L.W. going blind would just be one more thing that Wrath would have handled better than her.
“Come on, let’s go see our new…home.”
She didn’t wait for an answer. Didn’t expect one. He never talked much.
Canning the engine, she got out and looked at the house. It was a cheerful four-bedroom that was painted buttercup yellow and had a porch in front and a couple of chimneys poking through the roof. The shutters and trim were white, and the walkway that bisected the front yard was brick. The trees were tall, but new-ish, transplanted from some nursery somewhere, and their leaves were a vibrant green against the bright blue summer sky.
Breathing in through her nose, the perfume of freshly cut grass mixed with the new construction sweetness of pine boards, paint, and asphalt sealer. The latter was all about a fresh start, and she told herself this was going to work.
Thishadto work.
Three years to make this new group location a reality, from the purchase of the tract of land, to all the architectural and engineering planning, to the work above and belowground. Millions of dollars spent. An entire community about to be displaced.
“I’m going to feel better here.” This was a tagline she’d turned into a mantra. “This is going to be better.”
The five other houses in the cul-de-sac were just as nothing-to-see, nothing-out-of-order, nothing-happening-here. Like this was totallynota vampire colony setting up shop in the middle of all kinds of humans living their lives.
Ah, yes, the old hide-in-plain-sight thing, a defensive strategy the species had followed for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Snapping back to attention, she forced herself to open the back seat door and bend down to L.W. As she released the buckle clip right over his sternum, she tripped and fell into the future.
Black daggers. Strapped to her son’s chest, handles down. Him, going out to fight in the war with the others.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” She released the harness and flipped his soft arms out from the nylon straps. “You’ll be King, and you will be safe because you won’t fight.”
Unlike your fucking father.
As she pulled her son out and hitched him onto her hip, she bumped the door shut and hit the brick walkway. She was so grateful that she got to feel the hot, late-afternoon sunlight on her face, on her body. Ever since Wrath had died, she’d been so cold on the inside, no matter the season, no matter the layers she wore. And though she didn’t usually give much thought to her half-breed status, she appreciated it now. Thanks to her mother’s human side, she could go out during the day, and God,she remembered Wrath’s utter terror the first time she’d tried it out right after her transition.
But it had been okay. She’d been just fine back then.
Continuing up on to the porch, she stopped at the front door and checked out the cameras. They were everywhere, and more than that, Vishous had surrounded the development with a boundary ofmhis. The force field of disorientation and dread was a deterrent for anybody who thought they might like to try to get over the security wall or through the front gate.
And then there was her escort.
Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded at the shimmering disturbance that was about fifty yards away. Lassiter, the fallen angel who was in charge of the non-temporal realm, was standing guard in a way the Brotherhood could not. He knew she wasn’t looking for company, though, and she appreciated the space he was giving her.
Actually, she hadn’t told anybody she was coming here. He knew everything, though, after stepping into the metaphysical shoes of the Scribe Virgin how many years ago? Man, she pitied him on all that insider information on people’s fates. With the way things had ended up for her, she was so glad she hadn’t known what was coming.
Taking out a copper key, she threw the dead bolt and pushed the door open. As the sunlight rushed in over her shoulders, the varnished hardwood floors glowed like they’d been coated with honey. No furniture or rugs inside yet, but Fritz and all thedoggenwere going to move into the aboveground houses in the next couple of days, so Wayfair deliveries were coming.
It was the perfect ruse for humans, a community of octogenarians with sweet faces, who lived with their younger generations. Of course, getting the staff to agree to the residences had been a struggle. None of thedoggenwere comfortable with such nice digs, but it wasn’t like a neighborhood of empty houses was going to carry the lie.
Beth had had to put down an order.
Stepping over the threshold, she shut things, and headed for the back. Her footfalls echoed all around, the unadorned walls playing backboard for the sharp volley of her shoes, and she could have done without the lonely soundtrack. Soon enough, she entered the bright and cheerful kitchen and crossed directly to the walk-in pantry. Talk about your grocery shopping. The now-filled shelves were set with an orderly selection of dried goods, snacks, boxes of spaghetti, and the preserves of fruits and vegetables.
So like Fritz. To hell with beds or a couch, work came first. Bet the laundries were filled with detergents and fabric softeners already.
Underneath the Ball jars of peaches, she triggered the release.
The pantry door was immediately covered by a steel panel, and then a side pocket opened up and a retinal reader extended out on an arm. After she tilted forward and a beam scanned her right eye, there was an airlock release, and the section of shelves swung open. The hallway that was revealed was also steel, and when she entered, she and her son were once again locked in.
There was a pause, and she thought about what V had always said:“With safety comes inconvenience.”
Moments later, the wall in front of her shifted to the left to reveal a steel staircase which she entered and descended. At the bottom, there was yet another steel door, and she had to wait to be allowed in again.
Finally, she and L.W. were in the underground corridor that ran in a circle for a good half mile, connecting all the private residences, one to another. There were also spokes fromeach suite of rooms that funneled into the center’s common meeting space.
