Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

my shoulder. “This would have happened with or without your intervention. Honey, you have to slow down, or you’ll be gone forever.”

The last sentence was directed at Sarah, who wiped at her watery eyes. Her mint-green orbs looked at me. She slowly lifted a hand and touched my chin.

“I like the stubble,” she joked. I smiled, tears coming into my eyes.

“Sweetheart, I’m…” I hugged her, gently. After a moment, she hugged me back.

“What about Turner?” Sarah asked.

“What about him?” Mom asked.

I looked at Sarah. She nodded. Then I told Mother what Turner had done. She stood, shock-still for a moment, then began raging.

“SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE HE THREATEN MY CHILD?”

Alexander clutched her shoulders and spoke to her in rapid Greek, trying to look concerned. I knew he was furious, though, by the look in his eyes. He switched to English.

“Gently, my love. Lower the volume.”

“Of course, of course. Sarah is what is most important right now.” I noticed that her Greek accent became more pronounced when she was angry. Sometimes she even spoke in Greek without realizing it.

Arnold Turner’s fate was sealed, the moment the truth had been revealed. But we would take care of him later. Sarah was important now.

She gave me permission to brush her hair, which I did carefully and gently, using strong detangler. When I finished, her hair was less curly. She complained that she wanted a mocha, but she was under strict no-caffeine orders. Mom had to help her bathe. She wouldn’t let me do it, on account of the fact that I was male. When I brought up that I’d already seen everything, Mother conked me on the head and told me to keep my eyes to myself.

I spent hours talking with Alexander. He told me of his life in the past, how he became what he was, how he became the richest man in the world, how he regretted driving Kieran away, how much he missed him, and how many lovers he’d had, male, female, and intersex.

I was surprised to learn that he potentially had more children, not just Kieran. It was a possibility with all older vampires, including my uncle and my father.

I asked him if he knew Rosales; he said he barely knew him but thought he was an arrogant little bat. He was amused to learn that I was jealous of Rosales. Like I said before, I knew my father had fledglings, but none of them had been a problem to me, as far as I knew.

The same helpful blond nurse had informed us of something else. Sarah had had a stress-induced heart attack, which added to the stress, which triggered the seizure. It was a miracle she was alive.

Mom called Lucy, who was disappointed to learn that Sarah would no longer be working for her, but allowed her to quit peacefully. She also called Sarah’s other jobs, who were a bit rougher. The woman she spoke to at Plant was a total bitch, and the guy at her second restaurant job was barely better.

Zie welcomed Sarah home with a steaming cup of tea with honey and lemon and spoke rapidly to Mother in Mandarin. Mother chattered back, also in Mandarin. Spunk tried to jump on Sarah, but I yelled for him to get down. Coffee, wagging her tail, sniffed Sarah's shoes and licked her face when she sat on the couch, removing her eye makeup in seconds. Then she growled at me when I sat beside Sarah. I ignored the little beast and pressed a soft kiss to Sarah's jaw, avoiding her head.

"Can I have some chocolate?" she asked.

"Of course, dear," Mother said. She reached into a plastic grocery bag and pulled out a dark chocolate bar that had seventy-seven percent cacao. I eyed it suspiciously. I'd heard that chocolate could make headaches worse, and I knew dogs and cats weren't supposed to have it.

"Are you sure that's safe?" I asked. Mother paused and bit her lip.

"You may be right, son," Alexander said. "Save the chocolate for later, sweetheart."

Sarah pouted, but didn't fight it. A small furrow appeared between her perfectly arched eyebrows, a furrow that could mean several things.

"What's wrong, honey?" Mother asked, sitting on her other side.

"My head hurts."

"Ah, the doctor said it might. He gave me these pills for headaches."

She pulled out a gigantic pill bottle and tapped out one massive pill. Sarah looked sick.

"Looks more like a suppository," Alexander said.

"Don't be stupid," Mother snapped. "It's for her head."

She handed the pill to Sarah, who looked even sicker.

"On second thought, I can handle headaches," she finally said, handing the pill back to Mother.

"Don't be stubborn. It won't make you sick unless you insist on being sick. And I'm tired of you being sick. Take it, daughter."

Sarah stared at it for a moment, then snatched it and threw it down her throat, washing it down with a big gulp of tea. She immediately ran to the trash can and puked. Mother sighed and Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Poor baby," Mother said. "She's been through so much, and she'd be dead if it weren't for us, especially you, Reese."

"I love her," I said.

"I know, son. We do, too. Have you considered changing her?"

"I've asked her about it. She doesn't want to be changed yet. She wants to enjoy the sun as much as possible before I absolutely have to change her."

"Silly girl," Alexander said. "She will have speed, strength, power. The ability to hypnotize. She will have babies with you anyway, so why not make them full vampire?"

"They won't be full vampire," I reminded him. "She's part fairy."

Just then, Zie led Sarah back into the room, glaring at us.

"Why you make her swallow pill?" she demanded. Both Mother and Alexander looked ashamed, and they didn't answer.

My cell phone rang, blaring the ringtone for Father.

"Yes?" I answered.

"There has been another death. Leave Sarah and Sabine home. The death is at The Star Temple."

"The Star Temple?" I asked. Sarah looked up.

"That's the temple we used to go to," she said. "What happened?"

"There's been another death," I said.

"Take me," she said, her eyes wide. "Just let me brush my teeth first."

"Fine, but be quick," I said.

"Reese, did you just tell Sarah she could come?" Father asked.

"So kill me," I told him.

"I'd be an abomination if I did that. Fine, fine. Just get here."

I arrived at the temple with Sarah and myself in one car, and Mother, Alexander, and Sabine in the other.

Father stood on the ramp, talking to the rabbi. He was an old man with a long white beard and thin glasses.

"A sad day, indeed," the rabbi was saying. He looked at me, then around at the others.

"Are Louis and Uncle Soren already inside?" I asked.

"Of course. I told you not to bring Sabine."

I ignored him and went into the temple. Along the aisle, at the front, was James, from Zeke's clan. He was lying with his eyes wide open, mouth slightly open, a massive hole in his chest. And on top of pulpit, I was surprised to find, was a dead cat. A black cat. Heart clenching, I half-ran up to the pulpit, and was relieved to find that it wasn't Shadowfang.

Speak of the devil, I said, as I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to find him in human form.

"Do you know this cat?" I asked.

He nodded. "He's a stray. I met him a couple times while chasing rats. We fought once over a particularly fat one."

Stomach coiling at the thought of eating a rat, I turned back to the victims. Louis was going around, taking pictures, while Uncle Soren was staring at James and shaking his head.

I heard a gasp. I glanced back and saw Sabine, her hands over her mouth, staring at James. I knew they'd had a relationship, and I'd interfered. Sarah was holding Sabine, as if she was afraid she'd fall.

"Sabine, let's go," Sarah said.

"No! I need to stay. I need to..." Sabine did fall to her knees, was soon sobbing. I knew she'd loved James.

"Dad, either help or get out of the way," Louis told Uncle Soren. He took some more pictures.

I looked up at the ceiling....and saw a face peering back at me.

"There's someone on the roof!" I cried. Uncle Soren jumped up and ran up the wall, climbing the tapestry, and broke through the skylight. I heard him say a word that made Mother go "Soren!" and jumped back down, landing heavily on his feet.

"He got away," he informed us. "And, damn it, I didn't see his face. But I did see dark curly hair."

"The killer?" I surmised.

"Possibly, or maybe just a curious vampire," Louis said. "How many vampires do we know with dark curly hair?"

"There's Johnny," I said.

"But Johnny's fat, and this vampire was thin," Uncle Soren said. "There's Samuel Jr."

"You killed him, remember?" I reminded him.

"Oh, right."

"There's Adam, but what would he be doing back here?" Louis asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"What color was his skin?" Alexander asked.

"Pale, alabaster," Uncle Soren told him.

"Well then, it couldn't be Zulu, could it?"

"Zulu's in Africa," I reminded him.

"Are you sure it was male?" Mother asked. "Was the hair long or short?"

"Short, in a man's style," Uncle Soren replied.

We stood there, thinking hard. My head began to hurt, so I went back outside. I picked up a piece of literature on the next Jewish holiday. Sarah came out shortly after, minus her sister.

She leaned against me, and we both sat on the steps. I kissed her hair. I sensed danger. A threat to our mate-bond. Another male was nearby, one who loved Sarah. I looked up, and saw a flash of red in the trees.

Marcus jumped down, Fowley beside him. Sarah stood up, and I followed her example. She was the shortest of us at only five-foot-three, but she was muscular and could defend herself if need be. But she was also weak. She'd just had a heart attack and another seizure.

"Sarah, Reese," Marcus said. He looked at her. "I must speak with you."

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him," she said, gesturing to me.

Marcus snarled. "You listen to me, woman-"

"Calm yourself, Marcus," Fowley said. "What's this about a serial murderer?"

"He's killed a warlock, a witch, a mermaid, and two vampires, and a cat," I said. "We'd appreciate anything you can give us or help us with."

"Alas, I have none. But the mermaid was one of mine. She was in my jurisdiction, under my protection. I am responsible for her death. What can you tell us?"

"Nothing," I said. "We've literally got nothing. No evidence, no fingerprints, not even hair or skin cells. Nothing. Nada. Zilch."

Marcus glared at me, while Fowley looked thoughtful. He turned to Sarah.

"Girl, do you have any thoughts?"

"He's obviously targeting non-humans," she said. "Maybe he considers himself a vigilante. I read a book about a group of people who considered themselves that, and they targeted supernatural creatures. Except the cat. It was just an ordinary cat."

"Maybe a demonic ritual?" I mused. "Cats are God's favorite creatures, other than humans, I mean. They have all sorts of symbolism in religion. I know that the Vikings kept them to hunt rodents and considered them to be great animals and companions."

"They are seen as more feminine animals," Sarah said, "Because it used to be believed that women generally preferred cats, because of their personalities."

"Catwomen," I said dryly. Then something struck me. "Catwomen. Catwomen!"

Sarah looked at me, stunned. "What are you saying, Reese?"

"Maybe the real target is a catwoman!" I cried. "Or maybe it's a witch or warlock. Or even a vampire. They all have cat familiars."

Her eyes stayed wide, and she turned around and strutted over to my father. She tugged on his shirt and spoke to him softly. He looked at me, eyes wide, and I saw him nodding to Sarah. Both of them came over to me.

"Son, you're a genius!" Father shouted. Then he saw Marcus and Fowley. "And what are they doing here?"

"The dead mermaid was under