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"The People," Julie said, understanding in her eyes.
"Exactly. My father chose to call himself Roland and started gathering individuals with the ability to navigate vampires. He organized them into the People."
The People were a cross between a corporation and a research institute. Professional and brutally efficient, they maintained large stables of vampires and had a chapter in every major city.
"Nobody ever talks about Roland," I told her. "Most people don't know he exists. And almost nobody, not even the navigators, know that shortly after he awoke, Roland fell in love. Her name was Kalina and she also had powerful magic. She could make anyone love her. Kalina wanted a baby, so Roland decided to give her one. I was that baby."
Julie opened her mouth. I raised my hand. If she interrupted me, I might not get through this.
"My father always had issues with his children. They turned out powerful and smart, and as soon as they wised up, they tried to nuke him. Roland changed his mind and decided I'd be better off not being born. My mother knew that to save me she had to run away. She needed a protector, and Roland's warlord, Voron, seemed like a good choice. Voron was bound to Roland by a blood ritual, and my mother had to use every bit of her power to make Voron love her, so much so that she made Voron slightly insane."
"So she basically used him," Julie said.
"You got it. Together they ran away. My mother gave birth to me, but Roland was closing in on them. She knew that Voron was better suited to keeping the baby alive and Roland would never stop chasing her, so she stayed behind to buy Voron time. Roland caught up with her and killed her. Voron ran with me and then spent every moment of his life training me so one day I could kill my own father."
Julie turned pale.
I waited for her to digest all of it.
"Do you want to kill him?"
That was a complicated question. "I will if I have to, but I won't go out looking for him. I have Curran and you. All I want to do right now is keep both of you safe. But if Roland ever finds me, he will confront me, Julie, and I'm not sure I would survive. Remember the picture of a man I showed you? Hugh d'Ambray?"
I'd given it to her a few weeks ago and told her that he was an enemy. At the time I wasn't ready for long explanations.
"Yes."
"Hugh is Voron's replacement. He's Roland's new warlord. Not many people know about the lost baby, but he does. He stumbled across me and now he's very interested."
Now came the hard part. "When you were turning loup, I couldn't heal you. Nobody could heal you. So I . . ." Robbed you of your free will. ". . . cleaned your blood with mine to burn off the Lyc-V. It was the only choice. Without it, I would've had to kill you."
Julie stared at me.
"We're bound now. Some of my magic is yours. My blood contaminated you. I dreamed tonight. I saw a plain, a sunset, and towers. And I saw you and called you."
"What does it mean?" Julie whispered. "Does that mean Roland is in our heads?"
"I don't know. I don't know if we're seeing the past or the future or if it's my father messing with our minds from several states away. Whatever the hell it is, it isn't good. You have to take precautions. Don't leave your blood where it can be found. If you bleed, burn the bandages. If you bleed a lot, set the scene on fire or dump bleach on it. Hide your magic as much as you can. I'm not planning on dying. I will come back and I will help you sort this out. But if something happens to us, Jim knows. You can trust him."
A door swung open behind us. Doolittle stepped into the room.
"Doolittle knows, too." I told her. "There are some books in my room. I'll make you a list of what you need to read . . ."
Maddie stirred. A bulge rolled across her chest, like a tennis ball sliding just under her skin.
"Involuntary movements," Doolittle said. "Nothing to worry about."
I realized my hand was holding Slayer's hilt and let go. If Maddie went loup and lunged out of that tank at Julie, I would cut her down with no hesitation. That thought made my insides churn.
Julie's eyes were huge on her face.
"It will be okay," I told her.
"I don't think it will," Julie said. "Nothing is okay. Nothing will be okay."
She stood up.
"Julie . . ."
I watched her walk out. The door clanged shut. That didn't go the way I'd wanted it to. I wanted a do-over, but in life you rarely get those.
Doolittle was looking at me. "It's good you told her."
It didn't feel good. It felt downright crappy. "I need a favor."
"If it is within my power," he said.
"Curran and I have both written our wills. If I don't come back, Meredith will take care of Julie. I've already spoken to her. But if I don't come back, at some point, Julie may come to you for answers. I'd like you to have my blood. Studying it might help." He'd already done some analysis on it once. He would be the best person to study it more.
Doolittle rubbed his face, hesitated-as if deciding-and finally said, "This trip is a foolish endeavor."
"There is a chance we will succeed."
"A very small chance. We can't trust these people. They don't intend to honor their promises."
"I'll force them to honor them, if I have to. I can't sit by Maddie and watch her die a little bit every day. It's not in me, Doc."
"It is not in me either," he said. "I'm afraid we're drawing it out. Delaying the inevitable only leads to more suffering. That's why death must be quick and painless."
"You told me once that we don't have a choice in what we are. We do have a choice in who we are. I'm the person who must get on that boat or I won't be able to ever look Maddie's mother in the eye. Will you please draw my blood?"
Doolittle sighed. "Of course I will."
* * *
"Kate?"
Curran's voice slipped through my dream. Mmmm . . . I smiled and opened my eyes, still half-asleep. Curran leaned over me. My handsome psycho. When I came back from speaking with Julie, I crawled into bed. I awoke a couple of hours later when he slid into bed next to me. He pulled me close, his body so warm against mine. We made love and I fell asleep on his chest.
"Kate?" Curran repeated. "Baby?"
I reached over and touched his cheek just to make sure he was really there. "You should stay in bed with me."
"I'd love to," he said. "But I just spoke with Barabas."
"Mm-hm." He really was ridiculously handsome in a gruff, kill-anything-that-moves way. Exactly how I liked it. "What did he say?"
