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  “When Edwina first showed us she was a vampire, I desperately wished you were here,” she said. “That must be when you sensed my need for you. Edwina took her time with us, threatening and tormenting me. When she finally got ready to bite Cali, I somehow knocked Edwina back…with my thoughts, I think.”

  Rave seemed to take her statement in stride. “Like the wastebasket,” he said.

  “Yeah, like the wastebasket.”

  “Wait a minute,” Cali said. “That was you who did that to Edwina?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Leesa briefly explained about the Red Bull can and the wastebasket.

  “Wow,” Cali said, her voice filled with amazement. “This just keeps getting cooler and cooler.” She grinned. “You’re a superhero, too.”

  “Ha! I wish. I don’t have any control over it. I wasn’t even sure if those other things really happened, or if I just imagined them.” Leesa turned to Rave. “When Edwina went after Cali the second time, I couldn’t do anything to stop her, no matter how hard I tried. Then Stefan showed up out of nowhere. He took care of Edwina.”

  “It was amazing,” Cali said. “I never saw anyone move so fast. He ripped half her throat out before I could even blink.”

  “You haven’t seen Rave move yet,” Leesa said proudly. “He’s faster.”

  “Why did Stefan turn against one of his own?” Rave asked. Ever since his first encounter with Stefan, which Leesa had bravely interrupted and stopped, Rave had thought he and Stefan were destined to test one another’s power again one day. His anger over Stefan’s attempt to turn Leesa into a vampire had solidified the feeling. Now, he didn’t know. Perhaps fate had something else in store for them. He didn’t like the idea of being indebted to a vampire, but if Stefan had stopped Edwina, then Rave owed him a great deal.

  “I don’t really know why he did it,” Leesa admitted. “I know he felt something special for me when he wanted to make me his consort, but I thought that ended when he found out he couldn’t turn me. He said he had warned Edwina to stay away from me, and when she didn’t, she had to be punished for disobeying him. I don’t know if it was more about me or about her disobedience.”

  “I have no idea what you two are talking about now,” Cali said, “but I’m glad Stefan showed up when he did.”

  “Me, too,” Leesa said. She turned to Rave. “How long can you stay this time?” she asked.

  Rave smiled. “How about forever?”

  Leesa’s heart jumped. Had she just heard what she thought she’d heard? She looked up into Rave’s smiling eyes. “Forever” had a very nice ring to it.

  “Really?” she managed to say finally. “You don’t have to go back to New Hampshire?”

  “I told Balin I would not be coming back, that I needed to stay closer to you.” Rave’s smile widened into a big grin. “I don’t know how one girl can keep getting into so much trouble, but somehow you manage to do it. Balin said he would take care of any problem there might be with the Council. My people will all be returning in a few days, anyhow. Destiratu remains a problem, but the effects of the solstice seem to be ended.”

  This was the best news Leesa had heard in a long time. She wrapped her arm around Rave and snuggled against him. Before she could say anything, she felt his body suddenly stiffen. He shoved her behind him and spun toward the door. His fingers began to glow blue, but he kept his hands hidden behind his back.

  Leesa peeked out from behind him and saw a man standing in the doorway.

  44. A MYSTERIOUS GUEST

  The man in the doorway did not appear threatening, but the blue flames flickering from Rave’s fingertips told Leesa he thought differently. The stranger was tall and slender, dressed in a worn black jacket and plain khaki pants. He looked to Leesa like he was in his late forties or early fifties, but it was difficult to tell for sure. His tan face was only lightly lined, but his dark hair was speckled with more than a little gray and his neatly trimmed goatee showed even more of the salty color than his hair. His pale blue eyes were so light in color they looked almost gray as well.

  The man held his hands up in front of his chest in a gesture of peace.

  “Douse your fire, volkaane,” he said, making no move to enter. “I am no threat to any of you, I promise.”

  Leesa was dumbfounded. Rave’s hands were still hidden behind his back—how had the guy known Rave was a volkaane? And how many people even knew about volkaanes in the first place? The flames slowly disappeared from Rave’s fingertips, but his fingers still glowed blue.

  “What is it, Rave? What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure. There is more to him than meets the eye. Like me, he is something more than human.”

  Leesa knew volkaanes could sense the presence of vampires—did that mean the man standing in her doorway was a vampire? No, he couldn’t be. Rave would be reacting much more protectively if he was, she knew that for certain. Apparently, Rave’s special senses were not just limited to vampires. That meant this guy was something else—something Rave was not familiar with. The thought was very troubling.

  “My name is Dominic,” the man said. His eyes went from Leesa to Cali before fixing on Leesa. “And you would be Leesa?”

  Leesa nodded. “How do you know who I am?” she asked.

  “The answer to that is more complicated than you can know, and will take some time to explain,” Dominic said. “May I come in?”

  Leesa looked to Rave. The blue was gone from his fingers now, but she could tell he was still alert and ready to react. Standing this close to him, she could feel that his heat was still raised above its normal level, too. Yes, he was definitely ready.

  “First, tell me who—and what—you are,” Rave said to Dominic.

  Dominic leaned against the doorframe and smiled. He looked to Leesa like a man who was finally allowing himself a bit of rest at the end of a long task.

  “I am truly glad to find Leesa has a volkaane to look after her,” he said. “I never expected such good fortune. I will tell you everything you wish to know, but what I have to say is for Leesa’s and your ears only.”

  Cali got up from the bed. “I can take a hint,” she said. She gave Leesa a quick hug and then grinned. “Besides, if I hear any more secrets today, my poor little head will burst.” She moved toward the door, then paused. “Just make sure to let me know everything is okay when this is finished, okay?”

  “For sure,” Leesa said.

  Dominic stepped back from the doorway to let Cali by. Leesa was pleased to see him move back, rather than forward into the room. He was clearly waiting for permission to come in. Somehow, she found that comforting—until she remembered that many stories claimed vampires could not enter a room unless they were invited in. The thought chilled her. Was something similar going on here?

  When Cali was gone, Dominic moved back to the doorway. “You asked who I was,” he said to Rave. “The answer to that is quite complicated, and will take some time to explain. Let me begin by telling you that I am the man who called Leesa a month or so ago.”

  Leesa’s mouth fell open. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it wasn’t this. Out of nowhere, the man who claimed to be her father was standing in her doorway. Some of her questions, it seemed, were finally about to be answered. She felt both relieved and anxious.

  “You said you were my father. How is that possible?”

  “That was probably a poor choice of words,” Dominic said, “although it many ways it is true. I think it would be better if you sat down, and if you invited me in.”

  Leesa hesitated. “Could you come in even if we didn’t invite you?” she asked finally.

  The corners of Dominic’s mouth twitched into a tiny grin, as if he knew exactly what Leesa was thinking.

  “Yes, I could,” he replied. “And believe me, should I choose to enter, neither of you could not stop me. But I will not do so without your permission. I am a friend—you will see that before long.”

  Leesa looked to Rave, who nodded. />
  “Come in, then,” she said.

  Dominic moved into the room and quietly shut the door behind him. Rave kept himself partially between Leesa and Dominic, still unsure where this was going. He could sense power in the man, but it seemed veiled, at least to his volkaane senses.

  “Please, sit,” Dominic said to Leesa.

  Leesa took two steps backward and sat down on the edge of her bed. Rave moved alongside her, but remained standing, still protective. She took his hand and squeezed it gently.

  “You’re limping,” Dominic said to Leesa, his voice filled with concern. “Are you hurt?”

  Leesa was surprised Dominic had noticed her limp in the two short steps she had taken to get to the bed.

  “No, I’m fine. It’s something I was born with. It’s no big deal.”

  Dominic was silent for a moment. Leesa could not know it, but he was wondering if her limp was the result of his actions eighteen years ago.

  He reached for the desk chair. “May I?”

  “Sure. Go ahead,” Leesa said.

  Dominic lifted the chair and deposited it in the middle of the room. He turned it to face Leesa, took off his coat, and sat down.

  “Before I begin, I must ask you a question. Were you responsible for the magic I sensed earlier today?”

  The question took Leesa by complete surprise. How had he known about that?

  “I think so,” she said after a moment. “But I’m not really sure.”

  Dominic smiled. She saw warmth in his pale eyes.

  “I am not surprised by that,” he said. “I imagine you have experienced more than a few things in these last months that you have not been able to fully understand.”

  Again, his words surprised Leesa. Did he know about her dreams, and about her apparent ability to move things with her thoughts? How was that possible?

  “Yeah, a couple,” she admitted. She was not ready to reveal anything specific yet.

  “May I ask what you moved this afternoon?” Dominic asked. “You used quite a bit of power. Much more than I thought you would be able to control at this point.”

  So much for keeping her ability to move things secret, Leesa thought. She decided she might as well tell him.

  “I don’t really have any control over it,” she said. “It just sort of comes out sometimes. Today, I needed it. I wasn’t even trying to do it. When I tried to do it again, I couldn’t.”

  “I’m not surprised. As I said, it was much more powerful than anything I would have expected from you. So tell me, what did you move—to require so much power?”

  “A vampire,” Leesa said.

  Dominic’s right eyebrow shot up in surprise.

  “She was going to bite my best friend,” Leesa explained. “Somehow, I managed to knock her away—once, at least.”

  “A vampire, you say?” Dominic shook his head in amazement. “I will want to hear more about that, and about any other things you may have experienced as well. But I expect you will feel more comfortable after you have learned a bit more about me.”

  Rave had been watching and listening with keen interest. “As would I,” he said.

  “It’s a long story,” Dominic said. “I will try to cover the highlights now, and fill in any questions later. Does that sound okay to both of you?”

  “Yeah, it sounds great,” Leesa said. She could feel her heart beginning to beat faster. She was finally about to get some answers!

  45. DOMINIC’S STORY

  “To start with,” Dominic said, “I am a wizard. My people were known as waziri. Perhaps Rave has heard the name. My people had dealings with volkaanes many years ago.”

  “Yes, I have heard of your kind,” Rave said.

  Leesa sensed a slight lessening in Rave’s guard when Dominic said he was a waziri.

  “Rave mentioned the name to me,” she said, “when I told him about some of the things that were happening.”

  “We are a clan of wizards,” Dominic said. “Or, at least we were.”

  “Were?” Rave asked.

  The sadness that descended over Dominic’s eyes was unmistakable.

  “I am the only one left, the only one I know of, at least,” he said after a moment. “The rest are dead—or changed into something no longer recognizable as waziri.”

  Leesa did not like the sound of that at all.

  “What happened?” Rave asked.

  “That’s another long story, whose details can wait until another time, I think. In brief, some of my brethren were seduced toward the dark arts and were banished for practicing forbidden magic. One night, they returned and attacked. Though they were fewer in number than us, the battle was never really in doubt. They possessed the same powers we did, and more. The surprise attack and their dark arts were the difference. At the end, there were but two of us left, against more than a half-dozen of the renegades. I survived only because Denethon, the most powerful wizard among us, sacrificed himself so that I might escape and keep the hopes of our clan alive, meager as they might be. I wanted to stay and fight, but Denethon insisted I go. I have no doubt he vanquished one or two more of our enemies before he fell, but fall he did. I felt his life force leave him. Fortunately, by then I was beyond the grasp of our foes.”

  “When did this all happen?” Rave asked.

  “More than a hundred years ago. I have been in hiding ever since, biding my time, hoping one day to right this wrong, or at least to thwart some of their plans.”

  “What are their plans?” Leesa asked nervously.

  “Those who were banished joined with an old enemy,” Dominic replied. “He goes by many names, most of them unpronounceable in your tongue. He is sometimes called the Necromancer.”

  Leesa gasped, remembering Dr. Clerval mentioning that name when they were discussing her zombie dreams.

  “You have heard the name before, I see. From Rave, perhaps?”

  “No, from one of my professors,” Leesa explained. “He’s an expert about vampires, but he knows lots of other stuff, too.”

  “What did he tell you about the Necromancer?”

  “I don’t remember, exactly. Something about dead people, though. He didn’t know anything real specific.”

  “The Necromancer seeks dominion over death,” Dominic said. “For centuries, he has sought to raise an army of the dead and to use them to bring the world under his rule. My people long opposed him, until the traitors crossed to his side.”

  “If the Necromancer has been at this for so long, why haven’t we ever heard anything about it?” Leesa asked.

  “You have,” Dominic said. “Human cultures are filled with tales of the walking dead. But you couch them in stories meant to scare children, not as histories.”

  Images from her dreams rose up in Leesa’s head. “Are you saying this has actually happened? That the dead have risen from their graves?”

  “Not recently, no. But yes, it has occurred, more than once over the ages. Each time, the Necromancer seems to gain a little more control over them. A hundred years ago, when he began successfully raising the dead in isolated areas of Eastern Europe, the waziri stopped him. We pooled our magic and created a seal between the world of the living and the world of the dead. He has undoubtedly been seeking to break the seal ever since.”

  Leesa recalled Dr. Clerval telling her about stories from Eastern Europe of gangs of walking dead attacking villagers. Dominic was confirming those tales were true. She wondered if her dreams were a sign the Necromancer was beginning to penetrate the waziri seal.

  “Do you think that’s where he still is?” she asked. “In Eastern Europe, I mean?”

  “I sincerely hope so,” Dominic said, for that would mean Leesa was still as safe as she could be. “I could locate him if I wished, but doing so would be like lighting a beacon to show him where I am. Indeed, almost any use of my powers would reveal me, and I am not yet ready to face him and his renegade minions.”

  Leesa decided it was time to tell Dominic about her dreams.
r />   “I’ve had several dreams about bodies rising from the grave,” she said.

  Dominic’s face grew tight at Leesa’s revelation. “Tell me about the dreams,” he said.

  Leesa described her three zombie dreams and then told Dominic how she had later seen something similar to each one on the news. Halfway through her story, Dominic got up from his chair and began pacing around the room.

  “This is ill news,” he said when Leesa finished. “If what you say is true, it means the Necromancer is beginning to learn how to break our seals. I had hoped we would have more time—much more time.”

  Leesa stifled a yawn. It was still early—why was she so tired? It certainly wasn’t because Dominic’s story was boring her. She was eager to hear everything he could tell her. So why was she having so much difficulty shaking her fatigue?

  “You are tired,” Dominic said. “Forgive me. I should have expected this, and explained it to you sooner.”

  “What do you mean? Explained what?”

  “The amount of power you employed earlier would have drained even a trained wizard a bit. It has no doubt drained you far more. You need to get some rest. We can continue this tomorrow.”

  “Not yet,” Leesa said. “There’s still one thing I have to know, if I’m going to get any useful sleep. Why did you say you were my father? What did you mean by that?”

  Dominic sat back down and blew out a deep breath. “That’s another very complicated story. For now, I’ll try to make it as simple as possible.”

  He took a moment to gather his thoughts. Leesa watched him anxiously, wondering where this would lead.

  “You need to understand a little background on the waziri,” Dominic began. “Each of us may pass along our magic but once in our lives. We usually choose a child, someone in whom we sense the proper qualities, and impart out powers to him. From that moment on, we mentor him, training him for the moment he turns eighteen, when his magic becomes active.”

  “You keep saying ‘he’ and ‘him,’” Rave said. “What does this have to do with Leesa? Were not the waziri always men?”