Eventide

I quickly look around, my gaze darting through the brush, along the beaten path through the bracken. No sign of Vic. “Yeah, I can see that,” I say. “Did you help bring me here?”

He sighs. “Yes. ‘Twas for your own good, I’m afraid. Like I said in Atlanta—my father is the only one strong enough to overpower Valerian’s forces growing inside of you. Had he not intervened, you would have surely turned. Already you were experiencing a fierce quickening, Riley Poe. You nearly ripped the jet apart. Dupre had a difficult time containing you.”

“I hope so,” I answer, and continue to walk. Past a large boulder, with several scattered rocks beside it, I meander along a path well worn by others before me. “Where are you?”

“Here.”

Startled, I jerk my head behind me. Victorian Arcos steps from behind an aged fir tree. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the sight of him comforts me. Yeah, it bothers me that I feel that way—that I ran from Eli, but am comforted by the sight of Victorian. I can’t explain, so I won’t even try. Not even to myself. Not now.

“Hey,” I say, and move toward him.

He gives a slight nod. “It’s good to see you…sane.” He smiles.

I give a slight chuckle. “Not so sure about that, Vic.” I look at him. “You following me?”

His smile lingers. “Of course.” He cocks his head and studies me. “How are you feeling?”

Turning, I shrug and begin to wander down the path. Something, and I don’t know what, warned me not to tell Victorian about the newly added Dupre ingredient to my DNA. “How would you feel?” I respond.

With a long stare, he finally nods. “So right, so right. My father…he can be quite, well, abrupt.”

“Hmm,” I say, and continue on. “I can hardly wait to meet him.”

In the next natural blink of my eyes, Victorian closes the distance between us and rounds on me. His hand on my shoulder stills me. “I would have never let him harm you,” he says, determination tightening his words. “Never.”

As I look into his unusual chocolate eyes, I see it. “I know that.”

With a single nod, he turns me loose. We continue on in silence.

After a while, the dense wood thins, and a small, ancient-looking village lies ahead in the mist.

“The belfry at the citadel has the most stunning view of all Transylvania over the village and back up to Castle Arcos. Would you like to see?”

Sliding Victorian a gaze, I smile. Then I laugh. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

Victorian stares, confusion making his eyes question.

“We’re in Transylvania. A family of vampires?” I encourage.

Victorian grins.

“And you’re my tour guide now?” I say.

If a vampire could blush, it’d be Victorian Arcos who could pull it off. He smiles. “Of course. And, of course.”

Now that I take a closer look at everything around me—the ancient medieval village, the cobbled streets, the colorful buildings, the old-as-dirt-church and the castle? It totally reminds me of a scene out of Van Helsing. Any minute I expect Drac’s brides to come flying over the belfry to swoop down and nab some dinner from a hapless villager.

“We never feed from our own villagers,” Victorian offers.

I snap my head toward him. “I thought you couldn’t hear my thoughts.”

He blinks, stares at me, and smiles. “Well, I just heard you clear as a bell. It must be your new metabolic changes that have given me the communication back. Sweet.”

“Sweet?” I ask at his use of modern slang. Then I chuckle. Vic makes me laugh.

Just then, the bell in the church tower tolls. It sounds positively spooky.

As we descend from the forest and onto the path leading into the village, I notice my surroundings. Breathtaking hardly describes them.

“It’s true,” Victorian offers. “Our land is second to no other.” With an elegant sweep of his arm, he describes the view. “We’re surrounded on three sides by the Carpathians,” he says in his unique accent, and as I look, I see it’s true. Rigid pikes, most with snowcaps, form an almost complete circle in the distance. “Reminds me a little of the Rockies,” I answer. When I notice Victorian looking at me, I explain. “Big ink conference in Denver.”

“Well, very much like your Rockies, there are large animals in the wood,” he says. “You need to take caution, Riley, when taking off alone.”

“What kind of animals?” I ask.

“Bear. Lynx”—he meets my gaze—“wolf.”

“Warning heeded,” I respond. Suddenly, my brother crosses my mind. Then I look at him. “I need a pay phone.”

Victorian immediately withdraws a mobile phone from his pocket. As we walk toward the church, he punches in a few numbers, then hands me the cell and guides me to sit on a little stone bench facing the cobbled streets. “Just dial your area code and number. I’ll be right back.”

I don’t even think. I grab the phone and dial Seth’s cell. It rings three times before my brother answers.

“Hello?” Seth says.

A whoosh of relief rushes through me at hearing his voice. “Hey, bro. It’s Ri.”

After a moment of silence, he answers. “Riley?”

I smile. “Yeah. How ya doin’, squirt?”

“Riley!” he says excitedly. “I miss you! How—what’s going on? Are you okay?”

I laugh at the excitement in my brother’s voice. I feel like I’m smiling on the inside. “God, I miss you, little brother. Yes, I’m okay. A little weird, but okay.”

“Weirder than before?” he jokes.

“A lot more,” I answer. “How’s Nyx—”

“What do you mean, a lot more?” he asks. Worry now laces his words.

“It’s nothing, Seth,” I say, not wanting to stress out my fifteen-year-old worrywart brother. “Nothing I can’t handle. Seriously.”

“I miss you, Ri,” he says, and for a second, sounds like my old baby brother. Before vampires. “When ya comin’ home?”

“I’m not sure, but soon,” I say. “Nyx?”

“She’s fine,” he answers. “Luc pretty much stays at the shop with her during the day.”

“Good. What else is going on?” I ask.

“It’s…been busy,” he answers. “A lot of activity between here and Charleston. Valerian’s gang has been on the move. We’ve managed to intercept several kills. They’re random and unorganized, almost as if some of the newlings have split from Valerian. Noah’s guys have been here twice. We’ve been there three times and headed back tonight.”

If Noah’s little clan of humans with tendencies have been helping Seth and the others, then Valerian must be out of control.

“How’s Preach and Estelle?” I ask.

“Well,” he sighs, then continues. “Ever since the Gullah killing, things have been tense. I repapered the entire upstairs of Preacher and Estelle’s apartment, and just started on the kitchen. Fresh coat of haint blue on the door and ceiling. And Estelle’s been making some stuff that stinks like crazy.”

Haint blue paint is a Gullah belief; they use it on doors and ceilings to keep the bad spirits out. Estelle is a superb brewer of root potions, but they stink like hell. And work like hell, too.

I close my eyes briefly. “The killing. Tell me.”

“Eli didn’t tell you?”

I sigh. “I didn’t give him a chance. I ran out as soon as I woke up.”

“Woke up from what?” he pushes.

I give up. My baby brother deserved to know. “I had two quickenings to get through. They’re all done now, so no worries. Got it?”

“Two?” he asks.