Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(64)
Author: Kim Harrison

"You screwed up, Chrissie!" Kisten shouted, but his lips were quirking in a faint smile only we three could see. "Talk to him. Find out what he wants."

Get one of us the hell off this bridge, I thought to myself.

"He wants my baby!" she said, clutching Audric.

"Well, it’s his boy."

"He abandoned us!" she shrieked, and I risked a look to see that the old couple on the bench was still there.

"You left him, which is why he’s here with his balls in his hands, begging."

Sean stiffened, and seeing he was pushing it, Kisten eased back. "Give the guy a break," he added. "Talk to him."

Chrissie was one hell of an actress, but still my heart was pounding when she looked at the scum backed by his ten guys. "What do you want, Sean?" she asked. "Joint custody?"

He laughed. "Sure. Joint custody," he said, telling me if he touched the boy, he would be gone forever.

"You just want him because your hickey-sucker died," she said bitterly. "Go to hell."

The men from the van inched closer. "Can we please get off this bridge?" I muttered.

Kisten eyed them, then nodded almost imperceptibly. "Sean, get back. We’re coming off the bridge to talk."

We took a step forward, then froze at the sight of three weapon muzzles pointing at us. Oh, how nice. Vampires with guns.

"Stay there," Sean said. "You and the witch don’t move. Chrissie and the boy, come here."

My eyebrows rose. Right . . . Just how stupid did he think we were? But if he wanted me to stay where I was, he had figured out I was at least partially helpless here. Crap.

Chrissie looked pained, and Kisten reached out to take Audric. "Just talk to him, sis," he said softly. "The I.S. is bound to show up eventually."

God, what I would give for my backup right now.

Audric went easily into Kisten’s arms, and I wondered at the complete trust the boy had, coupled with his instinctive understanding of how deep into the shit we all were. He was terrified, but there were no tears, just trust that we would die for him. Well, Kisten and Chrissie might. Dead was dead for me, so I was going to be a little more careful.

"Audric stays," Kisten said as Chrissie walked slowly toward her ex, and Sean grinned.

"Can’t blame me for trying," he said.

Can’t blame me for wanting to jam my elbow into your nose, I thought, my knees starting to shake from the accumulated adrenaline.

Chrissie got to the end of the bridge and waited for them to back off a good eight feet before walking between them. I didn’t feel any less secure standing here with only Kisten. Chrissie didn’t know how to fight, so her help would have been chancy at best.

Kisten jiggled Audric as his mother moved a small distance away and started to talk under the trees. My tension eased into a ready state, and I started to notice what was going on outside of the narrow space around us. The park was empty but for those two old people on the bench. The wind was just as fresh and the sun just as bright, but the fear in that little boy was enough to chill the strongest soul.

The vampires from the van had dropped back, and I watched them close to make sure no one slid under the bridge to take us from surprise. That they might was probably why Sean agreed to this . . . parley.

"How you holding up, Sport?" Kisten said as he sat Audric on the wide cement railing.

The boy blinked several times, and took a deep breath, relaxing as he intentionally took in the pheromones Kisten was giving off. "I’m scared," he admitted when he could.

"That’s okay." Kisten laid a hand on his shoulder. "This is scary shit. But your mom is smart. She takes good care of you, right?"

He nodded.

"Good." Kisten looked over at his sister, violently arguing with Sean. "She loves you very much. Never forget that. No matter what happens."

It sounded like final advice, and that had me worried. There was a good chance the I.S. wouldn’t respond, especially if Piscary had arranged the abduction himself, either to bring Chrissie in line or to cement relations with the outside camarilla of vampires. In that case, we were really on our own.

Audric squinted in the sun up at me, then Kisten. "Are you and Ms. Rachel going to get married?" he asked from nowhere.

My mouth dropped open, and Kisten started. "Ah, not today, Sport. Maybe someday."

Oh God. I’d forgotten kids were like that, and I warmed.

"Do you kiss her?" the boy asked.

Kisten grinned as his hand fell from Audric’s shoulder. "Every chance I get."

Audric thought about that for a moment as he picked at a bit of mortar and dropped it into the water for the bridge troll to eat. "Mommy says if you love someone, and you like kissing them, and they don’t ever, ever hurt you, you should marry them."

If only it was that simple.

Audric squinted up at me, and I panicked, not knowing what had come into that little brain and was now going to come out his mouth. "Do you hurt Uncle Kisten?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer-it was a disturbing question for anyone but a vampire child-but Kisten beat me to it. "Only my heart, Audric," he said. "Ms. Rachel is like the sun. See her sparkling there with the wind in her hair and fire in her eyes? You can’t catch the sun. You can only feel its touch on your face. And if you get too much of it, it burns you."

It had been nice until the end, and I made a sour face.

"Maybe you should kiss her in the dark," was Audric’s next thought, and I smiled.

"That’s a good idea," Kisten said as he handed him the bag of cold takeout. "Why don’t you feed the ducks."

It was a good distraction, but that frightened, brave little boy kept an eye on his mother the entire time he coaxed the ducks in. He was wise beyond his six years, and I wondered what his life had been like so far, protected by his mother, shielded from a master vampire’s view. Seeing. Knowing. Helpless.

I watched Kisten break apart the folded bit of bland pastry for him, knowing that their bond went deeper than uncle and nephew. They were the same, only at different places, and seeing them together, the sun glinting on their hair and their thoughts on their future as they calmly fed the ducks, I felt sick.

Kisten felt my misery, and he turned. Seeing my expression, he murmured a few words to Audric and left him with a handful of fried bread.

"The sun, eh?" I said as he stood beside me.

Kisten brushed by that, telling me how worried he was. "Sharps isn’t here, is he?"

I shook my head, watching Audric feed the ducks as his future hung in the balance of the next few minutes. "He looks a lot like you," I offered.