Crimson Veil

Chapter 3

As we crowded around the mirror, Camille took her place in front of it. She was the one who understood it the most. I couldn’t see my reflection, of course—that part about vampires is true. And anybody looking through from the other side wouldn’t be able to see me, though they could hear me if I spoke.

We waited for the fog in the silver-framed mirror to clear. It was like having our own private Skype program hooked up to Otherworld, only the video portion was always on and we didn’t need headphones and the mirror was the magical computer.

A moment later, Trenyth appeared. He was advisor to Queen Sharah—the new Elfin Queen. Until a few days ago, she had been a medic at the FH-CSI and Chase’s very pregnant girlfriend.

Trenyth looked weary, beyond tired. I wondered how long he’d gone without sleep now.

He didn’t waste any time on chitchat. “Girls, we found your father’s body. I’m sorry. Sephreh was killed when a collapsing piece of wood… it…” Here he paused, looking down at the table in front of him.

“Just… please tell us.” Delilah’s voice quavered and she bit her lip. “We need to know the truth.”

I gave a sharp nod, even though Trenyth couldn’t see me. “She’s right. Tell us. No gory details, but the facts.”

Trenyth started a bit. “I never get used to the fact that I can’t see you through the mirror, Menolly.” He sighed, and met Camille’s eyes. She was our anchor and rock—every time there was bad news, it somehow found its way to her first, even when the rest of us were there in the room.

“Your father was impaled by a broken beam that fell from the ceiling. We found him beneath two cross beams that had held up some of the debris. We have his body. What do you want us to do?”

Camille looked over her shoulder at Delilah and me. “I’ll make the arrangements.” Her face was drawn but the fact that she needed to do this was apparent in her expression.

Delilah must have seen it, too. “We’ll do whatever you need us to.”

“What she said.” I nodded toward Delilah. “Whatever you decide is fine with us.”

Camille turned back to Trenyth. “Right now the war there is too dangerous for us to come get him. But if Smoky, Trillian, and Roz could bring his body back with them, we can have our ceremony here on Samhain. Then when it’s safe, we will take him home to Otherworld and lay him to rest near Mother. Which reminds me, now that we know for sure that he’s dead, we have to notify Aunt Rythwar.”

“I have a spare messenger. I will send word to her.” Trenyth’s eyes were kind, and I wished to hell that his world hadn’t been torn to shreds. Not only had he lost the love of his life—Queen Asteria—but he’d been forced to take on a new Queen who needed him more than anyone probably ever had in his life. Sharah was ill equipped to handle running a kingdom.

“Thank you.” Camille shuddered lightly, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “How goes the war, or should we even ask?”

“The storm is nearing Svartalfheim. King Vodox and his mages are waiting for it. We still don’t know where the sorcerers who are controlling it are hiding, but they can’t be that far away. Meanwhile, the goblin hordes—and they aren’t just goblins, but trolls and Sawberry Fae and bogies and their ilk—they continue to enter Elqaneve thick and furious. As many as we mow down, still others take their place. But the legion of soldiers from Nebulveori are almost here and the dwarves are mighty fighters. They will help roust the enemy from the lands.” At that, Trenyth actually smiled.

“What about the Cryptos and the others?”

“The Dahnsburg Unicorns are sending a contingent of their warriors—unicorns and ogres and all who answer to King Uppala-Dahns. King Vodox sent soldiers to help their lighter brethren even though they, themselves, are under siege. And you know that your own city-state, Y’Elestrial, immediately dispatched a legion of soldiers. They are fighting alongside our warriors.”

“And the dark moon priestesses?” Camille looked uncomfortable. She’d only just recently found out some daunting news about her order.

“Derisa, the High Priestess, is sending them even as we speak. As far as the rest of Otherworld… they are waiting… and watching. Ceredream will still not take sides. Aladril is sequestered in debate over the matter now.”

Delilah cleared her throat. “How’s Sharah doing?”

Trenyth pressed his lips together. “As well as we can expect. The medications the healers have given her have dried up her milk, and her hormones are in a drastic flux as they return to normal.” At Delilah’s soft growl, he held up his hands. “If there had been another way, you know I would have taken it. But there wasn’t… we needed Sharah to step up to the crown. She has been rallying our people—what there are left of us.”

With that last statement, the finality of this mess hit home. The look on his face said it all. Kelvashan had been destroyed. The Elfin race was decimated. What had been a thriving culture now stood in smoking ruins, and the survivors were fighting for their lives.

“Can you bring the survivors—the women and children—over here?” Camille asked. “They’d be safe then.”

“But would they? How long do you think Earthside has? If Telazhar continues to wreak his havoc across this land, you are not safe either. The storm Telazhar’s sorcerers have conjured up can rip a mountain apart. Destroy a palace—you saw that firsthand, Camille. You know how deadly and devastating this creature is. I don’t know how they created it, it truly is a construct of some sorts, but the storm has consciousness and will, and malevolent thought. If they can do that… what else can they do?”

At that moment, a familiar face appeared behind him. Smoky!

Camille let out a little cry. “My love!”

Smoky, her dragon husband, was six foot four, and his silver hair coiled down around his ankles. He was dressed in white, as always, and his piercing eyes were frosty and glimmered with the light of his heritage.

He looked harried, and tired, too. But as usual, the dragon was spotless. “Love, my sweet, I am so sorry about your father.” He looked toward the rest of us. “You, too, Menolly and Delilah. If there’s anything I can do, just ask. I’m here. We are family.”

“Can you bring our father’s body home to us?” Camille whispered. But we could all hear her plainly. All Fae—half-breed or not—had excellent hearing.

Smoky looked at Trenyth, who nodded. “Go ahead. One day won’t make a difference. Not with the chaos that is rampaging through the land.”

As Trenyth moved out of the way, Smoky leaned toward the mirror, staring directly at Camille. “We are still looking for Ben and Venus. So far, we’ve found no signs of them. We’ll bring your father home, then return to continue the search.”

Camille bit her lip. “Can you really spare the time to do this for us?”

“For you, I would spare the world.”

And just like that, the big galoot of a dragon once again proved himself worthy of my sister’s love. I liked Smoky, but he could be a handful and I had no clue how he managed to keep that tremendous ego under lock and key when dealing with Camille’s other two husbands, but somehow, he did. And for that, I gave him props.

Trenyth retook the seat in front of the mirror. “Do not worry, girls. If they haven’t been able to find Benjamin and Venus the Moon Child yet, another day will not matter. Perhaps foolish words, but in this turmoil, there has to be some measure of compassion. I know it’s meager comfort, but you need your father’s body with you.”

Smoky nodded. “Trillian, Rozurial, and I will come home for the night and return here tomorrow. We’ll be there soon. I can bring your father’s body through the Ionyc Seas, and Roz can bring Trillian.”

With that, the fog filled the mirror again.

“Well, that’s that.” I leaned back. “There is no doubt or hope left.”

The whole thing was surreal. Even though our father’s soul statue had been shattered, we still had held on to hope—ill-placed as it was—that perhaps it had been a mistake. That he had survived.

I had to admit that even I had clung to that thin thread, and I was by far the most prosaic and pessimistic of the three of us. Maybe… just maybe, we thought… something else had broken his soul statue besides his death. Maybe a rat or bird or cat had knocked it over. Now that hope was dashed.

Delilah wiped her eyes. “I didn’t want to believe it, but… really… we all knew.” With an inner strength that surprised me, she shook off her tears. “At least we know for sure, and now we can move on.”

“I shall make another batch of cookies and also some sandwiches and soup and bread. The men are bound to be hungry and I doubt if they’ve had many a good meal the past day or so.”

Hanna turned and marched back to the kitchen. A strong woman, she had been through her own losses, and she’d helped Camille escape when Smoky’s father kidnapped and tortured her. Her answer to sorrow was to fortify the mourners with good food, warm clothing, and a soft bed.

Vanzir frowned. “I’m not good at this, but I’m sorry.” He shifted, his eyes whirling with a kaleidoscope of color. They never pinned down to just one—in fact, there was no word for the color of his eyes. It seemed to exist outside the usual spectrum, but still it was there, in the shifting haze that roiled through his eyes. Vanzir could never pass for human, that was sure, even though he took the form. And his natural weapons would give a hentai monster pause.

I gave him a half smile as Camille and Delilah wearily pushed to their feet. “It’s okay. Don’t sweat it.”

Camille turned to Delilah and me. “I thought… I know it’s not usual, but with the war and the fear that Y’Elestrial will be next, what do you think about cremating Father’s body and keeping the ashes for when we can return them to the family crypt without worry?”

Even though she didn’t say it, I knew she was thinking about Mother—and whether our house and land would be standing. Mother was laid to rest in the family shrine. What if the storm destroyed our home? What if our past went up in flames?

“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, forcing a smile. “We’ll have an interment ceremony after the danger has been quelled.”

“If they can stop it.” Delilah turned a bleak look on me. “I’m not feeling very hopeful right now.”

“No, but we can’t let that stop us.” I wasn’t sure what to do next—grief has a way of freezing a person, and I could tell both Camille and Delilah were on the edge of a meltdown. While I’d managed to escape the destruction of Elqaneve without witnessing the worst of it, they’d been forced to journey through the carnage as it was happening and shell shock had set in.

There was a noise behind us, and then, as we turned around, Smoky appeared, a shrouded figure in his arms. Rozurial appeared next, his arm around Trillian. They had come through the Ionyc Seas, silently, without so much as a whisper. As we stood, watching, Camille caught her breath and Delilah gasped. Me? I just stared. I had no breath to catch, no pulse to race… but still, a quiver in my heart told me that I hadn’t fully been prepared for this.

Vanzir moved forward, pushed himself between us and the silent figure of our father. “Here, let’s take him to the studio. We can… he can… we can use one of the bunks for the night until arrangements can be made.”

“I want to see.” Camille stepped forward. “I have to know—for myself.”

“You don’t want to see him, love. He’s been dead for a couple of days, and while the conditions were dry and cool… I don’t think you should witness the damage done. Remember him the way you last saw him.” Smoky pressed his lips against her forehead. “Will you accept my word that it’s him?”

She glanced at me. I nodded. There was no use in going through that—Smoky would never lie to us. At least not to her.

“Very well.” She looked at the shrouded figure, and let out a choked cry. “Now that he’s here, now… it’s real.”

Delilah wrapped her arms around Camille. “Let’s get some tea.” And for one of the first times in her life, except when she’d been attacked by Hyto, Camille’s shoulders slumped and she let Delilah lead her away.

I turned back to Smoky and the guys. “Thank you for bringing Father home to us. I didn’t have a good relationship with him, not after I was turned. But this… I never thought he’d go like this.”

“Death is always unexpected, even when you know it’s coming.” Smoky lifted the body and Vanzir went to open the door for him. I watched them exit.

“So this is it.” I stared at their backs as they disappeared.

Nerissa moved in and wrapped her arms around me, cradling me. “I love you, Menolly. Tell me what I can do. Tell me what you need.” Her voice was gentle against my ears, and her lips tickled my skin.

I closed my eyes, relaxed into her embrace. “First, I have something to do. Then… I need to talk to Amber and Luke. I haven’t really had a chance yet. And after…” I turned to her. “After, I want you. Need you.”

She let go. She wasn’t one of those clingy spouses who had to know everything I was thinking or doing. Lately we’d been on the scritchy side, but for the most part, I thought we understood each other.

“I’ve got some reading to catch up on. Just let me know when you’re ready. I’m all yours.” And with that promise, she vanished into the parlor and closed the door behind her.

I looked over at Roz and Trillian. Both men looked shaken and tired. “Has it been very bad?”

“Worse than you can imagine. Or maybe not. Delilah and Camille came through hell. As bad as the aftermath is, the storm must have been a fury beyond any I’ve ever dreamed of.” Roz’s usual good cheer had vanished, and he slumped down on the sofa. The incubus had seen far more than his share of death and dying over the centuries he had been alive, and still he looked shaken to the core.

“The dead are everywhere. The goblins are behind every tree, every bush. The smell of blood is so thick in some villages that it overpowers everything else…” His words drifted off, and he stared at his hands. “I thought it was bad when Dredge killed my family. But that was nothing compared to what we’ve witnessed.”

Trillian clapped him on the shoulder. “Bad it is, and worse still, there’s nothing we can do to help. The destruction is of such a magnitude that we give our food to the children we find sitting on the side of the road. They are everywhere. No place to go, no parents, no shoes or clean clothes or water. And no one to look out for them.” His face was bleak, and for the first time, I began to see beneath the arrogant exterior. I knew there was more to him than met the eye—that had become clear over the past couple of years—but now… now it was visible.

“What… what can we do?” The thought of the devastation was enough to overwhelm anybody.

Trillian sighed. “Make damned sure Earthside is protected. The three of you and our ragtag army here, we’re all that stands between the far worse carnage that would happen should Shadow Wing break through. Can you imagine the response if a horde of demons came trampling through? Opposing governments would assume it was their enemy, setting a new weapon to strike.”

Morio joined the conversation. “Should that happen? Watch the nuclear bombs fly. And the resulting radiation would only strengthen the demons. All Shadow Wing would have to do is start the whole mess. The humans would do the rest and leave Earthside open to utter destruction and enslavement.”

“He’s right. What’s going on in Otherworld?” Trillian said. “That will only be multifold should the Demon Lord make it through the portals.” He brushed his hand over his eyes. “I’m going to the kitchen and check on my wife, if you’ll excuse me.”

As he left the room, I turned back to Roz, but the incubus was leaning back on the sofa, asleep. He must have been exhausted. I picked up a throw and gently covered him with it. None of the men had slept much—of that I was sure.

At that moment, Smoky and Vanzir returned.

I pointed to the kitchen. “Camille is in there. Trillian and Delilah are with her. And Roz is asleep. Let him rest, if you can.”

Smoky gave me a gentle nod. “I’ll go to her then.”

Vanzir gave me a speculative look. “Do you need to be with them—your sisters?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think I’d do much good right now. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I stepped past him, then headed outside. I knew what I had to do, even though I didn’t want to.

The rain was slashing down, stinging needles against my flesh. Vampire I might be, but I could still feel jabs and punctures and bruises. They may not hurt as much, in fact most of them bounced off, but I was aware of them.

Clouds boiled across the sky and I stared up at the racing storm. We were in our rainy season, and it would last until June. The Seattle area managed about fifty-five to sixty cloud-free days a year, most of them in the summer. I relished the chill gloom—it seemed more appropriate than winters in more southern climes, where I’d still have to stay in my lair, asleep until the pull of sunset woke me. I loved the rain and wind that swept through, making the Northwest its semipermanent home.

As I approached the shed-cum-apartment, I stopped for a moment. I was better suited than either of my sisters for this, but still… I wasn’t sure just how it would affect me. It had been only hours ago that I’d attended the funeral of a good friend. Now, I’d be standing vigil by another corpse, but this one… this one I had roots with.

After a moment, I summoned my courage and pushed through the door. There, neatly laid out on the sofa, was the shrouded figure of Sephreh ob Tanu, the man who had loved our mother, the man who had shared his genetic code with us. I knelt by the leather couch, pausing before I reached out and slowly pulled the shroud away.

It was Father, all right. Even through the pale, bruised skin… it was Father. I thought about lifting the cover all the way, seeing just what had happened to him, but then I decided to forgo the idea. I didn’t need the gory details. I’d lived through my own death and torture. I didn’t need to see what pain he’d been through when he died. I could afford him that much privacy.

As I watched his face, I realized I was searching for any sign of life—a flutter of breath, or a flicker of the eyelashes. But silence ruled, and Father remained still as the silence of my own body. Only for him, there would be no second chance, there would be no life after life, no living death. He had gone to our ancestors, and I had no doubt he stood arm in arm with Mother now.

The thought made me smile. He’d missed her so very much, and had never been quite right after her death. He’d become hardened, harsher—more demanding. Poor Camille had born the brunt of his expectations, but we’d all felt the withdrawal. A guardsman at heart, Sephreh’s grief had turned him from stoic to rigid. But in the end, he’d given more than we ever thought possible, and he’d tried to make his peace with us.

“I don’t know if I can ever forget the years you ignored me after I was turned,” I found myself saying. “Or the way you treated Camille… she was just a little girl and you turned her into the household servant. You were only kind to Delilah, but even then you ignored her.”

Pausing again, I thought about what I wanted to say to him. His spirit would most likely be around, and I was certain he could hear me. “But… despite all that… despite the way you treated Trillian, in the end, you made the effort to return to us. You were kind to my wife. You apologized to Camille. You apologized to Trillian. And in the end of things… I believe that you meant what you said. I believe you were sorry.”

Falling silent, I realized I was almost done. Short and sweet, that was my style. “So I’m letting it all go. I’m letting you off the hook. And I hope you’re with Mother now, in the Land of the Silver Falls. I hope you’re happy… because I don’t want you to be lonely anymore. You loved Mother with a passion I don’t know if I can ever feel… but I’m trying. I’m trying to open up, to let my wife in, to love her as much as you loved Mother. So… thanks… thank you for the lesson. If nothing else, you taught me that such a love can exist. You taught me to hope.”

With that, I’d said all I had to say. I gently leaned down, kissed the silent forehead, and whispered. “Good-bye, Father. We’ll never forget you.”

As I entered the kitchen and washed my hands, Hanna looked at me. The room was empty and her eyes were suspiciously red.

“Your sisters, they have gone into the living room. Would you like a goblet of warm blood?” She folded the hand towel and placed it on the counter, which was spotless. Both Hanna and Iris were meticulous about cleanliness.

I shook my head. “Thanks, Hanna, but no. I’m not thirsty.”

“You went to say good-bye, did you not?” Her English was improving. The Northlander was learning the ways and customs here, and she seemed content, though she’d taken one hell of a journey to get here.

I glanced at the kitchen door, lowering my voice. “Yes, but please don’t tell Camille or Delilah. They couldn’t handle it. They need to remember him alive, loving them. Not cold and ready to go in the ground. I’ve been there before, Hanna. I’ve been dead. And I went home to kill my family. Camille and Delilah saw me the night I died. They don’t need to see Father dead. You know?”

She paused for a moment, then gave me a gentle smile. “I understand. I truly do. You would not have wanted to see Camille when she returned from Hyto’s lair. I had to tend her, keep her alive so he could abuse her again. I washed the blood off her thighs, I washed the vomit out of her mouth.”

I stared at her, feeling like she was punishing me for some reason. “What are you getting at, Hanna?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Nothing, except you… you underestimate Camille and Delilah. You act as though you are the only one who has seen trauma enough to handle the harshness of life. You do them a disservice. You insult them.”

Normally, when someone talked to me like that, I got mad and wanted to beat the crap out of them. But Hanna’s clear gaze challenged me. I worried my lip. Reality was? She was right. But I seldom found anybody willing to read me the riot act. Most everyone was too afraid. Nerissa could stare me down—and Camille, at times. But very few had doused me with ice water and walked away unscathed.

If I breathed, I would have taken in a long breath and let it out slowly. Instead, I counted to four… to five… to ten. Then, when she still didn’t move, I blinked and looked down at my feet.

“You may be on to something with that. But what am I supposed to do? Let them go look at his body? Trust me, I didn’t even pull the shroud away that much, just enough to see his face and it was bruised and battered and scarred.”

She shrugged. “You do what you feel is right. But make sure you do it out of compassion, and not an assumption. I am a mother, remember this. And you girls, you are still young. Still growing. Still in need of guidance at times, whether or not you choose to believe it. Iris, she is busy with her own kinderkins now, she cannot keep track of you the way she did. But I… my own daughters are scattered from me. I hope they live. My son, he is dead and you know that I killed him to save him. Let me take a moment, now and then, to remind you of what you might be overlooking. Would you do this for me?”

She was so sincere, so brutally honest, that I could do nothing more than nod. Speechless, I forced a smile to my lips, and then headed toward my lair.

“I’m going to talk to Amber and Luke before the night is over.” At the door, I turned around. “Hanna… thanks. Thanks for being a voice of conscience.”

“Conscience?” Hanna shook her head. “No. I have no conscience. If I did, would my son be dead now?”

“I think he would. Because you saved him from a life of captivity and madness. You gave him his freedom. Some of us… we didn’t get that choice and now we live with the consequences.” And with that, I vanished through the bookcase that hid the steel door leading to my lair.

Luke and Amber were sitting on the bed, playing a game of cards. Luke had been my bartender before Derrick took over, before his sister Amber had shown up wearing one of the spirit seals. Now they were both Keraastar Knights, sworn to protect the seals they wore, magically bound to them with an invisible chain that only death could sever.

I hadn’t seen Luke for months, and now, as I gazed into his eyes, I realized he had changed. His eyes were stark, a deep brown against the wheat-colored hair that hung loose. He’d always worn it in a ponytail when he worked for me, but now it was loose, mid-back, and brushed to a silky sheen. The scar that had marred his cheek was almost gone—as if something had rejuvenated him, and I was pulled to him in a way I’d never before felt. Amber, his sister, had gone from pretty and pregnant, to seductive and voluptuous. Her child, a little girl, was playing with a doll on the floor. Together, she and her brother radiated a power that felt magnified to the tenth degree. Around their necks, the spirit seals glowed against their hearts.

What Shadow Wing wouldn’t give to get hold of them. A sudden fear gripped me, and I wished the dragons had already come. They were due to show up and escort the pair to safety the day after tomorrow, but as we’d seen in the past, so much could happen in so little time.

“Menolly…” Luke stood, a smile grazing his face. He looked tired and so did Amber. Tired, intense, and far older than the last time we’d spoken.

“Luke, it’s so good to see you. Amber, you, too. I see you had your little one.” I smiled down at the girl, who was barely toddling around at this point.

“Her name is Jolina. That was our mother’s name.” Amber smiled, baring her teeth. She and Luke were werewolves. Amber had escaped from a patriarchal pack that had abused her. Luke had been thrown out years earlier for disobeying their rules.

“Hi, Jolina.” I knelt down to look at the girl. She was tiny, as were all babies her size, but she gazed up at me, and the flash in her eyes told me that she was older than she seemed. “She seems… very… aware.”

Amber shrugged. “I wore the spirit seal throughout my pregnancy. By then it was already changing my nature. We don’t know how the magic will affect Jolina yet, but yes, she’s precocious. That much we can tell.”

Standing again, I moved to a chair near the bed and sat, crossing my legs. “The Wayfarer burned down Monday night. Chrysandra died in the fire.”

At that, Luke seemed to startle out of his silence. “No! I’m so sorry. Smoke inhalation or burns?”

Neither, to be truthful, although the extent of her injuries would have killed her anyway. But Luke didn’t need to know that I’d been the one to give her release from the pain, so I lied.

“She died from her burns. We buried her early this evening.” After a moment, I added, “I was there. In Elqaneve, when the storm came through. I managed to get out without seeing much of the damage, but Delilah and Camille were caught in the thick of things.”

Both of them stared at me, unspeaking, and I realized that there would be no catching up. No discussion of how the spirit seals had changed them, of what Asteria had been planning for them and the Keraastar Knights. We needed to know, but it wouldn’t be Amber and Luke telling me. They were so far removed from the lives they had led here that they might as well be speaking a different language.

I was going to have to say good-bye, to let go of the people they’d been. I was going to have to move Luke and Amber into my past, and accept that they were now fully Keraastar Knights—along with whatever that entailed.

Standing, I motioned for them to follow me. “It’s getting near dawn and we’ve all been up far too long. I need my lair but you will be safe upstairs. Vanzir will watch over you. And the guards are thick on our land.”

Amber lifted up Jolina and started up the stairs, but Luke paused to turn back to me.

“I never thanked you for all your friendship and kindness, Menolly. I can see it in your eyes—you think I’ve changed. Well, that’s true, but I have never forgotten what my time at the Wayfarer was like. You had an effect on my life.” With a slight laugh, he touched the spirit seal. “Rather obvious, yes. But seriously—I’m a better werewolf for having met you. I’ll never forget you.” And with that, he headed up the stairs.

I decided to let them go without me. I wasn’t part of their lives anymore. A few moments later, Nerissa came downstairs. She took one look at my face and opened her arms. I had thought I wanted sex, but when she wrapped me tight, I laid my head against her bountiful chest and began to cry. As my tears stained her sweater, she moved me over to the bed, and we curled up together, and I wept for the losses in my life. Only I wasn’t even sure what some of those losses were.