't. The only thing he was certain of was the fact that he'd protect his sister from all of this, no matter the consequence for him.
"Don't make any rash decisions, Alex," Gabby said, placing a hand on his arm. "One step at a time. We'll get the grimoire, then I'll need to decipher the spell. That could take time. Things can change in a blink of an eye."
"One step at a time," he echoed looking around the room at the assembled vampires. Aya, who he'd had the biggest crush on. Zac, who he wanted to punch in the face. And that other guy must be Tristan, the one with the curly hair. And then there was one of his oldest friends, Gabby, who turned out to be a witch. Out of all of them, he'd trust whatever his best friend had to say.
"One step at a time," she replied with a sad smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"So what's the plan?" Zac asked, cracking his knuckles. "I assume we're going for the grimoire tonight?"
"As soon as possible," Gabby replied. "Do you think Maddox and Nye can crack into the security now?"
"Apparently Maddox is good at this kind of thing," he said with a shrug.
"Well, there's not
much to it, I guess. Disable the cameras and alarms, compel the security guards to turn the other way, get into the vault, get the grimoire."
"Sounds easy when you say it like that," Isobel said. "The vault is locked with one of those fancy access panels. You need a code to unlock it."
"You've been in there tons," Gabby said. "Haven't you ever seen someone put it in? Has someone given you a code?"
"No. I'm still a student. Only the staff that work in there have codes. And besides, a lot of the books and manuscripts are locked inside as well."
"Shit, hey," Zac said with a groan. "I don't know if there's a work around for that."
"Maybe the security guards know," Aya offered, glancing at Gabby.
"You want me to prod around in their heads?" the witch asked. "You can compel it out of them."
"Either way works."
"I'll give Nye a call and see where they're at," Zac said, taking his cell out.
"Who's going in?" Tristan asked. "Not all of us surely."
"I have to go and Isobel, of course…" Gabby started.
"And me," Aya interrupted. "I've got the skills necessary."
"Why does Aya get to go?" Zac asked sullenly. "If it's just compulsion you need…"
"I can help determine which is the right grimoire," she said, shooting him a look.
"You'll still get to go," Gabby said, elbowing the vampire. "You just have to wait outside."
"Wait," Isobel interrupted. "What about Alex? Can someone stay with him? What if that Aed guy comes looking here? Or another vampire?"
"I'll stay," Tristan offered. "Too many vampires spoil the…somethin'." He shrugged.
"So, I'm getting babysat now?" Alex said from the corner. He'd been sitting on the kitchen counter, listening to their planning in silence. He still looked a little overwhelmed after hearing their crazy story.
"Aed is unpredictable and very strong," Tristan explained. "And he still has his power. I'm not enough to stop him on my own, but someone should still be here just in case."