Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond(65)
Author: Kim Harrison

Kisten’s brow smoothed to make him beautiful. "He’s got the Phelps eyes."

"And his dad’s hair," I added.

Wincing, Kisten ran a hand through his own dyed strands. "And his mother’s smarts. God, I hate it when this happens. It’s hard to keep the beautiful children from them."

He meant a master vampire, not Sean. And my face went cold as I finally understood what was going on. That’s why Sean had taken an interest. Not for him, but for his master. Audric was going to be a present. A freaking gift. "He’s six years old!" I hissed, clutching my arms around my middle.

His eyes on his feet, Kisten nodded. "That’s why he had an affair with Chrissie. He wanted a pretty child to offer his master other than his own."

Frantic, I shifted, frustrated and helpless. This was not going to happen. It wasn’t!

"A pretty child?" I exclaimed, then dropped my voice. Audric was scared enough.

Kisten pulled his gaze up. I could see an old fear, shame, maybe, deep in his thoughts. "A master vampire won’t touch a child," he said, "but they do like to find them early so as to have a say in their upbringing. Make sure they take the right classes, make the right friends." Kisten threw a chunk of fried bread at a duck and it splashed short.

Generally make them powerless while giving them the trappings of importance, I thought. It was Kisten all over, and the first real glimmer of his past was scaring me shitless.

"Kisten, I’m sorry," I said as I reached to touch his arm.

He was smiling with old pain as he met my gaze. "Don’t be. I love my life."

But still . . . there was regret.

"I have a good life," he said, his gaze pinched as it landed on Audric, seemingly oblivious but taking it all in. "I have a lot of opportunities that I otherwise wouldn’t."

"And yet you’re fighting to keep Audric away from them."

Kisten’s jaw clenched, then relaxed. "Audric is smart," he said softly. "He doesn’t need a master vampire to open doors for him. He’s better than that." He threw another piece of bread, landing it far farther than I could throw and making the ducks work for it. "He’s the son I’m never going to have, and I don’t want him to go through the hell I did."

Stomach queasy, I trailed my hand down his arm and slipped my fingers into his. No children. Because of Piscary. Piscary wanted a child from Kisten to further his plans, and saying no was Kisten’s last bastion of defiance, one small way to say that he didn’t belong to Piscary-even if he did.

For all the power and privilege Piscary gave Kisten, it came with a cost that his children might be called on to pay. And Kisten didn’t want Audric to pay it. Feeling ill, I gave Kisten’s hand a squeeze. "I’m sorry," I whispered.

"I’m happy. Shut the hell up, Rachel," he said, his fingers gentle in mine.

Audric turned to us, out of fried bread to feed the ducks. Kisten opened the bag for the rest, and together we went forward while the adults argued. The sun was warm, and for a moment, we could laugh and pretend that the world was an innocent place where the only thing we needed to worry about was if feeding ducks bread softened with duck sauce was a mild form of cannibalism.

Maybe that was one of the reasons Kisten worked so hard to keep it going between us, I thought, laughing as a duck went completely under water to pop up somewhere else. There would never be any children between Kisten and me. Any child would be adopted or engendered from a one-night-stand with a witch, and free of Piscary’s attentions. Seeing Audric beside Kisten, beautiful in the sun and their easy companionship born from knowing they both shared the same curse of great power granted borne in great degradation. Sacrifice. Kisten would sacrifice all for his nephew-anything to prevent him from living the hell he endured. It was touching, beautiful, and tragic all at the same time, and I was almost in tears for lost chances and histories that could not be fixed.

Chrissie’s shout of pain lanced through us, and adrenaline surged painfully. Kisten scooped Audric up before I even turned, and I stared aghast at Sean pinching Chrissie’s arm as he held her against a tree.

"Damn him," Kisten swore, and I suddenly found Audric in my arms. Kisten had abandoned us.

"No weapons!" Sean shouted. "He’s no good dead!"

That was just sick. I sucked in my breath and slid Audric down to stand behind me. "Audric," I said as suddenly every vampire was moving with a slow pace of a predator angling for an ambush. "Do everything I say as fast as you can. Kisten trusts me. I can’t help you unless you trust me too."

His little hand in mine brought a surge of strength and defiance I could only guess came from a maternal source. One I never knew I had. But it felt damn good, and I’d use it.

There would be, I thought as I scanned the park, backing up until we found the waist-high railing. Kisten was fighting them off his sister, and the two of them, clearly the bigger threat, were pulling half the vampires away from Audric and me. Five vampires on a bridge, I might be able to handle. I had to be able to handle, at least long enough to get to land where I could tap a line and do some bad-ass witchy stuff. Kisten had pulled half the threat away, not abandoned us.

Audric was between me and the railing, and falling into a fighting stance, I lifted my chin. It was all the invitation the first vamp needed.

He came at me, hands reaching. If not for my sparring with Ivy, I’d never have had a chance. I extended my hands for him to grab, and when he did, I shoved my right arm under his, taking his left arm with it. In one smooth motion, I dove under his extended arm, turned, and snapped his elbows against each other. There was a sickening crack, and part of me wondered that it had even worked as I moved to finish the move. And as the vampire howled in pain, I used his own momentum to flip him over the railing and into the shallow water.

The splash rose up the eight feet. Audric was clutching the railing, peering through the openings with awe and surprise. Below him in six inches of water, the vampire tried to get up without using his arms. Pain showed in every motion as he staggered to the shore. The van started, and I spun to make sure Audric was with me.

"Wow," I whispered, rubbing my sore wrists, "it worked." I’d never had the chance to use that particular move with the strength of adrenaline behind me, and I was impressed. And a little scared. But there were two now coming at me together. I couldn’t match two. It had been luck I had bested one. I needed something at my back besides a stone railing.

Pulse pounding, I scanned the park. Nothing. Just the bridge we were on. Just the bridge . . . "Jump off the bridge, Audric!" I shouted when an idea came to me. "Land on that bastard. Then tuck-in under the bridge. Wait for me."