Page 21 of Love Lives
"How do we wake him?" Jared asked.
"Talk to him... the three stones..." Ghost-Dad struggled to speak. Maybe the connection was growing weak. Of course. That always happened at crucial moments, didn't it? Just when the murder victim was about to name their killer...
Remy slumped over as the ghost left him, nearly face-planting on the floor. Elena still had one hand on his shoulder, though, and caught him before he could hurt himself. He stared at her groggily. "That was... wow," he murmured. "Super weird."
Aldrich let out a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. Remy seemed fine. He straightened now. Still sitting on the floor, but not like he was about to fall over again. He grinned at his sister. "You really did it, Elle."
"No, you did," she gave back, even though she was smiling too.
Suddenly, Puck spoke up, stepping forward. "Want to try something more challenging?"
Both Elena and Remy looked at him in confusion.
Puck showed them a notebook not unlike the one that lay on the floor before them. "There's another ancestor you could talk to."
"What are you talking about?" Elena demanded.
"Atlus," Puck said simply. "The witch who bore the first dhampir child? This journal belonged to him."
A moment passed without anyone speaking, all eyes on Puck and the notebook.
Remy was the first to find his words again. "While that's fascinating, I don't know how it would help us."
"Where's your imagination?" Puck asked. "But fine, I'll tell you. For one, according to this journal, Atlus believed in prophecies and future-sight and might well have foreseen these events, in which case, he might have some useful input. There's also the fact that he did extensive research on vampires and would know what your Daddy was trying to tell you. And if that's not enough, he might be able to tell us how to remind Vlad of his true nature, restoring your powers to full capacity. I believe that should suffice, wouldn't you agree?"
Remy gaped at Puck, then shifted his focus to Elena. "Do you think it's possible?"
"Might be hard, considering how long he's been dead."
"Can't hurt to try," Remy said.
Aldrich tried not to groan as he listened to the conversation. Wasn't it enough that it had worked once? Did they really have to do this again?
Silly mortals.
They couldn't be deterred, though. Jared got Elena a bottle of blood from the fridge, she took a few quick gulps, and then they tried their routine again. There was that humming again, the weird way Remy fell into sync with his sister. His eyes closed, the crystals flashed... Aldrich expected Remy’s irises to turn black once more, but his eyes didn't open again.
"Might take a little while longer to establish the connection," Talon mused.
Aldrich nodded, even as he kept his gaze focused on Remy. Remy's breathing was steady, but his eyes remained closed and he wasn’t moving. He looked as if he was asleep.
After another minute, Elena removed her hand from her brother's shoulder. "I don't think this is working," she said.
Still, Remy didn't move.
"Remy?" Elena tried.
No response.
In a flash, Aldrich was by Remy's side. Screw whatever he'd said about not saving this mortal's ass again if anything went wrong. "C'mon, squish, wake up. Game's over."
Puck appeared at Remy's other side. "Interesting," he mused. "Maybe his soul leaned too far out?"
"Fix it," Aldrich snapped at the witch.
"Calm down." Puck rested a hand against Remy's forehead and kept it there for a few seconds as if listening for something with his fingers. "He's fine."
"He doesn'tlookfine," Aldrich insisted, and just that moment, Remy's skin lit up as if he'd swallowed a thousand light bulbs. For two heartbeats, he illuminated the room, blinding Aldrich. The vampire squeezed his eyes shut. The light disappeared just as quickly as it had flashed up, though. Once it was gone, Remy's body relaxed and tipped toward the floor once more.
