The Heart of Arima. Read online

“Shit!” I picked up the cake tin and set the table with plates, handing Inés a steaming cup of coffee before sitting down with my own. One of the duties Inés had performed for centuries was to guide the recently deceased. If they were in distress or had unfinished business which was stopping them from moving on they would come to her, and she would help them. I had been seeing ghosts since I was a child until my mother paid for some radical treatment to stop my hallucinations. In fact she’d been well aware that I was a witch but had kept the information from me, making out like I was actually insane until I discovered the truth from Inés. We hadn’t spoken since.

  I picked up the cake slice and went to cut off a generous piece when Inés snatched it from my hand and cut a slice twice the size. She put it on a plate and slid it across the table to me.

  “Mange,” she instructed. “You’re too skinny.”

  Skinny wasn’t a word I felt could be applied to me since I arrived in France, thanks to a daily dose of croissants, butter and jam and Inés’ constant attempts to feed me up. I didn’t protest though, the cake was salted caramel and just heavenly.

  “Right, so she wasn’t there ... Then what?”

  Inés cut herself a slice big enough to feed two hungry men and sighed. “You have to understand, Jéhenne, Georgette was nearing the end of her life, she was an old lady and at peace with that fact. She had no unfinished business and nothing to keep her from moving on. From what the family said she had died just moments before I had arrived.”

  “She should have been there?”

  “Oui, I think she knew too, that I was there for her. Often old or very sick people, they get ...a kind of a sixth sense about me, about our kind. They sense what we are.”

  “So she would have known to come to you if there was a problem?”

  She nodded, chewing her cake thoughtfully. “Even if she hadn’t, once she was dead, she would have felt the pull to me if she needed help, she should have known I was coming to her.”

  “Alright, so then what?”

  “The family were all downstairs so I tried to summon her.”

  “Oh God.” I put my fork down with a clatter. “And Florian came back up and saw you.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded. “Exactment.”

  “Shit, Inés! No wonder he’s freaked.”

  “What would you have had me do? Let the poor woman wander around lost for eternity?” she demanded, stabbing her fork in my direction.

  I held up my hands to placate her. “No, no, of course not but it might have been better to wait until you got home.”

  “Her tie would have been strongest to her old home. It should have been a simple matter to summon her.”

  “But it wasn’t?”

  “Non.”

  I took a sip of my coffee and cursed as the liquid scalded my tongue.

  Inés tutted at me. “Always so impatient, Nina.”

  I snorted and grinned at her, it was true enough. I liked it when she called me Nina, she had called me that when I was a child and it brought back memories. I frowned suddenly as a thought occurred to me. “Why do you call me that?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why do you call me Nina?”

  She sighed and I got the impression she had been waiting for a long time for me to ask her. “Because you told me to.”

  “What! When?”

  “As soon as you could talk, you said your name was Jéhnina, not Jéhenne, so I called you Nina.”

  I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What else did I say?”

  She put her fork down and looked back at me steadily, green eyes defiant. “You said your goddess had sent you back ...to find someone.”

  I gasped. “Who?”

  “You never said.”

  My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy. Inés got to her feet and crossed to me, putting her hands on my shoulders. “Breathe, Cherie, breathe.”

  I drew in a ragged breath and tried to calm my heart. “You never thought to tell me this?” I demanded.

  “Oui, but you were not ready to hear it and by the time you were ...we were not exactly friendly.”

  “Considering you had tried to kill the man I’d come back to find, I hardly think that’s surprising!” I snapped.

  She shrugged and went and sat down again. “Are you certain it was him you came for?”

  “Of course I’m sure! Don’t start, OK?”

  She gave me another shrug and I held on to my temper as her eyes drifted to the bare patch at my neck. I knew what she was implying, if I was so sure why hadn’t I completed the bond? I pushed the cake away as my appetite had deserted me, and clutched my coffee cup in both hands.

  “D’accord, I’ll say no more, except ...do you think it likely Hekatê would have sent you back to find Corvus?”

  I shook my head. “Inés, I was just a child, I was probably getting mixed up about the whole thing, I mean, we both know Hekatê sent me back to hide the key, she told me that herself.”

  “Oh, oui, and of course the gods are renowned for telling the whole truth!”

  I folded my arms; I didn’t want to get into a row with her over Corvus again. “Did I say anything else?”

  “Nothing that I remember, nothing that seemed significant.”

  “Did--did I ever mention a child?”

  She frowned, green eyes sharp. “No, you just said you had to find him, nothing more. Why?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing, it’s just ...I keep seeing a baby in my dreams, I want to know why.”

  “Past or present?” she demanded.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Yours?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I lied, staring into my coffee cup.

  “Hmmm.”

  I looked up to find her watching me intently. “What does it look like?”

  “Beautiful,” I said softly. “Thick dark hair, strong and healthy, I can’t tell you any more.” Except that just talking about him made an ache grow in my belly that I couldn’t explain.

  “Fille ou fils?”

  “A boy.”

  My son.

  “We could scry for him?”

  The idea made hope leap in my chest, of course, why hadn’t I thought of that? I wasn’t about to have Inés for an audience though so I shook my head. “No, don’t worry, it isn’t important.”

  She bit her lip and I got the impression she was fighting to keep her mouth shut so I changed the subject back to focus her own problem. “I could ask Phil if he’s seen Georgette, he might be able to track her down.”

  Phil had been a friend of mine, he’d died during an attempt on my life and now his ghost was kind of under my probation. He didn’t want to move on and the deal was he could stay as long as I guaranteed he behaved himself. Phil had been a clown in life though and his antics now were making me reconsider the wisdom of my decision. Not that I would change it, I felt way too much guilt over the way he died to do that.

  Inés nodded. “Merci, Cherie, I appreciate that. Tell him to sniff around Heloïse.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Surely if Heloïse was behind it she would have kept her presence here a secret? Why come back and cause trouble for you?”

  Inés shrugged. “Why not?”

  “Is this what I’m going to end up like?” I demanded.

  To my disappointment Inés didn’t reassure me. “After a few hundred years, life can get dull, stuff like that makes you feel alive.”

  “Surely you could be friends. You know, hang out together, victimise other people together!”

  Inés snorted. “We are Les Dames Blanche, Jéhenne, our kind is feared. It is hard to make friends when people don’t trust you.”

  “When people don’t trust you?” I exclaimed. “Have you ever given people a reason to trust you?”

  “Oui, many times when I was your age, it rarely caused anything but trouble. Now I just trust myself.”

  “That’s depressing on so many levels.”

  “C’est le
verity.”

  Yes, it could well be true.

  She actually looked sad, and I felt a deep sorrow for her and for myself but I promised myself I would not end up like this. I would have friends, I did have friends, and I would do my best to keep them.

  “I still don’t think it’s Heloïse. Have you upset anyone else recently?”

  Inés pursed her lips and looked down into her coffee cup.

  “Oh, bloody hell, spit it out.”

  She sat up a little straighter, squaring her shoulders. “There’s a coven at St Junien.”

  “A coven?” My heart sank to my boots.

  “Oui, just human witches, no real power, not like our kind.”

  I put my head in my hands. “Oh, my Lord. What did you do?”

  “Nothing much, just ...showed them a little real magic.”

  I groaned. “What happened?”

  “Rien, nothing at all. I mean, I freaked them all out a bit but ...”

  “But?”

  “But I think there may have been one there who was a strong magic user, even though she was human.”

  I sighed. “You think it could be her? Getting her own back?”

  “Non, not really but you asked if I’d upset anyone.”

  “Inés, why? Why do you feel the need to torment people?”

  “I told you already, I get bored. Anyway I didn’t torment them, just ... showed them what magic really is.” She chuckled darkly and I decided I didn’t have the energy to try and explain why she had to stop doing stuff like this. It would be like trying to stop a train with a fly swat.

  “Anyway, speaking of which, how long are you planning to torment Corvus this time?”

  I frowned at her. “I’m not tormenting him.”

  She set her coffee mug down on the table and laughed. “Oh oui, Chérie, oui, croyez-moi, vous êtes tourmentant lui!”

  I got up to fetch some more cream for my coffee and glared at her from behind the fridge door. “I’m not doing it on purpose! Besides, I would have thought you’d approve.” I sat back down and refilled my coffee cup, adding a splash of cream.

  “Oh, I do approve, it’s wonderful to see a powerful vampire brought to his knees. I just wondered when you were going to put him out of his misery.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean when are you going to ...?” She waggled her eyebrows and pointed at my neck.

  I choked on my coffee. “Don’t tell me you think I should complete the bond with him!” I was beginning to think the world had gone completely mad.

  “Non! I think you should stake him while he sleeps.”

  Thank God, normal service has been resumed.

  “Mais honnêtement, I’m not sure how much longer you can make him wait,” she said.

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I didn’t really want to hear this, mainly because I didn’t know either.

  She shook her head at me. “Jéhenne, listen to me, if you ever come to your senses and want rid of him, believe me I will be first in the queue but if you want him you are going to have to do something about it. He is thousands of years old, how many women do you think have come and gone in that time?”

  I flushed and tried to suppress the fury that burst through my veins at the thought but the magic sparked at my finger tips and Inés sighed.

  “D'accord, don’t answer that but I think you can assume there have been more than a few, oui?”

  I shrugged and scowled at the table.

  “How long exactly are you going to make him wait for you, Jéhenne? I’m not denying the creature loves you, he’s proved it often enough. I just think, if you truly love him, it’s time you stepped up and proved it.”

  I got the feeling I’d woken up in a parallel universe. Inés was advising me to sleep with Corvus? Just too weird for words, unless of course she had an ulterior motive. Now that I could believe.

  “Why are you telling me this now? What’s in it for you?”

  “I know you think I’m a bitch, Jéhenne and I’m not about to deny it but I do care about you. You’re about the only one I do care for. You’re my flesh and blood and I don’t want to see you hurt. I just think you are playing with fire if you leave him hanging much longer.” She reached over the table and squeezed my hand. “Hear me, Nina, there will be plenty of females, human, vampire or whatever who will try and fill your place at the drop of a hat if they think they can, and to be honest ... Well I don’t think I can cope if it means you’ll be weeping and wailing like you did last summer.”

  I smacked her hand away. “I’m so sorry my pain was inconvenient to you, especially as it was your bloody fault in the first place.”

  “Merde! Don’t kid yourself, if you were that sure of him you’d have let him explain himself sooner, you were frightened, nothing more. I don’t blame you. If you take my advice you will leave him, and love, well alone. It does nothing but make you weak but if you must be a fool, at least do it with your eyes wide open.”

  I nodded silently. I knew she was right. Well, not about leaving him, I’d never do that but then, if that was the case ...

  “I have to go.” I drained my coffee cup and got up to leave but I could feel her eyes watching me intently.

  “The child,” she asked, as I put my coat back on, studiously avoiding eye contact with her. “Does he mean something to you?”

  I swallowed and yanked the door open, keeping my back to her.

  “No, of course not.”

  The lie tasted bitter in my mouth and made my stomach hurt, but I closed the door behind me and walked away.

  Chapter 8

  A blast of cold air around my neck told me that Phil had heard me calling him.

  “Hey, Phil.” I chucked a log on the fire in the apartment and poked at the embers to get it going again. It was dark now and the temperature had begun to plummet. Corvus hated coming into the apartment if it was less than tropical and to be honest I was feeling cold myself, though I didn’t think the fire was going to warm through the chill in my bones.

  “Salut, Jéhenne. What can I do for you?”

  I got up and rolled my eyes at him. “Well how about checking in with me ...you know, like you were supposed to do a fortnight ago? Where the hell have you been?”

  He shrugged and gave me a vague expression. “Here and there.”

  I crossed my arms and gave him a hard stare. “Want to narrow that down a bit?”

  He grinned at me and flopped down on the sofa, though actually he kind of hovered just above it. “Non, not really.”

  I sat down opposite him with a sigh. “You’re going to get us both into trouble if you don’t behave. Please tell me you’ve been behaving.”

  “I’ve been behaving.”

  “OK, now tell me truth.”

  He laughed and put his hand over his heart with a wounded expression. “Mais, Jéhenne, would I lie to you?”

  “In a heartbeat,” I grumbled.

  “Don’t have one.” He pulled a face and I laughed despite myself. I never could stay mad at him for long. “So did you just call me to nag me to death, or do you want something?” he said.

  “I want something,” I admitted. “Go and see Inés.”

  He paled visibly, which was quite a feat for a ghost and I held up a hand to calm him. “Don’t panic, we need you to find someone and it’s best you talk to her direct.”

  He frowned. “Do I have to? She scares the crap out of me.”

  “Me too, but you’re going, otherwise I’ll have to rethink our arrangement.”

  He folded his arms and frowned harder. “You’re no fun anymore.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  His face softened and he sat forward. “Aw, I didn’t mean it. Are you OK? You look kind of stressed.”

  I snorted and shook my head. “I dream of being stressed, it looks like a holiday to me but if you do this it will be one less thing for me to worry about.”

  “OK, OK, I’m gone.”

  He wasn’t joking
either as I was looking at an empty space.

  I got up, intending to go and find Corvus, when I remembered it was the night when he interviewed the wraiths. These were Masterless vampires that came to him in the hope he would take them on. In the vampire world to be without a Master was both shameful and dangerous. Your Master would protect you from others who would do you harm. The more powerful the Master, the greater the protection and the greater the honour of being taken on. Corvus didn’t deal with many such cases now as few would dare to ask him, preferring to ask a lesser Master than take the greater risk of being turned down. You were only given so many opportunities and if you were denied, the Master you had sought protection from was at liberty to execute you.

  I had never seen him deal with the wraiths before and was curious to know what happened so I went down stairs and found my way to the great hall. There was a considerable crowd and it took a fair bit of pushing and shoving to get through to the front. Happily Corvus’ family now knew better than to upset the Master’s girlfriend so they gave way when they saw who was trying to get past or I wouldn’t have had a hope. I saw Rodney to my left and threaded my way through to stand beside him.

  “Hey,” I whispered as there seemed to be some kind of deliberation going on around us. “What’s happening?”

  Rodney shook his head. “Dunno, luv, two of ‘em tonight. He looks like a right piece of work an’ her ... I dunno, couldn’t say.”

  I looked out at the floor to see the two wraiths standing in the middle of the hall. I could see right away what Rodney was saying about the man, he was the ugliest, meanest looking vampire I’d ever seen. “I thought vampires were supposed to be beautiful?” I hissed at him as quietly as I could.

  “Yeah, luv, but they still ‘ave to work wiv what they was given, don’t they.”

  “Bloody hell, he must have been something to see when he was human.”

  Rodney grinned. “Face like a bag a’ spanners, I reckon.” He chuckled and I stifled a laugh.

  The girl looked like a child beside his bulk. Small boned and delicate, it seemed like a strong gust of wind would blow her away. Her hair was short and dark and emphasised large grey eyes. I could see a lot of the men giving her appreciative looks but her attention never wavered from Corvus. I didn’t like the intense look on her face, and I thought about what Inés had said; that there would be plenty of others who would offer him what I wouldn’t give. I bit my lip nervously and looked at him. He sat on a huge, throne-like chair, it was ancient and carved with crows, the symbol of his house, and he looked bored to death. I was reminded of the first time I had seen him at the council meeting, sat in a chair not dissimilar to this one. I had thought him beautiful and terrifying, and I’d been right on both counts.