Zac edged around the spy and took point, moving forward silently. The moment he stepped into the light, hands grabbed the lapels of his coat and he was flung across the room. He collided against the stone with a bang, dirt and grit raining down on him as he landed face first on the floor. Strong hands circled around his throat and began squeezing.
"Rix," Nye exclaimed, pulling the vampire off Zac. "Calm down, mate. It's only us."
"I know who it is," he said, shoving the spy away. Pointing at Zac he snarled, "That is for the car crash and your lack of loyalty."
"I won't apologize for that," Zac replied, scrambling to his feet. "If honor is your thing, then you'll understand I was bound to others before Regulus ever showed up."
"What the hell do you want?"
"We've come to ask for your help," Zac said, dusting himself off.
"You want my help? Not fucking likely."
Nye stepped between them and if Zac knew what was going to happen next, he might've pushed the spy out of the way. "You think by hiding yourself away down here you're gong to bring back Jocelyn?"
"Shut up," Rix roared, pushing Nye back into the wall.
"She's been gone five hundred years, mate."
The vampire's hands were curled tightly in the front of the spy's shirt, chest heaving and eyes starting to change. "Don't talk about her."
Zac watched the exchange, not sure what to do. Who the hell was Jocelyn?
"Do you really want to waste away to a shadow?"
"Who was she?" Zac asked and Rix's eyes fixed on him.
"I loved her…I loved her and they took her away from me."
If it was one thing Zac knew about, it was lost love. "Let Nye go, Rix. Hurting him won't solve anything. It might shut him up, but it won't fix anything."
The vampire let go of Nye's coat, taking a step backward.
"Why are you down here?" Zac asked. "What is this place to you?"
"I met her here. At night."
"Who was she?"
"Lady Jocelyn was a noblewoman at court. I protected the King. She was his plaything. He cared not for her and when he was done and cast her from his bed, I would escort her back to her rooms."
Rix had loved the King's mistress. The vampire was built with hard muscle, broad shoulders and a hard face, not exactly what some would consider handsome. She'd loved him for who he was under all of that. No wonder the memory of whatever happened next still stung deep.
"No one defies the King. We met right under his nose, night after night. We were fools to think that no one would notice."
"He found out?"
"He killed her," Rix said, dropping to his knees. "The moment he found out about us, he had her executed."
"Who did?"
"The King. He let the guards have their way with her and then they cut off her head. There was nothing I could do…I couldn't save her."
"Hiding down in your secret meeting place isn't going to bring her back," Nye said a little too bluntly.
Rix went to stand, his eye darkening, but Zac put a hand on his shoulder.
"He's right," he said. "He could be a little more tactful about it, but he's right. We need your help, Rix."
"You need my help?" the vampire scoffed. "You should've thought about that before killing Regulus. You have no idea what that man did for me."
"No, I don't. But, what's done is done and the future is still here."
"He saved my life, don't you fucking understand?"
"He turned you," Nye said in disbelief.
"Yes, he turned me. I was left to rot in the dungeons in the Tower all for loving a noblewoman. He found my pathetic arse and we struck a bargain."
"Servitude in exchange for…"
"The heads of Jocelyn's murderers."
Zac frowned, glancing at Nye.
"I could never get close to the King," Rix said. "Not without a bloodbath and not without revealing what I'd become. Regulus forbid it. I was compelled not to destroy the Tudors. When it was done, I returned to him and never left. I was the first of the Six, but not the last." He looked at Nye who nodded. "You know what it's like, Nye."
"Yeah, I know. He had a way with words you couldn't fault."
"Manipulation," Zac scoffed.
"Maybe with you."
"I believe Regulus was trying to find something," he continued, ignoring the bait. "The Coven were trying to wake someone…something."
"So fucking what?"
"We now know it woke a hybrid."
"A bad ass, magical vampire hybrid," Nye added for emphasis.
Zac glared at the spy. "I don't know what Regulus wanted with him, but it's become glaringly obvious that we need to stop the hybrid."
"Why?" Rix asked.
"Do you understand what the Hunter is?"
Rix shook his head. "We were tasked with hunting her. That's all."
"She was once a creature of power. Arturius turned her, but she kept a lot of what she was afterward. That's why she can kill a founder for good, that's why she is as strong an unpredictable as she is."
"And what does that have to do with this other guy?"
"He wasn't turned, Rix. He was created. Corrupt, unstable and totally unpredictable. Add to that whatever power he had before and well…"
"We're all in the shit," Nye finished.
"Yeah, but why the hell should I care?"
"Because the hybrid threatens us all. He's a threat to exposing our kind to the human world. He's a threat to everything on this entire planet."
"He's fucking Henry the eighth on acid, mate." Nye butted in.
Rix looked from Zac back to the spy and then down at his hands. "You need numbers?"
"Yes," Zac answered. "But numbers are nothing without vampires we can trust and who can fight…willingly. I won't make you come with us. I won't bargain with you. That's our plea and you can hear it or not."
"And if I choose to stay here?"
"Then you'll miss one hell of a fight," the spy declared.
Rix's fingers curled into hard fists. After a minute, he asked, "Where are you meeting?"
"The apartment in Camden," Zac said.
"Who else?"
"Pyke."
"What about Maddox?"
"We haven't found him yet."
"Good fucking luck with that."
"So, are you coming?"
"There's an eighty percent chance that I will," he said with a scowl. "Exit's that way." He pointed to an opening opposite to where they first entered.
Nodding, Zac shoved Nye into the passageway. There was nothing more they could say and he just had to trust that Rix'd show up along with Pyke. It was all part of the process.
When they were far enough away, Nye said, "Do you think he'll actually show up?"
"Yes."
"Mate, you've got some belief system happening there. I have serious doubts."
"No time for doubts, Nye. You didn't think it would've been a good idea to let me in on Rix's girlfriend?"
"Was it ever my place to tell someone's messed up story like that?" He grinned as they stepped out into the moonlight.
"I guess not."
The air was crisp and clear, heavy with ice and stars twinkled down on them in the hundreds through the light pollution of the city. It was eerily calm. He could've gone as far to say it was the calm before the storm…because a storm was coming and who knew what it was bringing with it.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Gabby sat in the car next to Regulus as he drove away from Brú na Bóinne, images of Coraline and Max swimming around her mind. She'd seen it before…carnage. When Aya had first shown up back in Ashburton, she'd saved Zac from the werewolf pack in a similar fashion. Death was part and parcel with fighting supernatural evil, but she'd never seen it happen to her friends before, even if they were friends she'd never met in person. As the car rounded a bend, she felt a little green.
"Are you okay, Gabrielle?"
"Fine," she replied, not knowing which part should make her feel
sicker. What had happened down in the Tuatha's hole, or Regulus' concern. Both were equally disturbing. "What now?"
"Tomorrow we will go to Grasmere," he replied.
"Why there?"
"I suspect he wants answers."
"Yeah, no shit. Three thousand years locked in a pile of rock would do that to you."
Regulus smirked, but didn't say anything.
"Well?" She was inches away from putting her hands on her hips and pouting like a five year old. Maybe a few burst brain cells would loosen his tongue?
"Well, what, Gabrielle?" You need to ask me a question if you require an answer."
"Why Grasmere?"
"The village stands near the place where the Celestines built their last home."
Aya's home. She suddenly got it. Regulus had been there before, hadn't he? He glanced at her out the corner of his eye.
"How are we getting there?" she asked. "And what do you think you'll do if we find him?"
"We'll get the ferry from Dublin and drive the rest of the way."
"Now?" she asked with a scowl.
"Tomorrow, dear one." The Roman grinned at her with this stupid sparkle in his eye. Of course he'd enjoy riling her up. It's all he did.
Before they hit Dublin's city limits, Regulus pulled the car into a driveway. When the tree line cleared and she could see ahead, her eyebrows rose. It was a castle. Not a huge thing with a moat and drawbridge and the stuff out of fairy tales…it was a medieval castle, with turrets and stained glass windows and a cottage garden with manicured hedges. It was a place out of the history books that had been brought up to modern speed.
"What…" she began, but the words died in her throat. This was the side of Ireland she wanted to see, not the underside she'd been subjected to so far. She wanted the history and romance part.
"This is quite a lovely place," Regulus said, ignoring her. "It's been standing here a few hundred years. It's a hotel now."
"I suppose you remember when it was built," she snapped, annoyed that he'd broken the spell.
"Yes." He said it with such bluntness, that she snorted at the irony. "I am an old bastard," he said with a shrug.
"You're the master," she said, waiving at hand at him.
"Gabrielle, you know all the right things to say."
"Pervert." She got out of the car and slammed the door, wrapping her arms around herself.
He was beside her a moment later, their bags in his hands. Snatching hers from him she turned and he kept her from storming off with a hand on the small of her back. Guiding her through the front door and inside, she couldn't help it when her guard dropped. It had obviously been remodeled with electric lights and heating, but most of the original castle still remained. Tapestries hung on the walls, much like they would have when the castle was first built, and they stood on a long woven rug that stretched across the stone floor from the entrance to the foot of a wide staircase. A suit of armor stood in one corner, holding an impressive looking sword, gleaming silver in the warm light. It was beautiful and regal and all of the above.
Footsteps drew her attention to the staircase in front of them and an elderly lady appeared, grey hair tied back into a severe bun and a thick woolen cardigan wrapped around her tiny frame. Her shoes clicked on each step as she descended towards them, a huge smile on her face.
"Ahh," the woman exclaimed in a think Irish accent when she laid eyes on the founder. "Robert, how nice to see you again."
Gabby gave Regulus a look that said, 'Are you kidding me?'
"Mrs Cavanagh," he declared warmly. "It's been a long time."
"Too long."
Gabby watched the exchange with slack jawed surprise. All traces of the asshole she'd come to know were gone and some impostor stood in front of her talking sweetly with this old lady. But he was a master manipulator.
"Would you like your usual room?" Mrs Cavanagh asked, glancing at her.
"Yes, thank you."
"And who is this? A lady friend?"
"This is Gabrielle." He gestured for her to come forward. "Mrs Cavanagh has been the caretaker here for almost fifty years."
"Fifty-five, but who's coutin'," she said with a smile. "Now, come. I'll get you the key and you make yourself right at home."
She lead them into a small office set to one side of the main foyer and pulled out a set of keys. The old-fashioned kind, tarnished with age. Regulus took them with a warm smile, and Gabby noticed he was careful not to let his skin touch hers.
"As always," the woman said. "If you need anythin' just give me a holler."
"Thank you Mrs Cavanagh. I will endeavor to let you know."
He took Gabby's bag from her hands and led her up the staircase, leaving the woman behind.
"What the hell was that?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder the way they'd come.
"Why, I don't know what you mean," he said with amusement.
"Liar."
"She doesn't know what I am, Gabrielle."
"So, you compelled her...Robert?"
"Never. And Robert seemed so much more appropriate than Regulus, don't you think?"
"But, how long have you been coming here? Doesn't she notice that you never change?"
"No, she doesn't notice because she's half-blind," he said, as he guided her down the hall. "I lived here for a time back in the fourteen hundreds. I was feeling nostalgic in the nineteen forties."
"If she's half-blind then how did she know it was you?"
"Gabrielle, I'm surprised. Do I distract you that much?" He laughed as she scowled at him.
"Ugh, gag me."
"She's a witch. Only she doesn't know it and her power is so small, the only thing it's good for is to recognize the people she looks at through the fog that is her eyesight."
How she didn't pick it was beyond her. Maybe she was distracted…not by him, but everything else. "So, you saw a witch and…"
"The day I came back here was the day she lost her sight, Gabrielle. A group of men had her face down in the field by the stream and I happened by them. You can imagine what they were doing to her, so I won't elaborate. They'd rubbed dirt and grit into her eyes and there was nothing I could do, not without making it worse. Vampire blood isn't a cure-all, sad to say."
Why the hell was he telling her any of this? She was just his tool, here for her power when he needed it and he would need it the moment he laid eyes on the hybrid. All of this was pointless. Did he want to show her he had a heart?
"This place was a lord's castle when it was first built," he continued, "and his daughters were witches."
"Oh, so you were here manipulating them, too?"
His jaw stiffened, but he didn't reply. Unlocking a small door set into the thick stone wall, he pushed it open and led her into their room, and to her disgust there was only one bed.
When he saw the look on her face he said, "I'm a founding vampire, Gabrielle. I'm not a rapist."
"I'm not...I didn't," she sputtered.
"I'm sure you're more than capable of defending yourself," he said with amusement. "You've tried to make my head explode on several occasions, so I know you're capable."
He set their bags down by the bed as she hovered by the door, feeling more awkward and out of her depth than before. She was supposed to hate him and he sprung that story on her? Gabby realized she didn't have any clue who this man really was and it unsettled her beyond belief. Even her power tingled in her gut and what it was trying to tell her, she didn't know, but these things always had a way of bubbling to the surface when they were least expected.
"I was human once," Regulus said, closing the door. "I was capable of terrible things then as I am now. When I was human, I tried to kill my emperor. Everyone was quick to brand me as the evil one, but not one of them asked me why. Why did I try and kill him? Because he was corrupt. Because he killed innocent people. Because he was the evil one."
"Regulus…"
"I was prepared to die for what was right. Does that make me evil? Everything I
did after was what I believed in, even if I didn't have a choice but to follow Katrin's orders. I hunted the Children of Lir and I hunted Aeriaya. I saved people and I killed them all in the same breath. Do you really think I'm truly evil?"
Gabby pressed herself back against the wall, her heart thumping erratically in her chest as he loomed closer. She'd finally managed to piss him off and it hadn't taken much, just the right button. Regulus stepped into her, his hands winding through her hair.
"I can hear your heart beating, Gabrielle," he murmured. "Is it fear, or something else?"
She was too startled to answer.
"You think me incapable of mercy. Incapable of compassion. Of love." His lips brushed against hers, sending a shiver down her spine. His eyes searched hers for a long moment, looking for something she didn't understand. With a sigh, he pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth and whispered, "Get some rest, Gabrielle. Our work starts in the morning."
And then he was gone.
Gabby woke to a silent room. Rolling over, she found she was very much alone and her first thoughts went to Regulus. Where had he been all night? Trying not to think about it, she went into the small bathroom and had a quick shower before he decided it would be a good time to come back. Pulling on some clean clothes and sticking her feet back into her boots, she shoved the door open with her shoulder and jumped when she laid eyes on the founder.
He sat on the bed, legs outstretched, waiting for her to get ready. Her eyes glided over his long body and she noticed he looked brighter, his eyes a little less dark than usual. He'd obviously gone out to feed. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow at her blatant staring.
"See something you like?" He smirked.
"I hope you didn't kill her," she retorted.
Regulus snorted, shifting on the bed. "Jealous?"
"In your dreams, asswipe." Why was it so important to him that she see him other than what he was? The more she thought about it, the more it became a mystery. Her thoughts grazed over the story he'd told about the elderly caretaker downstairs and she was still confused. His part in her tale was that of the evil overlord. There was no grey area.
"Are you ready? I can get you something to eat on the ferry."