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  The impressions from this space, as she cautiously opened her mind to it, were jumbled, slightly out of reach. Pulling back to close off the confusing impressions, Kenna smiled to herself as the answer came to her. She needed to see the original room Annedrine Franziska Elizza had inhabited in this castle. Kenna moved swiftly through the front room to the door. Nodding at Julianna with a rapid mental reassurance was all it took.

  On the other side of the door Kenna found the replacement guard, Boris. It was rather handy to have a personal guide, she mused.

  Expecting anyone named Boris to be huge, she was surprised to find a slightly taller than average, slender man in a stylish suit. None of the royal guard wore uniforms, much like a presidential detail would not draw attention that way. But there was nothing average about this man. Simply wearing a suit, he managed to look more GQ than Will Smith at a red-carpet event.

  The suavely handsome man smiled and bowed, stepping subtly aside to let her lead. His family had obviously included dark-skinned ancestors though it was hard to tell if they’d been from Africa, India or the Middle East.

  “Boris?” Kenna asked as she closed the apartment door.

  “Yes, my lady, a pleasure to serve you,” he responded in warmly cultured tones, his accent present but much smoother than most. His voice was as unique as his person. It was so deep Kenna thought it sounded like the voice of a black panther she’d once seen. Mysteriously smooth with the smallest hint of a gravelly purr in the background.

  Midnight-black hair matched the color of his eyes. The hair was combed straight back from his forehead and caught in a thick ponytail at the nape of his neck. Instead of making him look effeminate, the thick, tightly controlled hair added an air of masculine mystery. An impression his body continued. He was muscle built for speed that appeared casually relaxed.

  His eyes were captivating with a pronounced slant. A slightly hooked nose should have been less than attractive. Together with somewhat thin lips, it gave him a look that was sleek. Not a word she’d used on a person before, but there was no other for this man.

  Kenna immediately checked mentally, searching for him in the way she’d learned so recently. Finding his voice was surprisingly easy and as soon as she touched him mentally, he bowed again, acknowledging her, but those tilted eyes never left her face.

  She found his similarity to a cat even more pronounced. His demeanor and abilities seemed to include doing almost anything stealthily and gave him the aura of a dark feline that was willing to lazily watch the world until the cat was hungry. Then everything was prey. Kenna shivered and found she was very glad this talented individual was on her side of, well—anything.

  “Of course, my lady,” Boris acknowledged verbally with an ever so slight grin at her startled realization that he was reading her as well, at least to some extent.

  “Well, Sir Cat,” Kenna smiled at him, sharing their amusement, “I need someone to take me to the old queen’s chamber, the one that would have been used by my ancestor.”

  A sculpted eyebrow rose on Boris’ smooth face. “As you wish, my lady, but might I point out that your ancestor was never queen in this castle. Had she ever slept here it would have been in the royal guest rooms.”

  “Oh, of course. Do you know where those rooms are located?”

  “Yes, but they are storage rooms now. Not wired for lights or heat since they hold no real significance,” Boris explained. “If you wish to see them, I will get a flashlight, my lady.”

  “It’s the middle of the day. Don’t you think they have windows? Just take me there. I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Kenna insisted. Now that she’d settled on an action she was in a hurry to get to her destination. She didn’t know if it was the excitement of using her abilities or something else, but she didn’t want to hang around to find a flashlight.

  “As you wish.” Boris’ smile broadened and he indicated the direction they were to take with a graceful half bow and wave of his arm. It was an old-world, courtly gesture.

  Walking down the wide hallway beside Boris, Kenna immediately noticed that he made only the softest whisper of a sound, and she suspected she could only pick it up because of the enhanced senses. It was curiously unsettling. Most people’s clothes and shoes announced them with soft rustles and the little slap of shoe sole to floor. Glancing at him, she found humor in his eyes as he met her gaze. Just like a cat, he’d been aware of her slightest movement. The humor appeared nowhere else on his features.

  Boris casually started a monologue on their surroundings, his deep tones soothing as they moved. “This part of the castle is the modern addition. Construction started in 1685 after someone visited the royal French asses—ah, the French residence at Versailles.”

  Kenna interrupted him as she chuckled. “Why the animosity to the poor French monarchs?”

  The two of them had left the wide, ornate hall and were crossing a beautiful solarium that opened out to a wide patio with sitting arrangements. The garden below was a formal dreamland of white pebble paths and flowerbeds. Now that Boris had mentioned Versailles, Kenna saw the faint resemblance to those gardens.

  “History is graphically clear on the people’s opinion of taxes to support gold-gilded walls in palaces. Luckily, the lovely queen who gave us this addition had an equally practical husband king. He let her have the structural elegance without going nuts on the details. It made a balance of beauty the people can be proud of instead of a burden they would grow to resent,” Boris explained as they entered an obviously much older section of the building.

  Gray stone walls surrounded them. The window openings were tall and narrow as opposed to the expanses of glass used in the newer section. “This part has been used as a museum, my lady, so you will find we have tried to restore the original furnishing. However, much was lost in the communist era.”

  Boris led her out of the main rooms and into a narrow hallway, stopping at the first of several large wooden doors. “These were the guest rooms. Order of importance would be indicated by how far the room was from the main hall. So, the first room would logically be the most important or perhaps the most comfortable. I think this is the one you seek,” he stated as he pulled a flat little case out of his suit’s breast pocket. Swiftly he selected something and inserted it into the lock.

  “You’re picking that lock?” Kenna asked.

  “Of course I’m picking the lock. Who knows how long it would take to locate an actual key. I felt it was my duty to fulfill your wishes in the fastest way possible.” Boris grinned his satisfied-cat smile at her as the lock clicked and he swept the door open for her.

  Kenna laughed with him and stepped into the dark room.

  “Wait right here and I’ll find one of those windows to open.” Boris glided past her into the darkness.

  “How can you find one? We should have brought a flashlight,” Kenna murmured as her eyes began to adjust. She could feel Boris and knew exactly where he was with her Keeper senses, but suddenly she knew there was something else in the room. Kenna turned to face the other presence just as Boris triumphantly swished open a curtain. The stab of sunlight across dust-mote-filled air seemed to bend around a figure for a moment and then there was nothing.

  Kenna would have thought it was a trick of the light and dust if she hadn’t felt a presence before the curtain opened. She stood perfectly still, carefully shielding her emotions and reactions to guard against alarming Lore and every other nosy person she could connect to. Boris suddenly stilled and crouched in ready attack position.

  “Where?” Boris questioned urgently in her mind.

  “Where, what?” Kenna shot back at him mentally as she relaxed and turned to smile at him, trying to act casual.

  Boris straightened and wove his way around the sheet-covered furniture back to her. “You suddenly switched off like a light, my lady. I read that as danger and now I’m sure you are hiding something.” His tone was smooth as he continued. “You felt something and immediately dropped off the radar. Handy
trick but not exactly subtle, obviously you have no skill for deception.”

  Kenna was busy scanning the room. It was not huge but did have an eighteen-foot ceiling, creating the impression of cavernous space. It was jammed, haphazardly stacked with sheet-draped items, boxes and numerous large wooden crates of indiscriminate age. The air was thick with dust and that neglected smell of forgotten items.

  She hadn’t actually moved from where her feet were planted, just inside the door. Something about that indefinable presence kept her rooted to the spot. It wasn’t fear, but it wasn’t a welcome feeling either. Suddenly it came to her. The room felt owned, a private space. She was trespassing.

  “We should go.” Kenna grabbed Boris’ sleeve blindly and started backing up, dragging him.

  “Hey.” He frowned and glanced around. “Tell me what’s happening. Let me see it, little cousin, or I can’t protect you.” He became alarmed as she stepped backward over the threshold and maintained the clutching grip on his sleeve. All semblance of lazy reserve was gone as Boris became the hunter.

  Kenna read his intention to call backup and flashed her experience and impressions to him before he could. It wasn’t an emergency and she didn’t want to try to explain it to a group of battle-hungry jocks.

  “Ohhh, you met old Alex.” Boris chuckled and visibly relaxed. He swiftly opened his entire knowledge of Alexander Francis Jozef I, and the sightings of the ghost down through the centuries.

  Kenna released Boris’ arm and kept backing up ’til she was leaning against the cool stone wall across the hall from the door. Of course Lore was there with a gentle question in her mind. “Hon? Okay?”

  “Yes. Think I just met your ancestor,” she responded. “He seems nice enough. Should I be concerned?”

  “Don’t think so. You know what I know of him. Should I come find you?” Lore asked.

  Lore was deep in negotiations at the moment, Kenna made sure her answer was cheerful and completely unworried. “No, no. I’m fine. I’ll see you in a few hours.” She felt Lore recede and concentrate on his guest.

  Boris had stepped back and somehow managed to appear casually stylish while standing there doing nothing. “You knew I was talking to Lore?” Kenna asked.

  “Yes, my lady.” Boris smiled at her.

  “Damn nosy busybodies,” Kenna mumbled as she sifted through the confusing array of impressions trying to grab her attention. The dim, cool hallway abruptly felt cold and Kenna instinctively stretched her new listening knowledge.

  Surrounding her was a pressing sense of impending urgency that was confusing. It was both dark and something else. That something else was large but separate from the darkness. Both those were nothing like she’d just experienced in the old guest quarters.

  The instinct to investigate naturally turned her attention to the large presence she could feel shifting around the edge of her consciousness. She once again shut down the broadcast part of her talents in a natural reaction. Not sure exactly why she did that, Kenna gathered her new ability to mentally probe and aimed it at the thing. With a slightly wild mental push, she thrust into it.

  An impenetrable wall slammed up and shoved back at her, hard. It wasn’t trying to enter her mind as she had its. The being was ejecting her forcefully. The energy coming at her suddenly broke off and backdrafted into itself with an audible whoosh, and then silence. Kenna crumpled to the floor.

  For all his natural speed, Boris had no time to react to her dropping off the radar again. From the moment Kenna had disconnected, to her body crumpling had been perhaps two seconds. Boris fell to his knees and grabbed her with her head over his arm, her back supported by his thigh, he began gently shaking her and calling her name. Her eyes rolled back in her head. A trickle of blood appeared out of her ear and dripped onto his slacks.

  Immediately Boris contacted Lore on the public channel, wanting to know if anyone could feel her. The first daughter light was dimming and they could all feel the connection faltering.

  So wrapped up in the woman who seemed to be fading in his arms, Boris never saw the figure beside him. All he saw was a large hand reach down and cup the side of Kenna’s head. Even though Boris’ head jerked up, the figure was gone. Looking down at her, he found all evidence of blood gone from the side of her head. Her eyes slowly blinked open and every member of the Keepers felt the sudden surge as her connection flowed through them again.

  “What the fucking hell just happened?” Lore roared across the connection, he was already moving at a dead run in the direction he knew her to be. He’d been negotiating drilling rights and horseflesh in the far wing. Yuri could barely keep up with him as the two of them cut across the garden to the old castle.

  Around the expansive castle grounds men suddenly went into battle mode. Yuri was barking out orders on the common mental connection to seal the grounds. To the ones who were not connected it appeared bizarrely frightening as gates and doors slammed shut.

  In the hallway, Lore came to a skidding halt as Kenna now stood, staring blankly down the other end of the corridor. Boris was holding her elbow, and the normally dark guard was slightly pale. Kenna didn’t look around at Lore and Yuri as she held up a hand in a stop signal to them and stepped away from Boris.

  “Kenna?” Lore whispered cautiously. His every sense melded to hers and he felt what she felt.

  She was completely calm as she felt the remains of leashed power slipping away and yet not disconnecting completely. The other one who had been here was not malevolent. The traces of its passing were almost wistful in an incredibly sad way.

  “He is not gone but he is not here,” Kenna said quietly, and turned to Lore. Her arms came up, reaching for the comfort of his body as her compassionate soul felt the remnants of the being. It had touched her with healing power, but it had not been able to hide a core of pain so profoundly dark that even its awesome abilities could not shield it from her.

  It had not harmed her with its physical touch, but it had taken her blood into its being. They could feel it, knew she was connected to it in a way that defied all explanation. But that wasn’t exactly true. It almost defied all explanation. Again they were reminded that fairy tales and legends might not be fiction. It seemed only the warm fuzzy parts were make-believe.

  Lore looked at Boris. “Did the being take blood from you?”

  “What? No. I barely saw it,” Boris responded, his eyes narrowing on the couple. “Why do you ask, my lord?” he asked with growing concern. Looking down at his slacks, he noticed there was not even a mark where her blood had dripped on his leg.

  “It seems to have a taste for it,” Lore answered tightly.

  “Sir?” both Yuri and Boris asked in unison. In the personal communication, Lore had just ordered them to silence about the blood, even to the other Keepers.

  “We don’t know the answers,” Lore admitted to the obvious question. “But can you rule any fucking thing out, gentlemen? Look at the last twenty-four hours and tell me the unbelievable does not exist.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Lore swung Kenna up in his arms and strode toward the newer additions. The two guards flanked them, watching every corner with more than their eyes.

  The three men moved in tandem, a tight, fast formation that swept them to the king’s door. Kenna was aware of everything though her face remained buried in Lore’s neck.

  Chapter Eight

  Lore waited at the door as both guards swept the apartment for intruders.

  Every member of the community could feel the extreme unease of the royal couple, their certainty that something watched. A being who was different in ways that not even Keepers could feel comfortable with. Fear of that unknown thing spread through the Keepers.

  At the all-clear signal, Lore moved into the room and sank to a couch with Kenna clutched in his lap. His body surrounded her and she felt him shudder. In his mind, the word kept repeating, “Mine. Mine. She is mine…” With each repetition, his telepathic voice grew louder on that other level until
it was thundering. He was yelling it into the universe, repeating it to the one who listened. And they both knew it could hear him.

  Yuri and Boris instinctively backed up as Lore expanded with the power building in him. It was obvious he was changing as fury raced through him. His form did not transform, but his imprint on the space surrounding him was larger as power rippled through the air.

  The fear of losing her, how close death had been, was burning him in ways only she could see. It was bigger than the human in him, Kenna realized. It was the same kind of big she’d just felt next to her yet different. His extreme emotion accelerated changes, and that did not seem to be a wise path to take.

  Kenna’s hand came up and rested over his unmoving lips, the gesture quieted him. He stopped flinging his passionate possession of her into the universe and closed his eyes. Tiredly he rested his cheek on the crown of her head while pressing his lips to the precious palm over his mouth. Her lips gently touched his chest as he clutched her tightly.

  “It almost killed you,” he said when he was calm enough to communicate. “I will not allow that to occur, baby. There is nothing I will not do to prevent it.” He had to breathe deeply for a few seconds before he could continue. “I know I’m changing. Something about the connection between us is altering me. The power I feel now is unimaginable, but it is all focused on you, Kenna. Do you understand? I need you more with every increase. I am hungry for you in ways we don’t have words for.”

  Kenna answered calmly. “I am here. The creature healed me as soon as it knew it had hurt me. You know it was shocked when I thrust into it. I think it was my fault that it pushed back. Not knowing what I was doing made the push seem like a surprise attack. The beast was simply defending itself.”

  “No. Power like that carries the responsibility to be aware at all times. I do not excuse it just because it healed you. And what kind of thing takes your blood? It took without permission. In the changes affecting both of us, we are aware that the blood is the ultimate connection. Damn! I sure as hell don’t like where this is taking us.” Lore cursed in Hungarian as he felt the ramifications of his changing body that saw her blood as the ultimate bond between them.